Training For The Ballet

A New Classic for Today's Dancer The Ballet Companion is a fresh, comprehensive, and thoroughly up-to-date reference book for the dancer. With 150 stunning photographs of ballet stars Maria Riccetto and Benjamin Millepied demonstrating perfect execution of positions and steps, this elegant volume brims with everything today's dance student needs, including: Practical advice for getting started, such as selecting a school, making the most of class, and studio etiquette Explanations of ballet fundamentals and major training systems An illustrated guide through ballet class -- warm-up, barre, and center floor Guidelines for safe, healthy dancing through a sensible diet, injury prevention, and cross-training with yoga and Pilates Descriptions of must-see ballets and glossaries of dance, music, and theater terms Along the way you'll find technique secrets from stars of American Ballet Theatre, lavishly illustrated sidebars on ballet history, and tips on everything from styling a ballet bun to stage makeup to performing the perfect pirouette. Whether a budding ballerina, serious student, or adult returning to ballet, dancers will find a lively mix of ballet's time-honored traditions and essential new information.

A chic and informative guide to the Ballet Beautiful method, featuring dance-inspired exercises, wellness tips, and lifestyle advice that help readers achieve ballerina confidence and self-esteem. After a career with the New York City Ballet, Mary Helen Bowers created Ballet Beautiful, a fitness and lifestyle program inspired by ballet’s artistry and athleticism. Designed to give anyone a ballerina body, Bowers’s targeted exercises tone and lengthen muscles, develop good posture, and teach grace in movement. Since launching in 2008, Bowers and her training have been sought after by celebrities and models (Alexa Chung, Liv Tyler, and Miranda Kerr, to name a few), as well as thousands of women across the globe through their streaming service. This book delves into the Ballet Beautiful universe, showing readers how to attain a ballerina’s lean and powerful physique and graceful poise via exercises, posture lessons, wellness tips, and fashion and beauty advice that can be effortlessly incorporated into everyday routines. The book features original images by the legendary photographers Inez and Vinoodh coupled with technical photographs illustrating the Ballet Beautiful workout and lifestyle. A refreshing antidote to traditional fitness programs and restrictive diets, this book is a stylish and instructional guide to transforming your body and life though ballet.

This unique Training Turnout program is the second resource in our Training Turnout series, and is a great follow on from our Tips for Turnout Program. It deeps the exploration of the anatomy of the dancers' hip in an easy to understand way, and explores the differences in training turnout in multiple different positions. Discover the maximal potential for your hips without pain or strain!- Learn how to assess and understand the structure of your own hips including what are true restrictions and what can be improved on- Discover your deep turnout muscles and how to train each of them for ultimate control in all positions- Recognise the relationship between core stability and turnout range and control- Learn modified physiotherapy release techniques to improve range in second splits- Find out how to effectively improve stability of the hips and pelvis while maintaining full range- Strengthen standing leg turnout control in a progressive sequence of exercises- Learn how to control turnout en fondu for optimal leg alignment during jumps- Condition the hamstrings for their essential role in supporting the led in retire- Specifically train the deep hip flexors for their very important role of supporting the leg during adage- Develop extraordinary control in a la seconde without irritating the front of the hips- Demystify the secrets of a beautiful arabesque line by addressing each component separately

Ballet is a detailed guide to creative practice and performance. Compiled by ten leading practitioners, each chapter focuses on an aspect of ballet as a performing art. Together they outline a journey from the underpinning principles of ballet, through an appreciation of different styles and schooling, into the dance studio for practice in class and beyond. With additional insights from highly acclaimed dancers, choreographers and teachers, this practical guide offers advice on fundamental and advanced training and creative development. As well as providing information from dance science research into training well-being, this book supports the individual dancer in their artistic growth, offering strategies for exploration and discovery. Topics include: principles, styles and schooling of classical ballet; fundamental technique and advanced expression; developing versatility and creative thinking; advice on injury management, nutrition and lifestyle; choreography and music and, finally, best practice in the rehearsal studio is covered. 'A wonderfully accessible and comprehensive resource about the individual disciplines involved in ballet', Leanne Benjamin OBE, former Principal of The Royal Ballet and international coach.

Find everything your child needs to know to improve their ballet in this book and DVD from Director of the English National Ballet School, Jane Hackett. From first position to en pointe, the book shows detailed step-by-step photographs of how young ballerinas can improve on each position whatever their age or stage; making it enjoyable and easy to perfect their style. Discover the best things to wear to class, how to combine positions and even how to choreograph a ballet. Watch the DVD together and see the ballet steps and individual dances in motion, then have fun helping your child to practise as they watch.

"This comprehensive guide... helps youngsters who love ballet to understand the hard work and commitment involved in classical dance training." -- School Library Journal (of the first edition) "A detailed, practical guide for serious ballet students... To balance collections heavy on colorful ballet books for browsers with stars in their eyes, here's a guide for ballet students who are ready to get down to work." -- Booklist (of the first edition) Prepared in conjunction with Canada's National Ballet School, The Ballet Book is the definitive instructional resource for children who are beginning to explore the possibilities and delights of ballet. The Ballet Book is an inspirational motivator, an exceptional teaching aid, and an ideal companion for students. Now it has all-new photographs in color and a text more suited to contemporary young dancers. The book illustrates in meticulous detail -- and through more than 100 photographs -- every position, step and pose involved in barre work, pointe work, alignment, classical ballet poses, attitudes, allegros, batteries, pirouettes and arabesques. Age-appropriate and comprehensive, it is a motivational guide, with information on deciding to dance; finding a teacher; musical accompaniment; finding the ideal studio; what to wear and grooming; positions, steps and poses; and exercises and nutrition. Historical highlights and modern opportunities complete this comprehensive book. The Ballet Book is a strong guide for both boys and girls.

Eric Franklin’s first edition of Conditioning for Dance was a bestseller—and it is back and better than ever, offering state-of-the-art conditioning exercises for dancers. An internationally renowned master teacher, Franklin has developed a science-based method of conditioning that is taught and practiced in companies and schools around the world. In this new edition of Conditioning for Dance, he integrates the latest scientific research on strength, flexibility, and conditioning into his dance exercises.

A reckoning with one of our most beloved art forms, whose past and present are shaped by gender, racial, and class inequities—and a look inside the fight for its future Every day, in dance studios all across America, legions of little children line up at the barre to take ballet class. This time in the studio shapes their lives, instilling lessons about gender, power, bodies, and their place in the world both in and outside of dance. In Turning Pointe, journalist Chloe Angyal captures the intense love for ballet that so many dancers feel, while also grappling with its devastating shortcomings: the power imbalance of an art form performed mostly by women, but dominated by men; the impossible standards of beauty and thinness; and the racism that keeps so many people of color out of ballet. As the rigid traditions of ballet grow increasingly out of step with the modern world, a new generation of dancers is confronting these issues head on, in the studio and on stage. For ballet to survive the twenty-first century and forge a path into a more socially just future, this reckoning is essential.