INTERVIEW: Wendy Whelan rebounds, retires, renews in ‘Restless Creature’
Watching Wendy Whelan dance on the stage of the David H. Koch Theater must have been a singular pleasure for adoring audiences of the New York City Ballet. The legendary ballerina worked her way through performance after performance on that hallowed stage, and her unmatched tenure ran for three decades, an eternity for a professional ballerina.
Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan, the new documentary from directors Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger, follows the ballerina as she finally says goodbye to the company she called home for 30 years. The film is a treat for dancers, both professional and aspiring, but it also holds many surprises for non-dancers. What Whelan faces in her final days at the esteemed company are feelings and thoughts that emerge in many lives. She’s getting older and unable to perform like her previous self. For years, her dancing never caused pain, and now walking across the stage in her ballet shoes can hurt. She’s being overlooked for certain parts that she owned for years, and a final decision on her future must be made.
Whelan — bravely, energetically and humorously — accepts the fact that she’s growing older and needs to transition into the new phase of her professional life. In facing these obstacles with her head held high, she offers inspiration to so many audience members, no matter their chosen profession or passion in life.
“I met our executive producer, Diana DiMenna … interestingly enough within the basement of the David Koch Theater at the New York City Ballet because both of our daughters were in The Nutcracker,” Schlesinger said in a recent phone interview. “That’s where the parents sit during the performances actually, and there’s a room there. So she and I started talking. She knew that we were filmmakers, and she’s very close with Wendy. And she said to me that it’s kind of a pivotal time in Wendy’s life and could be very interesting to document this moment in life. There’s a lot going on in her life. She told me a little bit more about it, and I actually called Linda.”
Saffire heard the news about the documentary project involving a ballerina, and her first question was: “Wendy Whelan?”
That was some premonition.
Once Saffire confirmed it was Whelan, who is well known in ballet circles, the filmmaker knew they had to sign on for the project. “My husband introduced me to the ballet when we first started dating like 2000-2011, and my first experience at the ballet was seeing Wendy on stage,” Saffire said. “It was magic. She sucked me in, and I’ve been a fan of the ballet ever since.”
At first, Whelan was hesitant to allow a filmmaking crew to follow her. This was a vulnerable, tough time in her life, and perhaps the cameras would be a distraction. But the fact that Whelan had so many uncertainties with the New York City Ballet actually intrigued Schlesinger and Saffire.
Eventually the directors started filming Whelan and showed the dancer some of the footage. She was pleased, and then the green light was turned on.
The structure of the piece follows Whelan after she has been injured and requires surgery on her hip. Watching the recovery, it’s obvious that she’s determined to work her way back to the New York City Ballet stage, but she also dedicates herself to beginning a contemporary dance offshoot known as Restless Creature.
“We knew that Restless Creature was the project that she was working on, so we always saw that as the structure, to follow that process and see that through,” Schlesinger said. “So that was always in our game plan.”
Saffire added: “We knew she was injured because she wasn’t performing with City Ballet. We just thought she was recovering from an injury, and we didn’t know how severe it was because she never showed any pain whatsoever. And it was while we were filming, we found out later on … that the doctor told her she needed surgery, so then [the film] kind of made a turn.”
With the cameras rolling, the directors were able to follow Whelan through her entire surgery and recovery, and it’s a remarkable story. The ballerina goes from a surgical patient needing to walk with crutches to offering a few more performances with the New York City Ballet to end her tenure on a high note with the company. The footage throughout the recovery, including her farewell performances, is beautifully rendered and intimately shot.
“Her fight to make the comeback, we thought, well, that’s something,” Schlesinger said. “We have to follow that storyline, and we saw that through. And then, of course, the retirement happened, and then we were like, well, we have to follow that through. We gave ourselves to the retirement performance as our stop date.”
Both Saffire and Schlesinger didn’t know Whelan was going to retire when they started filming. It was eight months into the project that the news came out. “It was great to be a part of that letting go and making that decision because it was so difficult, and to be a part of her life during that time was amazing for the film,” Saffire said.
Saffire and Schlesinger have found that audience members have responded to the the documentary’s themes of tackling the fear of the unknown and coming to terms with aging. “We get feedback from audience members,” Schelsinger said. “We do Q&As where they talk about her being an inspiration to them. Whether it’s a lawyer from yesterday who said, ‘You know, I’m in my 70s, and I think about there’s so much more I want to do. I have so much more in me.'”
Saffire added: “A surgeon who can’t do surgery anymore, it touched him. A sculptor yesterday, he was relating to this. A college student who is graduating, and she’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is me. What am I going to do for the rest of my life? How will I ever get a job? What’s going to happen to me?'”
Whelan’s story has touched each of these people and helped them face the uncertainty of the future.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan is currently running in New York City and begins June 9 in Los Angeles. Click here for more information and showtimes.
