Learn Ballet Positions Faster, 3 Essential Tips

When you, especially if you are an adult beginner, learn ballet, there is a lot of information to absorb about basic positions. You might be dreaming about doing split leaps and beautiful elegant ballet arm positions. Learn the ballet basics slowly and carefully. You will progress faster with classical technique and movements by seeing, and reading about ballet.

Adult dance beginners are a pretty devoted bunch. The attention to finer detail that it takes to learn ballet is not attractive to everyone.

First tip - how to learn balletic technique using the correct spinal posture is crucial to achieving correct ballet positions. This includes a neutral pelvic position. Discovering that you have been building tension in certain muscles in your every day standing and sitting, and that you have the need to stretch, adjust, and correct your posture, brings you a life long benefit.

If you do not have the time or money to take more than one class a week, you can still learn more!

Once you have discovered an area you need to stretch, make a routine of relaxing and stretching your muscles. You can use a pinkie ball (a small rubber sports ball) to help relax muscles.

Second tip - learn the real deal about turnout. How much you have, how to hold turnout securely, and how to strengthen turnout muscles.

Third tip, learn to develop your foot muscles with daily exercises. This will strengthen your barre exercises, your jumps (allegro) and your releves (quick movements from a demi plie up to your highest arched demi pointe position). Foot exercises are also exercises to prepare for pointe work - if that is a particular goal of yours.

TRY - TUNE UP YOUR TURNOUT by Deborah Vogel.

TRY - THE PERFECT POINTE BOOK by Lisa Howell.

(just for starters!)

Ballet is an art form that increases the magical and imaginative dimension of life. Understanding how to learn ballet increases your enthusiasm and brings you real physical results. It's your journey, it's your dance. Enjoy!

Exclusive Chance To Win Tickets To See the English National Ballet's Nutcracker

Win two tickets for English National Ballet's production of The Nutcracker!

And there is lots more interesting Ballet News at Elise' blog.

Regional Ballet Nutcrackers - Support Your Local Ballet!

This looks like my longest post ever - but it's not, it's just the most lines. This is all USA. I'll need another week to get into links to some other countries....

Hey folks! Support your local ballet! Give Nutcracker tickets as presents, take your family or your Girl Scouts!

Here's a list of regional/smaller ballet companies and schools doing Nutcracker this year, in case you don't live near a major company.....

Tucson Regional Ballet

Virginia Regional Ballet

Utah Regional Ballet

Contra Costa Ballet, Walnut Creek, CA

Pennsylvania Regional Ballet

Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet

Ashland Regional Ballet

Nutcrackers In Ohio

Allen Civic Ballet (TX)

Arts Ballet Theater of Florida

Ballet Chicago

Ballet Concerto Fort Worth TX NOT THE NUTCRACKER, but take a look at their Holiday concert

Pennsylvania Youth Ballet with ABT guests

Ballet Theatre of New Mexico

Ballet Yuma, AZ

Ballethnic Dance Company Atlanta, GA

Bay Area Houston Ballet & Theatre

Bossov Ballet Theatre Pittsfield Maine

Brandywine Ballet West Chester PA

California Ballet San Diego CA

Canyon Concert Ballet Fort Collins CO

Cape Cod Ballet

Carnegie Performing Arts Center , PA

Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet

November Nutcracker with Chamberlain Ballet in Plano TX

The Childrens Ballet Theatre of Michigan

Company of Dance Arts Redbank NJ

Dance Theatre of Pennsylvania

Fort Lauderdale Ballet Classique


Greater York Dance York, PA

Greensboro Ballet NC

Gwinnett Ballet Snellville, GA

Harford Ballet Edgewater, MD

Indiana Ballet Theatre

Irine Fokine School of Ballet

Ithica Ballet

Lake Arrowhead Classical Ballet Company

Madison Ballet

Media City Ballet Glendale CA

Mid Atlantic Ballet De

Midland Festival Ballet, TX

Mobile Ballet with Joffrey and New York City ballet guests - Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty

Mohawk Ballet

Mystic Ballet

Neglia Ballet Buffalo NY

New England Ballet CT

Nouveau Chamber Ballet Fullerton CA (with orchestra)

Nutmeg Conservatory For the Arts


Peninsula Youth Ballet San Mateo CA

Peoria Ballet

Placer Theatre Ballet They require a log in to view the site which I think is a big mistake...

Fort Wayne Ballet

Red River Dance LA

Rhode Island Ballet presents Nutcracker excerpts and Alice In Wonderland

Rochester City Ballet

Salt Creek Ballet, IL

San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet

San Pedro City Ballet CA

Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet

Sierra Vista Ballet, AZ

South Bay Ballet Torrence CA

South Dayton Dance Theatre

Southern New Hampshire Dance Theatre

Southwest Virginia Ballet

Saint Louis Ballet

The Toledo Ballet

The Tupelo Ballet

Virginia Ballet Company & School

Westchester Ballet Company NY

Westside Ballet Santa Monica CA

Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre

Woodlands Civic Ballet TX

Exercises For Pointe in Adult Ballet Classes - Warm Up and Awareness

Most ballet exercises cover a lot of muscle groups, while exercises to prepare for pointe work, or foot work in general focus on the feet/ankles. Here is a simple exercise you can use as a warm up before class that will activate your posture, leg muscles, and foot muscles. It will get your joints more flexible in a gentle way as you increase your circulation and alert your brain/body that class is about to start!

