FILM ADAPTATION
Original novel by Noel Streatfeild
Costume designer: Alice Newland
BALLET SHOES PLOT
Ballet Shoes follows the narrative of the Fossil sisters; three orphaned girls adopted by eccentric fossil collector and world explored Gum (Great Uncle Matthew). Pauline, Petrova and Posy are left in the care of his niece Sylvia and her old nurse, Nana, while Gum continues exploring. He leaves Sylvia enough money for five years, and which point he is due to return. When five years pass and Gum is still not back, the money begins to run out. To make ends meet, the family take in lodgers to fill the large house in their Cromwell Road house. One such lodger, Miss Theo Dane, is a dance teacher at Madame Fidolia’s Children’s Academy of Dance and Stage Training, and encourages Sylvia to enroll the girls at the school to train for the stage and learn to support themselves. Lodgers Dr Jakes and Dr Smith (ex teachers) offer to educate the girls to give them a better chance in life, as school fees had become too expensive for Sylvia to pay. The generosity of others allow the sisters to make a name for themselves, or as they vow, ‘to get our names into the history books’.
Pauline is discovered to have a talent for acting, and experiences success in London’s West End in staring roles such as Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Posie, although still a young girl, has natural abilities as a ballet dancer, and is taken under Madame Fidolia’s wing to train exclusively in classical ballet. The more practical Petrova struggles at the stage school, torn between her wish to support her family and her true passion for airplanes and engines. Sylvia’s mental heath deteriorates throughout the novel with the financial stress weighing over her, forcing her to sell the house.
As Pauline success reaches Hollywood, she is offered a contract with Independent United Pictures and five years of work for the screen. Posie runs away from home to audition for a visiting Russian ballet company, who offer her a place at their school in Prague. Petrova is lost in all the arrangements, at which point Gum eventually returns home and allows her to fulfill her dream of flying planes ‘like Amy Johnson’. Sylvia goes to Hollywood with Pauline, Nana accompanies Posie to Prague and Gum continues to travel with Petrova. Pauline and Posie know that as an actress and dancer, they are unlikely to get their names into the history books, but now vow to help Petrova to get her name there instead.
INITIAL MOODBOARD
GRETA GERWIG TONE BOARD
*After looking at different directors styles I’ve decided to progress with Greta Gerwig as a hypothetical director, as I recognised a lot of her film tropes as themes in Ballet Shoes, and the direction I’d like to take with my design work.
Both Lady Bird and Little Women focus on female protagonists and have heavy themes of family dynamics and the strain that money can have on a family unit. I also like the idea of this adaptation being shot in 35mm to give the illusion of a ‘memory’ and to give the film a dream like quality that feels warm and nostalgic.
RUSSIAN BALLET: THE PRE REVOLUTION YEARS
Ballet is still a Russian national treasure, yet never so more than the pre revolution years. Before the revolution in 1917, the late 19th century and early 20th century was dominated by ballet. Prominent choreographer Diaghilev created his famous company, the Ballet Russe, made up of the finest dancers and the most exciting and prominent costume and set designers.
Ballet costumes and dancers from this period differ from the ballet designs featured today. These dancers were more well built, unlike the weightless waif like look that is desired today. The infamous tutu design has also been altered drastically. The multilayered midi length skirt was used in old romantic ballets, in contrast to todays shortened tutu that reveals the whole leg. This style was not introduced until after the second world war.
Footwear in Russian ballet has also evolved. The pointe shoes were first adopted during the mid 19th century (and still in use today) however some parts of the ballet also required heeled shoes, which have now completely dissapeared from the ballet stage.
Anna Pavlova :
Born in St Petersberg in 1881, Anna Pavlova was the most-celebrated dancer of her time. Pavlova studied at the Imperial School of Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre from 1891, joined the Imperial Ballet in 1899, and became a prima ballerina in 1906. In 1909 she went to Paris on the historic tour of the Ballets Russes (by chorepgrapher Diaghilev). Pavlova became a dancer at the right time, as Tsarist Russia maintained magnificent imperial schools for the performing arts. Pavlova continued to dance independently with her own company throughout the world.
* There are a lot of similarities between the character description of Madame Fidolia and Anna Pavlova. I plan on using some of Pavlova’s work as an influence in my costume designs of Madame Fidolia, as relatively little information is given about her in the book. Following on from my director research of Greta Gerwig, I want to experiment with designing for flashback sequences (like those in Little Women) where we would see Madame Fidolia at her dancing prime during the pre revolution years in St Petersberg.
FASHION BREAKDOWN
UPDATED MOODBOARD
MR AND MRS SIMPSON DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
* I decided to adapt the costume described in the book for Madame Fidolia, as I felt a darker colour palette was more reflective of her mature character
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT LINEUP
