Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/144304
Dancing Fools Breaking Pointe chronicles bad behavior in a real ballet troupe TV by DEAN ROBBINS The CW, home of teen soaps like Gossip Girl, goes in a different direction with Breaking Pointe (Monday, 9 p.m.). Beginning its second season, the docuseries peeks behind the scenes of Salt Lake City's Ballet West, where dancers dedicate themselves to an exacting art form. Then again, the dancers' love lives are not unlike those in Gossip Girl. Ballet West turns out to be a lot like your own high school, with nice girls and mean girls, good guys and rogues. Unlike your own high school, the troupe contains only people with amazing bodies. That's not a complaint. It's easy to while away an hour gawking at the main characters, no matter how tawdry they get. The season premiere is an enjoyable hour of backbiting and bickering. When two romantically involved dancers start having problems, another dancer counsels them: "I feel like you guys have, like, been a little, like, different than you were, like, in the beginning of the relationship." (I said they had amazing bodies, not amazing brains.) As Ballet West begins rehearsing Cinderella, the artistic director says he hopes to "bring out that sadness and that joy that is so much a part of the story." I'm not sure this bunch is capable of sadness and joy. Sneering and scheming is more their speed. But, as I said, that's not a complaint. Camp Wednesday, 10 pm (NBC) In this dramedy, a brainy misfit named Kip (Thom Green) is forced to attend a summer camp that's seen better days. Little Otter Family Camp is run by Mack (Rachel Griffiths), a woman who's not quite up to the task. Her facility is falling 18 UCW JULY 17-23, 2013 apart, while her rival's summer camp is doing so well that it treats its campers to lobster for dinner. At first glance, you expect Camp to be a snarky farce along the lines of Meatballs. It offers sex and drugs, hunks and hot girls, along with other easy satirical targets. But the characters prove to be likable, with actual human qualities. We learn why Mack cares so much about saving Little Otter, and why Kip has his reasons for being alienated. In short, Camp has a heart. I wouldn't change the channel to any other show in this timeslot, even if it offered lobster. City Girl Diaries Sunday, 9 pm (Style) This new reality series immerses us in the lives of five ambitious women in New York City. "This group of girls is completely crazy," says Marianne, an editor at In Touch magazine. "We should not be loose on the streets." After an hour of City Girl Diaries, you feel like you've rushed from Brooklyn to the Lower East Side to Midtown and back again, hitting every party and café along the way. You can almost smell the taxicab fumes on your clothes. Entertainment reporter Raina picks up a guy in Leigh's beauty salon. Fashion designer Leila hustles to get a publicist. Kelly throws a huge birthday party for herself to promote her business. "I just want everybody to get along and no drama," she says. Yeah, good luck with that. By the end of the night, Kelly is in tears and Raina has her tongue down the throat of Leigh's former boyfriend. These women probably shouldn't be loose on the streets. But as long as they are, I'm happy to trail along on City Girl Diaries. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM