Sarah Lane, Natalie Portman'Black Swan'body double, did 95 percent of dancing in film, she claims

Ballerina Sarah Lane has caused"Black Swan"filmmakers to rush toNatalie Portman's defense after the dancer claimed the Oscar-winningactress only did"5 percent"of the full body shots inDarren Aronofsky's hit thriller.

TheAmerican Ballet Theatresoloist who performed Portman's more difficult dance sequences in Darren Aronofsky's film, toldEntertainment Weeklyshe was told to keep mum about the 29-year-old star's face being digitally grafted onto her body for the majority of the film's dance sequences.

"The shots that are just her face with arms, those shots are definitely Natalie,"the 27-year-old ballerina told the website."All the other shots are me."

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But the film's production company,Fox Searchlight, countered Lane's claims in a statement released this weekend.

"We were fortunate to have Sarah there to cover the more complicated dance sequences and we have nothing but praise for the hard work she did,"the statement said."However, Natalie herself did most of the dancing featured in the final film."

Lane, who worked on the film for six weeks, toldEW.comthat producerAri Handeltold her not to talk about her work on the film to the press.

"They wanted to create this idea in people’s minds that Natalie was some kind of prodigy or so gifted in dance and really worked so hard to make herself a ballerina in a year and a half for the movie, basically because of the Oscar,"she said."It is demeaning to the profession and not just to me. I've been doing this for 22 years...Can you become a concert pianist in a year and a half, even if you're a movie star?"

To further prove her point, Lane added that Portman's non-professional technique was clear to a pro dancer since"she can't dance in pointe shoes. And she can't move her body; she's very stiff.”

The veteran dancer spoke out after the film's choreographer and Portman's fiancé,Benjamin Millepied, claimed Portman did"85 percent"of the dancing.

"There are articles now talking about her dance double {American Ballet Theatre dancerSarah Lane} that are making it sound like {Lane} did a lot of the work, but really, she just did the footwork, and the fouettés, and one diagonal {phrase} in the studio,"he told theLos Angeles Times.

Portman's rep could not be reached for comment, but Hollywood is known for trying to keep body doubles on the down low.
 
For the release of the 1983 dance movie hit"Flashdance,"Jennifer Beals' body double, Marine Jahan, was kept away from the press to maintain the illusion that their young star was a gifted dancer.

It turned out that Beals actually had two other body doubles as well asJahan, gymnastSharon Shapiroand break dancer Crazy Legs.

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