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Calm Classics with Ritula Shah 10pm - 1am
19 October 2022, 20:36
The most beautiful, breathtaking two-wheeled stunt you’ll ever see.
It takes years of training to master the art of ballet, as any dancer will attest to.
But doing pirouettes and pliés all while effortlessly riding a bicycle? This is a talent held by only a select few, it seems.
With brilliant balance and all the grace of a ballet dancer, Viola Brand performs a flawless dance routine while simultaneously cycling around a room that all the feel of a Disney castle.
From twirling while perched on the bike’s narrow handlebars, to pirouetting at the top of the fully vertical two-wheeler, Brand’s talents are dizzyingly impressive.
Read more: Spine-tingling moment ballerina with Alzheimer’s remembers routine to Swan Lake >
Bicycle dance moves you must watch to believe!
Viola used to be a competitive athlete in artistic cycling, a form of indoor cycling in which athletes perform tricks. Unsurprisingly, it requires similar skills and core strength to those held by ballet dancers.
Like, say, Lilly Yokoi, who was once considered the world’s greatest acrobat on a bicycle.
In 1965, she showcased her dance moves while balancing atop a moving bike on a television show (watch below).
Lilly Yokoi, ballerina on bicycle / Kunstfahrrad / велофигуристка
While some may struggle to simply keep their balance while manoeuvring a bicycle, for Yokoi, spinning, pirouetting and twirling while astride the two wheels appears second nature.
We suddenly feel a bit inferior. *Turns off Netflix*