Back to First Principles

Five basic principles guide the teaching of ballet dancers:

1. Stance
2. Classical Line and The Nine Directions of the Body
3. Movement
4. Balance
5. Coordination and Transference of Weight

Stance

Stance is the correct position of the body, which in classical bearing has natural grace and ease. The body is held without strain as muscle tone keeps the muscles in a state of preparedness for movement. Muscle tone is a reflex-action therefore cannot be produced by an act of will, but is largely dependent on the dancer’s general health. As Celia Sparger points out in Anatomy and Ballet, 'Reflex control, not muscular effort, is the key to the upright position of the body. A lengthening of the spine by adjustment, a sensing of the body which is effortless and by which no fatigue is produced in the muscles.' A good teacher checks the correct placing of a student's body many times in the course of a ballet class, and this reinforces the reflex pathways until balletic stance becomes second nature. The pelvis must be centralised, neither tilted to the back nor front, freeing legs to rotate in the hip sockets to give the most distinguishing feature of a classical ballet dancer – the turn-out.

When standing facing the barre this poise should be maintained. With hands placed the width of the shoulders apart, fingers rest lightly on top of the barre and thumbs forbidden to grip it. Hands, wrists and forearm should be aligned. The head should be erect with the eyeline forwards; shoulders squarely parallel with the pelvic girdle and the body's weight evenly distributed on the triangles formed by the heels and metatarsal joints from big to little toes on both feet. The toes themselves should lie flat.

Classical Line

Classical line, characterised by its length and simplicity, is at the heart of ballet technique. The correct alignment of the body is mainly determined by the pelvis. Turn-out comes from the hip joints. It is imperative to begin with a child's natural hip rotation, to keep the movement equal on both hips and only gradually increase turn-out when the muscles to hold it firmly have been developed. If students try to force turn-out by thrusting the heels forward, the talus bone, which is jointed to the heel bone is displaced and the muscles of the legs are twisted from ankle to hip. Trying to turn-out from the feet is a mistake which causes rolling and results in undue pressure on the cartilage of the knee and poor alignment of the feet, pelvis and spine.

To achieve the ballet dancer's classically straight back, the curvature of the spine in the thoracic and lower lumbar areas is reduced by centering the pelvis. Attempting to do this, many students 'tuck-under' by gripping their buttocks. This tilts the pelvis out of its centred position, displacing the body’s weight and putting strain on the knees.

In today's market place, extensions are expected to be high. However, students should be trained primarily for line. They must be sensitive to the aesthetic differences, and practise movements from à terre through all the degrees to 180°. Before students attempt high extensions it is imperative that they are well positioned on the supporting leg and muscularly balanced through both pelvic and shoulder lines. The aspiration of many students is merely to achieve height at the expense of correct placing.

The Nine Directions of the Body

These are defined by the position of the standing body with the alignment of the direction of the hips, shoulders, legs, head and eyes in relation to the audience: Croisé devant/derrière; Effacé devant/derrière (épaule); Écarté devant (downstage)/derrière (upstage); À la quatrième devant/derrière; À la seconde. Every alignment needs to be one of the basic directions of the body, namely – front/side/back or the movement that comes out of one of these basic positions on the diagonal – effacé/devant/derrière (épaule), or écarté upstage or downstage.

Not only does this ensure a clean cut line for a solo dancer, but it gives a group of dancers unity of direction. In the studio, teachers often start by defining the fixed points of the studio relative to an audience by means of numbers, but the sooner students learn to use stage terminology the better i.e. downstage left/right; upstage left/right: diagonals; curves; horseshoes etc – as this will be more useful to them later in their careers.

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