Making sure that your ballet classes are well structured is important for both you and your students. It is also extremely important that the content is age appropriate for both their physical and mental levels. So often I see young children being given steps and combinations of steps that are suitable for advanced teenagers. Not only do the young dancers struggle with this but, of course, are just not able to understand the movements and how to execute them. If young children train this way they will end up with a long list of bad habits that will become almost impossible to correct as they grow older. Having a well balanced class means that the dancers will acquire knowledge during each class and will be effectively working their bodies evenly. In other words they will warm up and strengthen their entire bodies in a logical and methodical way. This is also the safest way to train young dancers.
For dancers in the six and seven age range, the classes need to be an hour long. This will probably be a transition for them initially, as most of the younger classes generally run for forty five minutes. The class should also at this age have more structure to it. The dancers will feel very grown up but will also sometimes feel tired during class if they are not given a chance to rest periodically. I find that by having the dancers do certain steps or exercises in groups it gives the others a chance to sit and watch. However, it is very important that the dancers understand that when they are sitting watching another group that they sit like dancers. Generally I have them sit cross legged simply because it is a definite position to give them. How wonderful if you can instill in young students at this age the idea that they can learn so much about dancing by watching others. Of course, they will also want to talk and I find that the best way to keep this down to a minimum is to constantly reiterate to them the importance of not disturbing the other dancers in the class. If all else fails I will just change the pace of the class and get them moving again.
Understanding the length of their attention span makes a huge difference as to how you structure your class. As with the pre school children it is important to keep their attention and make it fun and challenging so that they are eager to come back to the next class and continue to learn. I use a check list to help me keep a note of which exercises or steps I have covered in each class. We all get busy and it makes it so much easier to be able to look at my list and know, at a glance, what needs to be worked on for any particular class. It is easy to forget from week to week and it is also common for teachers to only work on the steps and exercises that they do regularly because they tend not to remember to work on other things. We are busy people and to try to keep everything in your head does not always produce satisfactory results.
Here is a sample list of class content for dancers of this age group :
Skips in a circle.
Floor exercise for pointing and flexing the feet (emphasizing pushing through the ball of the foot).
Floor exercise starting with the soles of the feet together, hands on the ankles. Round the back over to touch the head to the toes and sit up straight.
Hands on the floor stretch legs turned out and with pointed feet, turn the legs in and out four times, bend knees and return to original position.
Sitting cross legged push flexed hands to the side with resistance until the arms are straight and then repeat the movement to the front.
Sitting cross legged, h ands on knees, palms of the hands together.
Push hands overhead and open with impulse to circle back to knees.
Standing exercise in center. Hands on the waist. Demi plies in 1st and 2nd.
Point and close the foot to the front from 1st position alternating legs, repeat with the supporting leg in demi plie.
In a circle or on diagonal walking three steps and pointing the foot to the front on the fourth step with the supporting leg in demi plie.
Port De Bras using bras bas, 1st position, demi 2nd, 2nd position and 5th position.
Sways from side to side using a scarf for the girls and a flag for boys.
Spins on two feet on demi pointe, arms in demi 2nd.
Sautes with hands on the waist.
Echappes sauts to 2nd.. with hands on the waist
Balancing on one leg with the lifted leg in passe, hands on the waist.
Spring and point alternating legs.
Galops, travelling side to side
Combinations using four to six of the above steps in groups.
A dance using a story line that the dancers can identify with.
Curtsey or bow.
These are examples of possible class structure for dancers of this age. As you will see I do not use any third or fifth position of the feet for this age group. Teaching them to be able to hold a strong first position is important and when they progress to the next level they can start to use the third position.
