Big Time Drama

May 9, 2013

Before Center Stage took movie audiences into the life of the fictional American Ballet Company, there was 1977’s all-time classic The Turning Pointe. If you are too young to have seen it, get yourself the DVD. It is the original dance drama – including a ridiculous catfight between Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft beside the fountain at Lincoln Center. It features cameos from the era’s greatest dancers and starred Leslie Browne and Baryshnikov, shown here in a still of their characters rehearsing. Interesting to note, the film received 11 Oscar nominations but didn’t win any.