Natalie Portman’s Fiance Defends Her Dancing In Black Swan
Natalie Portman has recently come under scrutiny for not giving enough credit to her dance double, Sarah Lane, in Black Swan, even though Sarah allegedly did a large amount of the dance work.
However, Natalie’s fiance and choreographer Benjamin Millepied begs to differ.
Said Benjamin about her dancing:
"It was so believable, it was fantastic, that beautiful movement quality," he told the paper. "There are articles now talking about her dance double that are making it sound like [Sarah Lane, her body double] did a lot of the work, but really, she just did the footwork, and the fouettés, and one diagonal [phrase] in the studio. Honestly, 85% of that movie is Natalie."
Benjamin says that he choreographed the dances routines in a way that would be easy for Natalie, who has limited (yet intense) ballet training, to do a convincing job.
"[I made] things fluid and not too complicated. By getting more movement going, which in turn added to the camera movement — that is basically what I did. If we had kept things more classical, more restrained, less fluid, it would have been harder to trick the eye."
What do U think? Was Natalie’s ballet legit or not??
[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com.]
Tags: ballet, black swan, choreography, dance
Michael Lohan Opens Up About Domestic Abuse Arrest
V-Hudge Is A "Slut" …In Her New Movie
nathalie did everything… and yes, she had a double for her dancing routines, but who doesn´t? i mean, give natalie credit and the double credit too. perioud.
First I think that she was a great dancer and she won an Oscar what more does she want. That's enough of a award, the role really suited her well I enjoyed watching it and she looked very young in the movie as well.
How often do you hear actors giving lots of credit to their stunt doubles? What makes her using a body double any different than any other actor who does the same thing?
You can't expect Natalie Portman to be able to do 100% of the dancing when she isn't a professional ballerina.
I didn't realize a double was used at all … now the truth comes out
Who cares, it was brilliant movie, she won an Oscar, let's move on……
A professional ballet dancer in only 1,5 years? Are you kidding?Now, she should try the Bolshoi… Can I say that? Or am I going to be fired as well?
Another stupid post. Natalie is an actress and the star of the movie. The dancer was paid dance the hard movies and to be uncredited. Just like stuntman or anyone behind the work, who really cares.
I thought that she was amazing:)
seriously, why does it matter? She didn't get an Oscar for dancing she got it for an amazing performance as an actress.
Of course she didn't actually do the steps!!!Look. All I care about as someone who watched the movie, is that she looked very convincing. How they got to that is none of my business. Does every single stuntman get public mention and credit for his stunts when Matt Damon is jumping out a window or Leo DiCaprio is climbing a mountain? Please. Sounds like some girls in the ballet community are jealous of Natalie. Tough. Ben doesn't have ot defend her. We all know Natalie isn't a ballerina. We all know she had to train just to be convincing. Anyone who reads the credits knows there was a double and Natalie did thank her on one of those awards programs.
Omg, why are people trying to rain on her parade?
Natalie is a wonderful and talented actress.
Why would he take a chance in pissing off his sugar momma.
this relationship will be over in less than 5 years. that is why you don't get knocked up without a committed marriage involved.. to easy to walk away.
Well… her body double DID do all the work and digitally put Natalie's face on hers. Look it up
Re: lemonbird –
lemonbrain, when would you realize that most of the typical Stuntmen (except amazing movie with lot of action scenes, say Jet Li etc) could never be equal to a Choreographer/Dancer/Body Double in a movie?
Do you know how many head replacements they digitally replaced?? Check it out …Type in "Black Swan making visual effect" at UTube
However intense Natalie's training was, it is OBVIOUS she can't be ballet dancer level…. So yeah everything with arms movements and face captures were her but all the more technical things were done by a stunt… OBVIOUSLY!
As for the double, she was just doing her job of a dancer and did it well because… well it is her job. It could have been any dancer looking sort of like Portman. But don't call Natalie a ballet dancer, it is an insult to all the real ballet dancers who train a dozen years to get to that level.
It was a movie based around dancing and I think she should have at least thanked Sarah. There was a lot of dancing in the movie and she could have easily said thanks Sarah for being such an amazing dancer in one of her speeches. Dancing was a major role in the film, and Natalie didn't do it.
She is an incredable actress and dancer. Do the men in the action movies truly kill the people as they portray?
I doont think so. It is a movie, and she was awesome. She danced very well and completely made it believable.
Its called acting, period…………………….
Anybody who has danced ballet, knows damn well that she wasn't doing that pointe work. The technique and strength of the feet alone was obviously not an actress who has bent knees in the "behind the scenes" video dancing on demi pointe. Honestly. There are some people that believe she did do all the dancing in the movie though, because it was stated that she had- without mention of the double. I corrected a non-dancer friend of mine when she told me this bit of "trivia"– having only seen clips of the movie with the dancer doing fouettes en pointe, I told her there was no way that she would be doing professional steps after 6 months intensive training. There's just no way possible, even if you danced all day for that time. It takes years to build up that sort of muscle control.
However, it's nothing new that the body double is not mentioned. In the 80s picture, Flashdance, in the end scene, some of that work is actually done by a male dancer.
you didn't "trick the eye" benj, just america. you and natalie convinced the academy that a bizarre film about bi-polar disorder and suicide was actually a love story by broadcasting your personal relationship just before award season.
well played..i guess? just seems like you're kind of a pawn now that the oscar's been won, would hate to hear your tune a year from now. oh and no one actually believes natalie danced ballet (though i'm sure you choreographed sarah lane wonderfully). it's pretty obvious natalie got the award for living off celery during filming. kudos to you both on a brilliant scam.
Does Audrey Hepburn deserve singing credits for My Fair Lady? No.
And that is what this is equivalent to. This is not just like a stunt person taking some falls, this was a major part of the movie and character.
Also it is said that natalie had intense training for months. What do you think ballet training is like? IT IS INTENSE TRAINING, whether you are a beginner or a pro or an actress. Ballet is not some fluff, it is INTENSE. There is no way she learned anything but arm movements at best in the time she was given to train.
Does Audrey Hepburn deserve singing credits for My Fair Lady? No.
And that is what this is equivalent to. This is not just like a stunt person taking some falls, this was a major part of the movie and character…
Also it is said that natalie had intense training for months. What do you think ballet training is like? IT IS INTENSE TRAINING, whether you are a beginner or a pro or an actress. Ballet is not some fluff, it is INTENSE. There is no way she learned anything but arm movements at best in the time she was given to train.
Re: sancerre – Bi polar disorder? It was paranoid schizophrenia.