Janine Charrat, L’Instinct de la Danse (2001)

The movie directors Luc Riolon and Rachel Seddoh present the life and work of the great French dancer, Janine Charrat. A child prodigy, Janine Charrat made her debut at the age of 12 in Jean Benoît-Lévypar’s La Mort du cygne (The Death of the Swan, 1937). Then supported by Serge Lifar and Roland Petit, Janine Charrat soon became a leading artist acclaimed by the Parisian inteligentsia of the après-guerre period. As usual, Jean Cocteau coined the most poetic phrase to describe this exceptional dancer: “Janine Charrat, solitary walker, goes beyond the stars“ (“Janine Charrat, marcheuse solitaire, va au-delà des étoiles.“). Collaborating with Paul Valéry, Paul Claudel, Darius Milhaud, Leonor Fini, Paul Delvaux or Fernand Léger, Janine Charrat created numerous ballets that have since integrated the classical repertoire, such as La Femme et son ombre or Les Quatre Fils Aymon. More than a job, dancing was for Janine Charrat a true passion which she never ceased to explore wholeheartedly. Luc Riolon and Rachel Seddoh gather in this movie all the ingredients to produce a magnificient documentary on ballet and its role within the contemporary society, revisiting the highlights of the choreographic scene over the past 50 years.