Top 10 Most Underrated Ballet Scenes in Movies

Chinese dancer Li Cunxin’s migration to the West is beautifully rendered in this biopic. Chi Cao’s sole acting performance lived up to his recommendation from Li himself. But his more seasoned talents in dance were especially explosive in the pas de deux from “Don Quixote”. Cao’s passionate, acrobatic rendition was already one of his signature performances with the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Representing Li’s own breakout on the American stage, the solo sequence is dramatically enhanced by slow-motion. It's still not easy to keep up with his virtuosic movements. Even if “Mao’s Last Dancer” is considered a hidden gem, this display of both Li and Cao’s prowess is seen as the film’s highlight.

Several memorable dances find Billy Elliot showing up those who doubt his dreams. Just as crucial, of course, is overcoming the hurdle of his own nerves. That is what makes his climactic audition for the Royal Ballet School so great. Billy’s anxious pace, narrow stance and crude poses are not technically adept. Still, he hits the right moves through his visible anxiety. It’s a simple revue of his education, setting up a seemingly ruinous confrontation with the judges about why he loves ballet. This actually convinces them to take a chance on the underdog. Billy’s performance of “Swan Lake” in the future punctuates the message that belief is the first step to mastery.

Rudolf Nureyev left big pointe shoes to fill for the Ralph Fiennes-directed biopic “The White Crow”. Acclaimed Ukrainian dancer Oleg Ivenko mostly embodied the master with a revelatory acting performance. With a unique dramatization of a “La Bayadère” production in Paris, he shows how much effort went into Nuryev’s effortlessness. His private, intense practice of a solo is intercut with backstage preparation for the big show. Ivenko’s breathtaking final performance is then captured with only two camera cuts. Fiennes’s experimental filming and editing between the two scenes suggest how much time ballet dancers invest in a single moment. More importantly, it confirms Ivenko’s worthiness to channel one of the greats in modern ballet.

Worlds collided when Latvian ballet idol Mikhail Baryshnikov and American tap titan Gregory Hines played rival defectors. While “White Nights” is best-known for their genre-bending duos, Baryshnikov’s solo crossover is especially moving. Alone with his former flame in the theater where they started their dance careers, his Kolya character expresses his sense of freedom in the West. He then unleashes an epic fusion of ballet, modern, and folk dance that conveys joy with a certain longing. The accompanying song is “Capricious Horses”, a melancholy ballad by treasured Soviet artist Vladimir Vysotsky. This captured Kolya's bittersweetness about leaving a repressive state, while celebrating the culture behind it. It may thus also be one of Baryshnikov’s most profoundly personal performances on film.

“High Strung” is highlighted by stirring rivalry and dazzling fusion between classical and hip-hop dance. Things really heat up when another genre crashes the characters’ outing at a bar. The crowd is captivated by three dancers cutting up the tables while a live band fiddles away. The ballerinas jump in with their own twist on step dance to violinist Johnnie’s country variations on “Swan Lake”. Is this supposed to be improvised on their night off? It's ballet like you've never seen it, at least not since the barn dance in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”. As creatively as “High Strung” mingles traditional and modern choreography, this detour to festive folk is a wholly original spectacle.

Robert Altman favored a fly-on-the-wall approach to the dynamics of a dance company. With even the dance scenes usually shot wide, Emily Patterson's solo is even more enchanting. Altman pulls in and out of the spotlight as the character spirals in an elaborate rope dance. Dream pop singer Julee Cruise’s “The World Spins” brings an additional modern whimsy to Gerald Arpino’s choreography. And the experimental presentation of Patterson’s emotive dancing does indeed make it seem like there’s no-one else in the world. Altman’s “The Company” may be admired as an obscure representation of the Chicago ballet world. But Noel’s literally soaring moment in the spotlight captures the purest magic of the art.

The journey of sexually fluid dancer Merab was internationally acclaimed, but controversial in its native Georgia. He nonetheless has his moment of triumph in a dance audition climax that defies convention. The judges actually cut Merab off fairly early. But despite this and an injured ankle, he continues with an intense marriage of ballet and percussive Georgian folk dance. Levan Gelbakhiani’s stunning physicality and acting make clear that the audition is not the real payoff for “And Then We Danced”. Merab cathartically expresses his unique masculinity and devotion to a culture that struggles to understand him. The film ends without revealing if he made the cut, but finds true closure in his confident performance and walkout.

“The Red Shoes” is already revered for its dance scenes, particularly the epic 17-minute climax. But it takes a keen eye to spot the innovation in its visceral interpretation of “Swan Lake”. Boris Lermontov sneaks into a matinee production to observe his company’s newcomer Victoria Page. Moira Shearer’s beautiful portrayal of the White Swan surely stands out from an impressive ensemble. What makes this scene stand out is how it utilizes intimate camerawork to project Vicky’s intense drive. The spinning POV shots during her piqué turns are especially creative. This brilliant stylistic choice would also be referenced by future ballet films like 2010’s “Black Swan”. That's a testament to “The Red Shoes”’s cinematic vision with even the most popular ballets.

Golden Globe winner “The Turning Point” lived up to its title in the ballet film genre. For all of its iconic scenes on the stage, perhaps the most haunting is in the studio. The company is rehearsing beautifully, if somewhat mechanically, when Emilia suddenly locks eyes with Yuri. Everyone else then disappears as they leap into the balcony scene from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”. Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lesley Brown are naturally sensational, with sensuality and longing imbued in every movement under soft cinematography. This sets the tone for a passionate affair that will soon be soured by drama. For the moment, though, this display of ballet’s romantic soul takes “The Turning Point” from spectacle to its most artful depth.

It took a long time for Vincente Minnelli’s “The Pirate” to be recognized as a Hollywood musical treasure. Still, no-one can deny the prestige of its ballet sequence. When circus performer Serafin poses as fugitive pirate Macoco, Manuela fantasizes about his adventures. Minnelli expresses them in a scarlet, explosive dreamscape, where the scoundrel dances with his lover as gracefully as he fights off enemies with a sword and spear. This swashbuckling set piece stylishly balances Manuela’s romantic ideals with the terrifying reality of Macoco. It also represents Gene Kelly’s masterful experimentation with ballet and commercial choreography. The so-called “Pirate Ballet” still doesn’t have the fame it deserves, as one of the richest partnerings of spectacular filmmaking and versatile ballet.

What are your favorite ballet dances in film? Leap into the comments.