Dance in Film · 1977
The Turning Point (1977)
Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft star in this drama about two women whose lives diverged — one chose ballet, the other family — and the reckoning that follows.
The Turning Point is a 1977 dance feature film centred on Ballet. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 24 indexed dance sequences ↓
Dance styles featured
Where to watch: Streaming (various)
The dance sequences in The Turning Point
24 sequences, 11 with a timestamp — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
Danced by American Ballet Theatre dancers · Choreography Harald Lander
The film beginning inside Etudes as its fast-moving ranks fill the stage.
Harald Lander's Etudes finale opens the film with the ensemble accelerating through ranks of black-and-white practice geometry before the Oklahoma reunion has begun. The rows keep re-forming under bright stage light, making the company's institutional precision the first thing Deedee and her family must confront.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Sequence onset aligned at medium confidence to the named 119-minute The.Turning.Point.1977.1080p.BluRay English subtitle reference. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05; other editions may shift.
Danced by Leslie Browne; Mikhail Baryshnikov; Phillip Saunders; American Ballet Theatre dancers
Emilia working through exact barre corrections before Ethan botches his jokingly announced grand finale.
Emma answers Emilia's wish to “just dance” by sending her straight into company class, where corrections move from a lowered shoulder and grand plié to port de bras and développé. The montage then catches Ethan counting through his scholarship combination and puncturing his own “grand finale” with a muttered curse, placing both Rodgers children under the same unforgiving studio clock.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Sequence onset aligned at medium confidence to the named 119-minute The.Turning.Point.1977.1080p.BluRay English subtitle reference. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05; other editions may shift.
Danced by Anne Bancroft; Daniel Levins · Choreography Alvin Ailey
Emma demanding a playable intention after Arnold reduces her solo to piqués, chaînés and an abstract head position.
Arnold gives Emma three piqué turns, two chaînés, a plié and an arabesque, then permits a single pirouette until she insists she can do a double. His command that she feel “nothing” because the ballet is abstract makes her walkout land on a technical disagreement that is also a verdict on how the new work sees her.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Sequence onset aligned at medium confidence to the named 119-minute The.Turning.Point.1977.1080p.BluRay English subtitle reference. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05; other editions may shift.
Danced by Antoinette Sibley; Mikhail Baryshnikov · Choreography Kenneth MacMillan
The first cast resetting the wheelbarrow lift under rehearsal counts.
Sibley and Baryshnikov take the first cast through MacMillan's balcony pas de deux while the rehearsal-room count exposes every transfer of weight. The wheelbarrow lift and the run into Yuri's arms appear as work to be repeated, not as an already finished romance.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Sequence onset aligned at medium confidence to the named 119-minute The.Turning.Point.1977.1080p.BluRay English subtitle reference. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05; other editions may shift.
Danced by Leslie Browne; Mikhail Baryshnikov · Choreography Kenneth MacMillan
Emilia and Yuri discovering their chemistry while repeating the balcony lift in rehearsal clothes.
Emilia replaces Sevilla for the second cast and runs directly into Yuri's balcony partnering, with Browne's feet and Baryshnikov's catches kept visible in the bare studio. The wheelbarrow entry grows into long supported arcs, and their eye contact turns a cast change into the film's first fully danced declaration of attraction.
Watch this sequence · This sequence is on YouTube as a standalone clip. Bel Air Classiques supplies the legal 93-second DVD/Blu-ray excerpt of Leslie Browne and Mikhail Baryshnikov rehearsing the balcony pas de deux. The feature onset is aligned to the named 119-minute 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference and may shift in other editions.
Danced by Leslie Browne; Mikhail Baryshnikov; American Ballet Theatre dancers
The counted port de bras placing Emilia back inside the company's daily routine after the balcony rehearsal.
A second company class returns Emilia and Yuri to the same floor after their private involvement has begun. The teacher's port-de-bras count carries the room forward while Browne negotiates the center combination among dancers whose rank and relationships now matter to her personally.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Sequence onset aligned at medium confidence to the named 119-minute The.Turning.Point.1977.1080p.BluRay English subtitle reference. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05; other editions may shift.
Danced by Leslie Browne; Daniel Levins; American Ballet Theatre dancers · Choreography Alvin Ailey
Arnold stopping Emilia at bar 132 and ordering her not to turn the abstract solo into Giselle.
Arnold counts Emilia into the solo he first built on Emma and stops at bar 132 to strip away her Giselle-like expression. Browne's torso and direction changes are treated as pure motion while the choreographer's corrections make the generational transfer brutally literal: Emma's disputed part is now being shaped on her goddaughter.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Sequence onset aligned at medium confidence to the named 119-minute The.Turning.Point.1977.1080p.BluRay English subtitle reference. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05; other editions may shift.
Danced by Leslie Browne; American Ballet Theatre dancers · Choreography Jean Coralli; Jules Perrot
Emma pushing Emilia back through the wing after the drunk Wili collapses out of the phrase.
