Monday, August 20, 2007

How to Ballet Dance

Ballet is the art of dance requiring strength, resilience, elegance and grace all at once. It can be difficult to master and it takes a lot of patience and practice to learn. If ballet is fast becoming your passion and you are prepared to put in the hours of practice and not particularly glamorous routine work, including moments of true pain, then it may just be that you are prepared to aim for a career in ballet. Ballet can be studied at any age. Boys and girls who study ballet develop strong lean and flexible bodies, spacial and temporal awareness, and improve their coordination. As a proven scientific, long-term bonus, it has been shown that boys and girls retain the flexibility brought about by ballet throughout their adult lives. Ballet technique is considered to be the basis of training for all types of dance.
1. Stretch your body as best as you can. Check with the instructor if you stretch out as a class. Stretching is important to loosen muscles, strengthen muscles and to elongate your posture. It is vital that it is done at the beginning of each ballet session, including before a performance. You should also stretch to "wind down" at the end of class.
2. Learn some of the steps' names before your first class so you don't feel overwhelmed. Even if it is to just look over the words so you feel familiar with them. See if your local ballet shop has a ballet dictionary that you could buy. Don't try anything new without a teacher present, because you might learn it the wrong way and develop bad habits. A good class will teach you slowly and carefully over the first few months, so don't be too worried about not knowing much. Enthusiasm and willingness is the key!
3. Choose ballet slippers and have your shoes professionally fitted; see if the school you attend can fit you and order them or if you need to go to a ballet shop.
4. Know that you will start every class at the ballet barre. You might spend all class in the beginning at the barre learning the steps and positions. This is vital for building your strength, agility and flexibility, so do not see it as wasted time. If you skipped this, you wouldn't be able to dance. Even professional dancers begin each class at the barre.
5. Check with your instructor on what the school's dress code is; some schools may have students wear the same thing and others may just require any type of leotard and tights and sometimes ballet skirts. The most important thing is that you are comfortable, and the teacher can see what you are doing.
6. Find out if your school has other classes to take, such as jazz or tap, try to take them, it can help you learn the steps and body awareness necessary for ballet.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Ballet Box


Pink vinyl ballet box. Seperate side compartment to carry shoes. Shoulder strap and top compartment to carry leotards, tights, and additional shoes. Great for the little one. To recap the other review, I also had this ballet tote 23 years ago and I absolutely loved it and that was one of my fondest memories of being a dancer. I am completely overwhelmed that I have found this.