Dance in Film · 2011
First Position (2011)
Documentary following six young ballet dancers as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world.
First Position is a 2011 dance documentary centred on Ballet. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 32 indexed dance sequences ↓
Dance styles featured
Where to watch: Streaming (various)
Trailer
Official trailer.
The dance sequences in First Position
32 sequences, 27 with a timestamp — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
- 00:00:00
Opening YAGP pressure montage
Danced by Youth America Grand Prix competitors (not individually identified in every shot)
A lone child under the stage lights giving way to a rush of numbered competitors and battered pointe shoes.
Kargman's opener cuts from an isolated child marking steps on an empty stage to numbered dancers crowding the wings, pointe shoes grinding at the barre and a boy snapping into a landing under competition lights. The switch from the hush of that first wide shot to the corridor crush makes the Youth America Grand Prix feel both enormous and painfully individual.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 2 minutes 8 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Aran Bell; Denys Ganio (coach)
Aran flying through the sunlit studio, then resetting the landing on his coach's correction.
Aran Bell drives a traveling combination across the bright Italian studio while Denys Ganio watches from the wall and stops him to refine the finish. The lens keeps Aran's white shirt, black tights and full jumping path visible, so the athletic force is measured against the exact fifth-position landing Ganio demands.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 1 minute 45 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Michaela DePrince; class dancers and teachers (not individually identified)
Michaela holding her extension as a teacher adjusts the line in a packed ballet studio.
Michaela DePrince works from the center of a long studio line, her lifted leg and port de bras held beside dancers whose identical black leotards make every degree of extension easy to compare. A teacher physically redirects the shape, and Michaela repeats it without losing the poised upper body the camera had just isolated.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 1 minute 8 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Michaela DePrince
The white-tutu solo answering racist judgments with a clean final pose and immediate cheers.
Michaela crosses a nearly bare stage in a white tutu, finishing a compact classical phrase while her voice recalls being told that Black dancers lacked the body for ballet. Her precise pointework directly contradicts the insults on the soundtrack, and the audience's cheer arrives only after the camera has let her complete the final shape.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 37 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Joan Sebastian Zamora; Flavio Salazar (coach)
Joan spinning beside the skyline windows while Salazar counts and insists on the ending.
Joan Sebastian Zamora rehearses beside tall Manhattan windows as Flavio Salazar counts through the variation and asks how he will finish it. Joan's turns travel close to the piano and barre, turning a cramped borrowed studio into visible evidence of the work supporting his scholarship dream.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 41 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Miko Fogarty; Jules Fogarty; Viktor Kabaniaev (teacher)
Miko's leg rising against the window after the siblings stretch across folding chairs on the studio floor.
Miko and Jules Fogarty move through oversplits, barre extensions and center combinations while folding chairs, taped schedules and pointe shoes remain in the frame. Viktor Kabaniaev's corrections land amid the ordinary studio clutter, and Miko's held arabesque against the window shows how an exceptional line is assembled from repetitive daily labor.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 2 minutes 16 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Miko Fogarty; Viktor Kabaniaev (coach)
Miko's black skirt whipping through turns as Kabaniaev calls for more energy and open shoulders.
Miko attacks the Wild Girl variation in a black rehearsal skirt while Viktor Kabaniaev fires out instructions for open shoulders, lifted arms and a stronger pull-up. Her skirt flares around quick turns, but the scene lands on the unglamorous panting finish and Kabaniaev's brisk “great job.”
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 21 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Jules Fogarty; Viktor Kabaniaev (coach)
Jules launching the “even bigger” jump in his prince costume after Kabaniaev's rapid-fire corrections.
Jules rehearses in an ornate black-and-white costume as Kabaniaev demands softer pliés, pointed feet and ever larger jumps. The comic cry of “run already” carries him into a final airborne push, and Jules's relief turns the formal Swan Lake variation into a portrait of a boy still deciding whether ballet is his life.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 35 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Aran Bell
Aran landing the pirouettes he later says he could barely see through the stage lights.
Aran enters in a green-and-gold princely tunic and immediately uses the open stage for traveling jumps and fast pirouettes. The film then catches his astonished admission that the lights became a blur, making the clean landing of those turns feel precarious rather than automatic.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 26 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
- 00:31:23
Gaya Bommer Yemini performs Wild Horses
Danced by Gaya Bommer Yemini · Choreography Nadine Bommer
Gaya's red dress pooling around a floor roll before she rises into an unexpectedly grave final image.
