Review of Dancing in the Blitz: How World War 2 Made British Ballet

"Dancing in the Blitz" is sure to appeal to all ballet lovers and to all the people interested in the history of 20th-century British ballet. It will also appeal to all those interested in the life and times of the great Ninette De Valois, one of the founding mothers of a unique and recognizable British ballet style. Combining original and rarely seen contemporary footage with a variety of comments and interviews, it's a knowledgeable look at the evolution of British ballet in and around World War II.

Strangely enough the war period, however godawful, helped to attract a completely new audience, thanks to things like performances for troops. Soldiers who would have cut off their own two feet before buying a ticket to such an "unmanly" and "snobbish" spectacle suddenly found themselves watching, and admiring, excerpts from the Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake. This led to a far greater support for this previously underappreciated art.

Watching the documentary one can but feel deep respect for all the dancers who continued to perform even through the darkest hours of the war. It must take a truly heroic constancy to remain in character as some graceful "Sylphide" while bombs are falling left, right and center. (Pretty sure that I would have run away screaming, here.)