Ballerina’s Difficult Spider Choreography Has Been Viewed By Countless Fans

Mar 05, 2021

Have you ever heard of a “human pretzel”? If anyone ever deserved the title, it would be Milena Sidorova. This dancer managed to completely wow an audience in 2000 when she was just 13 years old, performing a dance that she called "The Spider.” Not only did this little girl perform the act herself, but she also imagined and choreographed it as well. Now Sidorova is in her 30s, has choreographed over 20 pieces, and is currently working as a professional dancer.

While we’re stunned by the show and can’t imagine how Sidorova’s joints can take it, we’re also a little bit creeped out! If you’re scared of spiders, then you might want to pass on watching this clip!

Sidorova is no stranger to dancing. She was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and told reporters at danspubliek in 2017 that dancing has always been a part of her life. She can’t even imagine what life would be like if she wasn’t able to dance! Sidorova’s dancing days started when she was only 3 years old, and she can remember some of the first times she got on the stage. This girl comes from a family of artists with her mom being involved in theater and helping Sidorova get her start.

Sidorova’s hard work quickly paid off. By the time that she was 7, she was in the Ballet Academy and had joined the Kiev Choreographic Institute two years later. She went on to get a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School and then got a contract with the Dutch National Ballet.

During her time as a dancer, "The Spider" routine has managed to gain her the most attention. Uploaded to YouTube, the dance has already gained 15 million views. As you can imagine, the video has its fair share of comments, too. Some of the most memorable and well-received comments find a bit of humor in Sidorova’s piece.

“Oh, so when she spider walks it’s ‘art’ and ‘amazing,’ but when I do it, it’s ‘a sacrificial ritual to the underlord’ and ‘scaring the children,’” one user joked.

“Oh my goodness! That was a brilliant little piece,” another user added. “I have a great fondness for spiders, & some of the dance captured their movements perfectly.”

Due to the piece's overwhelming popularity, Sidorova has used a portion of her website to explain more about the routine.

“As a kid, I really loved spiders and I used to observe them a lot,” Sidorova writes. “They had this particular way of moving and were still very gracious creatures, although a bit weird. When I studied ballet professionally, I once tried to imitate the movements of a spider in the living room — which made my mother laugh a lot. She said: ‘Hey, why don’t you make that into a dance?’”

And that, Sidorova says, is how "The Spider" came to be. Just two months after her conversation with her mother, Sidorova performed the piece on stage. Part of what makes the performance so fascinating and eye-catching is its clear difficulty. With her almost inhuman flexibility, Sidorova splays her entire body out onto the stage like a spider, ready to pounce on its prey.

She even walks forward on her hands and feet in staccato steps, mimicking the arachnid’s mechanical movements.

“If the opening pose isn’t done properly, you’re more likely to look like a frog than a spider,” Sidorova explained. “Your knees need to be aligned with the hips and they should be higher than the back. This takes both flexibility and exercise.”

Sidorova went on to write that while the piece doesn’t demand advanced technical expertise, it does require “a certain flexibility in your hips and lower back that even most professional dancers do not possess.” Keep that in mind before you try getting on all fours and crawling across your bedroom floor.

Given that Sidorova managed to choreograph such a complex piece at a young age, it’s perhaps no surprise that the dancer has gone on to have a hugely successful career in choreography and ballet. According to Sidorova’s website, she has choreographed more than 25 dances, ranging from pieces like the award-winning “Reality Conundrum” in 2004 to 2017’s “Withdrawn,” a piece that “highlights people’s relationship with technology.”

“Milena Sidorova has a proven talent for comedy and so often finds an interesting angle,”  Maggie Foyer wrote in her review of “Withdrawn” for SeeingDance.com. “She applies this skill to ‘Withdrawn,’ focusing on the modern preoccupation with technology and our addiction to smart phone screens. The duets, based on clever moves as dancers stay glued to social media rather than gazing into their partners’ eyes, were fun and inventive.”

Beyond the critical praise, which seems to abound, Sidorova has also won countless awards in both choreography and dance.

For example, Sidorova has taken home multiple “Critic’s Choice” awards in choreography while securing first place for a performance at the International Youth Ballet Festival in 2002.

As for her day job, Sidorova has worked at the Dutch National Ballet as a choreographer since 2005. At the same time, the choreographer also works as a dancer at the Dutch National Ballet, assuming the prestigious role of grand Sujet, just one rank under soloist. And in a 2020 interview with Het Parool, a daily newspaper out of Amsterdam, Sidorova explained that she still thinks she has a shot at becoming one of the company’s prima ballerinas.

“I still think I could. My body is strong, even after the birth of my son I was able to dance important roles again surprisingly quickly,” Sidorova told the paper in Dutch. “But as a lead dancer I probably wouldn't have been able to become a choreographer. Now I am both.”

Sidorova is the first ballet dancer ever to also become a choreographer at the Dutch National Ballet. And in October 2021, you might even see some of her work on the big screen. In her interview with Het Parool, Sidorova disclosed that she worked on director Denis Villeneuve’s forthcoming $165 million feature “Dune.”

Regardless of whether she achieves her goal of becoming a soloist, Sidorova explained that her main goal is to reach a large audience who appreciates her art — which, with her tremendous success on YouTube, she’s clearly achieved.

“My mission is to let people enjoy ballet, whether they are enthusiasts or cannot recognize a step.”

"The Spider" has earned Sidorova multiple awards and continues to skyrocket in popularity. What do you think about the performance? Were you amazed? Shocked? Let us know and pass this incredible piece on to friends and family members.