Starz developing drama about the darker side of ballet

The Turning Point (Credit: 20th Century Fox)

Starz network is getting their Black Swan on. Except it’s more The Turning Point than Black Swan. Allow me to explain…

The network is developing a ballet drama described as a “dark and gritty” look at the “dysfunctional underbelly of the ballet world”. The series will follow a young dancer named Claire, struggling with her troubled past while joining a prestigious ballet company in New York.

The series comes to us from feature producer Lawrence Bender (Inglourious Basterds) and Breaking Bad co-executive producer Moira Walley-Beckett, who also will script the project. Also executive producing is Kevin Brown, one of the men responsible for one of my all-time favorite series, Roswell (no, seriously). All three executive producers have strong ties to the world of ballet. Bender and Walley-Beckett are former dancers themselves, while Brown’s family is comprised entirely of former ballet dancers – they were even the basis for the 1977 Oscar-nominated film The Turning Point. Unfortunately, that film also holds the dubious distinction as being one of the biggest losers in Oscar history, totaling eleven nominations without a single win. Hopefully this anti-Bunheads is a bit more successful.

Full story: Deadline