An award-winning film full of sparkle and glamour

Escape to Paris with Starstruck, inspired by Gene Kelly’s iconic work in Hollywood, winner of Best Dance Film Award at the National Dance Awards 2022.

An award-winning dance-film full of sparkle and Hollywood glamour. Inspired by Gene Kelly’s iconic work in Hollywood, Starstruck, winner of Best Dance Film Award at the National Dance Awards 2022, brings an immersive, theatrical experience, in which audiences around the world can escape with us to the glamour and grace of Paris 1960.

One of the first choreographers to bring the ‘American style’ to Europe, legendary Gene Kelly was invited to create an original work for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1960. His jazzy, joyful Pas de Dieux was highly acclaimed at the time as ‘a breath of fresh air’ but has been rarely performed since. It has now been given a new set of wings for its life on stage and screen.

In collaboration with Kelly’s widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, Scottish Ballet’s CEO/Artistic Director Christopher Hampson and designer Lez Brotherston have lovingly revived the original ballet and added a delightful new twist. You’ll be transported into a world where jazz meets ballet. Combining live performance capture with cinematic filming techniques and additional elements not seen in the stage production, Starstruck is directed for screen by Oscar Sansom and produced in partnership with Forest of Black.

Gene Kelly’s pioneering choreography and unique style influenced a generation of directors and dance-makers in Hollywood, Broadway and beyond, and we honour his creative legacy with this playful new film. Set to Gershwin’s effortlessly cool Concerto in F, with extracts from Chopin, Starstruck is exactly the evening of entertainment you’ve been waiting for.

Genre ballet
Recording location The Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Production year 2021
Producer Tony Currie (Scottish Ballet) and Beth Allan (Forest of Black)
Stage Director Christopher Hampson
Sets Lez Brotherston
Choreography by Gene Kelly and Christopher Hampson
Assoc. Producer Patricia Ward Kelly