As an adult ballet student you may have been sitting at a desk all day, or confined more or less, in an office venue. Coming into an adult ballet class, usually at the end of the day, your body is ready to wind down, yet - here you are.

Prances is a wonderful warm up movement. Facing a mirror, you can set up your posture, checking that your legs are truly parallel, with knees over the toes, not turning in toward each other at all. You can also check that your hips and shoulders are level. If not, be aware of tense areas in the body as you warm up. (And check at the end of class to see if you look more level).

So if you haven't learned prances, start by pressing up onto demi/three quarter pointe and then come down on one leg through a flat point, and then lower into demi plie. The other leg bends, and you can press over a little on that (now) working leg, to get a little more flexible in the ankle and toe joints.

Slowly transfer the weight onto both feet as you press up onto demi pointe. Check that your neck and shoulders are not working, and that your core muscles, or lowest abs, are controlling the neutral pelvic posture (pelvis tilted neither forward a little, or back).

Do 12-16 slow controlled prances, then take a little break. Now turn sideways to the mirror, repeat all, checking that your demi plie is going up and down a plumb line, not allowing your weight to press back at all at the depth of the plie.

This is a great yet simple warm up. You can add to it by doing a port de bras - bring the arms up from low fifth through fifth in front to high fifth and down through second position. This will warm up the back and shoulders. Breathe deeply and easily.

This little preparation to class addresses the basic foot movements for ballet - and every use of the foot is an exercise to prepare for pointe work, every single one. Flexing and extending the ankle and arch properly, while controlling your posture, and getting a little flexibility through the toe joints (especially the big toe), is no small feat.

When you do eventually get into pointe shoes, you can do the same exercise as a preparation/warm up, holding onto the barre, and going up onto pointe and coming down through the foot, changing the weight, and pressing over your pointe a little if you need more flexibility. If you have hyper-mobile ankle joints, you can practice holding it back a little, staying on your pointe shoe platform instead of pressing over.

I hope this will help you enjoy your adult ballet class even more!

If you want to go the extra mile, get this book to prepare for pointe shoes.

How Adult Beginners In Ballet Can Progress To Pointe Work

Most adult ballet beginners I talk to are motivated to add home practice to their dance class schedule. If you want to progress to pointe work, you can save time and money by learning exercises targeted to prepare the foot muscles for pointe. An added bonus to this focus is, that the same exercises enhance your balance and all your ballet footwork.

Exercises involving just the intrinsic (in the foot only) foot muscles do not require a ballet barre (or bar), a mirror, ballet wear, dance music, or any kind of workout equipment.

Furthermore, once you have learned these exercises properly, you can do them while you watch television, read, or engage in casual conversation.

Adding an exercise to determine and then improve your turnout requires enough floor space for the length of your body, and a small cushion or folded towel if you are very thin.

Practicing press ups on one leg in a cou de pied or retire position requires a kitchen counter or chair back for use as a barre.

Checking for a correct ballet position to practice in, is best done with your ballet teacher. However, if you have a full length mirror, you can also check at home, once you understand what is right for spinal posture, pelvic position, and leg positions.

Plan on adding ten to fifteen minutes a day for foot exercises to progress toward pointe work. While your feet get stronger, you will find a better push off in all your releves and jumps. Landing through the foot will become easier as well.

Some adult ballet beginners may never get to dance ballet in pointe shoes because of previous dance injuries, extremely inflexible ankle joints, or another reason. Yet, adding specific foot exercises to your routines will definitely help you progress toward pointe work and better foot work in general.

Learn more about how to progress to pointe work, with targeted foot exercises in an easy-at-home learning format to support your ballet class work.

Understanding Myofascial Release and Ballet Training

Releasing tension in the fascia, the covering of our soft tissues (to put it in my rustic terms) is different from just releasing tension in the muscle centers. For an example of a situation that is addressed from a myo-fascial release viewpoint, read about it on Deborah Vogel's blog at The Body Series.

(Click on the 'blog' button on the top). You'll see an interesting article about slow recovery from a foot injury - that involves the whole body.

Still Trying To Lift Your Leg "From Underneath?"

Well, give it up - it's not going to work. Trying to get the legs up by pure force and effort is quite frustrating. Believe me, I understand!

Nichelle at Dance Advantage wrote a detailed article about the iliopsoas muscle and pelvic area that's well worth reviewing.

If you want better extensions, read this through as many times as it takes for you to sense this muscle and surrounding area.