A much-loved film that catapulted a Dunfermline-born ballerina to international fame is making a big-screen comeback in her hometown.
The Red Shoes, which made Moira Shearer an overnight sensation in 1948, will be screened at Carnegie Hall on 28 February 2024 at 7pm.
Screening as part of Cinema Unbound: The Creative Worlds of Powell + Pressburger, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. Local film fans can enjoy a lovingly restored print of a film that was widely acclaimed on its re-release in 2009. It will be the first cinema screening in Dunfermline of this remastered version.
Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale, The Red Shoes tells the story of young woman Victoria Page, played by Shearer, who realises her dreams of becoming a leading dancer yet pays a terrible price.
One of the most influential movies of all time, it inspired artists, including film director Martin Scorsese, singer Kate Bush and choreographer Matthew Bourne.
Moira Shearer King was born on 17 January 1926 at Morton Lodge, Dunfermline. She spent her first few years with her grandfather while her parents were in Sierra Leone. Shearer’s father was a civil engineer in the Colonial Service. In 1931, Moria moved to Africa with her parents, where she attended her first dance lesson.
On their return to Scotland, 10-year-old Moira joined Flora Fairbairn’s School of Theatrical Dance. Shearer was then invited to London to attend Monsieur Nicolas Legat’s ballet classes before joining Sadler’s Wells Ballet.
In 1948, aged 22, Moira achieved worldwide celebrity as the ballerina heroine of The Red Shoes, a film that brought huge new audiences to the world of dance.
As a principal dancer with Sadler’s Wells, Shearer danced leading roles at the Royal Opera House, second only to Margot Fonteyn. After marrying writer and broadcaster Ludovic
Kennedy in 1950, the couple went on to have four children together – Alastair, Ailsa, Rachel and Fiona.
Moira Shearer retired from ballet in 1953 but continued to act and write. She died on 31 January 2006. The Red Shoes is at 7pm on Wednesday February 28 – see onfife.com for tickets.
PHOTO SOURCE CREDIT – “British Film Institute”
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