The Red Shoes

Hans Christian Andersen published "The Red Shoes" in Copenhagen in 1845. In the original fairy tale Karen irreverently wears her red shoes to church, unaware of their magical, diabolical power. The shoes take her off dancing through the streets of the town where she encounters a soldier who admires her red shoes and asserts that the shoes will not come off when she dances and he taps each shoe, cementing the curse. After a while she manages to stop the shoes and takes them off. Later, her adoptive mother dies and she chooses to go to a dance rather than attend the funeral. A sworded angel appears and condemns her to dance even after she dies. Karen requests intercession but before the angel can respond the shoes take her off dancing through the streets again. Karen finds an executioner and pleads with him to cut off her feet. Even so, the red shoes continue dancing with her severed feet inside them. She wishes to attend church so that the other townspeople can witness her repentence, but the red shoes block the way. The next Sunday Karen remains at home and prays for release from the curse. The angel reappears and grants her wish. Karen's heart bursts from joy and her soul ascends to heaven.

The 1948 Powell & Pressburger film version is a unique work of art. Please refer below to Roger Ebert's review for his unique insights.

Roger Ebert's thoughtful movie reviews are insightful and often are pleadings to the movie-goer to expand their horizons. This review is both.

Please enjoy Ebert's silky review of Powell & Pressburger's "The Red Shoes."

Here is the fully restored film. If Ebert and Scorcese declare it the most important ballet film in the film repertoire, who are we to argue?

Even in the publicizing photo here, we can see the enduring influence of this masterpiece. The more recent "Black Swan" film portrays Natalie Portman in this same pose.

Rupert Christiansen's history of the contribution to ballet of Sergei Diaghilev and Les Ballets Russes. "Diaghilev's Empire", the publication of which marks the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of Diaghilev's birth, is a daring, impeccably researched reassessment of the phenomenon of Les Ballets Russes in twentieth-century art and culture. Rupert Christiansen, a leading dance critic, explores the fiery conflicts, outsize personalities, and extraordinary artistic innovations that make up this enduring story of triumph and disaster.

There are numerous threads connecting "The Red Shoes" to other aspects of ballet and art. Here is a collection of thoughts and tidbits that substantiate the claim that Serge Diaghilev and Les Ballets Russes were more influential to the course of Western Ballet than any other entities.

• Sir Thomas Beecham - Beecham conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the soundtrack of The Red Shoes. Sir Thomas was considered the foremost conductor for the ballet. Dancers felt secure with Beecham at the baton because he had their interests at heart. He placed the needs of the dancers ahead of the inclinations of his orchestra members -- adjusting tempo and loudness to suit the action being danced on stage.
• George Balanchine - Balanchine joined Les Ballets Russes in 1924 when he was 20 years old and became the principal choreographer. After Diaghilev's death in 1929, he became ballet master of the Royal Danish Ballet and in 1931 with Blum and de Basil he formed the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo - one of the short-lived successor companies to Les Ballets Russes. In 1933 with Lincoln Kirstein he founded the School of American Ballet and in 1948 the New York City Ballet. There isn't any other person who has had a larger immpact on ballet in the United States than George Balanchine.
• Léonide Massine - Massine took over choreographic duties after Balanchine's departure from Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. He choreographed several of the company's most successful ballets, including - "Petroushka", "Parade", "The Three Cornered Hat", "Gaîté Parisienne", and many others. As mentioned below, he also choreographed the Red Shoes ballet within the film, and danced/created the shoemaker role.
• Vaslav Nijinsky - Nijinksy was the greatest male dancer at the turn of the 20th century. He was Diaghilev's lover from joining Les Ballets Russes in 1909 until his marriage to Romola de Pulszky in 1913. He created the male roles in "L'apres-midi d'un faune", "Le Sacre du Printemps", "Jeux", "The Firebird", and many more.
• Robert Helpmann - Later, Sir Robert Helpmann, danced with the Vic-Wells Ballet as it's leading man starting in 1932. In the film, he was a member of the Ballet Lermontov and portrayed the priest in the Red Shoes ballet within the film.
• Moira Shearer - Shearer, who portrayed Vicky in the film was a dancer at the Vic-Wells Ballet when the film was made in 1948. At Vic-Wells she was under-study to and danced along-side Margot Fonteyn and Robert Helpmann. Director Michael Powell had said that while he had heard the phrase, its embodiment had eluded him until he met Ms. Shearer - "she's a natural."
• Anna Pavlova - Pavlova was the prima ballerina of Les Ballets Russes and was considered the greatest ballerina of her time.
• Enrico Cecchetti - Cecchetti is considred the greatest ballet teacher of all time. He was the ballet master for Les Ballets Russes. He was critical to the style and training of the troupe members. So much so that the members of the company refused to travel to the Americas unless Diaghilev brought Cecchetti along. Refer to the Ballet Methods item on the Ballet page for more background on the Cecchetti Method and the Days of the Week.
• Ninette de Valois -- Born Edris Stannus in County Wicklow, Ireland, de Valois was appointed Principal Dancer of the Beecham Opera at 21 years of age. She joined Les Ballets Russes in 1923 when she was 25. She went on to found the Sadler-Wells Ballet School and the Vic-Wells Ballet company. in 1931, those two institutions would become the Royal Ballet Covent Garden.
• Ludmilla Tchérina - Tchérina portrayed Irina Boronskaya in the Red Shoes, as well as the role of Giulietta in the Archers film version of Tales of Hoffman. She joined Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo in at 16 in 1040, was "discovered" by Serge Lifar and became the youngest prima ballerina in the history of dance at 18 years old.
• Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo - After the death of Diaghilev and the dissolution of Les Ballets Russes, two follow-on companies emerged. One was Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, the other was The Original Ballet Russe.
• American Ballet - After WWII, The Original Ballet Russe left Europe and begain touring exclusively in the Americas. As the dancers aged and retired they joined teaching staff or opened their own ballet schools throughout the Western Hemisphere. Almost every active American dancer can trace his or her training to a member of Les Ballets Russes.
• Cyd Charisse - Charisse was an American dancer and actress. She appeared in Singing in the Rain as the gangster's mol in the Broadway dance sequence. She also starred and danced with Gene Kelly in Kelly's pet project, Brigadoon. She's mentioned here as an example of the previous bullet item. Charisse studied ballet in Los Angeles in 1934 under Bronislava Nijinska -- the younger sister of Vaslav. Bronislava danced along side her brother as a member of Les Ballets Russes.
• Ballet within the ballet movie - The ballet of the Red Shoes in the latter part of the film was choreographed by Léonide Massine, who danced the role of the shoemaker as well. The internal ballet makes a point of highlighting aspects of the original fairy tale. At one point Robert Helpmann portrays a priest who approaches Vicky as she is dancing towards the Church doors. He holds out his arms and shakes his head - blocking her entry. But he gives her a short knife with which she futilely tries to slash at the ribbons of her Red Shoes. When she realizes that she can't cut them off her feet she races to the parapet wall and throws herself off into the path of an oncoming train. In this way she gives flight for her soul's journey to heaven.