Natalie Portman Dancing: 'Black Swan' Star As A Pre-Teen At Summer Camp

While her "Black Swan" body double claims that she secretly danced all of Natalie Portman's ballet scenes -- charges both "Black Swan" director Darren Aronofksy, choreographer Benjamin Millepied and co-star Mila Kunis vehemently deny -- there can be confusion about whose fancy footwork is on display in this video.

Footage from her turn in an early 90's summer camp production shows a pre-teen Portman leading a tap dancing and then ballet troupe in a series of quick, endearing routines. It's not exactly the New York City Ballet, but the Stage Door Manor Performing Arts Summer Camp, in the New York Catskill Mountains, is no anonymous venue, either. A prominent training ground for aspiring performers, Stage Door has propelled a large number of young dreamers to stardom.

Beyond Portman, Stage Door's alumni list includes Robert Downey, Jr., Zach Braff, Mandy Moore, Jon Cryer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bryce Dallas Howard and Lea Michele.

Portman studied ballet until she was 13 years old, and made her major big screen debut in "Leon: The Professional" in 1994. Her medieval stoner comedy, "Your Highness," debuted in theaters this weekend.

To see Portman perform, skip to 2:30 in the video. To watch her in another camp production, click here.

WATCH:

Comments

[kfdan]

06:23 PM on 04/17/2011

Sara Lane is just being snarky here ... we all know she did the most demanding movements but if the director counts shots used in the film and most of those were Portman's that ends the argument ... Sara ... now we all know ... a good dancer takes years to develop but if Portman's work is not represented as the director says ... too many people involved in the film process ... editing ... color correction ... post production, in general, will know and you do not hear anyone involved stating otherwise.

[mawew]

06:22 PM on 04/16/2011

I guess no one realizes that this was likely a publicity stunt, orchestrated first to artificially hype Portman's performance gaining her the Oscar and boosting box office numbers, then introducing the Sara Lane controversy upon DVD release, to boost revenues while affording Lane some past due recognition. Portman and Lane most likely weren't even aware of it.

[Anluise]

04:08 PM on 04/17/2011

Sara Lane is only getting recognition for being petty.

[libwithaclue]

04:23 PM on 04/13/2011

Where is today's Betty Davis, Olivia De Havilland, Kathrine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Vivian Leigh, Ingrid Bergman, Myrna Loy, Joan Fontaine, etc, etc, etc???? They've been soulless and heartless for quite a while now.

[Theresa Ruth Howard]

09:00 PM on 04/11/2011

Where she is not horrendous she doesn’t exhibit soloist (in an intense year of training) potential either. I think what it shows is that like many little girls Natalie Portman took ballet and tap as a child and learned the movement vocabulary enough to put on a summer presentation, though her level of technique is not brilliant or sophisticated she does have a presence that some f the other girls lack which make it understandable that she should go on to be a successful actress with appeal. Did she do that diagonal of pique turns in Black Swan —- uh I truly doubt it!!! All I kept thinking when I was watching this was Dirty Dancing “Nobody puts baby in a corner!”
http://mybodymyimage.com

[rezna]

02:33 PM on 04/11/2011

Those of you posting who think you are experts at dance: Okay, we all think you are smart and deserve praise. You are now officially praised.

Those of you posting who think you are experts at acting: Okay, we all think you are smart and deserve praise. You are now officially praised.

I'm sick of this crap. Who freakin' cares? They made the movie, it was a great one, earned awards, and its done now. Lets PLEASE get over this, and stop with all of this entitles ballet nonsense. I think all of realize how difficult it is to be a professional AT ANYTHING! Get over yourselves!!

[MrGobsmack]

11:13 AM on 04/12/2011

.........and to those who think they can dish out 'official' praise........get over yourself. if you are so sick of this 'crap' why bother reading about it........and then continue to a comment. some people here have actual opinions. aronofsy opened up a can of worms with his arrogant statements and is dealing with the instant karma. what exactly are you doing here, besides getting yourself sick?

[MrGobsmack]

12:22 PM on 04/11/2011

i do not understand this controversy at all. anyone who saw the movie will realize that the character portman played was a dancer with no soul. for that she was perfect. for the technical perfection the character was supposedly obsessed with she had a double. where is the problem? sarah lane did a good job and kept her mouth shut as agreed until aronofsky tried to snow everyone that portman was actually a good dancer. portman won the oscar for portraying an insecure, ambitious, repressed paranoid..... type casting, but realized with certain talent worthy of the award. so to aronofsky and portman......be grateful and shut up. natalie is a pretty good actress, but no dancer.

