Ballet and Film: the Perpetuation of a Patriarchy

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Throughout ballet’s history, there has been a dark underbelly integrated into the everyday life and experiences of dancers. This system manifests to form a patriarchal structure that disadvantages the women of the stage.


From regular prostitution among ballerinas within the Paris Opera Ballet during the 19th century to the explicit photo-sharing scandal among New York City Ballet dancers in 2018, an obvious dichotomy has shone among the stage lights. Women are the crux of the industry and simultaneously the artform’s biggest victims. This disparity manifests within film adaptations featuring female dancers as well.


Rise 

Within this film directed by Cédriv Klapisch, lead Élise is left struggling after suffering a career-ending injury on stage. Her injury stemmed from a shell-shocked attempt at performing after witnessing her boyfriend committing infidelity in the wings of the stage. During her performance, she injured her ankle and was forced to take leave from the company. Following her leave, Élise “descends into madness” and hesitantly attempts modern dance, which eventually leads to a newfound source of freedom. 


Although this film highlights Élise’s passionate journey of self-discovery and multiple genres of dance, it also poses some concerning themes. Élise is strictly propelled on her path to self-discovery through her boyfriend’s infidelity, which drives the ideas that a woman would remain stagnant unless acted upon by a man. Furthermore, after joining a modern dance group and coming into her own, the audience is bombarded with a (loveable but obvious) love interest named Yann. 


For Élise, her progress is restricted to a man’s influence in much of the film. Despite the tendency for Klapisch to rely on male characters to forward Élise’s story, his film is far from the most detrimental to the representation of female dancers. Additionally, Élise’s actress, Marion Barbeau delivers a promising and beautiful portrayal within both dance and acting.




Marion Barbeau as Élise in Rise (2022)


Polina 

This French drama directed by Valérie Müller and Angelin Preljocaj follows Polina, a young dancer who abandons her position at the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow to pursue a job at a modern dance company with her boyfriend, Adrien. Polina falls to the same plot structure as Rise as Adrien begins an affair with another dancer at the company. Polina also suffers the same injury as Élise, which also propels her journey within the film.


This unfortunate series of events leads Polina to Antwerp, Belgium where she meets Karl who leads her on the path to becoming a better dancer. At the end, Polina choreographs a duet for her and Karl to perform. Similar to Rise, this film relies heavily on the influence of male characters to progress the plot. Polina’s decision to pursue another company and her eventual success in dancing freely is reliant on the men around her. Among the criticisms, this film was praised for its gorgeous visuals.



Polina, played by Anastasia Shevtsova (2016) 


Black Swan 

This highly awarded film is both highly recognizable and layered. It was praised for Natalie Portman’s stunning portrayal of Nina Sayers: a naivé and obsessive dancer at the New York City Ballet eager to shine in her role as Princess Odette and her evil opposite, Odile in Swan Lake. However, Black Swan dives deeper into the obsession for perfection, mental illness, ageism, and harassment in the workplace. This film shines light on the ballet world’s intense obsession with perfectionism and pureness. To portray her role as ballerina Sayers, Portman pushed herself to the limit and lost 20 pounds. Furthermore, Winona Ryder’s character, Beth MacIntyre, is a successful prima who is in denial about aging and her upcoming retirement. She is also pushed aside by the company and Thomas Leroy, the NYCB director played by Vincent Cassel. MacIntyre is repeatedly depicted in a crazed light in which she is both manic and emotional.


Ryder’s role acts as a double edged sword as it pushes both important and damaging perspectives on the viewer. MacIntyre showcases the ballet world's strict rigidity and the disposability of dancers as they begin to age. However, she also perpetuates the “hysterical woman” stereotype. MacIntyre is reduced to an emotional woman who is distraught that she is no longer Leroy’s favorite. 


Leroy is also a driving force to the plot. He represents the patriarchal structure as he is a male leader. However, he also pits Sayers and MacIntyre in addition to Sayers and Lily (played by Mila Kunis) against one another. Leroy also repeatedly sexualizes Sayers in the workplace and encourages her to engage in sexual acts. He urges Sayers to reveal whether or not she is a virgin, pushing further the Madonna-whore complex which places women into two categories. They must either be virginal and pure, or sexual and aggressive. 


Black Swan plays with this concept in the context of the ballet: can Sayers be both the pure White Swan and the aggressive Black Swan? Despite the crudeness of this act, it is not unrealistic. Sexualization within dance companies as depicted in Black Swan has appeared in real-life examples as well.


by Taylor Addison 

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