Åse Svenheim Drivenes is a Norwegian-born filmmaker who made her
directorial debut with the documentary “Our Man in Kirkenes” (2010), which screened on NRK (Norway’s BBC) and YLE (Finland’s BBC), and then made “I am Kuba,” pitched at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam Forum in 2013.
“Maiko’s Dance” is her first feature-length documentary. (Press materials)
“Maiko: Dancing Child” premiered at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival on June 14.
W&H: Please give us your description of the film playing.
ASD: “Maiko: Dancing Child” is the story of
an outstanding prima ballerina in Norway, Maiko Nishino, who left Japan as a
young girl to pursue a professional dancing career. Her family sacrificed
everything in order to send her to the best ballet schools in Europe. With so much at stake, she knew she could not return to Japan a failure, and
that drive helped her become a top dancer in Europe. Now she is at the
height of her career. She dreams of becoming a mother, which is not easy to
combine with the strenuous demands of being a performer. The film follows
her journey back to the stage and the obstacles she faces after she has a
child.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
ASD: Maiko is a well-known dancer in Norway, so I knew a little about
her beforehand. But after seeing her on stage, I was blown away by her performance. It was such an emotional experience, and I was fascinated by her presence and
energy. It’s difficult to imagine her anywhere else. Her name
literally means “dancing child.” She has a very strong artistic style
that really appealed to me. With Maiko’s background story, I saw a true
element of human drama. I can’t imagine the pressure she must have been under
coming to Europe as a young girl, knowing her family had sold their home for
her to become a successful prima ballerina. She knew she couldn’t return to Japan as a failure. I was genuinely curious about Maiko. What drives her, and
who is Maiko today? With the story and the beautiful music and dance, I saw a film with huge visual potential.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
ASD: I really didn’t want the film to be a traditional portrait of a dancer,
so I spent time looking for the story. I wanted it to to be a character-driven, human-process story. I knew of her obstacles in the past, but I needed to find
out, “What are Maiko’s challenges today? She has made it as a successful
dancer and she is happily married. In a way, she has ‘landed’ safely. What storyline could push the drama forward? What are the difficult
choices Maiko faces today?”
I didn’t know she would get pregnant and if she was really ready for it
when I started filming her. When she got pregnant, it was natural to follow this
as the main story. If she hadn’t got pregnant, it would perhaps be a film
that wouldn’t follow a classical storyline.
It was also new and challenging for me to film a professional. This was
something I had never done before. I spent time finding methods and soon
discovered I could involve her more in the creative process than I normally do
with my characters. When Maiko is performing or focusing on something really
important to her, sometimes having a camera team could be distracting.
