At the Ballet

At the Ballet from A Chorus Line is featured in Lights Out, the twentieth episode of Season Four. It is sung by Isabelle, Kurt, Rachel, and Santana.

When Kurt is asked to come help out at the New York City Ballet GALA Event by Isabelle, he brings Santana and Rachel who are happy to tag along. They all wear expensive Vogue.com clothes as well. When Rachel asks Isabelle if they can watch the ballet in the audience, Isabelle tells them they can watch with her from the wings, an even better offer. Rachel insists that Santana doesn't like ballet but it is revealed she attended classes during her childhood as well.

As ballet dancers go across the stage, the song begins with Santana singing as Isabelle, Rachel, and Kurt are seen standing next to her. As the song progresses, Kurt, Rachel, and Isabelle join in. In the scene, it includes a small Rachel, Kurt, and Santana as they flashback to ballet classes. Towards the ending of the song, Isabelle speaks the dialogue in the song as the Indian chief can be seen behind her. The four walk and sing on the stage together, Santana, Kurt, and Rachel watching their young selves in a ballet studio. They all complete the song as ballet dancers take to the stage.

Lyrics[]

Santana:
Daddy always thought that he married beneath him
That's what he said, that's what he said
When he proposed he informed my mother
It was probably her very last chance
And though she was twenty-two,
Though she was twenty-two,
Though she was twenty-two,
She married him.

Life with my dad wasn't ever a picnic
More like a "Come as you are,"
When I was five I remember my mother
Dug earrings out of the car
I knew that they weren't hers
But it wasn't something you'd wanna discuss
He wasn't warm
Well, not to her
Well, not to us

But everything was beautiful at the ballet
Graceful men lift lovely girls in white
Yes, everything was beautiful at the ballet
I was happy... at the ballet.

That's when I started ballet class.

Kurt, Rachel, and Santana (Rachel):
Up a steep and very narrow stairway.
(To the voice like a metronome)
Up a steep and very narrow stairway.

Santana:
It wasn't paradise...

Kurt:
It wasn't paradise...

Santana with Kurt:
It wasn't paradise...

Isabelle:
But it was home.

Mother always said I'd be very attractive
When I grew up, when I grew up.
"Different," she said, "With a special something
And a very, very personal flair."
And though I was eight or nine,
Though I was eight or nine,
Though I was eight or nine,
I hated her.

Now, "Different" is nice, but it sure isn't pretty
"Pretty" is what it's about
I never met anyone who was "different"
Who couldn't figure that out.
So beautiful I'd never lived to see.
But it was clear,
If not to her,
Well, then to me

Isabelle (with Rachel):
That (everyone is beautiful at the ballet.)

Kurt:
Every prince has got to have his swan

Rachel with Isabelle and Kurt:
Yes, everyone is beautiful at the ballet (Rachel: Hey)

Isabelle and Kurt:
I was pretty

Santana:
At the ballet

Isabelle:
I was born to save their marriage
But, when my father came to pick my mother up
At the hospital
He said, "Well, I thought this was going to help
but I guess not..."
A few months later he left and he never came back.

Anyway, I had this fantastic fantasy life.
I used to dance around the living room
With my arms up like this
And in my fantasy, there was an Indian Chief...
And he would say to me,
"Izzie, do you wanna dance?"
And I would say, "Daddy, I would love to dance!"

Isabelle (Kurt):
(Doo-doo-doo-doo)
But it was clear...

Santana (Kurt):
(Doo-doo-doo)
When he proposed...

Rachel (Kurt):
(Doo-doo-doo)
That I was born to help their marriage and when
(Doo-doo-doo-doo)

Isabelle (Kurt):
That's what she said...
(Doo-doo-doo)

Santana (Kurt):
That's what he said...
(Doo-doo-doo)

Rachel (Isabelle and Kurt):
I used to dance around the living room...
(Doo-doo-doo-doo)

Santana (Isabelle, Kurt, and Rachel):
He wasn't warm...
(Doo-doo-doo)
Not to her...

Isabelle:
It was an Indian chief and he'd say:
"Izzie, do you wanna dance?"
And I'd say, "Daddy, I would love to..."

Rachel and Santana:
Everything was beautiful at the ballet,
Raise your arms and someone's always there.
Yes, everything was beautiful at the ballet,
The ballet
The ballet!

Isabelle, Kurt, Rachel, and Santana:
Yes everything was beautiful at the ballet. (Rachel: Hey...)

Isabelle:
I was pretty...

Santana:
I was happy...

Kurt:
"I would love to..."

Isabelle, Kurt, Rachel, and Santana:
At the ballet...

Trivia[]

This number was Sarah Jessica Parker's idea. Source
Lea tweeted that this is one of her "most favorite numbers ever." Source
This is the second longest song Glee has done after Bohemian Rhapsody.
There are slight changes in the lyrics from the original version:
- The name "Maggie" was changed to "Izzie" to fit the storyline.
- There are parts that were cut from the original version.
Some of Sarah Jessica Parker's lines in this song were sung live on the show.
Naya Rivera said on her Ustream that this is her favorite song from Season Four.
This is the third time we see Rachel doing ballet. The first was in a flash back in Pilot, and second in Total Eclipse of the Heart.
This is Isabelle's only song that wasn't a mashup
- This is also Isabelle's only song to have a vocalist alongside herself, Kurt and Rachel.