Ballet Performance, Health, and Careers

This capstone unit synthesizes technical practice, repertory study, performance preparation, and dancer health/career issues. Students integrate intermediate ballet skills with critical analysis of works and real-world considerations (injury prevention, pregnancy, retirement, and backstage roles) to prepare for continued study or participation in performance settings.

Learning Objectives

• analyze classical and contemporary ballet works (e.g., Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty) and identify choreographic structure, musical cues, and theatrical elements that shape audience understanding
• demonstrate intermediate ballet techniques—including pirouette en dehors from fourth, grand jeté, glissade, rond de jambe à terre, retiré/relevé balances, fouetté sequences, and a double tour en l’air—with safe alignment and controlled coordination
• evaluate dancer health, safety, and career issues by assessing risk factors (e.g., hip pathology, pregnancy, overuse injury, and early retirement) and proposing evidence-based prevention, modification, or referral strategies
• apply professional performance preparation and backstage practices—warm-up, partnering/etiquette, costume and rehearsal management, and repertoire selection—to plan and execute a mock performance or production role