Ballet as full body workout

This clip from the Royal Ballet’s rehearsal of The Rite of Spring looks exhausting.  Monica Mason directs Artist Claudia Dean in the dance of the Chosen One. The choreography is by Kenneth McMillan but I see a lot of Nijinsky poses in this piece, especially with the arms straight out as if the dancer was plucked from the side of a Grecian urn.

Dean was picked for this role because of her ability to jump. She says she cross trains for this dance. I can see why you would have to. At the end of the day, I’d be completely knackered.

Anyway, spring is only 22 days away. It can’t come soon enough.