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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