Ballet

Ballet is the foundation of all dance forms. Therefore, ballet needs to be a key component in every student’s dance vocabulary. From preschool through high school and beyond, we offer age appropriate ballet classes for girls and boys of every skill level.

Pre-Ballet classes are a fun way to introduce your preschooler to the world of dance. Children between the ages of 2 to 4 learn how to take direction, listen to music, count beats, point, Clap and move in time. It is a fun and nurturing environment that helps build self-confidence, musicality and encourages exercise.

In these levels children develop poise and musicality in a fun and creative environment. The instructor introduces children to a creative yet disciplined classroom structure that challenges their curious minds while introducing age-appropriate dance material. The students express themselves physically through exercises intended to increase their coordination, strength, flexibility, and awareness of spatial concepts while beginning their understanding of classical ballet. The strong emphasis on musicality and rhythmic timing increases their ability to listen to and dance with the music. Students do not receive evaluations and usually progress to the next class based on their age.

These levels offer children a challenging and disciplined classroom structure that is appropriately geared to their growing emotional and physical maturity. The students build their knowledge of the basic structure of a ballet class with a growing vocabulary. They work on proper placement of the torso, hips and legs without exceeding their anatomical limitations. They increase coordination of their arms and heads with a concentration on smooth transitions throughout the exercises and epaulement. As they progress through lessons the difficulty and sophistication of the classwork will increase accordingly. In addition to their dance education, students will learn about musicality, ballet terminology, and general stage and theater craft. All Ballet I, II, and III students are encouraged to participate in The Nutcracker and Spring Production as a performance supplement to their training.

As student’s progress through Intermediate and Advanced Ballet, the technique classes develop in each student a mature, professional approach towards the study of classical ballet. Barre and center exercises increase in both difficulty and artistry in order to challenge the students’ increasing mental, expressive, and physical capabilities. A more mature sense of musicality and quality of movement is emphasized with a goal of continuing to develop suppleness and smooth graceful movements, coordination of the head, arms, legs, body, and the use of epaulement. The students will develop strong classical lines and solid anatomical placement, as well as virtuoso jumps and beats. In addition, these levels emphasize the development of the students’ awareness of choreographic concepts, training dancers to be quick studies who can embrace any choreographic style. Most students will begin pre-pointe work during Intermediate III once they demonstrate strength, stability, and proper placement of the body and legs. Advanced students also learn variations from the ballet repertoire. All Intermediate and Advanced dancers are encouraged to audition for The Nutcracker and the Spring Production as a performance supplement to their training.

Entrance by audition only, Auditions are required for admission. Students selected for this level concentrate on perfecting technique and developing artistry, and a foundation is laid on which to build a professional career. These classes are designed to work on control of the body to develop the correct technique for the future. Introduction to the Vaganova method, high discipline and a strong work out of the muscles is emphasized. Students achieve precision, technical proficiency, core stability, and fluent use of the dance movement vocabulary.