Featured Arts News of the Week

January 27, 2023
Ms. Dana Crigler, Ballet Teacher

Happy New Year to all of our ballet parents and students! We hope the New Year will bring our families peace and prosperity!

The day and evening programs are working to provide a colorful performance this spring! The day and teen ballet programs are busy learning variations from Sleeping Beauty and the Young Artist classes, Level 1A and Level 1B, are learning dances set to songs from Disney’s Princess and the Frog.

Foundational ballet technique is also a main focus this semester. The Young Artist classes are learning new arm and foot positions, working on combinations that train coordination, increasing their dance vocabulary and getting off the floor with learning how to jump. The day and teen ballet programs have been focusing on memorizing their barre and center combinations, ballet conditioning has been incorporated into their classes to increase their upper and lower body strength, and learning more challenging ballet steps. 

Ballet Tips for Young Artist Parents: All of the Young Artist students should be working on their left, right and middle splits at least 1 hour per day. Our goal would be for them to have all of these splits down to the floor with straight legs to the front, back and side with feet pointed by the beginning of May 2023. They will be evaluated during the month of May to determine their placement for the 2023-2024 semester and they cannot pass to the next level without a combination of flexibility and technique.