Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger wrote, directed, and produced the 1948 British drama film The Red Shoes. It is also considered as one of the best ballet movies. It follows Victoria Page (Moira Shearer), a ballerina who joins the world-famous Ballet Lermontov, which is owned and run by Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), who puts her commitment to the ballet to the test by forcing her to choose between her work and her passion with composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring).

In his memoirs, Michael Powell commented on how, during WWII, Britons were persuaded to die for freedom and democracy, whereas The Red Shoes told them to "go and die for art." Powell referred to the film's unique blending of music, dance, and picture as "composed cinema," an ideal that inspired him to create additional attempts at a Gesamtkunstwerk, or "total artwork," such as The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) and Oh... Rosalinda!! (1955).

The Red Shoes's success in putting ballet on screen stemmed from defying balletomane snobbery and casting professional dancers and choreographers in prominent roles, particularly Moira Shearer, Ludmilla Tchérina, Robert Helpmann, and Léonide Massine. In 1999, the British Film Institute named it the ninth best British film of all time. Damage to the original negatives was so severe that it required extensive digital restoration, which began in 2006 at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. In 2017, Time Out magazine selected it as the fifth finest British film of all time, based on a vote of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers, and reviewers.

Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Casts: Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring
IMDb: 8,1

Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological horror film directed by Darren Aronofsky and based on a narrative by Heinz. Natalie Portman plays the lead, with Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder providing support. The plot centres around the New York City Ballet's production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. The performance demands a ballerina to play both the innocent and fragile White Swan, which is best embodied by Nina Sayers (Portman), and the dark and sensuous Black Swan, which is better embodied by Lily (Kunis). When Nina finds herself competing for the part, she is overwhelmed by a sense of great pressure, forcing her to lose her precarious grip on reality and plunge into lunacy.

The connection between ballet and horror may be traced back to The Red Shoes and its use of dancing to infiltrate Victoria Page's tormented mind. In contrast to the typical proscenium view, Jack Cardiff's cinematography used spinning point-of-view views to align the camera with the perspective of the dancer. The similar method can be seen in both versions of Suspiria (1977 and 2018), and Darren Aronofsky employed it to great success in Black Swan.

Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman as ballerina Nina, who is cast as Odette/Odile in a New York City Ballet production of Swan Lake, explodes ballet's physical and mental quest for perfection into a violent exhibition of self-destruction. The closing sequences mix Matthew Libatique's photography with dramatic lighting and CGI to create an even more nightmarish theatrical vision than Powell and Pressburger were able to explore six decades previously, with Clint Mansell's twisted version of Tchaikovsky's music.

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Casts: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel
IMDb: 8

Limelight is a 1952 American comedy-drama film written, produced, directed, and starring Charlie Chaplin. It is based on Chaplin's novella Footlights. Chaplin wrote the score, which Ray Rasch orchestrated. The film stars Chaplin as a washed-up comic who saves a suicidal dancer, played by Claire Bloom, from committing suicide, as the two strive to get through life; Nigel Bruce, Sydney Earl Chaplin, Wheeler Dryden, and Norman Lloyd all feature, and Buster Keaton makes an appearance. Melissa Hayden doubles Bloom in dance scenes.

W.C. Fields once referred to Charlie Chaplin as "the greatest ballet dancer who ever lived," and his final great film, a perfect blend of comedy and tragedy. Chaplin was a maestro, and Limelight is often regarded as his most personal work. Except for a great scene with Chaplin and Buster Keaton as a disaster-prone musical combo, it's a verbose, technically shaky effort that's both sentimental and self-indulgent. However, there are magnificent, genuinely moving moments, and for those who regard Chaplin as a pivotal character in twentieth-century popular culture, this is a must-see film and one of the best ballet movies as well.

Director: Charlie Chaplin
Casts: Charlie Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Nigel Bruce
IMDb: 8

Ballets Russes is a 2005 American feature documentary film about the dancers of Monte-Carlo's Ballet Russe. Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller directed it, and it starred Irina Baronova, Alicia Markova, George Zoritch, Tatiana Riabouchinska, and Tamara Tchinarova, among others. Marian Seldes narrated it, and Zeitgeist Films released it.

Ballets Russes dancers traversed the world, breaking records and raising the company's name to new heights by collaborating with painters and filmmakers. Despite its closure in 1968, the Ballets Russes is largely regarded as one of the most successful ballet companies in history. The documentary focuses on a reunion of the troupe's surviving members in 2000.

Filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine have created a dazzlingly mesmerizing ode to the revolutionary twentieth-century dancing ensemble known as the Ballets Russes by unearthing a treasure trove of archive video. What began as a group of Russian refugees who had never danced in Russia evolved into not one, but two competitive dancing troupes engaged in the infamous "ballet battles" that dominated London society prior to World War II.

Ballets Russes, directed with consummate ingenuity and infused with juicy anecdotal interviews from many of the company's glamorous stars, offers modern audiences a rare glimpse of the singularly remarkable collaboration of Russian, American, European, and Latin American dancers, choreographers, composers, and designers that transformed the face of ballet for generations to come.

Director: Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller
Casts: Irina Baronova, Alicia Markova, George Zoritch
IMDb: 7,9

Talking about the best ballet movies, Billy Elliot is not to be missed. Billy Elliot is a British coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Lee Hall that was released in 2000. The film is about a working-class child who discovers a passion for dance while growing up in County Durham, North East England, during the 1984-1985 miners' strike. Based on unfavorable prejudices about male ballet dancers, his father protests. Jamie Bell plays 11-year-old Billy, Gary Lewis plays his father, Jamie Draven plays Billy's older brother, and Julie Walters plays his ballet teacher in the film.

