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The Unfinished Dance circe 1947 (if I'm right)


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I was watching television the other day (which I rarely do).. but in this instance, I actually found something worthwhile and unrelated to reality tv. I came across the ending of a movie called The Unfinished Dance .. i believe it was circa 1947.. I was wondering if anyone has seen or heard of it? I tried searching online to rent it, or even to buy, but found nothing. It was a rather interesting movie, (or what I saw of it) and I love the mid-forty time period.... :dunno:

anyways.. if you have any info.. please let me know! Thanks!

p.s. sorry .. this is more of a movie, than a performace by a company.. :thumbsup:.. but still ballet related nevertheless...

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I was watching television the other day (which I rarely do).. but in this instance, I actually found something worthwhile and unrelated to reality tv. I came across the ending of a movie called The Unfinished Dance .. i believe it was circa 1947.. I was wondering if anyone has seen or heard of it? I tried searching online to rent it, or even to buy, but found nothing. It was a rather interesting movie, (or what I saw of it) and I love the mid-forty time period.... :dunno:

anyways.. if you have any info.. please let me know! Thanks!

p.s. sorry .. this is more of a movie, than a performace by a company.. :thumbsup:.. but still ballet related nevertheless...

From imdb.com (which confirms 1947):

Margaret O'Brien ... 'Meg' Merlin

Cyd Charisse ... Mlle. Ariane Bouchet

Karin Booth ... La Darina

Danny Thomas ... Mr. Paneros

Esther Dale ... Olga

Thurston Hall ... Mr. Ronsell

Harry Hayden ... Murphy

Elinor Donahue ... Josie (as Mary Eleanor Donahue)

Connie Cornell ... Phyllis

Ruth Brady ... Miss Merlin

Charles Bradstreet ... Fred Carleton

Ann Codee ... Mme. Borodin

Gregory Gaye ... Jacques Lacoste (as Gregory Gay)

Sounds fun!

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Thanks for that! How did I not know that website existed! Well. now I have a new site to pick through and find new videos!.. thanks!

I love the first sentence of the plot summary: "Meg, a young ballet student, idolizes the school's top ballerina, the shallow Ariane Bouchet."

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I think I saw this one almost a year ago and also thought it was interesting. If this is the same movie I'm thinking of and Meg was the little girl with brown hair who danced for an man at a store, was it normal for dancers those days to go up en pointe with a bent knee?? She would do a lot of those; instead of doing a pique arabesque with a straight knee, she'd almost bring it under her and bend it. What's the reason for that? Nevertheless she was a cute actress, especially in the fight and when she'd cry. And what can I say about Cyd Charisse?

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this would seem to be hollywood's re-make of MORT DU CYGNE, described in the NYPL dance coll. cat. as "the 1938 French film starring Mia Slavenska, Yvette Chauviré, and Janine Charrat. Directed by Jean-Benoit Levy. Chor: Serge Lifar. Released in the U.S. under title: Ballerina."

Charrat is the young student in the french film. Chauvire is the adored ballerina. Slavenska the up-and-coming ballerina whose career is cut short by the student's actions planned to prevent this newcomer from usurping her favorite ballerina's prominent status.

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Ack! I saw this when I was a teenager, and still carry it in memory as one of the "Golden Turkeys", movies which are so bad that a kind of grandeur creeps into them. (Plan Nine from Outer Space, Heaven's Gate, At Long Last Love.) The Unfinished Dance was a remake of the 1937 La Mort du Cygne, which starred Janine Charrat, Yvette Chauviré, and Mia Slavenska.

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I think I saw this one almost a year ago and also thought it was interesting. If this is the same movie I'm thinking of and Meg was the little girl with brown hair who danced for an man at a store, was it normal for dancers those days to go up en pointe with a bent knee?? She would do a lot of those; instead of doing a pique arabesque with a straight knee, she'd almost bring it under her and bend it. What's the reason for that? Nevertheless she was a cute actress, especially in the fight and when she'd cry. And what can I say about Cyd Charisse?

i wouldn't say pique on a bent knee was normal even "way back" then.

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just a thought relating any/all eccentrically bent knees to what lifar was calling innovative classical schooling at the time. chauvire spends a good deal of the god-awful swan solo lifar made for her in MORT on turned-in, bent knees.

vyroubova shows one of her young charges in the delouche film all about these 'niceties' a la serge. ugh....

