13 Moments That Speak To The Beauty And Horror Of Dance

While not always considered secure in the horror genre, Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes made it clear as early as 1948 that just as much fear as elegance can be conjured on screen using the art of dance. Starring talented ballerina Moira Shearer, The Red Shoes is the tragic story of a young woman having to choose between love and ballet. The fusion of ballet and horror in The Red Shoes, however, is not just in the use of the world of dance as its setting but in the original ballet created for the film. This fifteen-minute surrealist nightmare introduced audiences to a new hybrid of horror, a shockwave still felt in the horror genre over fifty years later.

It must be stated that Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan is the closest to recreating the marriage of ballet and horror that The Red Shoes established. While the overture of Swan Lake is not typically danced on stage, the opening scene of Black Swan does take inspiration from the Kirov Ballet's Swan Lake Prologue, danced in 1968. The recreation of this scene perfectly encapsulates the emotions evoked by Tchaikovsky's score, telling the story of a young maiden transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer and foreshadows for the viewer the turmoil that is about to unfold for Nina.

Gaspar Noé's psychedelic nightmare begins with an ensemble piece that showcases a variety of talent and artistic flow not often captured on screen. Featuring twenty-one dancers with little to no formal acting experience and from different scenes, including ballrooms and krump battles, choreographer Nina McNeely weaves together an energizing and intoxicating opening number. The joy and camaraderie are infectious, lulling the audience into the most treacherous false sense of security.

While there's no denying the beauty of Dario Argento's Suspiria, Luca Guadagnino's 2019 reimagining exceeds in expanding on the importance of setting the story in a dance school. Inspired by the art installation "Les Médusés" by choreographer Damien Jalet, who would act as choreographer for the film itself, "Volk" demonstrates the concept of dance as spell work. The dancers use rhythmic movement and breathwork to conjure the energy needed to transfer the spirit of Helena Markos in this soul-stirring scene.

Some of the best dancing caught on screen comes unexpectedly from the 1988 cult classic Night of the Demons. In the same vein as Suspiria's representation of dance as a method of conjuring energy, Angela's dance is a clever build-up to her demonic possession. Many dancers, including myself, can attest to giving oneself over to unseen forces while dancing, giving the sense that Angela creates the heightened suggestibility that allows for an overhaul of the body and soul.

The '80s sure were a great time for dancing. Kim and Nick's disco frenzy in Prom Night is the most fun moment on this list. Kim, the film's final girl, feels free to let loose on the dance floor, unaware that her partner is partially responsible for the grief that follows her and blissfully unaware of the danger that awaits.

Dancer Moira Shearer and director Michael Powell continue their working relationship, which began with The Red Shoes in the proto-slasher Peeping Tom. Alone with Mark, under the promise of shooting a film, Vivian begins to dance around the room to warm up. Mark is a voyeur, one who watches, and Vivian is an actress and dancer, one who is watched. Vivian unknowingly puts on the perfect show and dances directly into Mark's trap.

One of the most unexpected moments in Ex Machina is when Nathan breaks into a dance number. Happening shortly after the reveal that Kyoko is another one of his AI prototypes, her expressionless face and programmed movements provide a new perspective into Nathan's true nature. The same can also be said for Fresh when Steve and Noa perform an equally interesting duet as captor and captive.

The use of ballet in Jordan Peele's Us is perhaps one of the most under-discussed aspects of the film. The elegance of young Adelaide's performance creates a stark juxtaposition with the contorted movements of the Tethered. Making ballet Adelaide's hobby of choice could be a nod to Swan Lake's pinnacle moment when an evil doppelgänger steals Odette's only chance of escaping the spell that traps her in the body of a swan because Adelaide herself is a doppelgänger whose existence robs another of the opportunity to escape their ill fate.

Speaking of escaping one's circumstances… In Ti West's 2022 technicolor-inspired tragedy, Pearl's delusions of grandeur screech to a halt after the indelicate reception of her audition. Mia Goth is equally endearing as she is unsettling in her portrayal of this World War I era farm girl whose dreams are bigger than her humble little life. During her audition, the desperation and longing can be seen in Pearl's bright smile, making the audience almost forgive and forget all her deranged behavior. She's a star!

Before Pearl, there was Baby Jane. Rather than longing for stardom that will never come, Jane is desperate for the fame that once was. Feeling discarded and unloved, Jane recreates the moments she wishes would last forever by performing a song and dance from her years as "Baby Jane." Like Pearl, Jane's performance leaves a sorrowful aftertaste, tainted by her prior disturbing actions.

One of the more subtly disturbing moments in The Eyes of My Mother is Francisca's dance in front of her father's corpse. While dancing is more of a minor detail here than in the previous films on this list, what resonates about this scene is that Francisca is dancing for the sole purpose of self-expression. At the height of her loneliness, she recreates a tender moment she previously shared with her father. When your world has been turned inward from loneliness, dancing can be an incredible way to trace those emotions with the body.

In Titane, dancing signifies another important moment of self-expression for a character whose world has become internal. Numerous scenes in this film feature dancing but usually as a display of hyper-femininity (the dancers at the car show) or hyper-masculinity (the locker room culture being embraced in the firehouse rave). Here, Alexia, now living as Adrien, chooses to move their body in a way that feels the most authentic, disregarding the reactions of those around them and choosing to move freely after spending so much time suppressing themselves.