Was going to say don't have high expectations of yourself, and enjoy it.

Be prepared for corrections. It's harder than it looks, simple exercises take more thinking about than you first think and are actually quite complex. If you go in expecting to be able to do everything and get frustrated that you're being told it's all wrong you'll loose your enthusiasm.

Ballet is amazing but hard.

Maybe research some of of the terms so you'll be less confused and be more prepared. I suck at names so i'm doing this so i'll have less of a learning curve whenever i start. Also Ballet Misfit has some good beginner videos if you wanna get a head start

Don't stress if your first class is overwhelming. You'll understand more each time you go. Just be brave, listen, and be ready to work hard.

Take your time! Don't worry about elevation and flexibility, that come with time and practice. You just have to care about the correct colocation of your body and enjoy!

Just enjoy. Don't get discouraged if it takes a while - ballet is hard and expect a learning curve to learn the terminology, all the things your body has to do, etc. You might want to watch some beginning ballet classes on utube (rec Kathryn Morgan) - not to do the actual class but to see the names of things and what the movements look like.

This is a LOT for a very first absolute beginner lesson… or even for someone who has finished an absolute beginner series. I am absolutely not a ballet instructor, nor am I qualified to be one, but both pirouettes and sauts de chat are pretty complex (in different ways) and require a lot of technique to have been acquired before they are introduced. Most absolute beginner classes are also predominantly barre with only a bit of center, with that balance gradually shifting as the students get more comfortable.

But hopefully some actual instructors will weigh in too!

I think this is great for entry level, especially since you said that you've been teaching him bits and pieces. As long as you don't cram all of this into just one session and pick two-three per section of the class (barre, centre, across the floor, etc.), I think he'll be able to pick it up and you'll be able to polish them before you need to do choreography. Best of luck to both of you!

I like your playlist!

IF there are no other true beginner classes that you can add to your schedule, speak to your teacher and see if she would be willing to do a short series of private lessons if you can afford 2 or 3 (or more.) That will give you chance to catch up on some basic positions and a few of the more common steps and you will have time to talk ot the instructor about your goals etc.

You might see if you can find an absolute beginner class. If there isn’t any you can try some YouTube tutorials at home to help get you up to speed. You might also ask about doing a couple private lessons. Or just keep going to class. You’ll get better but you’ll be frustrated and feel like you aren’t getting better for a while. You have to be willing to stick with it.

I would say stick with it! As long as you enjoy it there’s always room for improvement and you can always go up to your teacher during water break or before/ after class if there’s something you really don’t understand :)

I walked into a class just like that with no experience three years ago and now I'm halfway decent

If there's a real beginner class, do that. Otherwise, keep going to the open adult classes

"Beginner" in ballet has a quite different meaning than we usually use it, as others have pointed out. But I've found a lot of ballet has been kinda "thrown in the deep end" type of leaning. 7 years in, it still is this way if I switch to a harder class or even just try out a new studio. A ballet teacher for a beginner class I used to take (i was about 4 years in at that point, so I wasn't new to ballet at all) would say "fake it till you make it" to the students that were "jumping in the deep end". One could debate this style of learning, but in the end, it's not like we're training for a pro dance company, so if it works for you, keep at it. It sounds like you have a good base to build off. After a few weeks, the terminology and basics will start to make enough sense to start doing some homework on YouTube or with a ballet instruction book/choreo dictionary. You're teacher will lokely also start giving you progressively more technical corrections - so many people dont stick out ballet more than a few classes, it seems some teachers will wait to see before investing a lot of time in them.

Honestly, sounds to me like you found a great new beginners class!

i just started ballet 4 weeks ago and also have been looking for checklists, i have some that i found pretty useful that i could dm you if you’d like! they’re not as comprehensive as the one mentioned above ig but maybe still helpful ❤️

I’d take a look at ballet pedagogy books. I have Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet and Basic Principles of Classical Ballet.

For general context though I would learn the rhythm of a typical ballet class - barre is pretty static in terms of format and there’s a regular order of operations when it comes to what movements or exercises you do. It all builds on each other so even if you’re in mixed classes the fundamentals should* be the same.

*i had really crummy ballet teachers as a kid so I had to relearn a lot as a teenager.

What does it mean “im not learning from the beginning”? There is no other way.

Signed A Ballet teacher

Hmmmmm definitely an interesting question, and not one with an easy answer.

First I’d like to mention the difference between “learning steps” and “building technique” as they are both elements of a ballet class and things you need to do. And learning what a step is and how to do it is much easier than building your ballet technique to do the step correctly.

