Let's Learn Ballet: Level 1 - 2 Semester Course 3

Class Experience:

In this Level 1-2 ballet class, both girls and boys enjoy exploring ballet in an engaging and carefully structured semester long course. Students will work on improving strength, coordination, musicality, and creativity to expand on their ballet technique. On the last day of this course, students will have a chance to perform their work to their family at home.

This class is intended for dancers who are 7 – 9 years old and usually have 1 – 3 years of recent ballet experience. If your dancer has little or no ballet experience, please contact Mrs. Watters about class placement before registration. For students who have completed the “Let’s Learn Ballet: Level 1 - 2” course which runs for 4 classes, this class is an excellent opportunity to explore the topics in more detail. This course is the third course in the Level 1 - 2 Semester Course series, following Let’s Learn Ballet: Level 1 - 2 Semester Courses 1 and 2, but you are not required to have completed Course 1 or 2 as a prerequisite, and the courses can be taken in any order. 

As a registered Royal Academy of Dance (R.A.D.) ballet instructor, Mrs. Watters will teach students steps and exercises from the Grades 1 and 2 R.A.D. syllabi, but please note that these grade levels are not equivalent to grade levels at school. The Royal Academy of Dance is the largest ballet teaching organization in the world and provides a framework for learning ballet that is both engaging and developmentally appropriate for young dancers. This methodology has a one-hundred-year history of training both recreational and professional dancers world-wide. The Grade 1 and 2 exam levels involve mostly classical ballet work but also some character dance work. Character dancing is not dancing like a particular character or person but is a part of classical ballet influenced by folk dancing and has an important place in traditional classical ballet repertoire, such as Swan Lake. 

Class Structure:

During the classes, students follow along with Mrs. Watters to practice exercises before performing each exercise with the music. When exercises are new, Mrs. Watters will perform the exercises with the students and as they begin to feel confident with the settings on their own, they will practice the exercise while she watches. Students will dance all together for most of the class but will practice dancing one by one at times for some individual feedback. Prior to dancing exercises, Mrs. Watters introduces technical ideas to think about while dancing. At times, students will answer questions about the ballet technique related to an exercise but the discussion from the students is minimal. 

Overview of the Course:

Weeks 1 – 4: Exercises based on the content below will be introduced, but not every class will include each exercise. Exercises will build in complexity over the 4 weeks in ways such as: increasing the tempo, adding arms (port de bras), using eyeline, adding more choreography to the exercise, or altering the floor pattern. 

Weeks 5 - 7: In class, the focus will be more on the technique of the exercises and students will practice performing them in class without as much help from Mrs. Watters. The students become more independent in their dancing. 

Week 8: The first 20 minutes of the last class will be a review of the exercises for practice. The last 25 minutes will involve an informal performance of our classroom exercises. Families will be invited to observe that portion of class (off camera) and celebrate in the students’ progress and their performances that day. 

Class Content:

Over the 8 weeks in class, dancers will work on exercises covering a number of steps and concepts.

1 - Warm Up 

2 - Barre Work 

3 - Centre Work: Including Port De Bras, Adage, Transfer of Weight, Allegro (jumps) 

4 - Additional Classroom Topics:

a) Character Dancing: Character dance is a component of traditional classical ballet which is based on folk dances and national dances. Character dancing appears in many of the traditional full-length ballets and is an essential part of a well-rounded ballet education. Dancers enjoy learning the character dance movements which work on different rhythms and have an exciting style. 

b) Dance: Students will enjoy learning a longer dance sequence that incorporates many of the steps they will practice in their class work. 

c) Creative/Free Movement: Dancers will engage in exercises that allow them to choose their own movements and characterizations to help develop their artistic expression.

d) Use of Props: Students will practice dancing with a prop. Handheld props are common in classical ballets and will be used to encourage particular technical elements in the exercise.

e) Musicality: Dancers will explore how their dancing connects with the music through counting and music dynamics. Certain steps will practice different rhythm patterns. 

5 - Cool Down & Stretch