If you want a front row seat to look into history of British Ballet,
the Red Shoes is your ticket. The dancers in the film were from
the Ballet Rambert and the Royal Ballet which evolved from that very
small theatre that you see in the film called the Mercury. You also get
to see Covent Garden before the remodel (ugh!).
These very dancers had danced their way through the Blitz and all
over England to keep up the peoples moral. They drove all night
during the black outs on bus crammed with sets and props
to each venue.
I am sure they were all so happy to be able to make a ballet film
after the war. The love end energy they had for the project
can be seen in every frame.