Emma counts Emilia onto the stage after finding her drunk, and Browne tries to hold the Wili line while her balance and timing visibly desert her. After Emilia stumbles off and apologizes, Emma steadies her, says “Go,” and sends her back into the white corps, making the recovery as specific as the failure.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Sequence onset aligned at medium confidence to the named 119-minute The.Turning.Point.1977.1080p.BluRay English subtitle reference. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05; other editions may shift.
Danced by Leslie Browne · Choreography Alvin Ailey
Emilia completing the once-contested Vortex solo and sending Arnold off to take his bow.
After Arnold warns the others not to miss his ballet, Browne takes the Vortex solo onto the gala stage and finally joins its abstract directional changes into a single performance. The Duke Ellington-driven Ailey material no longer looks like Emma's disputed exercise at the barre; Emilia's committed attack makes the audience and her mother recognize a new ballerina at once.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Sequence onset aligned at medium confidence to the named 119-minute The.Turning.Point.1977.1080p.BluRay English subtitle reference. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05; other editions may shift.
Danced by Alexandra Danilova; Leslie Browne; Mikhail Baryshnikov · Choreography Marius Petipa
Dahkarova's sharp tapping turning into Emilia and Yuri's first professional partnership after their split.
Dahkarova drills Emilia's Don Quixote variation with left-right directions, sharp taps and the command to “shine like diamond,” refusing every soft edge. Yuri then walks into the studio and takes the partnering, so Browne must carry the correction through lifts and supported phrases with the man who broke her trust.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Sequence onset aligned at medium confidence to the named 119-minute The.Turning.Point.1977.1080p.BluRay English subtitle reference. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05; other editions may shift.
Danced by Leslie Browne; Mikhail Baryshnikov · Choreography Marius Petipa; Frederick Ashton (Leslie Browne's final solo)
Emilia and Yuri finishing Don Quixote as partners after deciding that dancing, not romance, is their workable future.
Browne and Baryshnikov bring the coached Don Quixote partnership onto the stage, separating the Act III material into pas de deux, individual variations and coda. Emilia's crisp accents answer Dahkarova's “shine like diamond” demand, while Yuri's Basilio solo and their final finish convert a damaged romance into the professional pact they can actually sustain.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Sequence onset aligned at medium confidence to the named 119-minute The.Turning.Point.1977.1080p.BluRay English subtitle reference. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05; other editions may shift.
Anniversary gala — Anna Karenina suicide scene
Classical BalletDanced by Anne Bancroft; Scott Douglas · Choreography Dennis Nahat
Emma turning a floor-length costume and Anna's suicide into her answer to a gala full of pirouettes.
Emma enters Dennis Nahat's Anna Karenina suicide scene covered to the floor while the other gala women wear short tutus, exactly the contrast she jokes about backstage. The long dress and fatal dramatic action let Bancroft make acting weight the choreography's center, while Freddie's later complaint about his back exposes the lift hidden inside the tragedy.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. The passage is identifiable, but its movement begins inside a subtitle-silent interval in the named 119-minute 1080p Blu-ray reference, so the onset remains blank/low. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05.
Anniversary gala — Aurora's Wedding
Classical BalletDanced by Antoinette Sibley; Mikhail Baryshnikov · Choreography Marius Petipa
Sibley and Baryshnikov holding the wedding pas de deux in polished court style.
Sibley and Baryshnikov switch from Giselle's haunted Act II world to the ceremonial equilibrium of Aurora's Wedding. Their poised supported balances and formal finish let the gala audience see Yuri as a courtly partner immediately before the program turns him loose as a solo virtuoso.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. The passage is identifiable, but its movement begins inside a subtitle-silent interval in the named 119-minute 1080p Blu-ray reference, so the onset remains blank/low. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05.
Anniversary gala — Black Swan pas de deux
Classical BalletDanced by Lucette Aldous; Fernando Bujones · Choreography Marius Petipa
Aldous and Bujones dropping Black Swan's glittering Act III trap into the middle of the anniversary program.
Lucette Aldous and Fernando Bujones compress the Act III Black Swan encounter into a gala pas de deux, with Odile's black tutu and courtly attack separating it instantly from the evening's white-ballet excerpts. Their coda turns the familiar deception scene into a compact test of balances, turns and partnered finish.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. The passage is identifiable, but its movement begins inside a subtitle-silent interval in the named 119-minute 1080p Blu-ray reference, so the onset remains blank/low. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05.
Anniversary gala — Le Corsaire variation
Classical BalletDanced by Mikhail Baryshnikov · Choreography Marius Petipa
Baryshnikov driving the Corsaire solo through its airborne finish with no partner or scenery to divert attention.
Baryshnikov takes the Le Corsaire variation alone, using the bare gala stage for a direct succession of elevation, turns and clean landings. The solo's attack explains Yuri's star status without dialogue and contrasts sharply with the counted, negotiated partnering seen in his rehearsals with Emilia.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. The passage is identifiable, but its movement begins inside a subtitle-silent interval in the named 119-minute 1080p Blu-ray reference, so the onset remains blank/low. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05.
