The Nutcracker is one of the most famous and most popular ballets today. Though it’s hard to believe it became so iconic when Tchaikovsky himself admits to not liking it so much.
The ballet debuted in Russia in 1892. Critics were underwhelmed and the Russian viewers were unimpressed. They would be eating their words if they could see the classic it is nowadays.
Ballerinas Are Almost Used to Pain
There are some painful things every ballerina does as part of her training — standing en pointe, holding a position for a long time, and building flexibility are just the tip of the iceberg.
This makes ballerinas almost superhuman when it comes to handling pain. It has even been said that ballerinas can endure three times the pain a "regular" person can handle.
Pedicure Is Important
Other than extreme pain and losing toenails, one of the side effects of dancing en pointe is getting ingrown nails.
In order to avoid the ingrown nails (as they can't really avoid the other two side effects), ballerinas have to keep their toenails long enough when putting their shoes on.
Turns Are Essential
Fouetté is one of the many French ballet move names. The literal meaning of the word is "whipped" and the move itself involves the ballerina whipping her leg around in order to keep turning.
In Swan Lake, there is a scene in which the prima ballerina has to perform 32 such turns in a row — something that would make any mere human meet their breakfast all over again. In 1940, New Zealand ballerina Rowena Jackson set a world record of performing 121 fouettés in a row!
The Balance Trick
Have you ever wondered how ballerinas manage to perform so many turns and not get dizzy? The answer to that is pretty simple.
They use a technique called "spotting". It means that they focus their eyes on a specific spot in front of them (like a mark on the wall or a person in the audience), start turning their body first, and then quickly whip their head around to look back at that same spot. Certain theaters even have a special blue light installed behind the audience so the ballerinas can use it as their spot.