The Bones of a Ballet Class

You can wander into any ballet studio in any part of the world… maybe you feel nervous because you don’t know the instructor and you don’t know the other dancers… perhaps the class is held in a completely new language to you! But you can be certain about one thing: the structure of a ballet class is always the same.

Today’s typical ballet class structure has evolved through history absorbing traditions, movement practices, and dance science. Rest assured you will start at the barre and end in the centre.

Even the order of exercises have been thoughtfully sequenced so each movement prepares you for the next. For instance, pliés – a bend and stretch movement performed on two legs, prepares you for fondus – a bend and stretch movement performed on one leg; adage at the barre prepares you for adage in the centre.

Read on below and see if you can identify the links for yourself, and pay attention to them the next time you’re in the studio!

Let’s Begin at the Barre

Barre work helps to establish body and weight placement, build strength and stamina, and refine the basics of your technique to use for more difficult steps later in class.

Most barre exercises are performed facing sideways with one hand on the barre, typically starting with “left hand on the barre” (insert teacher’s voice). They are done one leg at a time and repeated twice to exercise both legs. The combinations at the barre ensure you get to play with different tempos and textures of movement, varying between slow languid dynamics to sharp energetic ones.

・Plié

・Battement Tendu

・Battement Jeté / Battement Glissé

・Rond de Jambe (à Terre)

・Battement Fondu

・Battement Frappé / Petit Battement

・Adage – eg. Developpé, Rond de Jambe (en l’air)

・Grand Battement

・Stretch

TIP: Do not think of Barre as a warm-up! Dancers should already be warmed-up before starting ballet class at the barre.

Moving on to Centre

After barre, you will move into the middle of the studio for centre work – it’s time to find your balance and placement on your own! The movement vocabulary here is simply an extension from the barre. Consider how practicing balances in passé position at the barre has readied you for pirouettes in the centre. The groundwork has been laid and exercises will gradually become more dynamic and incorporate larger full-body movement as class progresses.

As with barre work, there is a shared etiquette in centre for navigating the studio space. For example, staggering to ensure everyone has space to dance, running to the sides between combinations to allow the next group in, or organising yourselves in groups of two or three to move across the diagonal. Dancers are expected to work together with spatial awareness to expedite transitions and ease the flow of class.

・Port de Bras

・Tendu and Grand Battement

・Adage – eg. Developpé, Promenade, Arabesque

・Pirouettes

・Waltz

・Petit Allegro – eg. Sauté, Changement, Assemblé, Jeté

・Grand Allegro – eg. Grand Jeté, Saut de chat, Tour Jeté

・Coda – eg. Fouetté, Tours en l’air, Manège

・Révérence

I love ending ballet class with révérence, it is a way of celebrating ballet’s traditions, elegance and giving respect to your teacher and peers for the dance. It also concludes this little article – you made it through ballet class! Now you know what to expect from almost every ballet class you sign up for.