Billy Elliot is a story of a young boy’s journey to fulfil his dream in becoming a professional dancer. The story takes place in Everington, in a coal mining town with the cultural norm expecting boys to participate in boxing. However, Billy challenges this norm by choosing to dropout of boxing and take up ballet instead. This movie illustrates the obstacles that he faced and how he battled his way to overcome them to become a professional dancer.
The social environment of a child is very important to the development of their respective sport as it has direct implications to their motivation level and their willingness to learn. Billy was not in a supportive social environment when he was practicing boxing. Billy lost his mother at a very young age and life at home was not very smooth sailing as both his father and brother were striking miners, causing them to be easily irritated and often took their anger out on him. Billy had no interest in boxing but was pressured into taking up boxing by his father and the culture of the environment which he was placed in.
Without passion and the motivation, Billy always performed badly during boxing classes, he was often made to fork out extra time to polish up his basic skills before he could call it a day. This failure was a great blow to Billy’s confidence causing him to have a very low perceived competence level. In addition, Billy had several issues with the coach, he was not only an aggressive man with strict and regimented routines, he screams and yells all the time, often embarrassing him in front of everyone.
Chancing upon ballet one day drawn him to this less demanding activity, he began practicing with the help of the teacher and became the only boy in the crowd. The teacher al...
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...further to continue with what he loves, to dance.
Billy decided to dance for his dad after being caught practicing in the gym with his buddy. This reflects his eagerness to demonstrate his high competence after successful practices, in hope to demonstrate and seek acceptance from his dad which it did and it brought them closer. After realising his potential, he agreed to the audition and insisted that he should fork out the money for the trip to London. They then worked to overcome the financial setback in realising his dream together with his brother who caught him dancing on the rooftop one day, in search for a better future. With the support, Billy succeeded and travelled around the world for performance.
Being intrinsically motivated in ballet, Billy strives for excellence despite the obstructions and with the “right” environment, he accomplishes his dream.
Nelson, the school nurse had a great idea to put on a water ballet to show off all the talents of the children for their parents for pickup day. Even though the children were beginning to feel down about camp ending, they decided to all pitch in together to put on a great show. This was just the boost of confidence the children needed as they were not feeling very happy about camp coming to an end. They all worked hard, under Mrs. Neilson’s supervision so they would be prepared when their families arrived on Saturday.
Ballet has been an art form since the late fifteenth century, but society did not truly see the impact of ballet until the nineteenth century. Modern day thinkers possess the idea that ballet began with tutus and pointe shoes, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that this opinion was observed. Ballet has come a long way. It has survived the turmoil of many wars and has changed itself by accepting new ideas and impressing the audience with its unique stylistic views.
In “Fighter,” Billy is insecure because of his failures in life. He believes that he is not able to accomplish anything because he is a failure. His insecurity holds him back,
...erson & by not doing everything that his parents said he was able to find out the truth which I think, in the end would have made his relationship with his parents much stronger. Billy was very restricted & confined by the expectations placed on him by his family & as well as society & because of this was not able to express himself or find his own personal happiness but through dance he was able to discover who he really is & what he loves & by pursuing it he became a much stronger person, it even enabled him to stand up to his father in showing him how much he loves dance & in doing so also stood up to society & gender stereotypes, this made Billy a much stronger person, throughout the movie it also shows how Billy is able to make a better personal relationship with his father & his brother Tony who he grows closer to as he becomes his own person through dance.
Her lasting career was not given to her easily, therefore, creating an inspiring story full of hardships and success. Ever since she was a little girl, her dream was to become a successful and famous dancer. In New York City, when she was trying to fulfill her dream, she was unable to find a job in the theatre department. Instead of being discouraged, she decided to make something good come from it. She choreographed her own routines, created her own costumes, and organized solo recitals for audiences to enjoy. This event led her to the biggest adventure in her life that would later impact the world. She was invited to return back to London to pursue her education in the performing arts, so that she could further improve her talents that would make up her entire career.
Billy insists that he inherited his wild streak from his father & grandfather before him. Wherever it emerged from, I think there can be no denying that it exists ! He claims also that he has frequently been misunderstood throughout his career & I believe that this was the case even during his school days. It was suggested on Billy’s report card that he was ‘idle’. What the teachers failed to recognise is that Billy was just ‘bored’.
Ballet is an athletic art form that utilizes muscle control, flexibility, and physical strength. It requires extreme discipline from the dancers and takes an extreme amount of mental concentration. This discipline causes dancers to have success throughout life and specifically in academic studies. There are many ways that dance can affect the success of a person’s life; however, there are two in specific that make dancers generally more successful. To begin, ballet causes dancers to be self-motivated workers; dancers cannot rely on others to push them to be better, but must have the drive within themselves.
