Top 20 Hardest Ballet Moves to Pull Off

#20: Kitri Jump

If this move looks impressive and hard, that’s because it is. This jump is most famously done in a variation from 1869’s “Don Quixote,” danced by the eponymous Kitri. The Kitri jump is popular for its passion, liveliness, and flair, but it does require extensive practice. Reminiscent of a firebird except without the straight legs, it involves jumping with split legs in a sissonne, and the torso bent in a C-shape. It’s a fierce and fun move…and also difficult to pull off successfully with adequate grace.

#19: 540

This is definitely one of the coolest and more acrobatic moves in ballet, but it’s not for the faint-hearted. The 540 battement en rond refers to the degree of the spin, usually done at the coda of a variation. Here the ballerino leaps in a whirl in midair, appearing to spin around the fulcrum of his own leg, landing on one foot. The difficulties in achieving this move are evident: There is the issue of landing safely, of course, but also the agility and keeping the one leg bent can also give dynamism to the move. A good example of the 540 spin is the coda of the “Le Corsaire” pas de deux. We won’t be trying this at home anytime soon.

#18: Brisé Volé

Don’t let this flying move break you. To the layman’s eye, this ballet move looks simple enough, even cute. A brisé volé requires the ballet dancer to jump, beat their legs together in quick succession, and then land on one foot. It looks very much like clicking your heels, except it’s your legs. It’s short, sweet, and so much harder than it looks. It’s the speed and agility that give dancers so much trouble, not to mention the initial jump. Practicing strengthening the core, calf, and thigh muscles can help execute this step, but when done correctly, it’s a sight for the eyes.

#17: The Cheshire Cat Lift

Who doesn’t love a climactic pas de deux lift? Executing it successfully and even safely, however, is insanely difficult. First, the female dancer leaps into her partner’s arms. The partner then tosses her up in a straight leg pose, holding her up by the lower ribs. Impressive. The lift is named after the pas de deux between Alice and the Cheshire Cat in “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,” a 2011 ballet. As you can tell, it takes incredible strength on the male dancer’s part, as well as trust on the female partner’s. Don’t try this at home.

#16: Grand battement en Croix & en Rond

Just because it is performed at the barre and the movements look simple doesn’t mean it isn’t tricky. When done en croix, this move requires a dancer to lift one straight leg to the front, side, and behind, at the highest point, finally lowering it with control. All the while they must maintain balance on the other leg while the arm moves from first to fifth position. En ronde calls for a dancer to hold their leg in extension as they move it in a smooth semi-circle from front to back. It’s a true test of core strength, and a key technique in ballet. Once mastered, battements are an indispensable part of a ballet dancer’s craft.

#15: Petit Allegro

Some of the most difficult moves need not be flashy. Some can be small but very quick. That is the difficulty of the petit allegro, a “small fast” move that requires doing many steps in rapid succession. Common steps include glissades, pas de chats, entrechats, and soubresautes. When done well, it is beautiful to watch. Learning it, however, can wreak havoc on your joints and tendons. Here’s a tip: Use a plié before and after executing the jump. There is the famous dance of the cygnets in Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” a pas de quatre with four swans linking arms and moving in unison. Damn.

#14: Gargouillade

Speaking of petit allegro combinations. French for “rumbling,” this move is ballet at its most quirky—and tricky. The dancer has to execute a small pas de chat while doing a double rond de jambe en l’air. When done correctly, it makes the dancer look a bit like a frog swiftly shaking mud off its feet. Needless to say, it’s among the least popular moves, demanding tremendous agility and articulation from the ballerina. Of course, prima ballerinas can make the move a thing of grace, like Lauren Cuthbertson’s star turn as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.” Now that’s artistry.

#13: Entrechat

This “weaving” or “braiding” move is as intense as it looks. An entrechat requires a dancer to begin their feet in a closed position, jump in the air and beat their legs a certain number of times, and then come down to the fifth position. Once seems simple enough, but most entrechats include beating the legs four times and even more. The most common types, in fact, are entrechats quatre, six, and huit, or four, six, and eight. Maintaining control and precision is requisite, as well as strength and coordination. Poor timing and incorrect leg position can foil the entrechats. It’s a doozy of a move.

#12: Tours en l’Air

Male ballet dancers do a lot of support work on stage while receiving fewer roses. But why get in a spin about it when you can just spin? Tours en l’air are a big showpiece for male dancers, showing off their strength and precision as they jump straight up from a closed position, and rotate multiple times in the air before hitting the same spot when they land. Of course the variations are as endless as the dancer’s ability to keep from getting dizzy. Traveling tours are another power move, often adding the difficulty of holding perfect form while moving through the air, like the saut de basque in attitude. And if that’s still not challenging enough, just double your attitude for the Butterfly. Now that’s defying gravity.

#11: Cabriole

People who aren’t ballet dancers themselves may not be familiar with this term; it’s a French word meaning “caper.” In essence, a cabriole is a jump where one leg comes up, and the other follows, taps it, then comes back down. It can be done in different ways–with a big jump or a little one, to the front or to the back–but it is a difficult step to master, because the higher leg must stay up while the lower leg moves, and both legs have to be straight. Also, the landing is expected to look light and graceful, even though the dancer is coming down on just one foot.

