Ballet Cameos

The ballet film is a well-established genre; from Centre Stage to Black Swan, the trials and triumphs of success in the ballet world make an excellent narrative device. However, ballet inspiration in film goes beyond the on-screen action of ballet life.

Hollywood Horror

Fans of 1930s horror will recognise Tchaikovsky’s Swan Theme from Swan Lake as it plays over the opening credits of Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi. The same music is used again for The Mummy (1932) and The Murders in Rue Morgue (1932). The eerie quality (and lack of copyright given it was in the public domain) would have served as pivotal factors for production company Universal Studios using the moody score for so many of their films in the horror genre.

Swan Lake | Japan 1981

In 1981 Toei Animation released the anime film Swan Lake as the fourth episode in a series of five World Masterpiece Fairy Tales. The film stayed (mostly) true to the original ballet but gave its young viewers a happy ending. In this version. Prince Siegfried plunges the sword into his heart, but instead of death, his sacrifice breaks the spell and destroys Rothbart and all his magic.

The Swan Princess | 1994

In what is hands-down one of the best animated films of the 1990s, The Swan Princess is a glorious retelling of Marius Petipa’s Swan Lake. This adaptation takes far more liberties with the story and doesn’t include Tchaikovsky’s score, but all of the elements of the original are there, including the wicked sorcerer Rothbart, cursed princess Odette and her doppelgänger Odile. The Swan Princess also gets the ‘happily ever after’ treatment as Prince Derek (doesn’t have quite the same gravitas as Siegfried I’ll admit) breaks the spell with his declaration of love for Odette.

Cadbury Fruit & Nut | 1976

In what would eventually be ranked number 36 in a 2000 UK poll of the ‘100 Greatest Adverts', the 1976 television commercial starring comedian Frank Muir set Cadbury’s tagline of ‘Everyone’s a fruit and nutcase’ to Tchaikovsky’s Danse des mirlitons. The hugely successful campaign spanned a series of commercials using Tchaikovsky’s music and is still a beloved piece of British advertising nostalgia.

Hospital For Overacting | 1970

Monty Python fans rejoice! In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment a group of Nutcracker mice scurry by Graham Chapman as he enters the ‘Richard III Ward’ at the ‘Royal Hospital for Overacting’ in the 1970s sketch.

Sex and the City | 2003

Who could forget the ultimate ballet cameo as superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov appeared as Carrie Bradshaw’s boyfriend in season six of the Sex and the City series in 2003. Baryshnikov played artist Aleksandr Petrovsky and redefined ‘old-fashioned romance’ as the Russian artist vying for Carrie’s heart over the notorious Mr Big.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia | 2018

In the dramatic season 13 finale of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mac find his Pride, the character of Mac played by Rob McElhenney dances an emotional pas de deux with professional ballerina Kylie Shea. At the heart of this charged performance is the revelation of Mac's sexuality which he can only communicate this to his father through dance. It's an unprecedented moment of profound seriousness in the otherwise absurdist comedy.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before | 2018

The 2018 Netflix film based on the 2014 novel of the same name features Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Pas de Deux music in its opening scene.

There’s no shortage of musical tributes to ballet, from pop to indie; ballet finds its way into the most niche of subgenres.

The Red Shoes, Kate Bush | 1993

Inspired by both the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale and Michael Powell’s 1948 film, Kate Bush layered in themes of obsession, perfectionism and brutality into her seventh studio album. The title song retold the gothic tale of a young girl who puts on an enchanted pair of shoes that cause her to dance until her death. Bush said of the song:
“Musically, I was trying to get a sense of delirium, of something very circular and hypnotic, but building and building.”

Ballerina Girl, Lionel Richie | 1986

Written for Richie’s daughter, Nicole, Ballerina Girl featured on the 1986 album Dancing on the Ceiling and peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1987.

The Last Great American Dynasty, Taylor Swift | 2020

Pop star Taylor Swift released her eighth studio album Folklore in 2020 and included a tribute to the former owner of her Rhode Island house, socialite and patron of the arts Rebekah Harkness. As a devout balletomane, Harkness opened her doors to ballet companies and even hosted a workshop with 20 dancers from the Robert Joffrey Company (now the Joffrey Ballet). Harkness also supported Jerome Robbins and in 1964 tried to open her own ballet company, Harkness House, which after only six years and the equivalent of over AUD $162 million was disbanded. That kind of financial loss really puts into perspective Swift’s lyric, “And blew through the money on the boys and the ballet.”

Victory Lap | 2025

Even dubstep pays homage to ballet with the single from Fred Again, PlaqueBoyMax and Skepta that references the 2010 psychological ballet thriller, Black Swan.
“I smoke loud, but I never get lousy
Black swan, Darren Aronofsky”

Tiny Dancer, Elton John | 1971

Ranked at 47 in the 2021 Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, Tiny Dancer was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and is inspired by Taupin’s then-wife, Maxine Feibelman.

“I knew it was about me,” Feibelman told the New York Post in 2019. “I had been into ballet as a little girl and sewed patches on Elton’s jackets and jeans.” 

The Nutcracker Suite, Duke Ellington | 1960

Duke Ellington took the concept of a ‘Christmas album’ up a notch with his record that rearranged Tchaikovsky’s original ballet score into a jazz-fused interpretation. Ellington even updated the original song titles, renaming Danse des mirlitons to Toot Toot Tootie Toot and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy to Sugar Rum Cherry.

Not to be left out, video games have also been influenced by ballet’s complex and compelling scores.

Lemmings | 1991

With the impending threat of copyright law, Lemmings creators switched to the ever-faithful Tchaikovsky for their video game, sampling both The Nutcracker’s Danse des mirlitons and Swan Lake’s Danse des petits cygnes.

Final Fantasy VII | 1997

Composer Nobuo Uematsu was inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring for the Final Fantasy VII score, blending the classical style with 1960s and 70s rock to make an orchestral track that used the form of Stravinsky and the “destructive impact” of Jimi Hendrix.

Tetris | 1989

The 1989 classic block puzzle, Tetris, includes not only the timeless Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker but also the overture from Georges Bizet’s Carmen.