Ballet Shoes

When I was 13 years old, I saw a lovely show on the television one afternoon about three young sisters who take ballet lessons from a formidable old Russian dance teacher. I remembered the name of the show, "Ballet Shoes" and the names of the sisters, Pauline, Petrova, and Posy. I tried over the years to find some reference to it, asking people once in a while if they'd ever heard of it, and searching the early Web one time in 1996 to no avail. The memory of this beautiful film haunted me until today, nearly 30 years later. When I decided to do a little Web searching this afternoon, the memory of this film popped up again and I thought, "Hey, why not try again."

This time as well, I wasn't finding much except one strange page that gave a bit of what seemed like script for what it billed as "Balley Shoes." And, a name - - Noel Streatfeild. Using the name, I searched and found that Ms. Streatfeild was, indeed, the author of "Ballet Shoes" but had a tough time finding a film reference. Then, I typed "Pauline, Petrova, and Posy" into Google and found what I was looking for! Of course, I should have known that it was a BBC production, because it was so beautifully done! So, I am thrilled to have found this and am ordering the film as a keepsake of the fruits of persistence. Thanks for reading my tale. Buy this film for yourself and/or for your children and enjoy!

This wonderful story made in 1975 is,as most of you know,on DVD but it is not the complete version that was shown on PBS in 2 parts back in December of 1976.I remember watching this then and enjoyed it very much!!

I am lucky to have the complete version because it was shown again in the 1980's and I recorded it all and its in great quality. I put this to DVD-R onto 2 dvds since it runs close to 3 hours. The DVD that is available to buy is 2 hours and has MANY scenes cut out!!!!

I am sure there are not too many who have this complete as I do.

When it was shown in the 1980's on PBS, it was shown for 2 weeks and it was a half hour each time so, when each one started it would say "Episode 1", "Episode 2" and so on.

When it was first shown in December of 1976 here in the USA , it was shown over 2 nights and was on for 90 minutes both nights.

I love this series so much I even have the original TV guide magazine from that week which has the "Close Up" review with a photo. What great memories it all is!

It is so enjoyable to watch on DVD-R and to see it the way it was made, totally complete and uncut!

Well, I just wanted to share my joy about this. Just excited about it and, hope you enjoyed reading this :)

It's not the greatest book-to-film translation of all time (sorry, that honour has to go to Peter Jackson), but it's a damn fine one.

I remember my mother, a former ballerina herself, reading this to me when I was four or five. It held a strange sort of magic for me, and I made her read it over and over. I came back to it when I was twelve or so, and it was still as wonderful. The story seems rather lighthearted and tame in the present day, but it's still a nice view of teenage life in that time.

The acting, I thought, was very good, particularly by the three Fossil girls. Although I felt it would have benefited from more ballet and theatre scenes (after all, the girls DO go to ballet school), these were handled well.

My friend has this on video, and I was always under the impression that it was quite popular. I can't think why no one else has reviewed it, particularly as it's so highly rated (8.8 average).

I recommend it for fans of ballet/theatre, but in all honesty I'm sure it will appeal to people who aren't at all familiar with these as well. Similarly to 'Billy Elliot' (which is, admittedly, much better than this), you get a look at what goes on behind all the bright lights and perfection of 'stars'.

Over and out, Mieko xxx

I love this story. It's great for all girls but especially for dancers. I wish they would have shown more dancing in the movie but it did a really good job of portraying the passion dancers have for dance. I also loved how it portrayed the frustration dancers can sometimes suffer and how it feels to have dancers at different levels of ability who study together. The acting is beautifully done by the three young stars. I wish someone would air this on TV again, it would be great for PBS. It's not out on DVD as far as I can find. I'd love to buy it. You can buy it used at Amazon UK but it's a used video and I don't think it's the same format as we have in the U.S. I think that it would be well received if some network would air it and then release it on DVD. I don't want to see a remake of it as it was so great as is was. It could be remade but only as an English production as it really is an English story. I hate to say this but I'm afraid our American producers and directors would only wreck it. I can just imagine how they would dumb it down and try to use some bad Disney Channelesque kid actors and using modern music rather than period music and perhaps trying to move the story to more modern times or even changing the setting. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll just conclude by saying that if you get the chance you should watch this.