The film is amusing and enjoyable, with some touching parts. Billy Elliot has lots of dance scenes to keep your eyes riveted to the screen, such as this stunning scene in which Billy dances for his father. The film received three of thirteen award nominations at the 54th British Academy Film Awards. Jamie Bell became the youngest Best Actor in a Leading Role recipient. The film was also nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Director: Stephen Daldry
Casts: Jamie Bell, Adam Cooper, Gary Lewis
IMDb: 7,7

First Position is an American documentary film released in 2011. It follows six young dancers as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix in New York City, an annual competition for dancers ages 9 to 19 to gain a spot at a prestigious ballet company or school. Bess Kargman directed the film, which stars Michaela DePrince, Aran Bell, Gaya Bommer-Yemini, Miko Fogarty, Jules Fogarty, Joan Sebastian Zamora, and Rebecca Houseknecht as they train and prepare for what could be a watershed moment in their lives. The film was widely praised by critics.

The documentary was praised by critics and spectators alike for being bright and inspirational. It successfully captures the spirit of its six subjects, demonstrating their brilliance and perseverance as they seek to defy the obstacles. First Position won the Jury Prize at the San Francisco Doc Fest and audience awards for Best Documentary at the Dallas International Film Festival and the Portland International Film Festival, where Bess Kargman was also named Best New Director.

Director: Bess Kargman
Casts: Joan Sebastian Zamora, Rebecca Houseknecht, Aran Bell
IMDb: 7,5

Mao's Last Dancer is another best ballet movie Toplist wants to mention. Mao's Last Dancer is a 2009 Australian film based on the 2003 book of professional dancer Li Cunxin of the same name. Mao's Last Dancer is a biographical dance film set during Mao's Cultural Revolution. Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal performer Chi Cao, Australian Ballet performer Chengwu Guo, and Huang Wen Bin play Li Cunxin. Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Chen, and Amanda Schull all appear in the film.

The film follows his spectacular rise in China's limited ballet scene and subsequent emigration to the United States, primarily to avoid China's heavy-handed censorship. Because the film is political in nature, it is highly sensitive. Nonetheless, the film should be a must-see for everyone who appreciates ballet, with many memorable passages such as the Don Quixote scene.

Bruce Beresford directs Mao's Last Dancer, which is based on Li Cunxin's memoirs of the same name. Jan Sardi wrote the screenplay. Australian filmmaker Bruce Beresford is a master craftsman of character-driven dramas, as evidenced by Breaker Morant, Tender Mercies, Crimes of the Heart, and Paradise Road, drawing us into personal encounters with characters battling for freedom, independence, meaning, love, or community.

Director: Bruce Beresford
Casts: Chi Cao, Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan
IMDb: 7,3

Suspiria is a 1977 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Dario Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daria Nicolodi and was inspired in part by Thomas De Quincey's 1845 essay Suspiria de Profundis. Jessica Harper is an American ballet student who transfers to a famous dancing institution but discovers, following a series of gruesome killings, that the academy is a front for a supernatural conspiracy. Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bosé, Alida Valli, Udo Kier, and Joan Bennett, in her final film role, all appear.

The film is a cult classic ballet horror film, which is why it was remade in 2018. The remake was not nearly as good as the original. Suspiria received two Saturn Award nominations: Best Supporting Actress for Bennett in 1978 and Best DVD Classic Film Release in 2002. It is regarded as one of the most influential horror pictures of all time. Whatever its narrative and emotionally realized flaws, Suspiria's technical and aesthetic calmness overwhelms, astounds, and shocks its position in the annuls of all horror, giallo or otherwise.

Director: Dario Argento
Casts: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci
IMDb: 7,3

Next one in the list of the best ballet movies is The Turning Point. The Turning Point is a 1977 American drama film directed by Herbert Ross and written by Arthur Laurents about the world of dance in New York City. Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft star in the picture, as do Leslie Browne, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Tom Skerritt. The film received eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The story is based on the real-life Brown family and the friendship of ballerinas Isabel Mirrow Brown (whose daughter, Leslie Browne, stars in the film) and Nora Kaye.

Ross not only directs the performers brilliantly, but he also brings the world of ballet to life on the screen in a way that has never been done before. He used to be a choreographer for the American Ballet Theatre, so some of this comes naturally to him. This outstanding dancing troupe plays an important role in the film. The Turning Point is thus doubly rich: it is both a well-acted and fascinating picture of rekindled friendship and a dazzling and illuminating insight into the world of dance. It received 11 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

Director: Herbert Ross

Casts: Shirley MacLaine, Anne Bancroft, Leslie Browne

IMDb: 6,8

The film Center Stage, directed by Nicholas Hytner in 2000, is about a group of teenage ballet dancers from varied backgrounds who join at the imaginary American Ballet Academy in New York City. The film delves into the concerns and hardships that face professional dancers, as well as how each individual copes with the pressures. This was Zoe Saldana and Amanda Schull's feature picture debut. The film follows their quest to build a reputation for themselves and compete in big-league events in order to triumph in the cutthroat world of competitive ballet.

Center Stage doesn't try too hard, but it has the delights of a musical. It concludes with two large ballet routines that are beautifully created and danced, and along the way there are joyful and free rehearsals and scenes in a popular Broadway dance class. Film is a beautiful way to see dance because it brings you closer and changes your perspective, but there hasn't been enough of it since the demise of the Hollywood musical.

Director: Nicholas Hytner
Casts: Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt
IMDb: 6,7