[mheister]

09:36 AM on 04/11/2011

Portman's dance double did not claim she did all of Portman's dancing. The double pointed out that she did more than she got credit for. After her accusations director Darren Aronofsky did reveal, while defending Portman, that in two full shots (that would be shots from head to toe) of Portman's character dancing, he had Portman's head digitally attached to the double's body.

The controversy really goes to whether the Black Swan team misled Academy, SAG, and other awards season voters about how much dancing Portman actually did on-screen.

Slagging Portman's dance double by inaccurately characterizing her accusations in this matter doesn't do this ongoing story or any of the partipants justice.

[J242]

12:26 PM on 04/11/2011

"Portman's dance double did not claim she did all of Portman's dancing."

She claimed to have done more than %90 of it. She might as well have said all of it... Her exact quote:

"Of the full body shots, I would say 5 percent are Natalie,"

Yeah, she pretty much just tried to say she did all of it. That's classless and every person involved who's had anything at all to say about the matter has said Sarah Lane is wrong at best and outright lying at worst.

[mheister]

12:38 AM on 04/12/2011

There weren't that many full-body shots. There were other dancing shots that were Natalie, and she acknowledged that. The story here mischaracterized her assertions.

[DancingMama]

06:32 AM on 04/11/2011

1) Tap dancing is not the same as ballet. They both take skill but they are two very different styles of dance and while one may be competent in one style it does not mean they will excel in another.

2) The Academy Award is given for an achievement in acting. Whether or not Natalie Portman danced 5% or 95% of the dance scenes in the film (which was NOT a "dance film") does not bring any weight to her acting ability in the film. She got the award she deserved.

3) *If* Natalie Portman did not dance as much as she and the studio claim (which I believe to be the case) then it is shameful they denied credit for her double, especially Benjamin Milipied's role in the matter since he is from the dance world.

[hoagie76]

06:24 AM on 04/11/2011

I've been holding this back for decades......but I did 95% of Travolta's dancing in Saturday Night Fever.....

[Love2Run83]

12:05 AM on 04/11/2011

To me, friends and family, we didn't view The Black Swan as a ballet dancing movie but the psychological trauma faced by a ballerina and how it affected her passion for dancing. Of course, the dancing was magnificent, but I don't recall anyone I know talking about the dancing but the ACTING skill.

Clearly this is a ridiculous beef by both the ballet community and the Hollywood studio. Sarah Lane should have gotten the kudos, but since she didn't she needs to move on.

[BroadwayJoe]

12:03 AM on 04/11/2011

Come on, Portman. This is pathetic. Is this really the best she could do to try and convince the world that she did 95% of the dance scenes. We all know that it takes years and years to become a ballet dancer and that Sarah Lane did the vast majority of the dance scenes in "Black Swan." Portman is a great actress but it's really sad that she couldn't even credit the person who made her look like a dancer. I don't think she even thanked Sarah Lane in her Oscar speech. Sad.

[liberalbug]

01:12 AM on 04/11/2011

You really think Natalie put this out to diffuse this so called "controversy"? Or do you think maybe the media put this out to get folks like you all riled up so you can get all self righteous and what not?

[Parade Keegan]

03:03 AM on 04/11/2011

Doesn't matter I've already forgot the name of that stand-in dancer. I can guess forgetting her wasn't her goal, too bad.

[clivechristy]

11:45 PM on 04/10/2011

Oh well, rumours begone! With this now entered into evidence, we can see that she was the real dancer.

[zona9]

03:44 AM on 04/11/2011

Hardly. The exact opposite, actually. This tape proves the dancer Sarah Lane right. Nat can't dance to save her life. She's awful in that video. Awful.

[HugosMom]

01:40 PM on 04/11/2011

True - a lot of bent knees and floppy feet.

[Jake Thomas]

11:28 PM on 04/10/2011

Their alumni includes: Robert Downey, Jr., Zach Braff, Mandy Moore, Jon Cryer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bryce Dallas Howard and Lea Michele. All of them of course notable dancers.

[Boyc Ottintouch]

11:22 PM on 04/10/2011

Wow, she was a really bad dancer, totally off the beat. I see why they had to lie.

[Jake Thomas]

11:28 PM on 04/10/2011

that was not really her, it was her head on someone else's body.

[Antifascist-08]

11:17 PM on 04/10/2011

Geez, do we live in a shame and blame culture or not? What is the big deal? Actors have used doubles for roles since Hollywood began and nobody has ever mad such a big deal out of it as this juvenile attempt. NP is an actress, not a ballet dancer, and whatever she got her Oscar for, it was never gong to be for dancing, NEVER.

This is just typical of our internet, let it all hang out society. Everyone who makes a big deal out of this should be ashamed of themselves. Get a clue folks. There is nothing new or controversial about any of this.