4 ms·

I was at a dance hall the other day, and this young lady came floating in. It's hard to describe how she walked - just like she was effortlessly gliding. It loo

I was at a dance hall the other day, and this young lady came floating in. It's hard to describe how she walked - just like she was effortlessly gliding. It looks easy, but anyone else would look like a moose trying it. It's the result of a lifetime of ballet dancing. Probably 10,000 hours, at least. I was just in awe.

WalterBright 7mo ago
Another incident: I was stepping out of my ride to the airport, and noticed another woman pulling her luggage out of the trunk of a car. I remarked "I bet you're a ballet dancer." She said "nope, I'm an ice dancer!" Funny I could tell just by the way she wrangled the luggage.
- claysmithr 7mo ago
  and I'm on my knees looking for the answer
  - WalterBright 7mo ago
    ???
    - mettamage 7mo ago
      It’s a song “Are we human or are we dancer”
      - WalterBright 7mo ago
        thank you
  - pcdevils 7mo ago
    Killer reply
hn_throwaway_99 7mo ago
It's not just the 10,000 hours, it's learning it very young. I am an ex-professional ballet dancer, and one of the things I always find interesting is that any experienced ballet dancer can instantly tell who trained as a child and who didn't solely by how they stand (literally not even moving) at the barre. But the thing is, children with only a few years of training under their belt will often show this good form, while I have literally never seen someone who started as an adult, even dedicated adults who take class 4-5 times a week, get rid of that "I started as an adult" posture. As an example, I was actually quite impressed at how Natalie Portman really managed to "look the part" in her role as a ballerina in Black Swan. Still, she wasn't fooling anyone with training - even with just a simple port de bras (raising of an arm), you could easily tell she wasn't a dancer.
- WalterBright 7mo ago
  I'm not in the least surprised by that. Bones in children are softer and more malleable, they don't harden up until 16 or so. (That's why young athletes should stick to more reps and lighter weights until 16.) I've tried emulating those movements, and just look like Bullwinkle.
- tayo42 7mo ago
  funny, surfing is like this too
- emsixteen 7mo ago
  My partner's also a dance, and this is what's always come across from her, too - that you can tell a dancer from a glance in an instant, even on the street. I have a little bit of an eye for it but only by virtue of being around that environment. (also: ex-pro ballet to HN? Can't imagine there's much crossover in that Venn!)
  - hn_throwaway_99 7mo ago
    > ex-pro ballet to HN? Can't imagine there's much crossover in that Venn! It's perhaps not super common, but not as rare as you might think. Only a teeny tiny minority of ballet dancers have full careers, meaning they make it to the level of principal (the highest rank in a ballet company) and then retire in their 40s, usually to go on to another career in dance like teaching. Many more are like me, where we trained intensively as children, then made it into a company but saw that there'd be a ceiling on our advancement (meaning we'd only make it to corps de ballet or soloist level based on our ability), so left after a few years to do something else. Then there are the fascinating outliers like Robert Wallace, who was a dancer with ABT and a principal at Boston Ballet (so the pinnacle of the career), then went to Yale at 32, graduated summa cum laude in economics, and now is CEO of Stanford Management Company where he runs Stanford's $50 billion endowment.
cwmoore 7mo ago
Not to counter your point, but you must have never seen moose moving at speed through a forest. They are astonishingly graceful and surprisingly quiet.
skeeter2020 7mo ago
My daughter just stopped competitive dancing last year after essentially a lifetime. The impact of all that ballet on her posture is worth it alone. Also she's phenomenal at posing for otherwise unscripted photos; her smile is always perfect.

WalterBright 7mo ago

Another incident: I was stepping out of my ride to the airport, and noticed another woman pulling her luggage out of the trunk of a car. I remarked "I bet you're a ballet dancer." She said "nope, I'm an ice dancer!" Funny I could tell just by the way she wrangled the luggage.

claysmithr 7mo ago
and I'm on my knees looking for the answer
- WalterBright 7mo ago
  ???
  - mettamage 7mo ago
    It’s a song “Are we human or are we dancer”
    - WalterBright 7mo ago
      thank you
- pcdevils 7mo ago
  Killer reply

hn_throwaway_99 7mo ago

It's not just the 10,000 hours, it's learning it very young. I am an ex-professional ballet dancer, and one of the things I always find interesting is that any experienced ballet dancer can instantly tell who trained as a child and who didn't solely by how they stand (literally not even moving) at the barre. But the thing is, children with only a few years of training under their belt will often show this good form, while I have literally never seen someone who started as an adult, even dedicated adults who take class 4-5 times a week, get rid of that "I started as an adult" posture. As an example, I was actually quite impressed at how Natalie Portman really managed to "look the part" in her role as a ballerina in Black Swan. Still, she wasn't fooling anyone with training - even with just a simple port de bras (raising of an arm), you could easily tell she wasn't a dancer.

WalterBright 7mo ago
I'm not in the least surprised by that. Bones in children are softer and more malleable, they don't harden up until 16 or so. (That's why young athletes should stick to more reps and lighter weights until 16.) I've tried emulating those movements, and just look like Bullwinkle.
tayo42 7mo ago
funny, surfing is like this too
emsixteen 7mo ago
My partner's also a dance, and this is what's always come across from her, too - that you can tell a dancer from a glance in an instant, even on the street. I have a little bit of an eye for it but only by virtue of being around that environment. (also: ex-pro ballet to HN? Can't imagine there's much crossover in that Venn!)
- hn_throwaway_99 7mo ago
  > ex-pro ballet to HN? Can't imagine there's much crossover in that Venn! It's perhaps not super common, but not as rare as you might think. Only a teeny tiny minority of ballet dancers have full careers, meaning they make it to the level of principal (the highest rank in a ballet company) and then retire in their 40s, usually to go on to another career in dance like teaching. Many more are like me, where we trained intensively as children, then made it into a company but saw that there'd be a ceiling on our advancement (meaning we'd only make it to corps de ballet or soloist level based on our ability), so left after a few years to do something else. Then there are the fascinating outliers like Robert Wallace, who was a dancer with ABT and a principal at Boston Ballet (so the pinnacle of the career), then went to Yale at 32, graduated summa cum laude in economics, and now is CEO of Stanford Management Company where he runs Stanford's $50 billion endowment.

cwmoore 7mo ago

Not to counter your point, but you must have never seen moose moving at speed through a forest. They are astonishingly graceful and surprisingly quiet.

skeeter2020 7mo ago

My daughter just stopped competitive dancing last year after essentially a lifetime. The impact of all that ballet on her posture is worth it alone. Also she's phenomenal at posing for otherwise unscripted photos; her smile is always perfect.