Basic Ballet Moves To Learn
If you are one of those who believe that ballet has something magical about it while watching the ballet dancers move around the stage with grace, beauty and romance then you should know that it is not as far away as it first seemed.
To begin your journey into the world of ballet you will need to learn first the basic moves all ballet dancers have mastered. The recommended way to begin this is by using a barre bar, which comes in different styles. If this is not possible for any reason then a high backed chair can work just as well.
The barre is used by ballet dancers as a tool for stability. A dancer is able to stabilize their body when working on basic positions and movements of ballet by using the barre.
The eleve is a simple move and also the first one you should work on. This move is just when a ballet dancer raises their body up on the balls of the feet, and it will also do a lot to greatly strengthen important body parts like the feet, ankles and calves. You will need to work on doing an eleve with all five basic ballet positions and once you are capable of that you can start working on a releve in those positions too. The releve is different, because it is when a dancer raises themselves onto the ball of a foot while in a deep plie position.
Speaking of plie’s this is definitely a move that you will need to master. A plie is basically a move where you bend the knees in the various ballet positions. Depending on how deep the knee bend is you may be doing a basic plie or a grande plie. Both are equally important, and should be mastered respectively.
Another basic move in ballet you need to know and which can be mastered using a barre is the tendu. When working on this move you just have to stand firmly on one leg and stretch out the other one. It is important to keep in mind that when working on a tendu that the stretched out foot is in a strong point at the end of the move and before you bring it back to the starting position. This move is great for increasing flexibility overall and strengthening turnout.
The next move which is not very different from the tendu is the rond de jambre. Once you have mastered the tendu, you can proceed further and go on to the rond de jambre which is using your free leg to make a half circle on the floor There are five ballet positions that this can be used on. With this step you move from front to back with a circular movement and once you have this mastered you can move on to the jambe which simply moves the circle in the opposite direction.
Learning these basic ballet steps gives you the foundation to build on as a dancer and although ballet is complicated it has its roots in the basics.
If you are considering taking ballet class in Arlington, one of the places you might consider is found at this website, with more info about dance class.
