Basic ballet vs. Beginner ballet - what's the difference?

Beautiful dancers, every teacher has a different definition of their "beginner" level. For some instructors, beginner is what brand new students start with, learning the positions of the feet and how to stand at the barre, etc. For others, it's a class that lots of different dancers take, including advanced dancers, and students do everything from plies to pirouettes.

(And for the record, I believe ALL dancers can benefit from a beginner or even a basic level class, regardless of their experience. Sometimes we learned things wrong or not at all! And sometimes we just need to focus on the technique and not complex choreography.)

**If a class marked Beginner has a finite number of classes, then generally speaking it will be a class for brand new students.

**If a class marked Beginner is ongoing and students can drop in at their whim, then generally speaking it will be a more advanced or "complete" class.

My Beginner level is the latter of the two above types. Students are expected to be familiar with:

--plies

--positions of the feet and arms

--tendus, degages, grand battements

--ronds de jambes

--developpes

 --compound steps like pas de bourree and balance

--glissades, jetes, assembles, chassees

They don't need to be experts at it all! But having been exposed to these steps or concepts will make my Beginner class a lot easier for them because it's more like Beginner/Advanced Beginner.

After the pandemic, I realized that a lot of my more advanced students would probably need a Beginner class to ease them back into the studio so the Beginner class began to include far more advanced dancers than it would have pre-pandemic. 

But I still wanted a place for brand new students! So that's when I decided to start my Basic class. This is the class for learning all of the steps above and so much more:

--port de bras

--classroom conventions and etiquette

--holding the barre, moving the head, engaging the audience

It's a great class for someone who has no experience in ballet or dance, a dancer who has had an injury or lengthy time away from the studio and needs to move slowly and mindfully, or anyone who wants to refresh their muscle memory or learn proper terminology.

So why am I telling you this now? Because I have a super awesome  

Thursday night Basic class at 7PM  

(at Inspire Dance Studio)

and I will be opening a  

 Saturday morning Beginner class at 10AM 

(at Inspire starting August 7th & it will also be hybrid) 

HAPPY DANCING, EVERYONE!