Pointe: Dancing On a Knife’s Edge
Dendy Cinema Newtown, November 28
Pointe: Dancing On a Knife’s Edge, the debut documentary feature from Perth director Dawn Jackson, looks at one of the most horrifying events in recent Australian dance history: the night in June 2000 when dancer Floeur Alder was knifed in the face outside her home in Highgate, Perth. Jackson, a close friend of the Alder family—the dance superstars Lucette Aldous and Alan Alder—and a former student of theirs, initially set out to make a dance film. But once she began filming, it became clear the story was much larger. The crime, its aftermath, and Floeur’s long journey to return to herself as an artist were inseparable. With patience and perseverance Jackson slowly “collected the story” of that journey.
And thank goodness she followed her instinct, because the full story reaches far beyond the attack. This is not only Floeur’s physical and artistic healing; with all the pressure and expectation that come with being watched from afar by figures like Nureyev, Fonteyn and others, there’s that hovering question “Will I measure up?” Jackson captures the full weight of that with sensitivity. While Floeur was “waking” from trauma—a Sleeping Beauty trying to get her life back—Jackson was there, quietly watching.
The film grabs you from the first frame. It is stunningly shot by Darren McCagh and Hossein Khodabandehloo and expertly edited by Nick Dunlop. He has woven together a treasure trove of archival footage of Lucette and Alan—including glimpses of Lucette as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds in Dame Gillian Lynne’s 1976 The Fool on the Hill (a work I’d never heard of and now must see)—along with news clippings, photographs, the unfolding crime story, images of Floeur in hospital, and studio recordings as she works her way back onto the stage. Among the most affecting inclusions is the making and performance of Rare Earth, the award-winning trio Floeur created for her parents and herself in 2004. Floeur narrates throughout—a great decision—grounding every moment in her down-to-earth voice and resisting any potential for glorification.
The film is further enriched by a generous range of interviews: Lucette and Alan, former Australian Ballet Artistic Director (and Perth boy) David McAllister, Chrissie Parrott AM, Robert Bestonso, Dame Monica Mason, Dame Gillian Lynne, Mark Annear and Bill Miles. We also follow Floeur reconnecting with people who had been part of the story of her recovery, including a moving meeting with the constable at WA Police Headquarters who oversaw her case. The fact that the perpetrator was never found remains a haunting presence.
I’ll admit I was worried I was in for an unrelenting trauma narrative, but this is not that. For all its harrowing detail, the film never succumbs to a victim framing—and neither does Floeur. And there is a good dose of humour here too—Floeur’s own candid observations, and moments at home with Lucette and their six cats bring respite and giggles.
A lot can happen over nine years (the time it took to make the documentary). While the story doesn’t mention COVID, its impact is evidenced in the theatrical cuts shot during a period when the project seemed to be pivoting by necessity toward a stage production because it looked like the film might never be funded. Holding everything together is the film’s central material—footage shot between 2016–2022—where the camera and Jackson follow Floeur as she faces the crime directly and begins to reclaim her dream, returning to Europe and meeting people from her parents’ past. The film does not shy away from the darker truths of the Alder/Aldous home, something that must have been difficult for Floeur to allow—especially after the loss of her parents in 2019 and 2021—and it speaks to the trust she ultimately gave the filmmakers.
The structure is skilfully measured. Like trauma itself, the film returns to the crime at intervals, and its reveal—along with the insertions of theatrical and studio material, the Sleeping Beauty fragments, the rage and struggle—never feel forced or over-heightened. This is partly due to that steady, matter-of-fact narration and partly to the through-score by Mason Vellios and Mel Robinson. By the time we reach the final, exquisite shots in WA’s great southern region, there is a full sense of catharsis.
I was profoundly moved and impressed—and I learned a lot too. See it if you can. And dance community, let’s get off our tight Pilates-toned glutes and help push it. This is a film that deserves a wider release — and it will only happen if our sector gets behind it.
-Emma Sandall
Screenings to come:
Melbourne, Nova Cinema (@cinemanova), Sunday November 30th, 3.30pm
Launceston, Star Theatre, Thursday December 4th, 7:30pm