In 2020, Sausalito filmmaker Lisa Le Lievre set out to create a film that would reflect the real-world experience of professional ballet dancers. She achieved her objective and more.
“Closer Than Yesterday,” which follows San Francisco Ballet dancers Carmela Mayo and Alexis Francisco Valdes as they prepare for and compete in the 2022 Helsinki International Ballet Competition, premieres Oct. 4 at a fundraiser for the 15th San Francisco Dance Film Festival.
“The film is a window into a rarified world that is unique and that perhaps a lot of people know very little about,” Le Lievre says. “We are used to hearing about the physical demands placed on elite athletes or the artistic accomplishments of actors, and yet dancers are constantly balancing these skill sets while making it look effortless.”
Le Lievre worked on the short films “Sirens Tango” (2018) and “Dancing With Nureyev” (2014) with San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Sasha De Sola; the experience offered her a behind-the-scenes look that left her in awe of the dancers’ talent, work ethic and commitment.
“They demonstrated peak performance physically, mentally, and emotionally; this seemed at odds with the clichés and stereotypes presented in popular media such as the film ‘Black Swan.’ … This documentary was a great opportunity to take the public behind the scenes of the elite ballet world and present young dancers with real role models rather than dramatic ones,” Le Lievre adds.
Le Lievre’s connection to De Sola prompted former San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Tiit Helimets, who retired in 2023 after 18 years with the troupe, to ask her to collaborate on a documentary. Helimets, a producer on “Closer Than Yesterday,” coaches the competitors in the movie.
“It’s a natural task for any ballet dancer,” Helimets says of his role as coach. “This art form is so particular and nuanced that I feel like it’s our duty to really pass it on to the next generation, to keep ballet alive, relevant and current, and so it’s important for a younger dancer to learn from experienced principal dancers—how to portray characters, how to tackle technical moments and technique in general.”
Helimets, who began his career in his native Estonia with the Estonian National Ballet, sees a side of himself in the younger dancers, and wants to mentor them the way he was mentored. He says he was fortunate that a principal dancer with the Estonian company “helped me find my sea legs as I started out as a young soloist and eventually got promoted to principal. I did all of my classical principal roles before the age of 21, thanks to him.”
“Closer Than Yesterday” covers how, in 2019, Helimets coached Esteban Cuadrado for the 2020 Helsinki competition, which was canceled due to the pandemic. They resumed their work, with Mayo, for 2022, but Cuadrado withdrew after testing positive for COVID, and Valdes stepped in.
Though Cuban-born Valdes encountered trouble obtaining a visa prior to departure for Helsinki, that last-minute snag paled compared to challenges the resolute Mayo faced recovering from back surgery before the competition.
“This was the perfect long-term challenge for her to set her path on from the beginning. It speaks volumes about why she dances,” says Helimets, who remained concerned about Mayo, who got very thin.
“I would often ask her not to do things full-out and just do the arms, or only focus on the feet,” Helimets says. “She would have given it to me, just like pumping it out every minute in a studio, so I used time effectively to problem solve and do other things rather than her constantly pounding her body.”
The trio faced another obstacle when they were told that one piece they were slated to perform was longer than the allowed four-minute limit. Helimets contacted the choreographer, San Francisco Ballet soloist Myles Thatcher, long-distance, to adjust the work. Valdes and Mayo performed it in three minutes and 59 seconds.
“The choreographer always trusts the person in charge of their ballet, and you try to carry out their wishes to make it as close as possible to what they are hoping to do,” Helimets says. “In this case, it worked out that there were two musical pieces that sounded very similar at the beginning and end that we were able to cut the middle out and fuse the ends together.”
Le Lievre’s crew followed events in real time—in cinéma vérité style—and every day was an unknown. She hopes the film captures how the dancers are under enormous pressure, as well as offers takeaway lessons for audiences and young dancers.
“Our culture is fixated on external validations of success, and in this environment winning is the ultimate goal. This film asks us to challenge this view and encourages us to confront these impossible expectations in a positive way,” she says. “For young dancers, the message is that dance doesn’t have a finish line, it’s an ongoing journey. Classical ballet is competitive, but the competition is with oneself. It’s about progressing toward your goals and always striving to be closer than yesterday.”
“Closer Than Yesterday” premieres at 8 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Premier Theater, 1 Letterman Drive, San Francisco. For tickets ($25-$75) and more information on the San Francisco Dance Film Festival (Oct. 4-20 in theaters, Oct. 21-Nov. 3 streaming) visit sfdancefilmfest.org.
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