To The Pointe Documentary

To The Pointe by Cookie Productions, is a 10 minute documentary featuring interviews with Principal Tracy Hawkes and student Hayley Fleming. Hayley graduated in 2014 – this film was shot when she was in second year.

Follow 2^nd year student Hayley Fleming as she is fitted for pointe shoes, dances in studio rehearsals and find out how she feels when she performs. Since graduating, Hayley has worked as a performer at Disneyland Paris and at the 4-star Mitsis Rodos Village Hotel in Greece, taught dance in Scotland, and worked with Mirage Productions aboard Fred Olsen cruises. Discover more dance college successes graduates.

Advanced RAD Ballet technique underpins our professional dance training course. In the documentary below, Principal Tracy Hawkes tells us about the demands, artistry and intimacy of ballet and shares a touching moment when, aged fifteen, she met her favourite ballerina, Svetlana Beriosova at a masterclass in Glasgow.

Svetlana Beriosova short biography:

Svetlana was born in 1932 into a family of Lithuanian dancers. She was described by Jennifer Dunning in the New York Times as “an incandescent leading ballerina” who “embodied pure classicism shot through with quietly shimmering mystery”. Trained in New York with Russian teachers Anatole Vilzak and Ludmila Shollar, Svetlana joined the English Royal Ballet in 1950 and danced many lead roles with them until she retired from the stage in 1975.

Produced by Cookie Productions:
Jessica Bradbury
Kris Gunn
Michelle Sandal
Rūta Sīle
Laura Tiesnese

We interviewed Michelle Sandal and Rūta Sīle:

Why did you choose to do a documentary about ballet?

Michelle: We chose to do a documentary about ballet, because we all thought it is a very beautiful dance, but also an art form that may be forgotten some times. We wanted to focus on the dancers and their relationship to the dance, and how hard it is to make it look as beautiful as it is.

Rūta: Personally, I really like ballet and I’ve been dancing it for a year and a half now. My teacher has been a huge inspiration and has shown me the beauty of the dance, and I wanted to reflect that in the documentary.

The documentary is about two things. One, it’s about ballet itself, about it’s beauty and technicality and the importance of both. And two, it’s about the student teacher relationship. It reflects how the teacher inspires the student to continue dancing no matter what and how the passion for ballet is constantly passed on.

Note: Ballet provides a strong foundation of technique and body conditioning needed for any style of professional dance.

“Who are Cookie Productions?

Rūta: Cookie Productions is a group of five talented people who came together for the first and hopefully not last time to produce a documentary for their dissertation project.

Are you all hoping to go on to make documentaries, or do you have other plans/areas you want to work in?

Michelle: I think this experience has been a very valuable one, and it has definitely taught me a lot about documentary productions. If anything, it has only made me even more interested in making future documentaries. At the moment, I am still trying to find my niche in film, but documentaries could absolutely be one possibility.

What was your experience of Dance For All?

Michelle: My experience with Dance for All was a very pleasant one. I felt that it was a very professional dance institute with inspiring tutors, dedicated students in a very relaxed setting, where everyone strived to do their very best.