Anna Pavlovna Pavlova was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev. Pavlova is most recognized for her creation of the role of The Dying Swan and, with her own company, became the first ballerina to tour around the world, including performances in South America, India and Australia.
This is a list of movies featuring recognizable dance forms, demonstrating them, shedding light on their origin, or being the base of a plot.
Giselle, originally titled Giselle, ou les Wilis, is a romantic ballet in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first performed by the Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris on 28 June 1841, with Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi as Giselle. It was an unqualified triumph. It became hugely popular and was staged at once across Europe, Russia, and the United States.
Honey is a 2003 American dance film directed by Billie Woodruff and stars Jessica Alba, Mekhi Phifer, Romeo Miller, Joy Bryant, and David Moscow, with a cameo by Missy Elliott and featured performances by Tweet, Jadakiss, Ginuwine, and Blaque.
Save the Last Dance is a 2001 American teen dance film produced by MTV Films, directed by Thomas Carter and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas as a teenage interracial couple in Chicago who work together to help Stiles' character train for a Juilliard School dance audition.
Rosella Hightower was an American ballerina and member of the Choctaw Nation who achieved fame in both the United States and Europe.
Alicia Alonso was a Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer whose company became the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1955. She is best known for her portrayals of Giselle and the ballet version of Carmen.
Natalia Romanovna Makarova is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. The History of Dance, published in 1981, notes that "her performances set standards of artistry and aristocracy of dance which mark her as the finest ballerina of her generation in the West."
Izabella Miko is a Polish actress, dancer, film producer, and environmental activist. She is best known for starring in the film Coyote Ugly and the music videos "Mr. Brightside" and "Miss Atomic Bomb" by The Killers. While a dance student in Poland, Miko was recruited to study at the New York City Ballet at age 15 and later studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute. She made her American film debut in Coyote Ugly (2000), followed by a starring part in the vampire thriller The Forsaken (2001).
Olga Alexandrovna Spessivtseva was a Russian ballerina whose stage career spanned from 1913 to 1939.
Carolina "Carla" Fracci was an Italian ballet dancer, actress and ballet director. Considered one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century, she was a leading dancer of La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan, then worked freelance with international companies including the Royal Ballet, London, Stuttgart Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Fracci is known for her interpretation of leading characters in several Romantic ballets, such as La Sylphide, Giselle, Swan Lake, and Romeo and Juliet. She also performed in ballets such as Nijinsky and Complete Bell Telephone Hour Performances: Erik Bruhn 1961–1967. She danced with partners including Erik Bruhn, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Later, she directed several ballet companies in Italy, including at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in Rome.
Beverly Jane Fry is an Australian ballerina.
Symphony in Three Movements is a neoclassical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to the music of the same name by Stravinsky. The ballet was made for the New York City Ballet Stravinsky Festival in 1972, a tribute to the composer following his death. The ballet premiered on June 18, 1972, at the New York State Theater.
Monica Loughman is an Irish ballet dancer and teacher, writer, and television personality. She was the first Westerner to achieve solo status with the Perm State Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Russia, where she danced for 16 years. On her return to Ireland she established a network of ballet schools. She has also featured on a television series, Ballet Chancers, and appeared in other TV shows such as The Panel, The Podge and Rodge Show, Tubridy Tonight and The Late Late Show, and she is co-author of a book about her experiences.
Hildur Isabella Boylston is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT).
Stella Abrera is a Filipina-American ballet dancer. She danced as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre until her retirement in 2020, and is the company's first Filipina principal ballerina. She is now the artistic director of the dance cultural park Kaatsbaan.
Skylar Paley Brandt is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.
Nikisha Fogo is a Swedish ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and previously a principal at the Vienna State Ballet.
Lidija Sotlar was a Serbian-born Slovenian ballerina and teacher who was a member and a soloist of the Ljubljana Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet between 1948 and 1972, performing the role of 80 characters from a wide variety of ballet repertoire. She led the Lidija Sotlar Ballet Group which she established at the Central Ballet School in Ljubljana and passed on her knowledge of ballet to several generations of Slovenian dancers and established the Yugoslav Ballet Artists in 1977 that she led artistically and organisationally until 1983. Sotlar was a 2001 recipient of the Honorary Badge of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia.
