Dancing Across Borders Directed by Anne Bass, 2010

Dancing Across Borders is the intimate and triumphant storu of Sokvannara “Sy” Sar, who as a young man in Cambodia was dancing with a small troupe in Angkor Wat when Anne Bass, a longtime patron of dance in America, saw him perform. Bass was so taken with Sy’s talent and potential that she arranged for him to come to New York and audition for the prestigious School of American Ballet. What unfolds in Dancing Across Borders is a tentative negotiation between Sy and the world of American ballet and culture-from the serene countryside of Southeast Asia to the high-powered rehearsal studios of New York, and finally to the stage of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. The film follows Sy’s unusual development as a dancer and offers an astonishing behind-the-scenes look into the world of American ballet.