Ballet dancing is a graceful form art that has been around for hundreds of years. It first appeared at the end of the fifteenth century and it quickly became popular the court of King Louis XIV in the seventeenth century. Nowadays there are three branches that use different ballet moves and ballet positions, these are: classical ballet, neoclassical ballet and contemporary ballet.
Every little girl dreams of being a ballerina but the road is long and hard. Many of the ballet dancers start very young, the perfect age to start seems to revolve around four years old, so if you have a girl that dreams of being a ballet dancer, then 4 is the perfect age. This article will provide you with ballet dancing tips that will help your little girl perform and shine like the little star she is.
There are quite a lot of ballet techniques which can be practiced and practiced over and over again, but the ballet positions are the most important thing that needs to be learned:
The first position, this is the basic starting position of your feet where your legs are together and the heels touch. The aim is for the feet to form a straight line. In order to do that your weight must be evenly balanced and the dancer must stand straight and tall with her head held high. The dancer must be aware of her posture and there should be no sense of strain. Always remember to breathe deeply as a lot of oxygen will be needed for ballet dancing.
The second position is very similar to the first, your feet must be in the same straight line posture but a bit distanced (about half a length of your foot).
The third position needs your feet to be turned out and partly crossed so that the heel of one foot fits into the hollow of the instep of the back foot. This one is rarely used on stage but as most things you learn at the beginning, it’s a stepping stone towards harder exercises.
The fourth position is actually split into two versions. At first there is the open fourth position, it looks like the fourth position but the difference is that one foot is approximately thirty centimeters in front of the other. The second version is called the crossed fourth position and as its name suggests your feet must be crossed, one in front of the other, about thirty centimeters apart. This one is mainly used before a difficult turning movement.
The fifth position is by far the hardest of the basic positions. The dancer must get the heel of one foot against the toe of the other foot while maintain a straight line between toes and heels and a full turnout from the hips.
These are the basic positions in ballet dancing, but a dancer’s ballet technique must include so much more, one must have the mobility to do splits, a slim body that won’t put a strain on the partner.
