The Impressive Journey of Ballerina Mary Helen Bowers
I continue to watch, with admiration, the impressive journey of Mary Helen Bowers – the creator of Ballet Beautiful and dance instructor/trainer for Natalie Portman’s Oscar-winning performance in Black Swan.
A former professional dancer with the New York City Ballet, and current savvy businesswoman, Ms. Bowers has turned her passion and early career as a ballerina into a thriving and enviable business. She catapulted into the media spotlight with the premiere of the dark, psychological thriller Black Swan, which garnered international acclaim and cleaned up during awards season. It was Ms. Bowers who worked closely with Natalie Portman, transforming her physique – training on average eight hours a day with the starlet – to build and maintain the beauty, strength, and highly specific aesthetic of a true ballerina’s form. Audiences and critics alike were clearly impressed with Natalie’s likeness to a professional dancer and, as such, Ms. Bowers developed her training technique into a comprehensive series of Ballet Beautiful DVD’s. The DVD’s are designed to allow anyone to build and attain the elusive shape of a ballerina’s body without any dance training or previous experience.
During the media frenzy of Black Swan, Ms. Bowers appeared on countless TV programs, in magazine & newspaper articles, and on radio programs around the globe – from Japanese Vogue to Elle Belgium, from the Today Show Australia to the London Times – in a media relations campaign of epic proportions.
Ms. Bowers serves as a solid and impressive example of brilliant self-promotion, proving that third-party endorsement truly works when launching or growing a business. Her ability to ‘pitch’ a similar, but extremely timely and relatable story to countless global media outlets, while continuing to make the story fresh and impactful certainly deserves recognition. As a new business owner with a focus on PR and Media Relations, I have a huge appreciation for the tremendous amount of work that goes into churning out a steady stream of media coverage, all the while making it appear effortless. Lastly, it is fascinating to see Ms. Bowers’ journey – from which she commenced as a professional dancer – come full circle, growing a thriving business from this early seed of immense talent and passion.
Check out Mary Helen Bowers’ press portfolio and upcoming release dates for the Ballet Beautiful DVD series here.
Categories: Musings