A typical ballet class consists of five components:
- Barre
- Center
- Adagio
- Allegro
- Reverence
A Typical Ballet Class
Barre
This is the beginning of every ballet class. Dancers use the barre to exercise one side of their body at a time. They use one hand and work the opposite leg, then turn around and hold on with the other hand and work the opposite leg.
Barre work is an essential part of ballet class, and it doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or a professional ballerina. It prepares you for dancing throughout the class. Think of it as a warm-up. It establishes correct placement, and it develops core and leg strength, directionality, balance, foot articulation, and weight transfer skills. Barre exercises help you deepen and refine your techniques.
Center
After warming up doing barre, dancers move to the center of the room for center work.
It is practically the same thing as barre, but this time, dancers do not have the physical support of the barre to hold their core balance.
In the center, dancers learn steps, positions and poses to gain a basic movement vocabulary of ballet. They repeat exercises from the barre and learn steps that develop into dynamic movement combinations.
At times, center work includes classical ballet poses, arm and foot positions, steps, turns, small or large jumps, hops, and leaps.
Adagio
It consists of slow, graceful steps that help develop balance, extension, and control. Adagio helps a dancer concentrate on the lines being formed by their body.
Allegro
The opposite of adagio, allegro portion of a ballet class introduces faster, livelier steps, including turns and jumps.
Reverence
Every ballet class ends with reverence, a series of bows and curtsies performed to slow music. Reverence gives the ballet dancers a chance to pay respect to and acknowledge the teacher and pianist.
Reverence is a way of celebrating ballet's traditions of elegance and respect. Also, the ballet class may end with students applauding the teacher and musician for dance.