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Mining Review often cast an eye on what miners got up to in their spare time, and this delightful item shows a troupe of burly Yorkshiremen donning tutus and performing a scene from Delibes' ballet 'Coppélia'. We see them rehearsing under the tutelage of 18-year-old producer Averil Panton, and then excerpts from the final performance at Normanton Central Town Club in front of the miners' colleagues. Towards the end, the commentary refers to Robert Helpmann (1909-86), who at the time was one of the leading classical ballet dancers of his generation. He was also an occasional film actor, best known for his appearance in Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes (1948). Helpmann was, Mining Review grudgingly admits, "a bit better", but it's unlikely this audience would have found him quite so entertaining. Michael Brooke *This film can also be viewed via the BFI's YouTube channel, and is included in the BFI DVD compilation 'Portrait of a Miner: The National Coal Board Collection Volume 1'.
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Complete item (2:33)
