' Black Swan' makes us think about the ultimate relationship between actors and dance

The path from world-famous dancer to star actor

Natalie Portman's star quality and acting ability in ``Black Swan'' and Jennifer Beals' beauty and freshness as a rising star in ``Flashdance'' were judged to be appropriate for the work, and this was a major factor in the success of the work. That would have been the right choice.

“Black Swan” (C)2013 Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC. All Rights Reserved.

However, there are ``dancers-actors'' who demonstrate the ultimate technique in dance movies, such as Jackie Chan in action movies. Good examples include Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly from the Golden Age of Musicals, who went from the dance world to the film industry and achieved success by playing dancer roles.

In Japanese movies, “Shall we dance?” ” Tamiyo Kusakari. In Hollywood, Mikhail Baryshnikov is mentioned. Baryshnikov, who was born in Latvia in the former Soviet Union and gained worldwide popularity for his superb technique, made his full-fledged screen debut in 1977 as a dancer in ``Days of Love''. He was suddenly nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In the movie, he not only showed super-class technique in the ballet masterpiece ``Pirate'' but also discovered his acting talent.

Baryshnikov also played the main character, a dancer, in ``White Nights'' (1985) and ``Dancer'' (1987). After that, he transformed from a dancer to an ``actor'' in the drama ``Sex and the City''.

There was also a special case of a figure skater turning into an actor. Ilya Kuric, gold medalist at the Nagano Olympics. After becoming a professional skater, he made his film debut as one of the main members in 2000's "Center Stage," which was set in a dance school. Truly professional technique was put to use in the role of a dancer.

Recent works that feature dancers as the main characters, such as ``Heartbeat'' and `` POLINA DANCES ME, '' intentionally use professional dancers to pursue the reality of dance rather than acting experience. However, these are not mainstream Hollywood productions aiming to become global hits. As in ``Black Swan,'' a story about a dancer has the potential to gain global popularity by starring a star who can dance to a certain extent.

In addition to Natalie Portman and Channing Tatum, there are many other stars with dance backgrounds, including Charlize Theron. Or, when a superstar in the dance world like Baryshnikov makes his long-awaited debut in the movies, a star actor who can dance will be born (in that sense, I'd like to see Sergei Polunin turn into an actor).

In any case, showing first-class dance on screen is a very high hurdle. That's why even star actors want to challenge their physical limits.

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Black Swan 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

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*Information as of October 2017 article publication.