A GLIMPSE OF SOUL

DANCE

14 May

Recently landed: A glimpse of soul

Gracia’s written response to Joachim A. Lang’s John Cranko, especially for Fjord Review.

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In John Cranko’s world, “if ballet only consisted of dance steps, it wouldn’t be worth dedicating your whole life to it”[i], and this sense of devotion is at the heart of Joachim A. Lang’s German-language film, John Cranko (2024). Screening at the Westgarth Cinema, as part of the 2025 HSBC German Film Festival presented by Palace, in association with German Films, John Cranko, as Cranko’s own renowned choreography does, places the emphasis upon its invitation to feel.

I am drawn into Cranko’s world as he arrives in Stuttgart in 1960[ii], and while things might initially seem like a biopic, they settle to be less so. John Cranko situates itself at the intersection between biopic and a dance tribute all of its own. In the manner of Cranko’s own choreographic method, as depicted in the film, as images transition from blurry to sharp focus, summoning a host of images in the process, truth through devotion can be found. As Cranko, played by Sam Riley[iii], holds his hand up to adjust the focus of an imaginary camera lens, the beginning of what is referred to as “The Stuttgart Ballet Miracle”[iv] is thrown into sharp relief.

[i] Voiceover of John Cranko (August 15, 1927–June 26, 1973) played by Sam Riley in the film John Cranko (2024).

[ii] Before accepting the position of director and choreographer in 1961.

[iii] British actor, Sam Riley, speaks German in the film in a pleasing nod to South African born Cranko who at the film’s opening has come from London to start anew.

[iv] “A New York tour in 1969 turned into an overwhelming triumph, crowned by esteemed dance critic Clive Barnes employing the phrase “The Stuttgart Ballet Miracle”.” ‘The Cranko Era’, The Stuttgart Ballet, https://www.stuttgart-ballet.de/company/history/the-cranko-era, accessed 5th May, 2025.