Royal Academy of Dance

---

 Graceful, magical and enchanting – ballet has, unsurprisingly, been attracting little girls to the world of dance for many years. Add in the opportunity to wear pink shoes and a flowing skirt and the fantasy is complete! Ballet is a very beautiful art form, in which dancers express life’s big emotions through dance, music and storytelling. And although there are some children who will be naturally agile and suited to the graceful steps and postures used in ballet, it is a dance form that’s open to all – even the most clumsy people can learn the grace and balance that is integral to ballet.

As well as being a lovely dance form to learn, ballet is one of the most thorough forms of exercise there is – it helps to develop strength and fitness across the whole body. It helps children to learn discipline, too, and to follow instructions and develop an appreciation for music.

Our classes will give the children a step-by step guide to barre work, simple steps, harder steps, free style movement and performing dances. The children may not be able to do it all at first but with practice it will become easier and more enjoyable each time.

If your child dream’s of becoming a Ballerina, regular practice is the first step to achieving their goal.

Practice makes perfect! 

Dancing is a great way for your child to get active and develop physical co-ordination skills, strength and concentration. It’s also great fun and a good way to meet other children and their parents. Furthermore dancing can become a much-loved hobby your child could carry on enjoying well into adulthood, for fun or even at a more professional level. 

Learning to look like a ballerina in class is an important part of a young dancers training. The right clothes and hairstyle will make sure nothing gets in your child’s way and they can concentrate on their practice. 

What to Wear

For girls a leotard, tights, skirt, ballet shoes are the best items to wear when they practice. For warm up they could always wear a cross over cardigan. 

I will supplying the full ballet attire that has been purchased from London. The full ensemble (leotard, tights, shoes and skirt) cost $70 and will need to be purchased prior to the start of the class.

Ballet Shoes

The ballet shoes I will be providing are made of leather. It is important that the shoes are a good fit to show pointed feet. A dancer shoe must be clean and have a elastic sewn on to keep them in place. The string at the front should be tied neatly in a bow and tucked out of sight.

Ballet Hairstyles

The child’s hair should be pinned away from their face and neck. This will help to show their graceful head and neck movements and stop any hair falling in their eyes. 

Dancers usually wear their hair in a bun or for younger dancers you can pin their hair up in plaits. If your child’s hair is short, they can wear a stretchy headband around their head to keep their hair neat.

Classes

The first class will be for ages 3 to 5 years of age and we will be mostly concentrating on  graceful exercises such as walking, skipping, pointing, plies and jumping to strengthen muscles and develop posture. 

The children will be free style dancing and choreographed to classical music.

The second class will be for ages 6 to 10 and we will start the introduction of ballet positioning, barre work and center work all choreographed to classical music.

At the end of every year the children will produce a show for the parents.