In the early 1960s I can remember seeing a Walt Disney movie called "Ballerina" but I can't find out anything about it. I do know that Jenny Agutter played a little ballerina caught up in all the drama of the Royal Ballet. The movie was obviously a variation of the French original "Ballerina" (1937) and the theme about two rival ballerinas vying for the lead in "Swan Lake" is still fresh today ie the most recent "Black Swan" (2010).
The music is from Chopin and Gonoud and Serge Lifar, who started out as a protégé of Diagheliv, does the choreography which is exquisite, especially for the children's dance "The Dance of the Bees". With the magnificent Paris Opera House forming a background the story is about little Rose (Jeanine Charrat) who simply worships premier ballerina Mademoiselle Beaupre (Yvette Chauvire) but when she is replaced by the more dazzling dancer Karine (Mia Slovenska) for the lead in "Swan Lake" misunderstandings occur. For a start Karine laughs at a joke between the prop boys and it just happens to fall in the middle of Beaupre's solo so, of course, she thinks Karine is laughing at her. Beaupre resigns so Rose decides to sabotage Karine's debut - "she laughed at Mademoiselle so everyone will laugh at her!!! But the audience doesn't laugh because she falls through a trap door and breaks her leg - "worse than death to a dancer".
Slovenska was a stunning innovative dancer and there is a beautiful interpretive dance she performs in her dreams but now, as Karine, she has to resign herself to teaching and she finds in Rose, a fresh talent to mold into a dazzling dancer. This is a dark, psychological drama of guilt and Rose is driven almost mad by it and has to confide in her friends her terrible secret.
The irony is she finds her true mentor is Katrine - Beaupre, after dancing the lead in "Swan Lake", loses her dedication and gets caught up in a social whirl. She eventually leaves to be married. Of course Rose's secret doesn't remain one for long but even though Katrine finds out through an anonymous letter, after a confrontation, she puts it all behind her in an effort to get Rose ready for her examination. Rose is convinced she will be going to prison and runs away under the Paris Opera Thearte, hoping to find the river her friend told her about (shades of "Phantom of the Opera") but in reality no one in authority knows.
I found it a wonderful, enchanting movie with Jeanine Charrat, as Rose, carrying the whole film with her sensitive performance. Actually she was to become a professional dancer as well and only made a few films but she could have been a successful actress if she had wanted to. Yvette Chauvire, like her character, seemed to fade from the scene but Mia Slovenska was a young Yugoslavian ballerina who went to the U.S. to promote "Ballerina" and decided to stay.
The music is from Chopin and Gonoud and Serge Lifar, who started out as a protégé of Diagheliv, does the choreography which is exquisite, especially for the children's dance "The Dance of the Bees". With the magnificent Paris Opera House forming a background the story is about little Rose (Jeanine Charrat) who simply worships premier ballerina Mademoiselle Beaupre (Yvette Chauvire) but when she is replaced by the more dazzling dancer Karine (Mia Slovenska) for the lead in "Swan Lake" misunderstandings occur. For a start Karine laughs at a joke between the prop boys and it just happens to fall in the middle of Beaupre's solo so, of course, she thinks Karine is laughing at her. Beaupre resigns so Rose decides to sabotage Karine's debut - "she laughed at Mademoiselle so everyone will laugh at her!!! But the audience doesn't laugh because she falls through a trap door and breaks her leg - "worse than death to a dancer".
Slovenska was a stunning innovative dancer and there is a beautiful interpretive dance she performs in her dreams but now, as Karine, she has to resign herself to teaching and she finds in Rose, a fresh talent to mold into a dazzling dancer. This is a dark, psychological drama of guilt and Rose is driven almost mad by it and has to confide in her friends her terrible secret.
The irony is she finds her true mentor is Katrine - Beaupre, after dancing the lead in "Swan Lake", loses her dedication and gets caught up in a social whirl. She eventually leaves to be married. Of course Rose's secret doesn't remain one for long but even though Katrine finds out through an anonymous letter, after a confrontation, she puts it all behind her in an effort to get Rose ready for her examination. Rose is convinced she will be going to prison and runs away under the Paris Opera Thearte, hoping to find the river her friend told her about (shades of "Phantom of the Opera") but in reality no one in authority knows.
I found it a wonderful, enchanting movie with Jeanine Charrat, as Rose, carrying the whole film with her sensitive performance. Actually she was to become a professional dancer as well and only made a few films but she could have been a successful actress if she had wanted to. Yvette Chauvire, like her character, seemed to fade from the scene but Mia Slovenska was a young Yugoslavian ballerina who went to the U.S. to promote "Ballerina" and decided to stay.