Barre is Not the Most Important Part of Ballet Class

Do I feel a little weird typing this? Yes. I love barre. It is so deeply meditative and centering and my most important self-care practice. But I am an adult and a retired dancer. In terms of what serves students best, barre is not where I spend most of my teaching time.

Dance is movement and barre work is typically mostly or completely stationary. Yes, barre work has value. It helps students focus on clarity, on how they want to initiate their movement, helps them build control and strength, it offers opportunities to refine the small parts that come together to create those amazing center steps . . . . And for advanced dancers it can be a very effective warm-up (if it is well-planned).

But it is in the center---adagio, turns, allegro---where dancers put all of the pieces together. The center is where the whole-body coordination develops. If your dancers look great at the barre but seem disjointed in the center, challenge yourself to cut your barre time in half for the next month. Get off the barre and see what happens.

In general, only 30% of class should be at the barre. In a 60-minute class that's 20 minutes of barre work---which feels like nothing. Especially at the beginning of the year, you won't cover everything in those 20 minutes but it's better to slow down how quickly you teach vocabulary than to go several classes in a row where your students don't get to move through space. Get off the barre.

Sure, it's easier said than done, but having a clear lesson plan will really help you budget your time. Knowing everything that you are trying to fit in, and where everything falls on your priority list, simplifies every "do I have time for this?" question.

1. What are your key principles for the day?

   1. Which combinations specifically support that?

2. What it your key vocabulary?

   1. Which combinations specifically support that?

3. What are the new vocabulary you are teaching?

   1. Which combinations specifically support that?

4. What is your grand allegro combination?

   1. Which combinations specifically support that?

Those four questions will fill a 60-minute class, easily. And they will help you balance your time at the barre with your time in center.

I love barre work. It is important. But it is not the most important part of class.