Ballet Training For Athletes (1957)

Central London. M/S of a dancing studio in the Royal Academy of Dancing. A group of “ promising young athletes“ dressed in tracksuits stand by the bars preparing for a “special training session“. C/U of a woman sitting, pulling on ballet shoes. C/U of three women removing their sweatshirts. C/U of Dorothy Tyler, “the amazing high jumper“, sitting on the floor. C/U of Vic Matthews, British decathlon champion, removing his tracksuit top. M/S of four women removing their tracksuit bottom to reveal shiny P.E. knickers, tilt down to their bare legs. C/U of elderly ballet instructor, Andrew Hardy. C/U of a woman folding her tracksuit over the bars. M/S of the athletes, all from different British clubs, walking from the side of the room to begin their ballet lesson, part of an experiment to improve athletes’ performances conducted by the Specialist Clubs Committee - “clubs such as ’The Whip and Carrot Club’ for international high jumpers“. M/S of Hardy standing in front of the bars. The athletes ta