The dance of the little swans (“cygnets”) from the ballet “Swan Lake” is famous for its precision. It’s not one of those great moments in ballet artistry, but it’s a triumph of technique and synchrony among the four swans who perform the variation.

Usually dancers who are small in stature are chosen, and that’s because they’re supposed to be young swans, and also because the choreography features quick, sharp movements and small allegro jumps which tend to be easier for more compact dancers.

There’s also a variation for “big” swans—the taller dancers. This dance employs sweeping movements and allows the dancers to separate rather than remain in a tight Rockettes-line formation as in the dance of the little swans. The larger movements suit the larger dancers just as the smaller movement suit the smaller ones.

The choreography is standard for the small swan variation, although people sometimes like to mess with the large variation. But the small swans’ dance has remained essentially the same for the nearly 125 years since it was choreographed by Lev Ivanov in 1895. Ivanov did the “white” acts of “Swan Lake,” and he was an absolute master.

On the danse des petits cygnes (dance of the little swans):

It is very challenging because all dancers must look the same.

Lev Ivanov’s choreography…was meant to imitate the way cygnets huddle and move together for protection. Four dancers enter the stage in a line and move across with their arms crossed in front of one another, grasping the next dancers’ hands…At the very end, they break their chain and try to “fly”, only to drop to the ground.

I never performed the role, but I had to learn it. The fun aspects were somewhat overshadowed by the fact that, about halfway through, one’s legs seem to turn to lead, and yet one must plow on. At first, it’s nearly impossible, even if the dancer is in very good shape. It is one of the most exhausting variations in the world of ballet—and that’s saying something—even though it must look as though it’s just tossed off lightly.

He’s a good rendition. This one is by the Paris Opera Ballet (pay particular attention to the step known as pas de chat, occurring from 1:01 to 1:11) [NOTE: If you see an annoying banner ad pop up, just click on the “x” and it will disappear]:

And here’s one by the Mariinsky Ballet, which is similarly on the fast side (some productions cheat a bit and slow it down) and emphasizes movement across the stage on the diagonal:

Here’s the dance of the big swans by the Mariinsky as well:

And here are some very young dancers in rehearsal on the first day of learning the dance of the little swans. You can see how difficult it is. They don’t really have the technique yet, nor the stamina, but they’re game and their teacher is energetic and kind: