Absolute Beginner 9 Week Centre Plan

Building on the coordination of head and arms, this class introduces the challenge of working in fifth position. With the legs crossed and the turnout deepened, you’ll explore how to apply correct head and upper body placement to support movements en dehors and en dedans.

You’ll learn how to shift from one leg to the other with clarity, without losing turnout, posture, or control. Through simple movements and directional changes, we’ll explore how the body maintains balance in motion, how to ground through the supporting leg, and how to move with fluidity and precision.

Focus on executing jeté in the centre en face directly facing the audience. You’ll work on sharp, clean footwork, proper weight placement, and maintaining turnout and alignment as you move through each jeté with control. Emphasis will be placed on dynamic push-off.

We will explore tendu and jeté within grands poses, the larger, more expansive positions of classical ballet. Focusing on clarity of line, dynamic energy, and full-body coordination.

In this class, we focus on the fundamentals of the first arabesque, one of ballet’s most iconic and graceful positions. You’ll work on achieving a strong and controlled position of the back leg and arms while maintaining perfect alignment and turnout. Attention will be given to the placement of the arms, creating a seamless, flowing line from head to toe.

This class focuses on mastering the second arabesque, where the dancer extends the back leg and the same arabesque arm forwards creating a very beautiful continued line.

In this class, we explore the third arabesque, where the position is now in croisé direction. Special attention will be given to the balance and coordination of the arms and turnout. This challenging arabesque will make you very aware of your alignment

This class tackles the challenging relevé lent to the side, focusing on strengthening the turnout muscles and developing balance. As you slowly lift and lower the leg with precision, you’ll engage the deeper stabilizing muscles, building both strength and control in your stance. We’ll also dive into temps lié transitions, smooth, fluid steps that connect movements forward, backward, and sideways. Emphasis will be placed on maintaining turnout and proper alignment throughout the transitions, helping you move seamlessly through each direction with balance, grace, and coordination. This class is perfect for enhancing fluidity in both static and dynamic movements.

We focus on the Vaganova method’s second port de bras, which emphasises extension, openness, and controlled elegance. Special attention will be given to the connection between the arms and the torso, helping you build the strength and coordination to move with both control and expressiveness.

This class delves into the Vaganova method’s third port de bras.. You’ll focus on the controlled elevation of the arms, keeping the shoulders relaxed and the arms extended with strength, as you learn to maintain fluidity and elegance throughout the movement.

In this class, we combine the graceful movement of temps liê with the elegance of port de bras, focusing on fluidity and coordination. You’ll learn how to transition smoothly between positions, maintaining balance and control while incorporating the arms into each step. As you move through temps liê, a connecting step that links movements forward, backward, and sideways, you’ll practice transitioning the arms through first, second, and third positions with strength and flow.

This class focuses on two key elements: développé and relevé lent, both of which require precision, strength, and controlled movement. Développé, working on smoothly extending the leg from a bent position to an extended one, with a focus on engaging the core, maintaining turnout, and achieving a fluid, controlled lift. Relevé lent, where you’ll slowly lift the leg straight. Perfect for refining both your extension and your balance in a slow, deliberate manner.

We tie together key elements we have learned so far: développé, relevé lent, arabesques, and grands poses, all while working on extension, balance, and alignment. You’ll apply these movements to grands poses, learning to shift seamlessly between different directions (en face, croisé, effacé) while maintaining control, elegance, and strength.

Building a strong foundation for balance through simple relevés in first position. Without the support of the barre, you’ll develop deeper awareness of your posture, core engagement, and ankle strength.

We explore the coordination and control required for plié-relevé in fifth position. You’ll focus on maintaining correct alignment through the hips, knees, and ankles while rising smoothly with strength and stability.

You’ll learn the foundational technique of spotting, a key skill for clean and controlled turns. We’ll break down how to keep your eyes focused on one spot as your body rotates, and how to whip the head around quickly and efficiently to avoid dizziness and maintain direction.

We focus on the essential movements of retiré and passé, key steps that provide the foundation for turns and jumps. You’ll learn how to execute a clean retiré, lifting the working leg to the knee of the supporting leg with turnout and stability. From there, we’ll explore how the passé smoothly. Transitions from one position to the other, focusing on maintaining correct alignment, engaging the core, and keeping the hips square.

In this lesson, we focus on the *travelling pas balancé*, a step that combines the elegance of the *pas balancé* with the challenge of moving across the floor. You’ll learn how to transfer your weight from one foot to the other while maintaining balance and fluidity, shifting between positions like *croisé* and *effacé* as you travel. Special attention will be given to the smooth, rhythmic flow of the movement, ensuring that each transition is controlled and seamless. This exercise builds coordination, timing, and balance, helping you navigate across the floor with grace and precision. It’s perfect for improving your ability to connect steps while maintaining strong, stable posture.

