Ballet Dancers Are Hardcore, Exhibit #209853

So, you saw Rocky*. (I mean, duh, because you had to do your research—the Broadway musical version is about to drop!) You watched Sylvester Stallone work out to “Eye of the Tiger.” And you were like, Whoa: Boxers are pretty intense.

Well, forget boxers. You know who’s really intense? Ballet dancers, that’s who.

Thanks to this cute parody video for reminding us of that fact. “Eye of the Ballet Dancer,” featuring some great dancers from Colorado Ballet, shows all the super hardcore prep we ballet people do before showtime. (It also gives us a backstage peek at the beautiful Ellie Caulkins Opera House in the Denver Performing Arts Complex.)

Enjoy!

*Yes, sticklers: “Eye of the Tiger” was actually used in Rocky III, not Rocky. Fine. Whatever. Even those of us who’ve never seen any Rocky movies (ahem) know that Rocky owns that song, OK? OK.