It's the moment that every audience member loves and every dancer dreads - 32 fouettés. Though it's a very common coda in many classical ballets these days, it's most commonly recognized as the signature move of Odile, Odette's evil twin in Act III of Swan Lake.
And if you've ever tried a fouetté, you know they're hard. And if you've ever tried to add pointe shoes and do 32 of them, you know they're REALLY hard. "Fouetté" literally means "whipped" or "whisked." So just how do they do it?
Well, check out this video from TEDed, which demonstrates just how to make this series of turns possible. Spoiler alert: momentum, velocity, inertia, and gravity are the key elements. And while you probably knew that already, it's definitely worth a watch.