#10: Arabesque

While it can be considered a technique depending on how/when it’s used, this graceful position is also a move that’s common in ballet dancing. However, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to execute; the arabesque requires great balance and flexibility. The dancer stands on one foot and extends the other leg back, straight, parallel to the floor. The head is held high, the lower back arched, and the rear toes pointed. The dancer’s arms must also look graceful, of course, so they can’t be used to steady the body; one usually extends forward, the other to the side. An arabesque may begin a dance, lead into another move, or sometimes simply stay in place for everyone to admire.

#9: Pirouette

The pirouette is another move that every ballet dancer must have in their repertoire. Basically, it’s a spin, or twirl, done on the tip of one foot. That’s just the beginning, however; one must consider the placement of the arms, head, and other leg. Also, dancers rarely do just one pirouette and stop. In order to spin multiple times, they use a technique called “spotting,” where the head faces forward as long as possible, then snaps around for the next turn. This may sound unnecessarily complicated, but in fact, spotting is essential to keep dancers from becoming dizzy or disoriented when they have to perform multiple pirouettes.

#8: Piqué Tour

Now imagine that instead of turning in one place, you have to perform several turns while moving across the floor–that is the piqué turn or piqué en tournant. Unlike a pirouette, which has a brief preparatory pose, the piqué turn begins with a step; after turning, the dancer takes another step, and then another turn, and so on, traveling in one direction. Spotting is just as vital in this move as in the pirouette, if not more, because the dancer must keep track of both the front of the stage and the way they are going. It is easy to lose balance in this move, and once lost, it’s hard to get back!

#7: Penchè

Remember the arabesque? Well, this is like that, only harder. “Penché” means “leaning” in French, and in this move the dancer leans far forward, with one leg supporting, and the other coming straight up to make a split. The position obviously requires excellent leg flexibility and balance, but some people don’t realize how much sheer strength is needed as well; the dancer has to keep their upper body raised on one side, and their leg on the other, engaging all their core muscles. While most amateur dancers could probably do a passable arabesque, only professionals can pull off the full vertical penché.

#6: Fouetté

This is what most dancers mean by “fouetté,” although it is also called the Russian fouetté. In some ways it’s less complicated than the Italian version, since it refers to a single movement of the leg; however, it wouldn’t be on this list if it were easy. In fact, it is an essential part of our previous move, the pirouette: the dancer’s leg kicks out and back in at the end of a turn, giving them the necessary momentum to keep spinning. The dancer’s leg kicks out and back in at the end of a turn, giving them the necessary momentum to keep spinning. One of the most famous fouetté sequences is from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” in which the Black Swan performs thirty-two. Thirty-two turns, on one foot, using just that single movement–an extraordinary feat of gravitational defiance.

#5: Tours de Reins

The Tour de Reins, which means turn of the back, is an unusual ballet move; the legs are spread and the knees stay bent, for instance, and the entire body leaves the ground for the turn. Because the step is more conducive to pants than a skirt, it is traditionally performed by men–but not always. The reason it is also called a barrel turn is because the whole body spins at once, like a barrel, all parts together. It is a wild, risky movement, easy to get wrong, whether in timing or in balance; however, it’s impressive when done well, like the rest of the moves on our list.

#4: Grand Jeté

Now we are getting into the big jumps. As you can imagine, any high leap requires strength and agility; in the case of a grand jeté, though, that’s just the beginning. In this jump, the dancer must do a complete horizontal split in the air. So even though the move itself goes by quickly, it requires a lot of preparation and practice to master. Before doing a grand jeté, the dancer builds momentum with a quick run or hop; they lift their front leg, jump into the air, and do the split. Last, of course, they have to land on one foot, looking light and graceful. It’s not just a move, it’s a whole process!

#3: Italian Foutté

So you feel like you’ve got fouettes figured out, huh? Well here comes their Italian cousin to make you reconsider that. This one, the Italian fouetté, is a bit like a pendulum, which looks very graceful and elegant… when it is done right. The move begins with a high kick; then the dancer brings that leg down quickly, using it to make a turn, and by the end of the turn, the leg has come up again on the other side. If they want, they can kick forward and do the move again; in theory, a dancer could keep doing these over and over. In practice, however, it is usually done only a few times–and as you’ll know if you’ve ever tried it, that’s quite enough.

#2: Grand Adage

Unlike most of the entries on our list, this section of a grand pas is done slowly–and that’s exactly what’s so difficult about it. The ballet dancer must demonstrate incredible strength and balance by doing a series of attitudes and similar poses, slowly, but without stopping. They lift one leg in one direction, hold it there, then move it into another position, and another–and later on, they go through the same exercise with the other leg. While the grand adage doesn’t occur in many ballets, it may be part of ballet tests and auditions for advanced classes, as it gives the judges a chance to assess the dancer’s endurance–highly necessary for ballet performances, which often run for several hours.

#1: Double & Triple Fouettés en Tournant

If you thought regular fouettes were enough of a challenge, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Just one of these “whipped turns” is a whirlwind, so imagine doubling and tripling the rotation in between quick extensions of the leg. It’s dizzying to see and even more dizzying to execute. Such a move requires strength and agility, and keeping a very solid head on your shoulders. It’s definitely a flex for any dancer that can whip these out, but making it look easy too? That’s the extra oomph that puts it at the top of our list.

Which other ballet moves do you think is the hardest to execute well…but are also totally worth it? Let us know in the comments down below!