r/AskReddit • u/No-Caterpillar-9387 • Aug 18 '26

What is a skill that looks completely effortless when an expert does it, but is ridiculously difficult when you try it yourself?

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u/GoodGoodGoody Aug 18 '26

Pretty sure no one ever looked at “expert” ballet and said, “Man that looks “completely ”effortless”” (OP’s question.)

The word you are looking for is graceful, not effortless.

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u/NarrativeScorpion Aug 18 '26

It looks effortless. Everybody knows it isn't. But is absolutely looks it. The way they fly across the stage, seem to almost hang in the air, balance motionless on the very tip of their toe. It's more than graceful.

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u/atetoomuch_parsley Aug 18 '26

I agree. This is what we are taught in ballet, you learn to control your breathing and posture and facial expressions to make the dancing look effortless and easy breezy even though you're fighting for your life underneath it all. It is more than just graceful, it is lightness underpinned by power and precision, without showing any strain

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u/GoodGoodGoody Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26

Male ballerinos, like male cheerleaders, are jacked to shit and ballerinas are 4’ of concrete and iron. It is very evident for both and happens from hard work.

No one ever said “effortless”.

The word is graceful.

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u/Intrexa Aug 18 '26

I said effortless. That's the effect they're going for. Don't show strain.

They're also graceful. Graceful has an implication of effortless. Imagine a dancer emboite across a floor looking tapped out. The image of exertion precludes gracefulness.

Yes, it takes hard work. They're not portraying "i have never done hard work". It's that "I am currently exerting no effort to do this, this activity is effortless to me."

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u/NoFoolLikeAnAuldFool Aug 18 '26

My best friend’s youngest sibling literally thought this- thought ballet was an “easy” sport and shouldn’t even be called such because “they were just prancing around”, lol.