At some point in every dancer’s life, they ask themselves the question “what dance is right for me?” If you are interested in the world of dance and not so much on what specific style, then learning ballet is the answer to that question. Have you ever noticed that there are things that you learn first that make learning other things much easier? Like learning piano to better understand music theory so it makes it easier to learn another instrument. Or if you learn Spanish and then switch to another language you find that there are similarities to each language. The ballet is to dance. It is basically the backbone of dance. Ballet does so much for your brain and body than just discipline and toning of your muscles!
Ballet is so good for you, to be blunt. It can help improve your technique, coordination, body awareness, and musicality! By learning ballet, you are learning the basics of what dance truly is. Other styles of dance tend to borrow or take from ballet and then add on the embellishment of their own style. It’s like starting out with vanilla cake batter and then finding out that you can add food dye to it to make it tie-dye!
Ballet teaches you techniques that make you adaptable to moving in different styles. In ballet, you are more focused on the balance of the body, which in turn makes you a more well-rounded dancer! It centers your body for the other movements of other styles of dance! Ballet also focuses on form, extension, and lightness of the body which can easily be translated to other styles of dance, too! Ballet is basically the mother of the dance styles, so being able to take what you learned in ballet class and apply it to other styles of dance will only further you on a more successful dance path!
Some styles of dance do not always follow the technique that ballet uses, and that is ok. If you are well versed in the techniques that ballet teaches, you are just learning different techniques. Being able to recognize the differences in the styles of dance only improves your ability to personalize your own style of dance! Some styles of dance also use the same terminology as ballet, so in that instance, it makes you look more knowledgeable when you are in a different class than ballet! The terminology used in ballet will help you understand the language of dance as a whole!
There are some ways that learning ballet can help improve your modern dance techniques! One of the ways is to take a ballet class on top of another dance that you choose! It will open you up to so many more dancing opportunities and thankfully, we have awesome ballet teachers here at Omaha School of Music and Dance! Another way it can help you improve is that you will be able to recognize the terminology in other classes and you will be able to understand the differences between the techniques used! Ballet also helps you address the imbalances in your left and right body and will help you improve on them to create a more centered and stronger body! It also trains your mind and body to recognize ballet musicality, such as tempo and different kinds of movements that are used outside of ballet. Your body will be able to adapt to more complex rhythms in other dances this way!
Ballet helps keeps the body strong and agile! It is the perfect tool to become a strong dancer and a great starting point for anyone of any age to get a jump start on their dancing journey! Call us as soon as you can to start ballet classes! We just added an Adult Ballet class at OSMD and we would love to see you join!
