'Étoile' Captures The World Of Dance — And Is Full Of Witty Banter And Quirky Characters

The creators of "Gilmore Girls" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" are back with a new show on Prime Video.

Dance has been a consistent influence in the shows created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino. From the glitter-throwing kids in Miss Patty’s annual recital to the prominent role of the musical in the “Gilmore Girls” revival to the plot of “Bunheads,” a short-lived show about teen ballerinas, to the burlesque performances in the award-winning “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” it’s easy to see how Sherman-Palladino was shaped by her past as a trained dancer. She was even still dancing up until she got her first writing job on “Roseanne.”

Given this record, Sherman-Palladino considers Prime Video’s “Étoile” to be “the next logical step” in her career because it goes “into the world of professional ballet behind the scenes.” The new series is now streaming.

Any longtime fan of the Palladinos will probably agree about how natural this trajectory feels. As someone who spent most of middle school trying to emulate Rory Gilmore and watched “Bunheads” live from my college dorm, it is easy to see the increasing prominence that dance has played in Sherman-Palladino’s storytelling as both a stage-setting device and central plot device.

The world of “Étoile” is immersive and just as specific and stylized as every show the Palladinos have created; the focus on ballet makes it feel especially niche in a way that is reminiscent of “Bunheads.” Yes, the show has the trademark fast-paced dialogue and witty banter that fans of the Palladinos will expect, and it centers on quirky, imperfect characters with unique personal stakes. However, it’s the first show of theirs to ever drop all eight episodes at once to encourage binge-watching, and it feels like the least bingeable of their shows. Every episode is so performative that auto-playing into the next one feels like a waste. It’s a show that deserves a week’s wait between episodes to savor the level of production for which the Palladinos have become known.

“Étoile,” which means “star” in French, follows two professional ballet companies, one based in New York and helmed by Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby) and the other based in Paris and led by Geneviève Lavigne (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Both companies are struggling, especially after the impact of Covid. They don’t have enough money, the patrons in New York are pocketing the etched champagne glasses, there are union issues, audiences’ interest in ballet is dwindling, and more and more dancers have “abandoned toe shoes for TikTok.”