The Red Shoes

Lermontov: "The Ballet of The Red Shoes" is from a fairy tale by Hans Andersen. It is the story of a young girl who is devoured with an ambition to attend a dance in a pair of Red Shoes. She gets the shoes and goes to the dance. For a time, all goes well and she is very happy. At the end of the evening she is tired and wants to go home, but the Red Shoes are not tired. In fact, the Red Shoes are never tired. They dance her out into the street, they dance her over the mountains and valleys, through fields and forests, through night and day. Time rushes by, love rushes by, life rushes by, but the Red Shoes go on. Julian: What happens in the end? Lermontov: Oh, in the end, she dies.

The Red Shoes (1948 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Lermontov: Why do you want to dance? Vicky: Why do you want to live? Lermontov: Well, I don't know exactly why, er, but I must. Vicky: That's my answer too.

The Red Shoes (1948 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Lermontov: How would you define ballet, Lady Neston? Lady Neston: Well, one might call it the poetry of motion perhaps, or... Lermontov: One might. But for me, it is a great deal more. For me, it is a religion. And one doesn't really care to see one's religion practised in an atmosphere... such as this.

The Red Shoes (1948 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Lermontov: When we first met ... you asked me a question to which I gave a stupid answer, you asked me whether I wanted to live and I said "Yes". Actually, Miss Page, I want more, much more. I want to create, to make something big out of something little – to make a great dancer out of you. But first, I must ask you the same question, what do you want from life? To live? Vicky Page: To dance.

The Red Shoes (1948 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Livy: [just before the curtain raises] You're a magician, Boris. To have produced all this in three weeks, and from nothing. Lermontov: My dear Livy, not even the best magician in the world can produce a rabbit out of a hat if there is not already a rabbit in the hat.

The Red Shoes (1948 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Ljubov: You can't alter human nature. Lermontov: No? I think you can do even better than that. You can ignore it!

The Red Shoes (1948 film), CC BY-SA 4.0