Foundations of Ballet Technique

This unit introduces core ballet fundamentals: safe practice habits, basic positions and movements (barre and center work), musicality, spatial awareness, and introductory partnering. It consolidates prior general movement skills and prepares students for more advanced turns, jumps, and choreography in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate correct foundational ballet positions and movements (including demi-plié, fondu, battement tendu/développé/grand battement, petit allegro, chassé, glissade, and basic barre starting positions) with appropriate alignment and control
• Apply safe-practice principles by selecting and justifying an appropriate practice space and surface, performing grounding floor stretches, and executing stabilizer-strengthening exercises to protect joints during movement
• Analyze musical choices, tempo, and counting to match phrasing and rhythm to specific exercises and to execute spotting and spatial mapping for room patterns and preparatory turns
• Evaluate and demonstrate basic partnering techniques (supported balances, simple weight-sharing, clear communication) and exhibit professional discipline, terminology, and preparation expected in classical ballet study