He expresses himself through his ‘Dance of Defiance,’ a scene where he displays his genuine talent and strong passion through movement. When Jacky finally discovers Billy dancing ballet, the extreme close-up shot captures their gaze and eye contact to create tension between the father and the son. Here, Billy demonstrates his bravery by dancing aggressively in front of his father, challenging his father’s authority. As his exhilaration increases, the screen lengthens and his whole body comes into view. The strong rhythm of the music played in the background emphasises his passion and pride in dance. This scene is crucial where Jacky acknowledges his son’s strong passion and genuine talent as a dancer. It is his confrontation that Billy and his father grow closer together despite their differences. Thus, his love for dance emboldens him in front of his chauvinistic father and lays down a path into a wider more rewarding
After a while at being at the academy, Li got to know his teachers and they saw a lot of potential in Li’s ballet skills. They told him a lot of legends and stories that made Li want to practice and work hard at ballet and become better at it. “Sit down, I want to tell you a story”. Li trained hard, day and night, getting advice from teachers and students on how to improve, “I worked hard and listened to what they said”. Li pushed through injuries just so he could get better at ballet in hopes to get his name out there but most importantly making his family proud. “My rapid improvement surprised my teachers and classmates”. Therefore, by improving on his ballet it shows that Li has a lot of determination in getting better at ballet every day and he is getting more independent in this whole process of training and
Li’s passion for ballet shows on and off stage through his arabesques, flexibility, fouettés, grande jeté and pirouettes that were nothing less than perfection. I understood that becoming a dancer requires commitment, passion and having a great memory as there’s many moves, routines and ballet terms that you need to learn. When I was performing on stage, I felt free and that I could own the stage as it felt like it was my second home. I also felt complete within myself just as Li felt. To perform on stage, you need to be light and graceful along with connecting to the music using precise steps, poses and formal gestures. The film used dance, music, scenery, and costumes to portray a story characterised by Li’s dance. Classical ballet dancers require the utmost grace and I’ve found that you also need a tremendous level of concentration and memory. This portrays when his choreographer Ben Stevenson asked Li Cunxin to replace the main male role due to an injury on the day of the performance to memorise new dances and perform them in front of an enormous crowd. Many of my performances have been in a group where we all need to be in sync and work together. This film highlighted that in order to become a professional ballet dancer, you have to prepare to work extremely hard no matter how gruelling the schedule is in order to
Dreams are what drive people; they create the world we are in. Sometimes it can take years before people realize what their dreams are. In the film Billy Elliot, directed by Stephen Daldry the audience gets to experience the road that Billy Elliot took takes order to achieve his goal. He may have had to take a different road before realizing his destiny; if it were not for the 1ballet coach, Mrs. Wilkinson, whom played a huge role in his path to discover his dream of becoming a ballet dancer.
When Billy was a child, he was never taught how to swim. One day his dad took him to the pool to “teach” him. Billy’s father threw Billy into the pool, teaching him how “to swim by a method of sink-or-swim” (Vonnegut 55). Right before Billy fell unconscious, he sensed someone coming to rescue him, he “resented that” (Vonnegut 55). By resenting the rescue from a lifeguard, Vonnegut reveals Billy’s preference to escape rather than face his problems, therefore highlighting his weakness from a young age and foreshadowing his fatigue as a soldier during war. Although escape isn't a huge factor is Billy’s decision making throughout Slaughterhouse 5, it is always in the back of his mind as the “easy way out”. Additionally, escape develops an internal conflict between Billy and himself as he struggles to make decisions about facing his hardships or physically escaping his
This world and its beliefs provide Billy with a way to escape the mental prison of his mind where even the sound of sirens caused him great distress. From the chronology to the diminishing reaction to the important moments in his life, Billy’s life becomes completely chaotic and meaningless, but he would not prefer any other alternative because this was the only one which was mentally
Fred Wes states that one cannot actually “directly motivate another person” but can in fact create a motivational environment, in which a person themselves becomes motivated. This is exactly what Mrs. Wilkinson did for Billy Elliot; she set an environment where Billy was able to flourish. When Billy first notices the girls practicing ballet, he decides to join, and while many may say that ballet is for girls and judge boys for trying it, Mrs. Wilkinson did not say anything that may discourage him. In fact she does the opposite, upon seeing the interest in the dancing, she asks him to join in. This shows that she has a heart that does not judge, whereas many people would have said that ballet is not for boys, here was Mrs. Wilkinson asking him to join in. She understands that people have talents. Unless others encourage them to follow those talents they will not get far. Talent is not based on gender-roles. Another example of Mrs. Wilkinson being a motivator is when she provides free of charge ballet lessons. It is obvious that Mrs. Wilkinson wanted to see Billy succeed in this career, with no personal gain whatsoever. While others discouraged any behavior that made a man ‘less manly’,...
‘Billy Elliot’ is a classic story, set in 1984 in Northern England. It is about a boy who discovers a passion for dancing. The film brings out a strong message of being true to yourself and overcoming conflict but ultimately it is also a story of persistence. The film techniques in ‘Billy Elliot’ enhance the audiences view on Billy’s story by using a variety of techniques such as sound, lighting, acting and editing.