How Prime Video ballet drama Étoile keeps it real by mixing ballerinas and dancing actors

Ballet is beautiful. Ballet is ethereal. Ballet is mysterious. Can ballet also be cool?

The creators of the new Amazon Prime Video show Étoile – Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel fame – are betting yes.

The show is split between New York and Paris as it tracks the story of two ballet companies joining forces to attract audiences and stay afloat.

And “afloat” is a good word to describe the chief appeal of the show: real lifts, not to mention turns and leaps, by real ballet dancers, many of whom are in the cast.

Sharp-eyed viewers might notice several New York City Ballet stars in supporting roles. A mixture of the Palladinos’ series Bunheads, Emily in Paris – with way more leg warmers – and classic ballet film The Turning Point, Étoile lives and dies by the quality of its dancing.

And that is because, as actor David Alvarez says, “Ballet is one of those things you can’t fake”.