“Someone once said that dancers work just as hard as policeman, always alert, always tense, but see, policeman don't have to be beautiful at the same time.”
-George Balanchine

The pink costumes and the make up. The lights and the colorful backdrops. The swells of Tchaikovsky music and the velvet Austrian curtain. These all hide the hell that goes on behind the curtain. A world, that audience members do not see. Not only the world of backstage, but the whole life of ballet dancers.

The first word you think of when you hear the word “ballet” or “ballerina” is probably something along the lines of “graceful” or “pink.” Not many people would think the words “athlete,” “strength,” or “power.” Have no doubt that ballet dancers are very graceful, but we have to have the strength, power and stamina of any common athlete.

Ballet. The pink, frilly, easy hobby, yes? No! This must be the biggest misconception. Ballet students are always told to make what they do look easy. “Don’t let the audience know how hard it is!” This lesson is drilled into our brains. I guess ballet dancers are just so good at hiding the hard work, that nobody believes ballet is actually hard, tedious, soul crushing, even.

We are in class for numerous hours every day. Hours, staring at yourself in a leotard and pink tights. They leave nothing to the imagination. You can see every muscle, every bit of fat. We are stretched into positions that I did not even know were possible for the human body. Our teachers scream that we are useless and will spend our whole life in the back of a corps de ballet. We spend more hours than can be healthy standing on our toes. During classes and rehearsals blisters accumulate on our feet like holes in Swiss cheese. We are all at least one toenail short and have acquired bruises on the toenails we still have left.

Ballet dancers wake up sore every day. Personally, I find it hard to even walk around normally sometimes. It hurts to lift myself out of bed. My feet are so tender from the ballet classes the day before that it hurts to put on shoes. It hurts to walk up the stairs at school.
People think that ballet is all just frilly and pink. They think no work goes into what we do. Can you make your knee touch your ear? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Can you make your shin touch your face? Yeah, didn’t think you could do that either. Can you do a quadruple pirouette on the tip of your toes? I am going to guess you can’t. Anyone can kick a ball into a net, or hit a ball with a racket the size of your face. We work as hard, if not harder, than any other athlete. But, we make what we do look easy.