Thursday, October 29, 2009

Refining Your Ballet Technique

By Sarah Wilkiamson

It seems we all remember being fascinated watching the Nutcracker ballet around the holidays when we were a child. Now as adults we can look at it with an appreciation for the hard work and talent of the dancers bringing out a desire to give it a shot.

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.

The first step in improving your ballet dancing is to start with the basics. There is always a tendency to work on the more exciting and fun maneuvers, but if you jump ahead of yourself and start working on more complicated moves without the basic technique you will be learning things wrong. There is nothing more difficult than having to un-teach yourself bad habits. The best thing is to avoid getting them in the first place.

This can be avoided by beginning at the very origin of ballet, and examine the positions of the feet and arms. It also helps to work in front of a mirror so that you can see what you are doing and make any critiques that way. It is imperative that each of the standard positions of ballet are like second nature to you before you make the next step and move on to more complicated moves like grand jete?s or pirouettes.

It is also really in your best interest to have a separate eye take a look at your technique. Find a teacher who you respect and trust to correct your errors in form. As hard as you look at your own dancing you may be missing some obvious errors. It is really that separate opinion that can help to heighten your technique.

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.

If you decide to put your heart and soul into ballet and make a real deep down commitment then you can progress in your craft of ballet. To make improvements you will really need to stretch and apply yourself to learn this craft you have chosen, ballet.

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.

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