13-year-old Milena Sidorova performed her “Spider” dance, conceptualized and choreographed by the girl herself, leaving the audience in the theater speechless with her flawless moves.
Milena Sidorova was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and from an early age, she knew she was meant to dance. It seems that art ran in her family, since her mother had studied theater and had taught her some things that would help her in dance too.
“To be honest, I don’t remember myself not being in dance. I started when I was 3 years old. I do have flashbacks of being on stage about that time in Kiev, Ukraine,” she said during an interview with the Dutch online magazine Danspubliek.
Sidorova went to the Ballet Academy at the age of 7, and she had joined the Kiev Choreographic Institute by the age of 9.
In 2002, she attended the Royal Ballet School with a scholarship, and, after that, she signed a contract with the Dutch National Ballet, in 2005.
Since then, she has been dancing and choreographing non-stop.
“The Spider” is undoubtedly one of her best-known dances and only the video on Youtube has more than 13M views and thousands of comments.
On her official website, Sidorova has dedicated a whole section to this particular choreography, where she’s also answering some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the Spider.
According to the ballerina-choreographer, she had always loved spiders and she used to observe them as a kid, because she considered them gracious creatures and admired their unique way of moving. Then, when she studied ballet, she tried to imitate the spider movement in her living-room. When her mother saw her, she suggested she should turn it into a dance, and so she did. She actually performed it in front of an audience two months later.
So far, she has performed the Spider dance in various cities, including Moscow, Kiev, and London.
Does she consider the Spider dance difficult? She does, indeed. According to the award-winning ballerina, what is the most difficult isn’t really the dance, but the initial position that requires extreme flexibility that even the best-trained dancers don’t possess, as well as the walk that follows.
Sidorova finds it great that other dancers, professional or amateur, would like to try the spider dance, and she encourages them to do so. However, she has something serious to tell them:
“It’s a great choreography to explore what your body is capable of — and what it is not. Always listen to your body. And remember that prior permission is required for performances.”
Sidorova’s performances have been welcomed with enthusiasm all around the world and she has won multiple awards for both her dancing and choreography. Just to name a few, she won Critic’s Choice: Best Premiere in 2019 for SAND project, Choreographic Development Award from the Royal Ballet School in 2004, and a few years ago she was named 2012-2013 critic’s choice “Outstanding Dancer” in Dance Europe magazine.
Sidorova is, undoubtedly, a talented dancer and choreographer and we are convinced that she will go on surprising the world with what she can do on (and off) stage.
In the video below, you can watch her Spider dance performance and have the chance to be charmed by her skill and confidence when she dances.
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