thank you darren aronofsky. let's get one thing clear. i couldn't care less how much natalie portman danced the lead role in black swan and how much was danced by her body double. she didn't win any awards because of her dancing. (honestly, there isn't really even that much dancing in this film if you think about it). that being said, i can't stand the idea that there could be a looming asterisk over her best acting oscar. enter mr. aronofsky who released the following clearly researched and irrefutable statement on portman's dancing:

“Here is the reality. I had my editor count shots. There are 139 dance shots in the film. 111 are Natalie Portman untouched. 28 are her dance double Sarah Lane. If you do the math that’s 80% Natalie Portman. What about duration? The shots that feature the double are wide shots and rarely play for longer than one second. There are two complicated longer dance sequences that we used face replacement. Even so, if we were judging by time over 90% would be Natalie Portman.

And to be clear Natalie did dance on pointe in pointe shoes. If you look at the final shot of the opening prologue, which lasts 85 seconds, and was danced completely by Natalie, she exits the scene on pointe. That is completely her without any digital magic. I am responding to this to put this to rest and to defend my actor. Natalie sweated long and hard to deliver a great physical and emotional performance. And I don’t want anyone to think that’s not her they are watching. It is.”

and now we can officially put this minor drama to rest.  ¶ 3/28/2011 03:21:00 PM