Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Dancing on Glass’ On Netflix, Where Two Ballerinas Find Solace in Each Other at a Toxic Ballet Company

In Spanish drama Dancing on Glass, now streaming on Netflix, a young ballet dancer finds herself in the spotlight after the tragic loss of one of her fellow ballerinas. Under more pressure than she’s ever experienced in her life, she finds herself struggling to meet the expectations of everyone around her. Before she can sink too low into the pits of despair, however, she befriends a new young woman at the company who helps her to see the world in an entirely new light. 

DANCING ON GLASS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Irene (María Pedraza) is about to see her life change. Following the suicide of one of her fellow dancers, Maria, Irene has been cast as the lead in her ballet company’s production of Giselle. This devastates Ruth (Olivia Baglivi), who believed herself the obvious choice for Maria’s replacement, and Irene finds herself at the center of a toxic attempt to push her out of this opportunity. Her dancing begins to suffer until she meets Aurora (Paula Losada), a new dancer in the company who struggles to make friends and uses her hair to cover the large birth mark on her face. She teaches Irene her dancing trick, how to disappear into a fantasy world, and Irene discovers she does her best dancing with Aurora in the room. The two grow closer as the pressure mounts at the company, leaning on each other during particularly difficult times. Irene’s bulimia continues to dictate much of her life, though she seems to be more at peace when she’s around Aurora.

While Irene fights her own internal battles, so does Aurora; her mother, a former ballerina, pushes her hard to embrace this world and be the best, but doesn’t seem to grasp the implications of trying to live vicariously through her daughter. Under the rule of their tyrannical leader Norma (Mona Martínez), Irene and Aurora’s relationship is eyed with suspicion (despite this friendship producing some of Irene’s best dancing). As the date of opening night draws nearer, the pressure only gets more intense; Aurora, more obsessed with Irene than ever, finds herself wandering down a different path, while Irene battles her own demons, determined to live up to Norma’s impossible expectations. Just as the story began with the tragic loss of one of their own, it soon becomes clear that this opening night will be a matter of life and death.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Dancing on Glass might bring to mind other dance dramas like Black Swan, Polina, and Into the Beat — or even the very underrated, very bonkers Starz ballet drama series Flesh and Bone.

Performance Worth Watching: The film belongs to María Pedraza; her soulful eyes tell so much of the story even when words fail to, and her body does the rest of the talking. Pedraza gets plenty of scenes to show off her acting chops, but the real magic here comes from her dance; she’s mesmerizing. The actress is certainly the recognizable face in this film, having starred in Money Heist and Elite, but she does something entirely new with Irene, allowing herself to get totally lost in the role and delivering something unique and deeply moving. Dancing on Glass needs a compelling leading lady to work, and Pedraza more than does the job.

Memorable Dialogue: So much of Dancing on Glass‘s strength comes from its visual storytelling, so the dialogue isn’t all that memorable.

Sex and Skin: No sexy stuff, just a very casual attitude towards nudity when performers are changing, bathing, etc.

Our Take: We’ve seen the ballerina (or insert artist here) go crazy movie before. Films like Whiplash have explored the potentially deadly implications of being under the tutelage of a toxic mentor, while Black Swan essentially laid the groundwork for what Dancing on Glass tries to be. There’s something seductive and unsettling about the world of ballet and what dancers are willing to do to take center stage and be the best they can be, and Dancing on Glass certainly captures that darkness. Unfortunately, however, the story and themes of the film feel so familiar (and the run time is so overlong) that it doesn’t leave a particularly affecting impression. The performances are top-notch – Pedraza and Losada do extraordinary work together, doing a remarkable emotional dance that speaks to their uniquely compelling chemistry. The themes of pursuing perfection, the pressures of family, relationships, and the weight of jealousy are all interesting ones, but there’s a tad too much going on this time around. With a more original script, Dancing on Glass might have earned its spot among artists’ descent into madness movies, but because it simply goes over oft-explored territory, it leaves us with something watchable but evidently too predictable to excite or inspire awe.

Our Call: SKIP IT. The performances in Dancing on Glass are stellar, but the story — about the damaging impact of this kind of pressure on the psyche — feels too familiar to leave much of a lasting impression.

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines, hogging the mic at karaoke, and thirst-tweeting. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.