00:00I'm Lucy Fink. I'm a video producer at Refinery29, but every so often I like to
00:04try other people's jobs. Today, I'm at a ballet studio in Manhattan to see if I
00:09have what it takes to be a ballerina. This is Lucy for Hire.
00:18Professional ballet dancers are, I think, some of the best athletes in the world,
00:23but we're also artists, so our job is to make it look really easy. Anyone who's
00:27trying ballet for the first time is gonna be genuinely surprised by how hard it
00:33is, even to execute really simple moves. Your first challenge is to warm up and
00:38stretch. Isabella walked me through a series of simple stretches. Oh, that's as far as
00:43that can go. Toe touching, straddles, and some yoga poses. Then we move to the
00:55ballet bar. And straighten. Good. She taught me how to loosen up my hands and
01:01fingers. Put your thumb in and then you you want to see every finger. You don't
01:05just want to have like flippers. And then she showed me some basic ballet
01:09terminology. Demi plié. And straighten. And now we're gonna do a grand plié so you go
01:16all the way down. Woo! My foot cracked. Oh man! It's your head. Let me just say, this warm-up
01:23was hard enough, so I was starting to get really nervous about the actual
01:27learning to dance part. Your second challenge is to look the part. Because when
01:32your outfit is on point, your life is on point. Isabella had me change into a
01:37typical ballet outfit. Tights and a leotard. Do I look like a ballerina? We need
01:47to put your hair up into a bun. Then I tried to give myself a ballet bun, but it
01:52was an absolute disaster. Okay, I'm just gonna like fix it a little. It was a good, it
01:57was a good attempt though. So Isabella took over and helped me out. Pro tip, use a ton
02:04of bobby pins. Yay! She also taught me how to tie point shoes, wrapping the inside
02:10ribbon twice and the outside ribbon once. I wasn't gonna dance in them this time
02:13though. It takes years and years to learn how to move in them properly. Painful! The
02:19biggest part of the challenge was still yet to come. Your third challenge is to
02:23learn the choreography. Today I'm gonna teach Lucy an excerpt from Swan Lake, which
02:28is one of my favorite ballets. So you go up onto Demi Point and keep your legs
02:33stretched. To start, Isabella taught me a few eight counts of choreography. One, two, flap, three, four, and one, and
02:42a two.
02:43And then we practiced my leap. The aesthetic of ballet is based on hitting
02:49extremely precise poses and body angles, and those positions and that grace take
02:54years and years of hard work and practice to perfect. Keep your like head out,
02:59like fully stretched out. Wait. I'm sweating.
03:06Try it again. Try it again. Your final challenge is to perform. And just like
03:12that, I became a swan. Well, not really. I put on a pink tutu to really bring my
03:17personality into the part. Oh my gosh, I feel like a ballerina. And then I did my best.
03:47Sweet! How did he do?
03:50Yeah, Lucy was awesome. She was totally up for anything.
03:54Yeah, why not? Add it.
03:57Very open-minded and very unselfconscious, which is a great quality for a beginner to have.
04:02Even though I had to modify the choreography to make it a little simpler for her,
04:06I think with a few more years of practice, I would definitely hire Lucy as a ballerina.
04:12Ballet is an art form, but it's also a sport. Isabella has trained for years to earn herself a spot
04:18as a
04:18principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre.
04:20So with a few more years of practice, maybe I'll get there too.
04:24For now, I feel great about my efforts, my progress, and my performance.
04:28And in the meantime, I'll see you at the ballet bar.
04:32Thanks so much for watching my attempt at being a ballerina.
04:35Comment below to let me know how you thought I did.
04:37Click here to watch another video on Refinery29
04:40and right here to subscribe.
04:42See ya!
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