Scottish Ballet: Eve Mutso’s Endless Legs

It’s every dancer’s dream to have Eve Mutso’s endless legs, long, lean, flexible yet strong. But having kilometric lower limbs isn’t always what it seems.

 

Eve Mutso’s Endless Legs: A Blessing or a Curse?

 

REVIEWS of Scottish Ballet’s Eve Mutso often mention her long legs.

But the soloist — about to play both Sleeping Beauty’s mother and the Lilac Fairy — just laughs when you ask if she has ever measured them.

We will never know if they outstretch Pretty Woman star Julia Roberts’ much-publicised 44 inches of leg.

But in ballet — where the average height for a dancer tends to be around five feet three or four — being long-limbed can be a mixed blessing.

It can be great to be tall when it comes to bringing noble bearing or a sense of authority to a character.

But Mutso, an Estonian who trained there before joining Scottish Ballet in 2003, explained: “It can be a plus and a minus.”

One reviewer paid tribute to the dancer’s “Endless legs”.

Mutso laughed: “I am five feet seven, I am on pointes and I am long-limbed. Sometimes my legs live their own life — and I have to try to keep control of them.”

To a ballet fan, her long legs mean Mutso’s arabesques have an added elegance. But there is a downside.

“I have to try to keep to the same speed as other dancers!” she revealed. “You have to try to show off all your good qualities and be smart enough to hide the things you may feel aren’t so strong.

“It’s all about illusion in ballet, though obviously technique is very important. Experience over the years teaches you how to show yourself off from the best angle.”

Asking why she was chosen to play the Queen — and Lilac Fairy, Mutso said: “I guess because I am — I think — the tallest woman in the company.

“The queen has to be quite regal and has a motherly role and it demands some height. The Lilac Fairy can be danced many different ways. But she is the main fairy and she has more powers than other fairies — a bit like the fairy godmother in Cinderella.”

Read more about Ms. Mutso here.

You can see her famed long legs in this video.

Video source from YouTube.

I’m 5’6, not as tall as Ms. Mutso, but for a dancer in Mexico that is considered tall. So, even though I do not have Eve Mutso’s endless legs, I can relate about learning to keep up with other dancers’ speed. It takes longer to fall from a leap when your legs are longer, even if only a few inches.

I was among the tallest dancers in the company and now I play character roles, for that very reason. Having long legs and being tall is now turning out to be a blessing, as it has allowed to extend my stage career. Hopefully we will continue to see Eve Mutso perform on stage long after she has retired her pointe shoes.

Did you imagine that having long limbs could have “pros” and “cons” for a ballerina? If you enjoyed this article please kindly “Share” below and help spread one of the most beautiful art forms to the rest of the world!