Customer Reviews

Teaching Beginning Ballet Technique

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just started teaching beginning dance classes and I wasn't sure how to go about it. And then I discovered this book. It is an amazing reference. It is in two parts, the first part discusses how to plan your classes and different teaching methods. The second part breaks up one term into four different units and then gives exercises (barre and center) for each unit. For each exercise, it gives the french name, pronunciation, the english definition, a breakdown of the movement including arms, musical info (tempo, timing, etc), a preparation as well as progressions for teaching it. Excellently designed. It is more based on the Cecchetti method and since I prefer certain aspects of the Russian method I changed some things. Overall, this is an excellent book and walks with you along the path of teaching ballet. I highly reccomend it.

I have been teaching ballet for more than 10 years and whereas I found this book quite basic, I think it would be a wonderful tool for a new teacher. It goes into great depth about the differnt teaching styles, constructing a class, dicipline, basic technical concepts, imagery, etc.

I did want to note that this book is written for instructors teaching beginning ballet in a high school or college, not so much for the "Studio" teacher.

If you are a new teacher and not quite sure where to start, this would be a good book for you.

This is a great teaching aide if you have never taught older beginner dancers. (Teen and older). It is geared more for an academic setting such as a college, but is easily adapted to the studio setting.

This book was written to be used in an academic setting but is an excellent resource for teaching beginning ballet in general. I was a dancer for many years, but I am just now getting in to teaching. Like the authors said, it is good to get a review because it is a long time since I was a beginner. The book helps to clarify what beginners can and can't do. I just skipped over the parts about tailoring your classes to teaching in high school/college since it didn't apply.

I purchased this book because I was going to be starting teaching ballet to young children after being out of ballet for awhile. It was a terrific resource for reminding me about all the terms and pronounciations. It also gave a great outline for how to structure the class timewise, as how to progress through the steps as the weeks went on. It was a great buy!

This is an excellent resource for adults wanting to understand more about the basic movements of classical ballet. The first couple of chapters are aimed at dance teachers - you can skip these if you want - but definitely read the section on the steps. It makes some of the things you do in class much easier to understand. This is a great resource for adults doing recreational classes and college students.
I also purchased the CD ROM that goes with it. Its great. You need to contact the publisher for an 'unlock code' to install it on your pc. But thats ok, they are pretty quick. A++++

This book is very basic. It might be a good checklist for a newly graduated teacher during the first few years of teaching but should be passed by if you have been teaching for more than a year or two and know the basic principles of ballet and the basic principles of instruction technique. A beginning adult ballet student might find the information helpful in understanding the reasons behind the format of class etc..... the book could be a helpful training aide to keep in a studio atmosphere for employees to double check on teaching methods or good college level instruction book for students training to be future teachers

This book is great for the beginning teacher. I liked the suggested order and combination of barre excercises going from beginning to more difficult. Center work is also covered with suggestions of how to build a routine for an adagio and an allegro. It's a wonderful reference book and can be used in teaching adults.

I was asked to teach a ballet class as an extension club activity in my school and was looking for a book that would illustrate correct technique. After carefully reviewing numerous books, I chose this one. I provided what I was looking for.

As a new dance teacher, I have ordered several books and other resources on teaching. This book is definitely a good purchse - it basically outlines class format and what should be covered for various levels of beginners. I feel it also applies to intermediate students as well. Lots of pictures and descriptions make it easy to understand. I would recommend it for any ballet teacher.