But you are correct to assume the steps all build upon each other, like a crazy intertwined staircase, and you want to start from the bottom and go stair by stair.

Perhaps some beginner steps:

-Plié in 1st, 2nd, and 5th, facing the barre

-tendu devant, a la second, and derrière from first and fifth

-battement jeté (also known as dégagé, and/or glissé)

• rond de jambe, usually you start with quarter ronds I think it’s better to start there

-petit battement facing the barre

-relevé in first, both plié relevé, and just relevé (aka rise or elevé)

-okay as I make this list I’m just list of all the basic ballet steps. Perhaps it’s better for you to list what you see in your open class that you can’t quite do yet, and we can work backwards as to how to build up to that. Because otherwise I’ll just sound like a ballet dictionary.

*****WAIT here’s a pdf of a Vaganova first year syllabus it’s super detailed and is probably more helpful. I can’t even lie this pdf is super useful I might print it out for reference.

Edit: and let me know if you have any questions about stuff in the pdf.

Ok, ideally it would be best to find a class for complete beginners so that you can receive the right kind of instruction, but I understand if that is not available to you. Lazy Dancer Tips on youtube has a ballet basics for adults series that sounds like what you are looking for. I use her strengthening and stretching videos, and she is very conscious of safety and good at giving cues.

wow this is an impressive number! weight is not an issue with ballet, everyone can do ballet with certain safety measures.

re books, start with this
Foundations of Classical Ballet by Agrippina I︠A︡kovlevna Vaganova

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22891642-foundations-of-classical-ballet

Vaganova is still one of the strongest schools in the world, and the methods and general idea described there is still universal for the classical balelt.

I use BalletwithIsabella (classes, workouts, stretching. She has a lot of great advice and is very detailed. Listen to her podcast too), DanceMasterclass (they have classes as well as experts talking about the body and all sorts of things) and balletclass.com (I only recently discovered them but they have many great classes with principals and soloists guest teachers from big companies).

Wow! I just started ballet at age 38 too! Reading your post I thought maybe I had written this and forgotten 😂

Ballet with Isabella has good beginners plans and I think she’s coming out with a new one soon. It is a pricy subscription and she has a lot of intermediate/advanced content so I would suggest just doing the 14 day free trial.

She is detailed though which is important. In general, beginner ballet technique relies on a couple basic concepts that you’ll repeat a lot. I recommend going for breadth in terms of theoretical knowledge, but for actually practicing, stick to super basic exercises for alignment, turnout, and straight lines/foot articulation.

As for keeping up, just consuming a lot of ballet content will get you familiar with what each step is called, and most combos are based off the en criox pattern.

Why do you want banana feet, they are so difficult to dance with!

Edit: but yeah you can defs improve your feet, stretch and strengthen, there’s lots on YouTube.

There are always physical differences between anyone's feet, but as an example, I've been dancing seriously again for about 5 months and the difference in my feet is pretty staggering.

There are some great foot-strengthening videos on YouTube lots of different releve-esque exercises can be great (just be careful and don't overdo it). I've also found using a TheraBand for feet strengthening has been helpful. :)

Omg! Same! I started taking ballet 366 days ago, I'm 18 now and I'm taking intermediate level classes. I have splits in three directions, and "banana feet" you can get moderate to good flexibility in as little as three months if you stretch (properly) and it is 100% possible if you put your mind to it! I'm so happy I'm not the only one who started so late, it's good to see people my age doing this too!

It depends what they're like to start with, but with training are highly likely to improve a lot. Focus on tendus and strengthening exercises rather than gimmicky foot stretcher gadgets. If you're looking for tutorials, make sure they're from properly qualified people, e.g. Lisa Howell.

Sounds like the teacher is going too fast for a beginners class. It would be best for them to break it down.

Youre in the right place! When I was beginning I was still learning what words corresponded to which movement, so while others were learning the steps I felt behind as I was still figuring out what the moves 'were' before I could even try doing them correctly.

For you, this is what I do and it has helped me and I've slowly gotten faster. Start with knowing the terminology, pas de chats, en semble, 2nd position etc. Then with combinations and such I find taking it chunks at a time is best, slowly going over the first chunk until you know it, repeating the process until you're familiar with the dance or whatever it is. Then you can slowly work on the dance as a whole, I still find it hard with fast music. I'll know the moves but wouldn't be able to pull them off at speed.

