By: Jennie Becker,
Dance Director
Dance-Twirl Minnesota
Why does my dancer need to take ballet?
The short answer is that ballet is the basis for all movement styles including tap and hip hop. Without ballet your dancer’s dance and baton career will be severely limited in how far they will go and what they can accomplish. Even the most talented dancer will need some ballet background to succeed in even a college audition into a dance program.
It looks so slow and like they aren’t even doing anything?
I like to describe watching a ballet class like watching golf. To the novice eye, people playing rounds of golf look pretty boring and like nothing is happening. However, avid golfers know that perfecting each stroke is the difference between winning against your brothers at a weekly golf tee time or not. Playing rounds of golf isn’t only fun, but it is practice which both make you better. Same goes for ballet. Often it doesn’t look like anything is happening, but if we don’t perfect plie’s then we are never going to be able to leap or turn. The technique at barre may look like nothing but really it is the difference between becoming the best or not.
Why does my dancer need to be on time?
Dance, just like any other sport, requires a warm up. Would you send your child into a soccer game mid game and without a running and stretching warm up? Probably not and neither would their coach. In many strict ballet classes if a dancer is more than 5 minutes late that dancermust watch and take notes without participating and must ask for permission from the instructor to join class. That approach is a bit old school, however it makes sense. If you are only interested in learning the tricks and not the technique you will get injured and fall short of other dancers. All aspects of class are important, not just the fun ones!
Below is a list of reason’s why ballet is so important in your young dancer’s life. Ballet isn’t just about the art form, it is also about learning how to carry yourself through life, appreciate hardwork and learning to love yourself and what you can do.
* The development of discipline and dedication. Ballet technique is very specific and requires practice to improve. In most cases, the qualities of discipline and dedication translate themselves to other areas of life like work and school.
* Improving posture. Let’s face it: everything in ballet requires good posture. In time, the posture utilized in the studio translates to every part of a dancer’s life.
* Improving balance and flexibility. Two large parts of ballet technique which, consequently, diminish the likelihood of injury in ballet, sports, and other dance forms.
* Increased agility. While often slow and graceful, ballet has its swift moments as well. Football players often attribute speed and agility to their experiences cross-training with ballet during the off season.
* Aural, visual, and kinetic stimulus. In laymans’ terms: You learn to connect verbal commands and musical cues with exercise demonstrations and perform them in our your body. Different parts of the brain are problem solving to perform the movements in time to the music.
* Confidence. Have you ever seen a five-year-old coming out of ballet class? He/she is most likely smiling and will gladly show you what has been learned. The confidence that ballet instills is not exclusive to the five-year-old demographic. The artistry, musicality, and grace of ballet are great confidence boosters.
Ballet isn’t just about the art form, it is also about learning how to carry yourself through life, appreciate hard work and learning to love yourself and what you can do.
Tutus & Twirlers 