?Audience: Parents who want to enroll their children in a ballet class for the first time.
As a child I was very active in ballet. When I first asked my parents to let me enroll in a ballet class, they were skeptical. They weren’t too sure of what a ballet class consisted of or what kind of exercise I would have to undergo. My parents researched in books and magazines, but they didn’t understand the ballet terminology. When they went to speak to a ballet instructor, they got a better understanding of what I would be doing in class. Now that I am older and have started to teach my own ballet class, I want my students’ parents to understand what the class consists of. I have written an easy-to-understand overview of a ballet class.
Technique levels in ballet fall into three categories: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Students advance through the different levels according to their skill level. This is much like football. A football player begins playing in junior high, then moves up the high school level, and then the collegiate level.
Next, we move onto the barre, a rigid piece of wood or metal longer than it is wide. A barre is used to help give support; it may also be used as a handle. The barre is a well-designed step-by-step process which brings out the best in dancers muscular and mental receptivity. We will begin working with the feet, then the legs, hips, upper back, and torso. The barre helps the student concentrate on one leg at a time. It also helps the students gain confidence to help them balance on one leg at a time.
There are various exercises that can be performed on the barre (e.g., warming up the calf muscles or warming down after class). The tendu exercise helps to warm up the achilles tendon and calf muscles. The French word tendu means to slide the foot without lifting the toe from the ground while keeping both knees straight.
Wikipedia contributors. "Ballet technique." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 Jan. 2010. Web. 1 Apr. 2010.
Demi Plie starts in any ballet position, and then you bend your knee outwards over the feet then return to straight legs. Grand pile is similar instead the knees should be bent until the thighs are horizontal. Releve is when rises from the floor to standing on their toes. Frappe is conducted when the dancer is turning out. The one of dancer outside legs is flexed and turned out the heel is placed alight above the ankle of the standing leg. Tendu is when both legs are straight. One the foot presses into floor away from the other leg. As the foot starts to move away from them as the foot start to leave the level, it goes ball the heel begins to lift then the ball finally the toes until the toes are fully
Ballet is an athletic art form that utilizes muscle control, flexibility, and physical strength. It requires extreme discipline from the dancers and takes an extreme amount of mental concentration. This discipline causes dancers to have success throughout life and specifically in academic studies. There are many ways that dance can affect the success of a person’s life; however, there are two in specific that make dancers generally more successful. To begin, ballet causes dancers to be self-motivated workers; dancers cannot rely on others to push them to be better, but must have the drive within themselves.
Aalten, A. (2005). In the presence of the body: Theorizing training, injuries and pain in ballet. Dance Research Journal, 37(2), 55-72. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20444641
She has gained the trust of their parents by knowingly doing what is right for their children, while also instilling knowledge and life lessons as she watches over them with love. Another example would be her passion for dance. She has been dancing since she was three years old, and grew up dancing for a local dance company. Staying committed to the company, she never left, but stayed through her entire dance career. Ms. Baker competed in many competitions and won trophies for herself and also her dance company. She knew that if she performed at her best it would represent not only herself, but her family and who taught her. It attracted many young children who wished to dance when they saw that she performed in a graceful manner and was extremely poised. After reaching the age in which she was too old to compete, she returned to the dance facility as an instructor and teaching assistant. She could not break the bond in which she had built with the association. While doing many extracurricular activities, Ms. Baker attend Rockingham Early College High School where she has maintained excellent grades to represent herself not only well rounded, but academically. The rigor of the college level courses did not stop her from pursuing
Happiness is a feeling adults experience when they receive a gift, win something, and various other reasons, but does money buy this happiness everyone experiences? Don Peck and Ross Douthat claim money does buy happiness, but only to a point in their article which originally appeared in the Atlantic Monthly (252). Throughout their article, reasons on why money can sometimes buy happiness are explained. While some of the reasons given are effective, not all are satisfying answers for adults working diligently to make a living. Money is a part of everyone’s life, yet it is not always the cause of happiness.