Hope this helps in some way! Good luck :)

Are you going to just regular drop in classes or are you doing an absolute beginner progressive course? I know a lot of places can be limited to only a few offerings in adult ballet. If a course is offered I think you will have a better experience starting from scratch and building up from there for a few reasons. Absolute beginner is anchored towards people just starting whereas beginner is a little bit more subjective. Also working with an instructor (weekly for example) over a longer period of time in a more structured course will give them the opportunity to learn about your skill level/needs/goals and work with you on that!

If a progressive absolute beginner course isn’t available, you could try to start out with YouTube videos to get you more familiar with vocabulary,technique, etc… I recommend Kathryn Morgan she’s great at breaking things down. However there are so many options out there. It’s always best to get in person as you get a more hands on experience, and accurate corrections, but YouTube videos are such a great tool.

If you are feeling really dedicated to learning terminology/technique there are lots of books that break down the terminology. For example the RAD https://www.radenterprises.co.uk/products/foundations-of-classical-ballet-technique a lot of these books can even be found through public or school libraries! This is just one example, and one school of ballet but if you look up ballet terminology books you will find quite a few :)

Another last option is dance masterclass. This is a paid program. I have never tried it myself but it looks pretty helpful, it could be an option to look into.

I wish you the best of luck on your ballet journey. It can be so intimidating starting out and can feel like a lot of information all at once. However, it is such a rewarding experience, and meditative practice once you break through that first bit of unfamiliar territory! Don’t get discouraged, you’ve got this!

If it's in the budget, take a private lesson or two. Also, ask your teacher if they can give you easier modification.

It sounds like you aren’t in an absolute beginners class. Can you find one of those? You need foundational instruction and knowledge before you can do the rest.

I would say learn the moves before focusing on the abdomen, glutes, shoulders, and posture. Those are things you’ll always have to think about. But the techniques you’ll need to learn first

That is the structure of a ballet class. Barre = Warm Up. The work where you start with plies, tendus, port de bras, cambre, etc. is the the warm up. (You are moving all the necessary body parts - feet, ankles, hips, arms, spine.) You then move on to center work and across the floor.

Especially when teaching adults recreationally, different teachers will have different approaches to how corrections are given. I don't want to overwhelm a brand new student. I want them to get a feel for the class, how their body naturally moves, start learn a few terms, and generally enjoy the class before I begin bombarding them them with technique. Also, in a true adult beginner class, if a teacher was to stop and correct every little thing that was "wrong," you'd never get to the dancing. I tell my adults to do it "loud and proud! and be wrong but strong!" Essentially, I want my adults to move their bodies and slowly/gently learn "better" technique. They are there to have fun and get some exercise, not to be prima ballerinas after all :)

this sounds pretty similar to my adult beginner ballet class experience

we don't really warm up as part of the class, instead we arrive earlier to warm up before the class starts, however there are also specific stretch/conditioning classes so maybe see if your studio/s have that

i attend 2 studios, at my first one there's 25-30 people in the class and we don't really get 1 on 1 correction, instead general feedback from mistakes the teacher sees around the class, however i do get corrections at my other studio with a smaller class of 6-10

also you're not "thick" for not being able to follow, this is very common! i've only been doing ballet for about 7 weeks and i am already making progress with following along (it's still difficult but a lot better!), repetition and practice make progress so just keep showing up :)

good on you for starting and i wish you the best!!

This sounds normal for a recreational adult class that is not targeted at absolute beginners.

For angles of feet, arms etc, that's why the teacher is demonstrating - she's hoping you will copy what she's doing without her having so say every thing every time. Unlike ballroom dancing, ballet rarely includes memorising the same enchainement to repeat week after week - unless you're in a syllabus class.

Something like an 'Introduction to Ballet' course that runs every week for six (or 8 or 10) weeks is more likely to break things down into more basic components with more detailed instructions - it might be worth looking around for something like this. Sometimes FE colleges do them in their evening class programme. If you happen to be in London there are a lot eg

https://shop.trinitylaban.ac.uk/short-courses/adults/dance/evening-weekend-classes/thursdays/ballet-introduction

https://www.city-academy.com/ballet-classes-beginners

Do try the other studio and see how it compares!

This is generally how ballet class goes.

It does sound like a normal ballet class.

Starting with pliés at barre, is the warmup. A few students like myself do come a little bit early to do some moves, I have weak ankles so I sort of pre-warm them as the other students get dressed, another student do the same for their hips and knees.

Ballet vocab is french, yeah. Easier for me as I am French but I never heard of another languagz being used in ballet training (the same as when I was doing kendo a long time ago, we learnt the japanese names and nothing else). Don't worry you'll get it with time.

