Do you love to dance? If you're like many people, the urge to move along with your favorite music just comes naturally. When your favorite song comes on, do you throw your hands in the air and dance like you just don't care?
Of course, some people take dance very seriously as an art form. They practice it like a sport or a musical instrument — or both! — as they seek to perfect their moves. Who are we talking about? Ballet dancers, of course!
Ballet is a special type of performance dance that began in the 1400s during the Italian Renaissance. From Italy, it was further developed as a concert dance form in both France and Russia.
Today, ballet is a very technical dance form that has a very specific set of movements with unique names. Learning ballet also means learning a whole new vocabulary that goes along with the art form!
Unlike modern dances set to popular music, ballet is usually performed to classical music. Ballet dancers carefully perform choreographed moves to accompany the music in a way that can tell a story or simply be beautiful to watch.
Ballet is not an easy art form to master. There are many different steps and acrobatic movements to learn. It can take years and years of practice to master the basics and take part in professional ballet performances.
If you've ever seen a ballet performance, you may have been impressed with the way dancers are able to balance and dance on the tips of their toes. Ballet dancing requires exceptional strength, posture, balance, and flexibility.
Both girls and boys can enjoy learning ballet. In addition to having fun learning the basic ballet movements, young dancers often find that ballet teaches more than just technical skill. Ballet lessons can also instill grace, poise, self-confidence, and discipline.