It’s No Secret, Ballet Is Great Inspiration

Art has always been a means to inspire other art mediums and artists, tell a story, and bring things full circle. We’ve seen it for centuries in Degas’ art filled with ballerinas and tutus, the musical Rent debuting off-broadway in 1996 inspired by the 1896 opera by Giacomo Puccini La bohème, Stephen Sondheim’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park with George inspired by Georges Seurat’s 1884 painting ‘A Sunday on La Grande Jatte’—ballet, opera, visual art, theatre, novels, and more and more and more constantly inspiring one another. It’s a true testament to Chappell Roan’s “your artist’s favorite artist,” and even in that inspired by Sasha Colby’s “your drag queen’s favorite drag queen.”

The inspiration and the nods to one another and other crafts is absolutely everywhere and by no surprise, ballet and “ballet core” is taking the world by storm in 2026 and has always been seen in other mediums as a means to tell a story since ballet existed.

Horror movies, music videos, street fashion, and more—here’s a look to the present and past of ballet inspiration.

Rosalia ‘Lux’ Tour (2006)

Rosalia and her new album ‘LUX’ is a prime example, fully submerging herself into the world from her street style wearing custom Yasmina Atta to intentional moments in her tour depicting Edgar Degas's masterpiece ‘La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans’ or ‘Little Dancer of 14 years.’

Uptown Girls (2003)

Starring Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning, ballet plays a key factor to push forward the plot of Uptown Girls. It’s Fanning’s character Ray’s way to cope, to contain, to provide structure, and to control her life as an 8 year old child surrounded in a world and mother that treats her like an adult, but also a way for her and Murphy’s character Molly to connect, heal, and grow, leading to the infamous final ballet recital scene featuring Molly’s late father’s guitars and a highlight of Ray onstage free and childlike—just as an 8 year old should.

Olivia Rodrigo ‘stupid song’ (2026)

Olivia Rodrigo’s music video for ‘stupid song’ off her recent and third studio album ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ uses ballerinas to showcase the transition from being in control, put together, and contained much like Ray in Uptown Girls to moshing in the wet grass, dirt on their knees, soaked by a sprinkler, letting go and being free, paralleling through her lyrics of feelings so strong for someone and containing them to letting go and expressing freely how you feel or admitting to oneself what the feelings truly mean, becoming vulnerable and open.

Black Swan (2010)

Black Swan tackles the duality between light and dark and obsession and perfection using the white and black swans in the iconic ballet Swan Lake fueled by the competitive nature of competing for principal, creating the perfect psychological thriller.

Adèla ‘KBG’ (2006)

Ballet as a means to subvert, to train, and become a secret spy is all found in Adèla’s music video for ‘KGB’, sporting a custom Rodarte ensemble for the opening ballet number scene, followed by leg warmers, ballet pink, and ballet bars to be the ultimate assassin seen in the video and on her current tour.

Suspiria (2018)

Another psychological thriller and horror movie starring Dakota Johnson where ballet is used as a tool for a deeper means to an end for control and power. I honestly don’t want to say more because if you haven’t seen the 2018 or original 1977 version, it is simply a compelling movie of mindf*ckery that you just have to see for yourself.