Anniversary gala — Legende
Contemporary BalletDanced by Marcia Haydée; Richard Cragun · Choreography John Cranko
Haydée and Cragun returning as guest stars to carry Legende through its tightly bound partnering.
Marcia Haydée and Richard Cragun arrive from Stuttgart as the gala's announced guests and make Cranko's Legende a duet of close, weight-bearing partnership rather than a display piece. Their mature timing gives physical form to the company's history just after Adelaide celebrates another anniversary season.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. The passage is identifiable, but its movement begins inside a subtitle-silent interval in the named 119-minute 1080p Blu-ray reference, so the onset remains blank/low. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05.
Anniversary gala — Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux
Neoclassical BalletDanced by Suzanne Farrell; Peter Martins · Choreography George Balanchine
Farrell and Martins cutting through Balanchine's coda as a pure gala showpiece.
Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins take Balanchine's Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux across an open stage without story scenery to soften its speed. Farrell's quick changes of direction and the pair's coda make musical attack, rather than a character plot, the point of the excerpt.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. The passage is identifiable, but its movement begins inside a subtitle-silent interval in the named 119-minute 1080p Blu-ray reference, so the onset remains blank/low. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05.
Company stage performance
Neoclassical BalletDanced by Leslie Browne; Mikhail Baryshnikov; company dancers · Choreography Alvin Ailey; George Balanchine
Proscenium clarity and Balanchine-inflected speed contrast the polished public institution with backstage compromise.
The camera favors sustained, full-body framing, preserving the phrasing and the relationship between the dancers and the floor. The movement is allowed to build through complete musical ideas, so the payoff comes from performance rather than editorial camouflage.
Emilia and Yuri pas de deux
Classical BalletDanced by Leslie Browne; Mikhail Baryshnikov · Choreography Alvin Ailey; George Balanchine
Partnering is framed to show preparation and recovery, making technical trust part of the romance.
The framing stays close enough to catch breath, eye-line and lead-follow negotiation, then widens when the partnership needs spatial room. Small weight shifts and pauses carry as much force as the larger figures, which makes the dance register as a live relationship rather than decoration.
Etudes studio rehearsal
Neoclassical BalletDanced by American Ballet Theatre dancers · Choreography Harald Lander
The Etudes ensemble halting mid-process after a clipped eight-count.
The company strips Etudes of gala polish and rebuilds it to an audible eight-count in the rehearsal room. When the phrase stops at “that's as far as I got,” the unfinished edge exposes how Lander's fast, orderly stage picture is assembled before an audience ever sees it.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. The passage is identifiable, but its movement begins inside a subtitle-silent interval in the named 119-minute 1080p Blu-ray reference, so the onset remains blank/low. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05.
Giselle Act II pas de deux and Yuri variation
Romantic BalletDanced by Antoinette Sibley; Mikhail Baryshnikov · Choreography Jean Coralli; Jules Perrot
Yuri's airborne variation emerging from Sevilla's ghostly Giselle partnership.
Antoinette Sibley's Sevilla and Mikhail Baryshnikov's Yuri carry the Act II encounter through a white-ballet stillness before Yuri breaks out into the male variation. The passage lets his suspended beats and landings answer Sevilla's weightless Wili phrasing, turning Emilia's first New York opening night into a display of the level she has joined.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. The passage is identifiable, but its movement begins inside a subtitle-silent interval in the named 119-minute 1080p Blu-ray reference, so the onset remains blank/low. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05.
Madame Dahkarova passes on the pointe tradition
Classical BalletDanced by Alexandra Danilova; Starr Danias; Leslie Browne
Dahkarova naming the chain from Kschessinska to Emilia while a pointe phrase continues in the cramped studio.
Madame Dahkarova interrupts Carolyn's chatter and turns a private coaching session into a visible lineage from Kschessinska to herself, Emma, Carolyn and eventually Emilia. The quiet pointe demonstration between her family-tree speech and the next backstage scene makes technique look inherited through bodies, not merely through names.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. The passage is identifiable, but its movement begins inside a subtitle-silent interval in the named 119-minute 1080p Blu-ray reference, so the onset remains blank/low. TV Insider and Reelgood showed no current U.S. stream, rental, or purchase option when checked on 2026-08-05.
Touring-company class
Classical BalletDanced by Leslie Browne; Mikhail Baryshnikov; company dancers · Choreography Alvin Ailey; George Balanchine
The camera treats class as workplace, preserving combinations, corrections and the glances through which rank circulates.
Observational coverage keeps the dancers' full bodies and surrounding community in view, using close-ups mainly to reveal effort and response. Because the film lets attempts, corrections and recoveries remain visible, the sequence shows how the dance is made rather than presenting only a polished result.
Yuri solo
Classical BalletDanced by Mikhail Baryshnikov · Choreography Alvin Ailey; George Balanchine
Sustained full-body views let elevation, batterie and landings supply their own dramatic rhythm.
The camera favors sustained, full-body framing, preserving the phrasing and the relationship between the dancers and the floor. The movement is allowed to build through complete musical ideas, so the payoff comes from performance rather than editorial camouflage.
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