You being kinda lost is probably because we're neat the end of the "season" which means most students have been there for at least months, and almost a year, even in beginner levels. Most studio I know of will get back to absolute basics in september, as the students get re-sorted in different levels.

It is also normal to not get into stretching as much (or at all) at that level, because you first need strenght and control. We do have a small stretching section at the end of our barre even in beginner class, but it's absolutely basic stuff and our teacher makes sure we all stay safe (which can be hard to monitor with a full class). It's also facultative, some students use it to shake their legs a bit, massage sore muscles, while others do flexibility training.

Ask your teacher about it next time, they should be able to explain everything to you and give advice on what you can do to keep up.

Good luck ! I wish you the best !

Core (including/alternating days on abs, back, and obliques), single leg rises, and turnout exercises.

Hey, I'm a strength and conditioning coach for dancers. With only 15 minutes a day, I would focus on high-quality strength and mobility movements that will have the biggest return on investment.

For example:

Day 1:

• 3 minutes of skipping rope (mime the action if you don't have a rope). Break it up into sets that are tolerable (e.g. 1 minute x 3 sets or 30 seconds x 6 sets)
• Heel-elevated goblet squats (hold a backpack filled with books if you don't have weights). 8 reps x 3 sets
• Pigeon hinge, active stretch
• Pancake hinge, active stretch

Day 2:

• Side planks: 2 sets per side, hold as long as you can
• Single leg glute bridges: 3 sets of as many reps as you can per side
• Single leg heel raises in parallel, 1-2 sets to fatigue
• Hip airplanes, 6-8 reps, 1-2 sets

Day 3:

• 3 minutes of skipping again
• Forearm plank to pike, 30 sec x 2
• Deadbug, 10 reps x 1
• Bicycle ab exercise, 12 reps x 1
• Superman back lifts, 12 reps x 2
• Developpe practice if time allows

Day 4:

• Reverse lunges, 8 reps x 2
• Countermovement jump, 4-5 reps x 3 sets, resting between sets
• Standing clamshell, 10 reps x 2
• Single leg heel raises in parallel, 1-2 sets to fatigue

Day 5:

• Single leg RDL, 8 reps x 3
• Standing clamshell, 10 reps x 2
• Sumo squat isometric hold, 20 sec x 3
• Bear crawls, 1-2 sets to fatigue

+ 2 rest days (ideally one halfway through the week, like after the second workout, and again after workout 5). Experiment with adding weight - even in the form of household items - especially for the lower body movements.

Stretch at the end if time allows. Pick 1 stretch per muscle group, hold for 20-30 sec, 2-3 sets, focusing on deep breaths and relaxing into the movement as much as you can. You can also look up the contract-relax method of stretching; this can feel more intense but is helpful for improving flexibility, especially as you progress.

I hope that helps! :)

1.2 minutes of Jumping jacks (for building cardio strength)

2. 25 relieves in first position

3. 25 relieves in second position

4. Passes from fifth position - 8 going backwards, 8 going forward

5 3 minutes of weights

6. Stretch and box breathing for 3 minutes

Focusing on the basics with good placement will help you most in the long run!

When I first got back into ballet, everyday, I would warm up with my feet with 10 pointe/flex and 10 ankle circles both ways while sitting down with my legs out in front of me. Then, I would do pliés in 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th. Next, I would do tendus en croix from 1st and then 5th position, and finally, I would do 20 élevés and then 20 relevés.

For the foot/ankle floor work, focus on keeping my legs long and stretched and fully articulating my feet. Sit up nice and tall by engaging your abs and keeping a long neck.

For the pliés, focus on turning out from the hip and making sure I felt my deep rotators. Go as deep into the plié as possible without your heels coming up (unless you also do grand pliés

For tendus, focus on lifting out of my hips, keeping my legs straight, and pushing my feet ‘through’ the floor. From 5th, use as much turnout as you have by working through first to find your fifth for tendus à la seconde (to the side).

For élevés and relevés, focus on getting a high demi, rotating from the top of the hip down for turnout, and keeping a neutral pelvis.

Lastly, for every exercise, focus on keeping a plumb line: ears over shoulders, shoulders down and protracted, shoulders over hips. The ribs are closed/in but not crunched; lift up out of hips with the transversus abdominis.

Let me know if you’d like any further explanation!

single leg rises to failure in front of a mirror to prevent sickling! in this context "to failure" includes having to sickle to get up