Refining Your Ballet Technique
Written by Sarah Wilkiamson   
Monday, 12 October 2009 12:55
Almost every child is fascinated by the Nutcracker ballet which is a standard during the holiday season. Often this is the first impressions of ballet, but as people get older they are better able to appreciate this form of art. It is only natural that once you love it, you will also feel the need to master it also.
by SarahWilkiamson


Almost every child is fascinated by the Nutcracker ballet which is a standard during the holiday season. Often this is the first impressions of ballet, but as people get older they are better able to appreciate this form of art. It is only natural that once you love it, you will also feel the need to master it also.

Once you have decided to work on the techniques that make up ballet, then you should be aware of the amount of work you are in for. There is a good reason that ballet is known as the root of all dancing and that has to do with the fact that the technical skills required for ballet are outstanding. Mastering these skills requires a tremendous amount of work.

To improve your ability to dance ballet, you have to start with the basics. Although people tend to want to work on the more interesting and exciting skills, which are often also more complicated, it is a mistake to do so before having mastered the basics. Jumping ahead of what you can do results in learning the techniques wrong and it is incredibly difficult to forget the bad habits learned and re-teach yourself the right ways. The best thing to do is avoid getting in this situation in the first place.

To avoid this begin with the absolute roots of ballet. Review the foot and arm positions, and spend some time critiquing yourself in the mirror. Make sure that each of the standard ballet positions are at home in your body before you move onto pirouettes or grand jete's.

It is also to your advantage to have someone else see how you perform techniques and this is best done by finding a reliable teacher who you can trust to help correct any form errors you are making. This is best, because no matter how you examine your own dancing you will easily miss obvious errors in your techniques. Only someone looking from a different point of view can give you an opinion that will help you improve techniques.

Patience is something you must exercise while learning ballet. You will need to give it some time before you see results. Old habits may need to be broken plus building muscle memory and you need to give your body some time to adjust to better habits and new positions.

The most important thing that you need to do is to commit your heart and your soul to progressing within your ballet dancing. If you are fully invested in the mission to stretch yourself then you are sure to make improvements. You have to get out of your own way and commit fully to your craft.

You may have fallen in love with ballet as a child, but your work will not be done for a long time. There is always a way to improve yourself as a dancer, and unless you are fully committed to that you are going to fall short of your full potential. By refining the basics and embracing the study of ballet with your heart and soul you will be on the road to excellence.

About the Author:

If you are considering taking dance lessons near Arlington, one of the places you might consider is found at this website, with more info about Fairfax dance lessons.