THE BALLERINA AND THE BUM and THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL BALLET
Dir. Eleanor Antin, 1974/1975
USA, 80 minutes total
English

WEDNESDAY, MAY 8 – 8:00 PM

Eleanor Antin – performance artist, photographer, and filmmaker – often creates an alternate persona in her video work, and in The Ballerina and the Bum and The Little Match Girl Ballet, she recreates herself as a professional ballerina from the middle of nowhere, desperate to make it in the big city. In the first film, Antin’s ballerina plans to walk across the country in order to make it as a dancer in the Big City; she meets the titular bum, and dreams of success. In the thematic sequel The Little Match Girl Ballet, that dancer has finally made it! She describes her path to glory to a silent audience, and acts out a ballet to Stravinsky, playing all the parts. In these two films, Antin discusses ideas of identity, fame, and representation, all while tying it back to dance.