Many young dancers dream about growing up and becoming a professional ballerina, while others prefer different styles such as Jazz, Tap, or Hip Hop.
So, why do so many Dance teachers encourage all young dancers to take Ballet? It’s actually quite simple, Ballet is the foundation for technique. If you can learn and implement good posture and body alignment, strength and flexibility, it will show in the choreography of other forms of dance as well as in the specified technique of each genre.
Many dancers choose to focus solely on Ballet as with this form of dance it is very necessary to truly refine the technique and art form. To achieve this many dancers seek out an all Ballet school or conservatory to attend.
However, many studio dancers prefer other styles and may not particularly enjoy their Ballet classes. It is important as dancers of any age that we understand that Ballet will only help us. It is even required of many professional athletes to study Ballet to improve with their coordination etc.
I always tell students that don’t love Ballet it is kind of like broccoli, if you want the chocolate cake, you need to eat your broccoli first.
So, to those dancers in local studios that just want to Tap or just want to compete in a particular style we strongly encourage or even require the study of Ballet to help improve the strength, flexibility and all around technique of a dancers body. Taking time to work hard in your Ballet classes will help tremendously to avoid injury, keep your body safe, all while making you a much more fluid and confident dancer.