Gaya folds into the floor in a red dress, whips through a shoulder-led roll and rebounds into reaching phrases as Wild Horses stretches across the stage. Nadine Bommer's voice says her daughter's age changes when she dances, and Gaya's sudden stillness after the final surge makes that adult concentration visible.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 1 minute 5 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Rebecca Houseknecht
Rebecca finishing the variation, then immediately telling another dancer it had gone badly.
Rebecca steps from the wings in a jeweled classical costume and tries to steady a variation she later calls a failure. The film refuses to disguise the wobble with decorative cutting; it stays close enough to register the mistake and then follows her through the finish she completes in front of the judges.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 30 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Rebecca Houseknecht; Michelle Lees (coach)
The corrected pirouette finally opening into a relaxed arabesque after Rebecca exhales.
Back in a yellow-walled studio, Rebecca repeats the small pirouette into an arabesque while Michelle Lees tells her to exhale and release the strain from her face. The bare rehearsal clothes expose the adjustment: when Rebecca stops forcing the entry, the line settles and Lees answers, “That's better.”
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 29 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Michaela DePrince
Michaela smiling through the Don Quixote turns before her family nearly crushes one another's fingers.
Michaela's white tutu flashes against the blue competition stage as she drives the Don Quixote variation through pointe turns and bright, square épaulement. Her smile stays active even as the passage accelerates, which is why her family erupts afterward that this is the best they have ever seen her dance.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 55 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Joan Sebastian Zamora
Joan's white-tights leap suspended against a completely black competition stage.
Joan appears alone in white tights and an open torso, cutting a high classical line across the black stage before dropping cleanly into the finish. The brevity matters: his mother is watching from Colombia through the documentary's parallel story, so a few seconds of airborne control carry the weight of the scholarship he says could change his family.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 11 seconds of performance footage in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Carlos Acosta; Royal Ballet dancers (not individually identified)
Carlos Acosta's airborne line appearing immediately after Joan names the Royal Ballet star as his model.
As Joan names Carlos Acosta as his inspiration, the film cuts to Acosta turning and leaping before a painted court scene and then isolates his bare torso in a second stage excerpt. Placing those Royal Ballet images beside Joan's own semifinal makes the aspirational link concrete: the Colombian teenager is measuring his path against a Cuban principal who already crossed that barrier.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 41 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
- 00:49:08
Miko performs Urban Flower
Danced by Miko Fogarty
Miko getting back up after the Urban Flower fall and finishing as if the mistake had not happened.
Miko enters in a black-and-white cropped costume, hits angular arms and then slips to the floor in a fall that visibly breaks the phrase. She rises without signaling panic and pushes through the remaining turns, so Satoko's later self-blame cannot erase the child's onstage recovery.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 35 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
- 00:50:00
Miko performs 17 Moments of Spring
Danced by Miko Fogarty
Miko's pale dress circling as her caged-bird arms open into a run across the stage.
In a pale gray dress, Miko begins low to the floor and folds her wrists and elbows into a trapped-bird vocabulary before opening into sweeping runs. Her own description of “a bird stuck in a cage” is visible in the repeated crouch-and-release motif, not merely added by the interview afterward.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 53 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Jules Fogarty
Jules punctuating the prince variation with a floor-level lunge and proud backstage grin.
Jules returns in the black-and-white prince jacket and drops from brisk batterie into a low, theatrical lunge before the audience. The clipped excerpt preserves both his attack and his boyish satisfaction backstage, a sharp contrast with the earlier rehearsal where Kabaniaev had to order every larger jump.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 18 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Aran Bell
Aran springing out of the crouch in black and freezing a high extension before the judges.
Dressed entirely in black, Aran opens La Chauve-Souris from a crouch and stretches the stage with sudden jumps, held extensions and quick changes of facing. The dark costume removes the princely decoration of his semifinal, leaving the judges to read the eleven-year-old's musical attack and exact landings.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 56 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Gaya Bommer Yemini
Gaya's bright red bodice spinning above the white skirt as the Coppélia doll suddenly seems alive.
Gaya arrives in Coppélia's red bodice and white skirt, using small pointe steps, tilted head gestures and crisp wrist accents to make the doll-like character readable from the balcony. Her mother watches each beat from the house, and Gaya's smiling exit releases the tension built by the family's long trip from Israel.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 1 minute 10 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
- 01:11:23
Rebecca's New York contemporary final
Danced by Rebecca Houseknecht
Rebecca's black-clad body tipping out of a high extension, then returning backstage relieved that the dance felt good.
Rebecca enters in a plain black unitard and replaces the poised tutu image with contracted floorwork, a high side extension and long off-balance reaches. The stripped-down costume makes her recovery from the semifinal more legible: she completes the difficult weight shifts and comes backstage saying, with surprise, that it felt good.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 1 minute 10 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Miko Fogarty
The red-and-black tutu continuing to whirl as Miko arrests a Don Quixote turn.