Concluding this fall semester in Ballet II, I believe that I have gained huge improvements. As stated in my midterm self-evaluation, I wanted to spend my time in ballet to focus on areas of performance quality. I set four goals for myself to work on as well that included: stronger lower abdominal core, the use of my port te bras, releasing tension in my hands, and increasing the articulation of my feet. In addition to these certain goals, my hip injury has been a main focus throughout this entire semester.
When I was about four or five years old, I was introduced to Ballet. I adored being a little ballerina and would read the same dance booklet everyday, practicing the five positions and gracefully positioning my tiny arms and fingers to match the little girl in the illustrations. Because I loved dance so much, my mother enrolled me in Donna Hammond-Phelps
In the Italian Renaissance it was a court dance for nobility, a serious theatrical art form in seventeenth century France, moved it’s way up to an acclaimed fine art in twentieth century Russia and America, and is now bigger than ever world wide in the twenty-first century. Stemming from the latin word ballere, Ballet has turned into the technically perfect, incredibly athletic, and jaw-droppingly beautiful dance form it is today thanks to the hard work of choreographers and musicians of these four major periods of time. I intend to use this paper to answer the Who, What Where,When and Hows of ballet. “Who brought ballet to where it it today?”, “When and How was ballet used throughout history?”, “What makes it the foundation of all dance?”,
Many young girls grow up taking ballet class, but there is a lot more to ballet than just little girls running around in tutus. Many people think that ballet is boring or isn’t their thing but there are many roles that go into putting on a ballet. A lot of work goes into doing a ballet. There are many famous ballets that without the story, the ballet wouldn’t be as interesting. There were many influential dancers and choreographers in ballet. There are many basic steps that frame the technique of ballet. Ballet is very physically and mentally demanding. Ballet is an art that many people misunderstand, but there is so much more to ballet.
Ballet is a popular dance form that originated in the 1500s around the time of the renaissance. It consists of many different forms that have evolved over the years. Some examples of these forms include French Ballet, Vaganova (Russian Ballet), Cecchetti (Italian Ballet), and Balanchine. Ballet forms and variations originated mainly from Italy, Russia, and France. However, today, many different forms of Ballet exist. Despite the many different variations, all Ballet has certain things in common. It is an effective form of exercise, requires special equipment, contains many set principles, and can result in specific injuries.
Ballet is a beautiful and romantic type of performance art. It originated in the Italian court systems in the 15th century (Jonas). Since its origination, ballet has undergone many changes and gained worldwide recognition. Filled with elaborate costumes, cheering audiences, lights, weightless movements and beauty; ballet is admired by many. On the magical stage ballerinas can become whoever they wan to be, and perform in a world of fantasy. For these reasons, children, especially little girls, all over the world dream of becoming ballerinas when they grow up. However, becoming a professional ballerina is an extremely difficult accomplishment, in which few will achieve (Kelso 1). The world of ballet may seem to be filled with glitz and glamor but, behind the curtain there is an entirely different story. There are extreme demands and pressures put on these young dancers to be very thin and nearly perfect. Some of which include body and weight demands, competition, and social pressures. These constant pressures can lead to a negative body-image and even debilitating eating disorders (Price and Pettijohn).
In order to consolidate this module, I observed 5 girls in a private ballet studio, during a pre-primary ballet class, and 6 girls playing together in a sandpit during their free play period at a private Jewish Day nursery school. The girls in the ballet class were between the ages of five and six years old, and the girls at school were between the ages of four and five years old.
This assignment was my first experience of watching both and dance technique class and an actual dance rehearsal. For this assignment, I watched a rehearsal for the University Dance theater, where students who choose to be dance majors affiliate with, I was personally blown away by what I saw in both courses. While observing these two I saw the passion in some of the students had for dance and noticed just how hard they work on their craft. I noticed a few things that I already predicted on seeing and a few more things I did not. What predicted on seeing was a big fancy area the dancer used to performed, the stage where the dancers performed had clear glass windows near upstage that showed the view of the city from the second floor. Another
Ballet is one of the most popular types of dance. It is known for its grace and elegance. Ballet is a very disciplined style of dance and may take many years to develop the proper technique. Ballet is the foundation for many other types of dance.