Marcelino Sambé in “Figure 5”

In this short film, part of a series called “Figures,” Royal Ballet principal dancer Marcelino Sambé opens up about his life as a Black, queer ballet dancer. Set over short clips of Sambé dancing in his home country of Portugal, an audio recording shares his words about struggling with his identity as a classical dancer—and his surprise at how much he loves his life in ballet nevertheless.

“Figure 5”
is directed and produced by Bertil Nilsson and edited by Anna Meller, with sound design by Angel Perez Grandi.