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Perhaps it is somewhat comparable to today's Julia Stiles in Saved the Last Dance - ballet wise?

Mme. Hermine - I just meant that in the forties, ballet was more raw and unfinished than today... And we are lucky that is has progressed into something more polished.

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figurante, perhaps you would like to consider a list of ballets created in the 1940s?

for balanchine you can start with symphony in c

and theme and variations

which were both created in the same year as the film which is the topic of this conversation.

and yes, i know, you're not talking about choreography, you're talking about technique.

but my point as above is still the same.

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My sense of the old Hollywood ballet numbers is that they often took actors/singers/non-ballet trained dancers and gave them the minimal training necessary to do the role. Teach little Margaret the five positions and her choreography, stick pointe shoes on her and call, "Action!"

BTW, Figurante (and others), if you haven't seen Meet Me in St. Louis, rent it. This young actress steals the film from everyone, including Judy Garland. An absolute charmer!

I would add to Mme. Hermine's list of 1940 Balanchine ballets The Four Temperaments. So much for quaint and timid. :mad:

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Yes, I've heard of this film (Unfinished Dance) since I was a small child, though have never seen it myself. Why? Because my mother saw it as a small child in her local miniscule village theatre, and despite having never seen, or seeing, a live/filmed performance of "real" ballet for 20++ years before and after, loved the artform from that moment on. And so, when I was born, she made sure I took ballet (starting age 4), and eventually encouraged my later career as she was able. All because of a "B-list" (in more ways than one) movie. So, for all of you more priveleged viewers who live in cities that have professional companies, or tv stations that actually show dance productions or films (latenight or otherwise) please do not denigrate others' means of inspiration, or I will truly believe ballet is as elitist as everyone keeps ascerting.

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hold your horses, 4mrdncr. I'm not denigrating anyone's inspiration. if I were to consider 'the little princess' from the point of view of someone who had never seen ballet, i'd probably say, 'well shirley's a lot shorter than the other dancers, but oh the costumes are beautiful and the music was fantastic, a lovely waltz, and they danced on a gorgeous stage with beautiful scenery and it was fantastic. i would be in love and i would be planning my childrens' ballet lessons then and there. but in 1939 there were plenty of little girls shirley's age who danced better than she did, and she was up there in a tutu because she was shirley temple. it all depends, in my opinion, on what set of eyes you are looking at it with.

A 1947 image:

http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3421403

A circa 1929 image:

http://balletbookstore.com/ballerina/pic/doubr03.jpg

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I would add to Mme. Hermine's list of 1940 Balanchine ballets The Four Temperaments. So much for quaint and timid. :)

And there are several moments in 4Ts with bent knees on pointe, which was the original question, if I remember correctly.

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This bit from a 1998 interview with Margaret O'Brien goes into her dance background. Makes it sounds both a fun and ... rather easy thing to do.

AE: In the film "The Unfinished Dance," you play a young ballerina. You did your own dancing, didn’t you?

Margaret O’Brien: Yes, I loved doing that film because I came from a dancing family. At first the studio was going to use a double because they didn’t realize that I was a dancer, so they dismissed the double. There were lots of kids on that one which was fun, including Elinor Donahue, who became a good friend. We worked together again after that, and we still see each other from time to time. And I also got to wear these beautiful ballet costumes, which I loved.

AE: Did your mother teach you the ballet?

Margaret O’Brien: No, I had been to dancing school, but my mother was a dancer. She had taught me the flamenco and other dances, but not ballet. And my aunt (Marissa) was a Spanish dancer with Xavier Cugat for many years. He would have a Spanish dancer on his show at the Waldorf. And then my mother was a Spanish dancer with Eduardo Cansino, the father of Rita Hayworth. My mother even taught Rita some dances in her early years.

[ ... ]

AE - So did you study ballet?

Margaret O’Brien: I had not studied like the other kids, but I seemed to have a natural ability at dancing, so I learned all the steps in no time. In fact, the head of the Ballet Russe, who did most of the choreography wanted me to join the company. Of course, I wasn’t going to leave MGM, and the dancer’s life is very difficult. So, my mother said no. But I was really into the ballet at that time, carrying my toe shoes with me everywhere.

That "choreographer"/"head of the Ballet Russe" must be David Lichine, who is credited in imbd.com as "Dance Director." George Zoritch apparently appeared as an uncredited "Dance Partner."

The full interview is here. Go to page 3.

http://www.classicimages.com/1998/december98/mobrien1.html

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