Dancing away
The Red Shoes (1948), Black Swan (2010) tell the story of Nina Sayers’ and Victoria Page’s struggles as young ballerinas. Vicky, Nina and the other older ballerinas are both cast as the leads in big productions. Vicky’s performance as the Red Shoes dancer is a huge success. However her director Lermontov fears that Vicky cannot rely solely on her human love. Nina, however, must embrace her sexuality in order to play the Swan Queen role. Nina struggles with her Black Swan identity and Vicky’s love life. These women lose control of the roles they play in their quest to be great dancers. Vicky and Nina’s struggles to balance their professional and personal lives lead to tragically ending their lives.
Both Nina and Vicky are committed dancers. Vicky is invited by Ballet Lermontov to join them. Lermontov asks Vicky why she dances and Vicky responds with the question “Why do I live?” Lermontov is impressed and believes Vicky has potential. Vicky is however completely ignored by Lermontov when she arrives at the theatre. Vicky can’t let this stop her from following her dreams. She is determined to continue improving her dance skills. Nina is determined to excel in dance. She is committed to dance as her main focus and is devoted to it. Instead of making friends out with other kids, she stays home to learn dance moves. Nina’s mother gives up her job as dancer to raise Nina. Nina also works hard. Nina’s mother is strict and has complete control over her daughter’s life. Nina starts classes with Lermontov and doesn’t feel discouraged. She is determined to impress him and get noticed. Lermontov is now more impressed by her performance at London’s Mercury Theater. Vicky seems initially intimidated when Vicky spots him among the crowd. But she soon becomes completely absorbed in the role and loses her mind. Lermontov is able to recall her and allow her to join their company’s tour. He gives her a role as a dancer in The Red Shoes at Monte Carlo.
Nina must also impress the director in order to be given the part. Thomas Leroy is the director and taps some of the ballerinas in the shoulder as he discusses Swan Lake. Nina does NOT get tapped. Vicky is not called while Lermontov appears to announce the names and locations of the Ballet Lermontov’s dancers. The director does call on dancers he does have in the production. Nina watches the Swan Queen audition and realizes she won’t get the part, as her primary focus during practice was on the White Swan. So Nina decides to call Thomas and asks him for the Swan Queen part. Thomas first refuses to let her play the Swan Queen. Then, as she is about leaving, he kisses her. Nina is shocked and biting her lip at Thomas’s behavior. Thomas becomes deeply affected by Nina’s reaction. Nina is surprised when the director gives her the Swan Queen role.
Vicky is given the main role in The Red Shoes by Lermontov because unlike other actors, he believes and was impressed by Vicky’s performance at The Mercury Theater. Although she didn’t have to fight for Nina’s role, she did put in a lot of effort to achieve it. Vicky is still having trouble understanding the music and following its rhythms while she prepares. Lermontov knows the solution. Vicky is forced to listen at all meals during rehearsals of The Red Shoes. She is slowly becoming obsessed with her role in The Red Shoes, and she has to experience it every day. Vicky sees eating meals as a form of rest. To fully understand her character, she must work on it even when she is free.
Nina is an expert on the Swan Queen’s role and is familiar in the music. However she must accept her sexuality as well as maturity to fully perform this role. Nina is a child trapped in the body of an adult woman. It’s easy to see that Nina is innocent. She lives in a pink room with lots of stuffed animals and wears mostly pink. Thomas tells her that she must embrace her Black Swan side to be the Swan Queen. She has to be sexy, seductive, and she must do this. Thomas gives her a fascinating assignment: touch yourself sexually. Nina seems to be able to have sexual pleasure, even though she isn’t very comfortable with it. Thomas sexually seduces Nina after he assists her with her part. He passionately touches Nina as they dance. She longs to experience more of Thomas’s affections and to become more sexually active. Nina’s personal life becomes intertwined with her role. She must embrace her sexuality to fulfill her role. Her dark side slowly causes her to lose control.
Vicky says that being open to her sexuality and love can make it difficult to be a good dancer. Lermontov says that no dancer is able to fully dedicate themselves to their careers if they are in a relationship. Vicky’s relationship is with Julian, the young composer for Ballet Lermontov. This angers him. Maybe Vicky meets Julian while Vicky learns the music for The Red Shoes. Lermontov continues to produce great ballets and Vicky gets the lead roles. Julian is enthralled by his belief that romantic relationships and love are an obstacle to real dancing. Vicky is shocked by Lermontov’s decision. She struggles to decide between her love of Julian and ballet. She marries Julian and decides to stay with him, but not before she is able to dance like Lermontov wanted her to.
Both films showcase how ballet dancers are able to lose themselves and their minds, while fully committed to the role. The stage is seen from the inside of the dancer’s eyes in both The Red Shoes as well as Black Swan. The faces and shoes are often shown in close-ups. Vicky’s expressions and tension are clearly visible in close-ups. Vicky is able to see Lermontov in Grisha’s eyes at one point during The Red Shoes’ long dance sequence. The image then becomes Julian. Vicky’s visions can cause Vicky to lose her sense of direction. Nina also seems to be going insane when she plays the Swan Queen role. The Swan Queen is Nina’s vision of herself as a mixed-bird/human. In this performance, she seems to lose all sense of self. In both films, the main characters dance with terrifying mask-wearing monsters. These scenes show that the life of a ballerina is not easy. Nina is unable to control her Black Swan side.
The dramatic finale in The Red Shoes occurs when Vicky can’t control her red shoes any more. Lermontov convinces Vicky to return to Monte Carlo to take a vacation. Vicky doesn’t tell Julian and is shocked when he enters her dressing room the night before. Vicky now must choose between her two greatest passions – dancing and her husband Julian. Julian is aware that Vicky will prefer dance to her other passions and leaves. Vicky is delighted to be continuing dancing and Lermontov tells Vicky that he is glad to see her. He is suggesting that she embrace her dance career fully and make ballet her main focus. The main character in Andersen’s fairytale “The Red Shoes,” wears red shoes to make it dance. Lermontov’s version tells the story that she has to remove her feet from her dance floor in order to stop it. Vicky suffers a tragic loss of control over the red heels, and she is forced to leap onto the tracks every time a train comes. Vicky’s passion for dance and her flawless performance in The Red Shoes lead to her life being completely taken over. Vicky, like Andersens’s heroine, is unable to balance her life with dance.
Nina is unable to see the Black Swan in herself and loses her mind. She notices women in her mirror who look darker than she does and begins to see them. Nina takes out black feathers on her back just before Swan Lake premieres. Nina acts irrationally when anxiety and stress take control of her conscience. Lily, a fellow choreographer, threatens Nina with taking her Swan Lake part. After the first ballet, she stabbing Lily with a mirror. Nina doesn’t care about the consequences. She is focused on her Swan Queen role at this moment in her life. She considers herself the Swan Queen, and dances in the next act. After she murders Lily, she is able to identify fully with the evil in herself. However, Nina doesn’t actually murder Lily. Nina instead kills herself by stabbing herself. As she prepares for this role, Nina goes insane and commits suicide.
The tragedy of talented and young ballerinas who died in The Red Shoes and Black Swan is a reminder of the difficulties of being a ballet dancer. Because of the beauty and grace of ballet, many girls want to be a ballerina. It can also be very difficult and cause much suffering. Ballerinas face many difficulties, including bleeding feet and emotional problems that can even lead to their suicide. The Red Shoes as well as Black Swan are two films that show the hardships faced by ballerinas. These films show that perfection is not possible and that balance between personal and professional life can lead to terrible consequences.