In this lesson, we explore the chassé and galloping steps, both of which focus on fluidity, rhythm, and dynamic movement. You’ll learn how to execute a clean chassé, where one foot “chases” the other, gliding smoothly across the floor with coordination and control.

In this lesson, we bring all the previously learned elements together, incorporating movements like chassé, galloping, pas balancé, and balance exercises into a fluid, cohesive sequence. You’ll work on seamlessly transitioning between steps, ensuring that your weight shifts smoothly, your alignment stays strong, and your balance remains steady.

Foundational foot exercises that are essential for improving strength, flexibility, and articulation. These exercises are designed to develop the intrinsic muscles of the feet, which are crucial for awarness of the feet and beautiful footwork. You’ll work on exercises like foot doming, ankle rolls, and pointing and flexing to increase mobility and control, as well as exercises like rising to demi-pointe and relevé to build strength in the toes, arches, and ankles.

In this class, we focus on the glissade side, a gliding step that provides fluidity and elegance while traveling laterally across the floor. You’ll learn how to execute the glissade with precision, focusing on smooth transitions from one foot to the other while maintaining proper alignment and turnout. A key linking step for jumps later.

We explore the glissade step both forwards and backwards, focusing on the added challenges of coordination, alignment, and turnout. Moving forwards, you’ll learn how to control the momentum of the step, maintaining proper posture and alignment while keeping the legs in turnout. The challenge lies in ensuring smooth transitions without losing stability, using the core to support the movement and avoid collapsing the torso.

In this class, we tackle pas de basque, a dynamic and challenging transition step that requires precise coordination between the head, arms, and legs. You’ll learn how to execute this step both en dehors and en dedans. Emphasis will be placed on the intricate timing of the head, arms, and legs as they move in harmony,

In this class, we bring everything you’ve learned together into a cohesive combination that challenges your coordination, timing, and technical precision. We’ll incorporate elements like glissade, pas de bourrée, pas de basque, and relevé, linking them seamlessly into a flowing sequence. Emphasis will be placed on maintaining correct posture, alignment, and turnout. As we break down the combination step by step, you’ll work on memorisation, fluidity, and connecting each movement with confidence. This class not only strengthens your technical skills but also helps you improve your performance quality, ensuring you can execute movements with both control and style.

In this class, we focus on sauté in fifth position and changement, essential jumps for building strength, agility, and coordination.

In this class, we focus on the échappé, a fundamental step in ballet that involves a smooth escape of the feet from a closed position ( fifth) to an open position (second or fourth) and back again. You’ll learn how to execute this step with control, ensuring the feet move gracefully and precisely through each transition.

In this class, we focus on the assemblé, a powerful jump that requires both strength and precision. You’ll learn how to perform the assemblé by bringing both feet together in the air and landing with control in fifth position, either on the same leg or transitioning to the other. Special attention will be given to assembling the legs in the air.

In this class, we focus on the technique of transitioning from two feet to one, with an emphasis on landing on a single leg with control, stability, and proper alignment. By mastering the ability to land on one leg, you’ll increase your overall stability and confidence in your jumps and transitions.

This practice week focuses on refining your pirouette, pas de bourrée, and spotting passé, all crucial elements for mastering turns, transitions, and balance. By the end of this practice week, you’ll have strengthened the technical elements of turning, transitioning, and spotting, building greater control and technique.

In this practice week, we focus on refining the pas balancé and sauté, two essential steps that will improve your rhythm, balance, and jumping technique. We’ll start with the pas balancé, working on the fluid side-to-side motion that requires precise timing and coordination. You’ll learn how to execute the step with smooth transitions and control, focusing on maintaining proper alignment, balance, and the gentle shift of weight. Emphasis will be placed on using the core to stabilize and create a continuous flow, helping you connect each part of the movement with grace and ease. Next, we’ll focus on the sauté and pas balancé By the end of this practice week, you’ll have refined your pas balancé for fluid transitions and improved your sauté for greater jumping precision, building confidence and control in both dynamic and flowing movements.

In this practice week, we focus on transitioning from a sissonne simple into an assemblé, a combination that challenges your jumping technique and prepares you for more complex jumps. You’ll begin by breaking down the sissonne simple, learning how to leap from two feet to one with control and precision. Emphasis will be placed on the smoothness of the jump, proper alignment in the air, and landing with balance and turnout.

Congratulations on all the hard work you’ve put into this lesson! To conclude, we will focus on port de bras and révérence, bringing everything together. Take a moment to acknowledge your achievements, celebrate your progress, and leave the course with a sense of accomplishment. Well done on reaching this point, and I look forward to seeing you continue to grow in your ballet journey!