Taking on the ballet world – Pollyanna’s story

We were recently asked to make a short film about Polyanna for Elizabeth’s Legacy of a hope, a charity that helps child amputees. Pollyanna is an extraordinary ballerina for she has one foot, following a tragic accident. This makes her dancing even more remarkable. She is a beautiful dancer, but the ballet examiners still score dancers like Pollyanna down, making no reasonable adjustments to the examinations to take into account her disability. She scores low marks on footwork (as she only has one foot). This is a form of institutional discrimination. For our film we asked Amber Doyle to choreograph a piece with Pollyanna at the fabulous Pineapple studios. We asked Amber to use the music of Massenet and for Pollyanna to dress as in a painting of Edgar Degas . The rest of the film was shot at the family home with Pollyanna, sister Saphire and brother Barnaby, along with parents Chris and Sarah Hope. We hope that you enjoy the film. Please watch and share and support the great work of Elizabeth’s legacy of Hope.