Ballet is a never-ending pursuit of excellence. It requires discipline and commitment and calls for a delicate balancing act between the artistic and athletic.
The techniques in classical ballet demand ongoing examination and intense body awareness. Each step is arranged in a specific way, and every position is exact. Ballet demands both physical and mental effort, but it must appear effortless.
Basically speaking, every ballet step itself is hard. However, from many professional ballet dancers’ points of view, there are quite a number of ballet moves that are even harder to execute. Here are the 10 most difficult ballet moves that dancers might find themselves struggling to master. Note that this list is only focused on the following 4 categories: turns, jumps, pointe work, and adagio.
1. Double Pique En Dehors (or “lame ducks”)
The difficult weight shift is what makes piqué spins en dehors, often known as "step-overs," so challenging. The dancer steps en pointe onto a straight leg, half turns to place the opposite leg on the floor, and picks up the original leg into passé. The turn is then done away from the supporting leg.
2. Fouetté
(Photo: Italian Fouetté)
In French, fouetté means “whipped.” There are two main types of fouettè turns in ballet, Italian and Russian.
- Russian Fouetté
According to Lisa Rumbauskas, an ABT-certified teacher at West End Academy of Dance,
“Fouetté turns are considered to many the hardest step in the ballet vocabulary.” Russian fouettes, when done correctly, open to the side in demi plie then rise, closing the working leg to the back of the working knee and then to the front.
- Italian Fouetté
Italian fouettés are a grande battement to 2nd and a fouetté all the way around with the working leg ending in attitude derrière.
- En Dedans Fouetté
In this video, professional dancers Jordan & Eden from the Ballet Reign break down why En dedans Fouetté is so hard to execute. They also rank different fouetté turns based on their hardness.
These steps humble us... Dancers reveal their TOP 10 HARDEST ballet steps | Ballet Reign
3. Gargouillade
The uncommon ballet step (gargouillade means “rumbling” or “bubbling” in French) requires intricate footwork mid-jump: a small pas de chat with both feet doing double rond de jambe en l’air. Traditionally a step for women, gargouillade is usually part of a petit allégro combination or a fast variation. When it’s done well, it can be a flashy step that surprises audiences and highlights a dancer’s combined mastery of articulation, speed, coordination and ballon.
4. Jete battu dessous (under)
Its basically the jete battu but in a reverse way. In jeté battu the working leg would be the one that does the initial dégagé. If you start in 5th position with the left leg in front, the right (working) leg does a dégagé to the side, then beats behind, and then in front of, the left (supporting) leg. Then when you land, the right leg becomes the supporting leg with the left leg in cou-de-pied derrière.
5. Brisé volés
Brisé Volé is a classical ballet term that means “flying. brise.” Basically, a brisé volé is when a dancer. alternates between brisé front and back in succession. Each time the dancer jumps and lands, it is on one leg.
6. Double Rond de Jambe with Temps Leve
It's the combination of the rond de jambe and temps leve, which means a small hop on one foot, with the other foot raised off the floor.
Now, let’s move onto the Pointe work category.
7. Sissone sur le pointe
Start with the fifth position and dart forward into first arabesque on the right leg. As the right leg moves from the plié in fifth to pointe to execute the sissonne, think that it continues to cross in front of you. At the exact same time, battement your left leg from fifth directly to the arabesque precisely behind you. You hit the position in one count. Ideally, a grande sissonne ouverte sur la pointe is a big movement that travels forward—in this case, to first arabesque.
According to former New York City Ballet soloist and current School of American Ballet faculty member Katrina Killian, “The distance you dart becomes a progression. When you start learning the step, you’re only going to go so far, but as you learn to propel both legs equally, then the dart will become yours, and you will go further.”
8. Hops en pointe
These are some of the hardest steps to do in ballet class or in a performance. You can casually notice the main dancers doing this move in Giselle or Don Quixote.
Karin Ellis-Wentz, head of pre-professional programs at the Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago, shares some of her tips on how to do hops en pointe properly. The plié for hops on pointe should be quite shallow, especially when done on one leg. Generally, the jump itself is not high enough for the knees to stretch in the air. But stay very lifted and lengthened through the body, Ellis-Wentz says, “so you’re not pounding into that foot.”
That’s it for the pointe work. Last but not least, the adagio.
9. Grand Rond de jambe
Few things are as beautiful as a seamlessly executed grand rond de jambe: There’s something majestic about the high arc of the leg from front to side to back (or vice versa). As you work up to grand rond de jambe at 90 degrees and above, resist the urge to go for your maximum height immediately. To create a beautiful sweeping arc, your leg should rise slightly with each change of direction—but not if that requires distorting your hips and shoulders.
10. Promenade (not in arabesque)
A promenade in classical ballet means “a walk.” It is when a dancer turns around in a pivoting motion, always maintaining turn out, while standing with one leg flat on the floor with the other leg in a position en l'air (in the air).