Ballet

This class is designed to introduce our youngest dancers to the ballet studio, whether they are completely new to group classes or have had experience in Colburn’s Beginning Dance program. The instructor leads the dancers through creative storytelling, patterns, and fundamentals of posture, arm movements, stretching, traveling steps, all with a focus on musicality. Class is 45 minutes in length and features live piano accompaniment.

This class serves as an introduction to the setting and structure of a ballet class. The 45-minute session begins with a series of warm up exercises to emphasize posture, correct alignment, coordination, and musicality.  The use of the barre is introduced for basic ballet steps like plié and tendu, and students begin to learn the meaning of French terminology. Center work and across the floor exercises develop spatial awareness, balance, artistic expression, and joy of movement. The class features live piano accompaniment.

This class is designed to prepare young dancers for Colburn’s sequential ballet levels. There is continued emphasis on posture, alignment, coordination, musicality, and more vocabulary is introduced. The class features introductory barre work, conditioning, stretching, and center work/ traveling exercises. Music and imagination go hand in hand with learning ballet technique fundamentals!  The class is one hour long and features live piano accompaniment.

This class establishes a strong dance foundation for young male students and parallels the course of the Ballet 1 curriculum, but in an encouraging boys-only environment. Boys’ Dance meets twice per week for 90-minutes. The class also combines with Ballet I for a weekly 45-minute stretch time/and or rehearsal for semester-end performances. 

Ballet I is the first level in Colburn Youth Ballet’s sequential program. Students must be 7 years of age by the start of fall classes. Students learn the proper fundamentals of ballet technique with focus on body placement, correct shaping of feet, activating turnout, and developing musicality and a sense of artistry. The level includes two 90-minute technique classes per week and a 45-minute stretch class/rehearsal time for end-of-semester performances. Students usually remain in Ballet I for two years.

Students progress on the basic technique fundamentals from Ballet I and add more use of the head and arms with exercises at the barre and in the center. All elements of class emphasize musicality, proper alignment, and development of artistry. This level includes three 90-minute technique classes and a weekly stretch class/rehearsal to learn choreography for end-of semester performances. Students usually remain in Ballet II for two years.

Pre-pointe exercises and eventually beginner pointe work are introduced at this intermediate level in Colburn’s curriculum. There is a focus on putting steps together and covering more space, always with the emphasis on correct alignment, technique, and musicality. This level includes four 90-minute technique classes and an additional stretch and strengthen class that is also used as rehearsal time to learn choreography for end-of-semester performances.

This level includes a comprehensive 5-day per week schedule for dancers who are continuing to increase their strength, stamina, and sense of artistry. Increase in pointe work, separate men’s class, modern dance technique, and stretch/strength time are all included, as well as learning choreography for end-of semester performances. 

The Advanced Level includes a 6-day per week schedule for dancers who have achieved a high level of ballet training. This level can be used as the culmination of an experienced student’s Colburn training or as a preparation for the Dance Academy.  The daily schedule includes a 90-minute technique class, separate pointe class, and pas de deux, men’s classes, variations/rehearsal, modern technique, stretch/strength and Artistic Inquiry—a weekly university-style course that explores the history and development of ballet and its relationship with other dance forms and disciplines.

The Dance Academy is a rigorous pre-professional ballet training program that both honors the great traditions of classical ballet and embraces the new and contemporary. 

Students learn masterworks and deepen their understanding of the great tradition of this art form. They also collaborate with the choreographers of today and develop their own creative voices. Our holistic artistic education shapes dancers as thinkers, artists, and performers as they experience life in the cultural heart of a global city. 

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