Top 10 Most Underrated Ballet Scenes in Movies

MsMojo

These ballet scenes need more love. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at the most mesmerizing ballet scenes to either be featured in underappreciated films, or be themselves underappreciated in classics of the dance genre.

Transcript

00:00Senores y senores, mesdames, messieurs, ladies and gentlemen, your most kind attention.

00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today, we're looking at the most mesmerizing ballet scenes to either

00:12be featured in underappreciated films, or be themselves underappreciated in classics

00:17of the dance genre.

00:18Dad, is it true that Yuri does doubles in the air and then a twist and then comes down

00:23on one knee?

00:24I heard.

00:25Jesus.

00:2710.

00:28Don Quixote – Mao's Last Dancer Chinese dancer Li Xunxin's migration to

00:33the West is beautifully rendered in this biopic.

00:36Che Tsao's sole acting performance lived up to his recommendation from Li himself,

00:41but his more seasoned talents in dance were especially explosive in the Pas de Deux from

00:45Don Quixote.

00:46Tsao's passionate, acrobatic rendition was already one of his signature performances

00:58with the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

01:00Representing Li's own breakout on the American stage, the solo sequence is dramatically enhanced

01:05by slow motion.

01:11It's still not easy to keep up with his virtuosic movements.

01:14Even if Mao's Last Dancer is considered a hidden gem, this display of both Li and Tsao's

01:19prowess is seen as the film's highlight.

01:249.

01:27Royal Ballet Audition – Billy Elliot

01:37Several memorable dances find Billy Elliot showing up those who doubt his dreams.

01:41Just as crucial, of course, is overcoming the hurdle of his own nerves.

01:45That is what makes his climactic audition for the Royal Ballet School so great.

01:58Billy's anxious pace, narrow stance, and crude poses are not technically adept.

02:03Still, he hits the right moves through his visible anxiety.

02:06It's a simple review of his education, setting up a seemingly ruinous confrontation with

02:10the judges about why he loves ballet.

02:13This actually convinces them to take a chance on the underdog.

02:18Billy's performance of Swan Lake in the future punctuates the message that belief

02:31is the first step to mastery.

02:338.

02:34Practice and Performance – The White Crow

02:44Rudolf Nureyev left big pointe shoes to fill for the Ralph Fiennes-directed biopic The

02:48White Crow.

02:49Acclaimed Ukrainian dancer Oleg Kavanko mostly embodied the master with a revelatory acting

02:54performance.

02:55With a unique dramatization of a La Bayadere production in Paris, he shows how much effort

03:00went into Nureyev's effortlessness.

03:02Fiennes' private, intense practice of a solo is intercut with backstage preparation

03:06for the big show.

03:08Ivanko's breathtaking final performance is then captured with only two camera cuts.

03:26Fiennes' experimental filming and editing between the two scenes suggest how much time

03:29ballet dancers invest in a single moment.

03:32More importantly, it confirms Ivanko's worthiness to channel one of the greats in modern ballet.

03:427.

03:46Capricious Horses – White Nights

03:57Nights collided when Latvian ballet idol Mikhail Baryshnikov and American tap titan

04:02Gregory Hines played rival defectors.

04:05While White Nights is best known for their genre-bending duos, Baryshnikov's solo crossover

04:10is especially moving.

04:21Alone with his former flame in the theater where they started their dance careers, his

04:25Kolya character expresses his sense of freedom in the West.

04:28He then unleashes an epic fusion of ballet, modern, and folk dance that conveys joy with

04:34a certain longing.

04:44The accompanying song is Capricious Horses, a melancholy ballad by treasured Soviet artist

04:49Vladimir Vosotsky.

04:51This captured Kolya's bitter sweetness about leaving a repressive state.

04:55While celebrating the culture behind it, it may thus also be one of Baryshnikov's most

04:59profoundly personal performances on film.

05:056.

05:08Classical Hoedown – High Strung

05:10High Strung is highlighted by stirring rivalry and dazzling fusion between classical and

05:14hip-hop dance.

05:15Things really heat up when another genre crashes the character's outing at a bar.

05:25The crowd is captivated by three dancers cutting up the tables while a live band fiddles away.

05:29The ballerinas jump in with their own twist on step dance to violinist Johnny's country

05:33variations on Swan Lake.

05:46Is this supposed to be improvised on their night off?

