Letting Their Hair Down: 4 Dancers on the Waltz Girl’s Signature Moment in “Serenade”

One of the trickiest moves in Balanchine’s Serenade isn’t a dance step, and it wasn’t even part of the ballet until it was well past 40. It’s the moment where the Waltz Girl undoes her hair onstage before the final movement. It can go beautifully or badly, including her hairdo coming out too early or not at all. We asked four dancers to let their hair down and give us their tips and tricks on how to make that moment work. The one piece of advice they all gave? Know where every pin is.

Demitra Bereveskos, Ballet Arizona

Experience: Danced Waltz Girl for the first time in March 2022. We talked to her during rehearsal, and caught up with her afterwards.

Hair: Curly, shoulder-length, very thin. “I think the curl will help my hair stay in, especially when it’s wet.”

Weapon of choice: Hairpins. “[They’re] three inches long, pretty large and strong, with grooves in the middle of the tong.”

Strategy: “My plan is to do a very tight French twist, wet my hair, hairspray the front and also the pins into the bun for extra stick. I’ll use eight pins to start, and take them out as the ballet progresses, down to two or three.”

Results: “The strategy worked! My twist was not very heavy, so I only needed four or five pins. I took out three before my final entrance in the third movement, and I was able to pull out the two anchoring pins during the turns before the “Elegy.” My hair came down easily. The trick was making sure that I knew exactly where those two pins were placed. That way, I could find them even though I was spinning.”

Maggie Small, Richmond Ballet (now retired)

Experience: Danced Waltz Girl in 2013

Hair: Curly, fine and long

Tips: “The tricky part is your hair has to be secure, but not too secure. You can ask for advice from someone else, but they have different hair.”

Weapon of choice: One very large hairpin. “I found these enormous horseshoe pins that are four inches long. I used one of those because I could easily hook it to yank it out as I turned and throw it offstage.”

Strategy: Small did a French twist, looped it and then added a second twist because of its length. Her hair had to be dirty. “I washed it on Wednesday night, before Thursday’s dress. By Saturday night I wanted to wash it, but I knew I was going to hate it. I did a lot of water spritzing on the bottom half, but left the top alone.”

Beyond the do: “Letting my hair down felt free, almost like wind in my hair.”

Victoria Hulland, Sarasota Ballet

Experience: Debuted Waltz Girl in 2013 and is dancing it again for her retirement performances April 29–30, 2022

Hair: “My hair’s very fine. It falls out of a hairdo easily.”

Weapon of choice: A flat comb spray-painted to match her hair color. “I still have my original combs—one and a backup.”

Strategy: “Dirty hair is better for any kind of updo. I use dry shampoo. I put the comb in my French twist along with pins. You mentally take a note of where you’re putting them to make sure you get them out. In the brief moment in the wings before my last entrance, I rip the pins out. My hand goes to my head as soon as I start the chaînés. If you place the pins just right, any others will come out with the comb.”

Hairdo malfunctions: “This works pretty much every time. It never came out too soon. I’ve worried it would and tried not to spot too hard, but it doesn’t. There was one show when I took the comb out there was one pin I missed in the wing. I could feel it.”

Sara Mearns, New York City Ballet

Experience: Danced all three leads, the Waltz Girl since 2013. NYCB will be performing Serenade during its spring season, including opening night, April 19, 2022.  

Hairstory: “I had danced Dark Angel alongside Kyra Nichols, Darci Kistler, Jenifer Ringer and Janie Taylor and they each had their tricks. Darci had a low bun and a couple of pins. Kyra did a high bun. Before her last entrance, Janie would completely redo her hair using a single pin.”

Hair: “My hair is thin and doesn’t need lots of pins—short hair or thick hair needs lots of pins. It’s better when your hair is a little longer. My hair goes up easily with a French twist. It has to be a twist; I can’t do a bun without an elastic.”

Weapon of choice: Hairpins—long, slippery black ones, supplied by the company’s hair department. “I can hold a twist with two pins, sometimes just one pin. Every other pin after that is to make it look good.”

Strategy: “You have to know exactly where those two pins are, where all those pins are, so you’re not searching. Before the last entrance, I take the extra pins out backstage, then I inch the last two pins out of my twist just enough to be able to grab them. My hair can’t be clean; it’s too slippery and too thin. I spray the front part—too much hairspray, though, and it stays up.” 

The chaînés: “I don’t even think of it as chaîné. You’re just spinning to fall down.”

Success rate: “This was the first method I tried. It’s not stressful—it’s always worked. I never test it, either!”