Learn The Fundamentals Of Ballet

You can feel confident knowing that when we move to the barre, your arm placement will feel familiar. You are going to use your skills learnt in the previous section to find the true position for you, to place your arms at the barre! Remember, your arm placement at the barre will affect the placement for the rest of your body, so it is important to practice the correct positioning of your arms, at the barre!

Plies, plies,plies! I am almost certain that if you have heard anyone talk about ballet, then you have heard the word, plie, but does it really mean? Plie means to bend, or bend.

NB: It is vital to always make sure that when in plie position, that your knee is bending so that it is directly over your second toe, this ensures correct alignment of the leg :)

Tip: Try to keep the sole of your foot in contact with the floor for as long as possible (without altering the placement of your hips). This action will strengthen your foot, leading you to have stronger arches in your feet and a gorgeous looking pointed foot.

Rond de jambe - When leading to the front, guide your foot using the heal. When leading to the back, guide your foot using your toes.

Fendus - Fendu, meaning to melt, require you to bend your legs at the same time and straighten at the same time. This task can be difficult- try leading with your working leg(free leg) leading out slightly before the supporting leg(standing leg).

To achieve the desired dynamic of the movement, before the leg leaves contact with the floor, pressurise your foot against the floor, launching it into the air and controlling it back down slolwy.

Port de Bras= Carriage of the arms.

In this exercise for transfer of weight, you will notice we are using plies. Plies are not only used at the barre, but vastly throughout all ballet practice.

Always check that you are evenly dispersing your weight through your both legs when demonstrating a plie with two legs.

I wonder if you have been thinking, when will we learn some turns?! Right now is your time!

Spotting is my #1 tool to successful pirouettes(turns). This video demonstrates, how to practice it correctly and why spotting is a key component to pirouettes.

Chaines can be shown in any direction, once you feel comfortable doing chaines in a line, challenge yourself by practicing them in a circle. Remember to keep spotting! Enjoy!

The key to successful pose turns is using your back foot for the power to pose(step) on to your supporting/standing leg, and your working leg pointing in the direction you want to go, as a guide.

The best way to safely practice any kind of jump, it to make sure you plie before you jump (in preparation), then take off by stretching your legs, lifting your heals then the balls of your feet, leaving your toes having the last point of contact with the floor.

On landing always go through your feet in the opposite way, toe, ball, heal.

Temps leve sautes are used throughout ballet repertoire. When partaking in classes all over the world, the temps leve saute will be frequently used.

Assembles are used often for females in petit/medium allegro, and for males in medium/grande allegro. Assembles are still not gender specific, but at tijmes can be used in different ways. Assembles are really fuhn, as you are given the chance to jump high and squeeze your inner thighs together at the same time, giving you th best inner thigh workout tht you could ask for!

We have reached the big jumps! Grande jetes are a lot of fun!

- A tip for practicing the grande jete, is to think of it like a grande battement( large/big through of the leg, at the barre), instead of the trajectory of the leg only going up, imagine someone is pulling the foot on your front leg forward. Together with the jump this will allow you to jump up and over, as if over a puddle. This creates a beautiful arc for your grande jete!

-Also remember to plie on your landing,through your supporting leg :)

The primary purpose for the curtsey is to acknowledge those who have been watching/observing your dancing. It demonstrates that you(the dancer) are appreciative, of the viewer for watching.

- This is the only section of the course, in which there are two different versions, the bow for the male dancer, and the curtsey for the female.

-The male version is generally a more subtle/modest version of the females curtsey, however just as important.

I hope you have had fun learning more about ballet! You have now reached the end of the course!

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