05:49It's ballet like you've never seen it, at least not since the barn dance in Seven Brides

05:53for Seven Brothers.

05:54As creatively as High Strung mingles traditional and modern choreography, this detour to festive

06:00folk is a wholly original spectacle.

06:075.

06:10The World Spins – The Company

06:12Robert Altman favored a fly-on-the-wall approach to the dynamics of a dance company.

06:16With even the dance scenes usually shot wide, Emily Patterson's solo is even more enchanting.

06:28Altman pulls in and out of the spotlight as the character spirals in an elaborate rope

06:32dance.

06:33Dream pop singer Julie Cruz's The World Spins brings an additional modern whimsy to

06:37Gerald Arpino's choreography.

06:39And the experimental presentation of Patterson's emotive dancing does indeed make it seem like

06:43there's no one else in the world.

06:55Altman's The Company may be admired as an obscure representation of the Chicago ballet

06:59world, but Noelle's literally soaring moment in the spotlight captures the purest magic

07:04of the art.

07:134.

07:14Merab Does It His Way – And Then We Danced

07:26The journey of sexually fluid dancer Merab was internationally acclaimed, but controversial

07:31in its native Georgia.

07:32He nonetheless has his moment of triumph in a dance audition climax that defies convention.

07:38The judges actually cut Merab off fairly early, but despite this and an injured ankle,

07:43he continues with an intense marriage of ballet and percussive Georgian folk dance.

07:55Levan Gelbakhiani's stunning physicality and acting make clear that the audition is

07:59not the real payoff for And Then We Danced.

08:02Merab cathartically expresses his unique masculinity and devotion to a culture that struggles to

08:06understand him.

08:14The film ends without revealing if he made the cut, but finds true closure in his confident

08:18performance and walkout.

08:203.

08:21Swan Lake – The Red Shoes The Red Shoes is already revered for its dance

08:26scenes, particularly the epic 17-minute climax, but it takes a keen eye to spot the innovation

08:31in its visceral interpretation of Swan Lake.

08:40Boris Lermontov sneaks into a matinee production to observe his company's newcomer Victoria

08:44Page.

08:45Moira Shearer's beautiful portrayal of the white swan surely stands out from an impressive

08:50ensemble.

08:57What makes this scene stand out is how it utilizes intimate camerawork to project Vicky's

09:02intense drive.

09:03The spinning POV shots during her pique turns are especially creative.

09:07This brilliant stylistic choice would also be referenced by future ballet films like

09:112010's Black Swan.

09:12That's a testament to the Red Shoes' cinematic vision with even the most popular ballets.

09:282.

09:29Romeo and Juliet – The Turning Point Golden Globe winner The Turning Point lived

09:33up to its title in the ballet film genre.

09:35For all of its iconic scenes on the stage, perhaps the most haunting is in the studio.

09:47The company is rehearsing beautifully, if somewhat mechanically, when Emilia suddenly

09:51locks eyes with Yuri.

09:53Everyone else then disappears as they leap into the balcony scene from Prokofiev's

09:57Romeo and Juliet.

10:06Mikhail Baryshnikov and Leslie Brown are naturally sensational, with sensuality and longing imbued

10:12in every movement under soft cinematography.

10:15This sets the tone for a passionate affair that will soon be soured by drama.

10:19For the moment, though, this display of ballet's romantic soul takes the turning point from

10:23spectacle to its most artful depth.

10:501.

10:52Hollywood Ballet – The Pirate It took a long time for Vincent Minnelli's

10:55The Pirate to be recognized as a Hollywood musical treasure.

10:58Still, no one can deny the prestige of its ballet sequence.

11:06When circus performer Serafin poses as fugitive pirate Makoko, Manuela fantasizes about his

11:12adventures.

11:13Minnelli expresses them in a scarlet, explosive dreamscape, where the scoundrel dances with

11:17his lover as gracefully as he fights off enemies with a sword and spear.

11:26The swashbuckling set piece stylishly balances Manuela's romantic ideals with the terrifying

11:32reality of Makoko.

11:33It also represents Gene Kelly's masterful experimentation with ballet and commercial

11:38choreography.

11:39The so-called pirate ballet still doesn't have the fame it deserves as one of the richest

11:44partnerings of spectacular filmmaking and versatile ballet.

11:53What are your favorite ballet dances in film?

11:56Leap into the comments.

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