Basic Ballet Positions Your Child Will Learn In Class

Ballet is a fun and beautiful dance style that takes patience, skills, and practice. This is a fun dance style for your child to practice and learn, plus it is extremely beneficial for them! As your kiddo begins to do more ballet classes, they will learn new positions that they can practice at home.

At DanceWorks by T, we offer a variety of dance classes for your children, including ballet classes for all ages and skill levels. As we mentioned, ballet takes a lot of practice and patience. You can help your child start perfecting the five basic positions by testing them at home! Your child will be more excited to practice their ballet positions when you ask about them, so we are going to give you a list of some of the common positions that we will be teaching our ballet dance students that you can ask about! Read on and start helping your child practice their ballet positions today!

The Five Positions

While most people know what a plié looks like, most people probably don’t know that there are five basic positions that are the first thing most students will learn in class. Each position includes specific placements for the feet, arms, and hands.

First Position

In the first position, the heels of the feet are placed together, with the toes pointing out in either direction, creating a “V” shape. The arms should be bent at the elbow and held in front of the body, with the arms creating an o. They can imagine they’re holding a big beach ball. The wrists should also be curved so the hands are pointing inward.

Your child should be practicing to get their feet to point outward more when they practice their position.

Second Position

Have your child start in first position before going to second position. In the second position, they will spread they feel apart so that they are about shoulder-width apart. The toes should still be turned out. The arms should be held up so that they are almost forming a “T” shape. Make sure your child is not pulling their arms back, instead, they should be very slightly rounding forward.

Third Position

Again, to have your child practice third position, have them start from second position. They will then slide the right foot inward until the right heel touches the inside of the left foot. Your child will then move their arms back to first position, then lift their right arm outward until their fingers are in line with their hips.

Fourth Position

To get into fourth position, your child will start from third position and move their right foot forward slightly, creating a small space between their feet. Your child will be moving both arms for fourth position. In third position, their right arm is in second position and their left arm is in first position. For fourth position, their right arm is going to come above their head, with their elbow slightly bent and their wrist curved inward. Their left arm is going to come back into first position. This one is tricky, so be sure to make your kiddo practice this position a few times.

Fifth Position

From the fourth position, have your kiddo turn their right foot out more. They will then slide it back to meet the left foot, so that the left foot is directly behind the right but turned the opposite direction. The right toes should touch the left heel and the left heel should touch the right toes. Your child should practice keeping their legs straight in fifth position. In this position, both arms are lifted about the head, creating the same parenthesis shape as the first position, but above the head. There should be a space between the hands as well.

These are the five basic ballet positions that your child will learn as they begin ballet class. There are many other basics that we will go over in future blogs so you can help your kiddo practice! For now, have them show you the five positions and help them practice. With practice, they will continue to improve in ballet!

If you want your child to start ballet class, be sure to check out DanceWorks by T! We offer a variety of ballet classes for all ages and skill levels. Contact us today to learn more.