Miko's red-and-black tutu snaps into a circle as she moves through Don Quixote turns with one hand planted at the waist and the other cutting clean Spanish-flavored accents. The close stage-side angle catches the skirt still rotating after her feet stop, making her control at twelve years old impossible to miss.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 45 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Joan Sebastian Zamora
Joan's black bolero cutting across the white tights as he launches another jump directly at the judges.
Joan takes the Don Quixote stage in a black bolero and white tights, driving repeated turns and suspended jumps straight toward the adjudicators. The edit briefly lets his anxious voice describe everyone watching him, then returns to the full-body view as he recommits to the final phrase.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 52 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
- 01:19:40
Michaela's New York final — Fast Fall
Danced by Michaela DePrince
Michaela attacking the final high extension despite the Achilles pain she had been unable to hide backstage.
Michaela enters Fast Fall in a black, glittering unitard after testing her injured Achilles against the hallway barre. Onstage she drives through deep lunges, sharp contractions and a vertical leg extension; the most affecting beat is that the injury disappears from her face until she reaches the wings and admits how much it hurt.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 55 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
- 01:31:31
Gaya's Cartoon Girl epilogue
Danced by Gaya Bommer Yemini · Choreography Nadine Bommer
Gaya rolling across the stage in red and popping up with deliberately cartoonish hands.
The epilogue finds Gaya in a red cartoon-like costume, scuttling through comic isolations, a floor roll and exaggerated hands in a piece the film says Nadine choreographed. That oddball character work expands the solemn child seen in Wild Horses into a mischievous performer who can bend technique toward humor.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 30 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
- 01:32:01
Aran's Mad Hatter epilogue
Danced by Aran Bell
Aran's red Mad Hatter figure corkscrewing out of a crouch in the epilogue.
Aran reappears in a red Mad Hatter costume, whipping through off-axis turns and springing out of a low crouch as the outcomes text explains that he has learned a new contemporary piece in Italy. The brief clip trades the polished prince for eccentric speed, showing that his post-competition growth is stylistic as well as technical.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 19 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Danced by Joan Sebastian Zamora; partner and instructor (not individually identified)
Joan offering his partner a hand in the Royal Ballet School studio while the instructor rebuilds the tilt.
At the Royal Ballet School, Joan rehearses partnering while the instructor calls for second position, a strong back and a careful walk into his partner's elbow. The camera holds the shared weight transfer and offered hand, making his scholarship outcome tangible as studio etiquette and placement rather than a victory-title card.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. About 49 seconds in this edition; onset aligned at medium confidence to Tubi's official 1:34:36 captioned U.S. stream checked on 2026-08-05. The timestamp is specific to that edition; current legal access was verified through Tubi.
Aran Bell rehearsal
Classical BalletDanced by Aran Bell
Studio repetition and teacher feedback let clean line emerge from ordinary correction.
Observational coverage keeps the dancers' full bodies and surrounding community in view, using close-ups mainly to reveal effort and response. Because the film lets attempts, corrections and recoveries remain visible, the sequence shows how the dance is made rather than presenting only a polished result.
Joan Sebastian Zamora variation
Classical BalletDanced by Joan Sebastian Zamora
A frontal competition view makes batterie, turns and finish positions directly comparable.
The coverage alternates between adjudicator-style wide views and reaction shots without abandoning the routine's structure. Clear musical hits, difficulty peaks and formation changes create a legible competitive arc, making the result feel earned on the floor.
Michaela DePrince competition solo
Classical BalletDanced by Michaela DePrince
The film holds full phrases and landings, giving projection and control more weight than reaction shots.
The coverage alternates between adjudicator-style wide views and reaction shots without abandoning the routine's structure. Clear musical hits, difficulty peaks and formation changes create a legible competitive arc, making the result feel earned on the floor.
Rebecca Houseknecht rehearsal and performance
Classical BalletDanced by Rebecca Houseknecht
Cuts between preparation and stage reveal how costume, pointe shoes and repetition support the final illusion.
Observational coverage keeps the dancers' full bodies and surrounding community in view, using close-ups mainly to reveal effort and response. Because the film lets attempts, corrections and recoveries remain visible, the sequence shows how the dance is made rather than presenting only a polished result.
Youth America Grand Prix finals
Classical BalletDanced by Youth America Grand Prix competitors
Successive complete excerpts create a field of distinct young artists rather than a single winner montage.
The coverage alternates between adjudicator-style wide views and reaction shots without abandoning the routine's structure. Clear musical hits, difficulty peaks and formation changes create a legible competitive arc, making the result feel earned on the floor.
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