ballet

An incredibly difficult SPORT that most people do not believe is a sport. Ballet requires a great level of dedication and discipline. When ballet dancers reach a certain level of advancement, the begin to dance en pointe, or on pointe shoes, which are shoes with a very stiff toe so the dancer can be supported when standing on her/his toes. Ballet is known to the majority of people as a "sissy" thing, something that only girly-girls and gay men do. Lots of rude and misinformed people mock ballet dancers by prancing around and pretending to wear a tutu. In fact, it has been proven that ballet boosts coordination and even IQ. It is actually much harder that football. There are a great many steps and technicalities to each move; you have to maintain a turnout and pointed feet. Boys/men often do lots of lifting, but they also dance, too. In very professional companies there is the corphee who is the leader of the corps de ballet (they ensemble dancers) and there is the prima ballerina who is the highest dancer there is in a company. All professional dancers must have huge amounts of strength, flexibility, and poise. The key to being a successful ballerina (in addition to have memorized all the steps, being flexible and strong, being dedicated, etc.) is to be able to mask your HUGE effort and make it look easy.