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Ballet and mistress of the American Ballet Theatre for 30 years, who sadly passed away just two weeks before
filming was completed. Also working with the actresses were the ballet mistresses Marina Stavitskaya, director
of classical repertoire for the Manhattan Youth Ballet, and Olga Kostritzky, whose past students included
Mikhail Baryshnikov and Jock Soto.
They pushed Portman and Kunis to do things with their bodies they never know possible – and both
paid a physical price. “I love dancing so much, I thought it was going to be so much fun to dance at work,”
Portman recalls. “I had no idea how grueling it would be.”
Grueling wasn’t even the half of it. Both she and Kunis would battle injuries and overtraining fatigue
as they raced the clock to be ready for the shoot. “Two torn ligaments and a dislocated shoulder later, I was
asking myself, ‘What am I doing?’” laughs Kunis.
She continues: “The pointe shoes are especially brutal. I could probably have them on for a maximum
20 minutes. You don’t even have to get up en pointe for them to hurt. All you have to do is walk around. Your
feet can’t go forward because there’s this wooden box at the tip. You trip over yourself. To have them on all
day, your feet swell and turn black and blue.”
Portman, who danced more than 90% of her scenes on screen, also suffered an agonizing rib injury
while training. “It was pretty intense because I had to deal with it for about half of the shoot,” she admits. “But
it’s hard to complain when you see what the professional dancers dance through all the time. They’re
constantly dancing with very serious injuries, like sprained ankles. They are accustomed to dancing through
pain.”
Despite all the difficulties, the two women were guided so expertly, they grew ever stronger and more
confident as dancers. “It was one of the hardest things I think I’ll ever do in my life,” admits Kunis. “I also
think ballet isn’t given enough credit as one of the hardest sports in the world. But the really amazing part
comes when you realize how all that hard work and suffering can produce an art that looks so effortless.”
That effortlessness, which characterizes the most powerful dancing, is what Millepied was after on the
screen, a stark contrast with Nina’s nightmarish personal journey. “It was amazing to watch Natalie and Mila
progress. We set the bar very high and they were able to pull it off,” he comments.
To accompany Portman and Kunis on stage, Millepied and executive producer Ari Handel brought in a
corps of professional dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet – including male lead Sergio Torrado, who plays
Von Rothbart in the film’s “Swan Lake.” Due to the timing, it turned out to be far more difficult to find the
right ballet company than it was to find the starring actors.
“We found out that a lot of companies, like the New York City Ballet and ABT, were in season, so they
couldn’t spare any dancers for us,” says producer Franklin. “Fortunately, the Pennsylvania Ballet was on
hiatus. They agreed to work with us only a few weeks before shooting.”
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