The Benefits of the Most Important Class For a Dancer

Today I’m going to talk about something that I’ve been hammering into my students’ heads since I started teaching. It’s a concept that a lot of non-dancers don’t know about or realize. It’s something that a lot of recreational dancers don’t think about. It’s something that my competitive dancers can relay back to me anytime I bring it up. It’s something that needs to click in the minds of young dancers.

Ballet is the most important class that a dancer will ever take.

Most of my students cringe at the thought of a tough ballet class. When I’m teaching 7-18 year olds, it’s difficult to find that place where ballet is entertaining, engaging, and yet educational and beneficial. The balance is a tough one, because you want them to be serious enough to improve on a regular basis, but at the same time, have fun. I’ve found that it’s all about establishing the boundaries, and explaining why ballet is so important.

When you first enter a ballet class, you should be somewhat warmed up. I always tell my students to take a few minutes in the lobby before class to do a little stretching to get their blood flowing. A class begins with the students at the barre, doing a series of exercises that work through muscles that will build up for larger movements. After the exercises are done, we move to the center to do exercises that focus on balance and basics. Eventually, we reach the goal of traveling across the dance floor with their movements. These essentials all combine to the point of being able to use what they learn in choreography, and have it transfer to other styles of movement.

Flexibility is an obvious benefit of taking ballet. The dance form itself requires a great amount of it. The goals are to get your legs as high as possible, and to get the split leaps. These can only be achieved through the flexibility in your thighs and hips. It’s also been proved that the flexibility that you attain in your earlier years through ballet can last you throughout your adult life. Anyone over the age of 20 can attest to the fact that this helps when age starts to catch up.

Posture is another obvious benefit. How many kids do we see these days slumping over desks while they take notes in a classroom? How many tall teenagers do we see that slouch because they’re self-conscious of their height? Part of the reason I was put into dance classes in the first place when I was young because the doctors predicted I would grow to be 6 feet tall. While they were off by about 4 inches, I can tell you that my posture is a lot better than my peers that are my height or taller. Because of the fact that ballerinas are always trying to “pull up” (this is a technique used where you lengthen yourself by pulling your torso up and away from your hips, and stretching your neck to achieve maximum height), they learn to use their abdominal and back muscles in such a way that strengthens their positioning. Dancers learn how to align the head, neck, shoulders, back, and hips so that they carry themselves in stronger positions, and form a good basis for balance. They are less likely to have problems because they know how to hold their carriage.

Younger children in the dance world, as well as non-dancers, may not think about this next benefit- discipline. Ballet is a rigorous, methodical, and structured class. It is essentially a school of movement, and it teaches kids to move in an organized way. They learn through watching and hearing how to pointe their toes, or jump in the air in a very specified way. They learn to take instruction, and how to think about the way their body flows in space. As they get older and more serious about dance, they usually end up realizing that they have to continue their training at home. I always tell my students to stretch while they’re watching tv, or to put their feet under the couch to stretch them while they’re doing homework. It’s a sense of self-discipline and self-motivation that grows within them early on. A personal observation is that the students who do the most on their own are usually the ones who are the most self-motivated and -disciplined outside of the dance world as well. This benefit is one that transfers into their reality of the bigger picture.

Some of the more detailed benefits come from within the structure of the class. Ballet teaches a dancer all the basics that they need in order to continue on in their other forms. Turn out is the number one basic that is needed. The concept of turn out is simple. Stand with your feet together; toes and heels parallel to each other, weight evenly distributed. Rotate your hips outward from your body so that your toes are now beginning to point away from each other. I always tell my kids to imagine their hips to be doors opening up to flatten against the wall, since the eventual goal is to get that 180 degree turn out. This is the essential aspect of ballet, only second to alignment. It is used in almost every movement in the world of ballet, and in opposition, it teaches a dancer how to be parallel as well for their other styles.

The strength needed for movement can be found in ballet class. Class itself trains the muscles how to be used. A non-dancer can’t even imagine the amount of strength that is needed. Ballet dancers don’t have the typical bulky muscles that are associated with strength. This is because we are trained to use our muscles in a way that won’t bulk us. Not only do we have to find that strength, but we have to find it and still stay aesthetically pleasing. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine Hulk Hogan in a tutu, and anyone taking him seriously. Dancers have to have his strength, not his look, and that’s one of the most difficult accomplishments to achieve.

Ballet class builds on basics. A class starts with the simplest of movements and gradually gains momentum to moving across the floor. The basics are where the dancer gains the ability to do more difficult steps. The pieces that they must eventually put together are learned from their teachers, and put into play within the usual hour and a half class. The smallest essentials become the building blocks for the tricks that will “wow” their audiences.

Musicality is also learned. From having to count music (“…and a five, six, seven, eight!”), and put those steps to music, young dancers can train their ears to place the count of the music, with the count of the step. When they coincide, the dancer has learned the very basic sense of musicality. Eventually, they will be taught to pick up the subtle nuances in songs, and they will be able to use their bodies to emphasize these nuances.

Last, but not least, a certain amount of respect is learned from ballet. The classroom is not necessarily build as a hierarchy. We’ve all heard the stories about the prima ballerinas getting the prime spots in class, or the best roles, or the best attention. This is not necessarily true in classes. I certainly try not to give preferential treatment. The classroom is a place of learning, and a place to try to better yourself. It is not a place to cause restlessness amongst the troops, so to speak. A dancer learns, first of all, to respect the teacher. I always make sure that my students say please and thank you, and that they raise their hands to speak. They listen, and do not talk back. A dancer learns to respect their classmates. They do not correct each other, unless asked to. They speak to each other without being mean, or judgemental. They also learn that they need to work as a team, and that the team works best when everyone is being mindful of everyone else. Finally, a dancer learns respect for themselves. They realize that they are there to improve upon their skills. Their body is their temple, and they must take care of it, so they respect themselves physically, as well as mentally.

With all these benefits, it always amazes me that more people don’t dance- particularly adults. I know that often times ballet is dubbed as boring, but put the right music to class, and you have a great teacher, it isn’t so boring! Even if I weren’t a dancer from the age of 5, I would find it constantly fascinating. Dance doesn’t just engage one physically, but mentally as well. It’s almost like a game of Simon (remember that game with the lights that lit up in certain order with sounds, and you had to mimic that?)- the lights are the steps, and you have to do them in the order that was given to you. I also know that most adults don’t exactly like the idea of having to wear tights and leotards, but a lot of studios that offer adult beginner courses understand that feeling, and usually are very lenient with the dress code. Heck, I’ve been to adult intermediate courses where most of the dancers were wearing warm ups almost until the very end!

I know I sound like a walking salesperson for ballet classes, but essentially this is just me talking about how great ballet is. Anytime I take a class to brush up, it’s always ballet. It’s so rewarding, and it feels like I’m not only immersing myself in a part of our culture, but also in a part of our art. And with all these outstanding benefits, wouldn’t you like to look and feel like a work of art?

Signing Out