This Steven Universe-Inspired Ballet Performance Will Break Your Heart

This Steven Universe-Inspired Ballet Performance Will Break Your Heart

One of the most fantastic (and terrible) things about Steven Universe is how, in the course of a 10-minute story, a single episode can take you from laughing your arse off to bawling your eyes out thanks to some random bit of emotional character development. It’s a feature, not a bug, and boy, is it exhilarating.

In the incredible episode “Mr. Greg,” Pearl finally reveals (unknowingly) to Steven just why she resents his father, Greg.

Steven Universe never really shied away from alluding to the romantic nature of Pearl and Rose Quartz’s relationship, but in her song “It’s Over Isn’t It,” Pearl is finally open and honest about the pain she’s gone through while watching Steven – the last living piece of Rose’s memory — grow up. In Steven, Pearl sees both the woman she loved and the man that woman left her for, but she also sees Steven as his own individual person — someone she loves. That internal conflict, the song suggests, plays a major role in Pearl’s general uptightness and coldness towards Greg, and it all bubbles up to the fore as she forlornly sings her fantastic musical number.

In the cartoon, “It’s Over Isn’t It” is choreographed wonderfully and gives Pearl a chance to show off her signature balletic dance moves. But there’s something about seeing the song performed to by an actual human ballet dancer that gives the song a different kind of emotional heft.

Ballerina Juliet Doherty teamed up with Cartoon Network to transform herself into a living “Pearl” and dance to the song, and the results are absolutely spectacular. Warning: If the original “Mr. Greg” episode made you cry, chances are high this will, too.


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