The Importance of Ballet

Ballet is one of the most widely recognized styles of dance, performed all over the world. But why is ballet so important? How does it help us in other styles of dance? In this post I have come up with FIVE reasons why learning ballet is so important, not to say that there aren’t many, many more!

1. Firstly, and possibly most importantly, ballet is the foundation for all styles of dance! It may seem unbelievable that learning ballet can be useful to a hip hop or tap dancer, but the skill and technique acquired during ballet class is actually really, really helpful for all styles of dance! Ballet focuses so strongly on technique and the basics of dance movement that is incredibly helpful when dancers begin to learn other dance styles. Believe it or not, basic ballet movements such as plies and tendus, are constantly used throughout all styles of dance, and can often be found in contemporary and jazz performances. Technique is mastered in ballet class, and this translates through to all dance styles. The best, most professional dancers, no matter what style they excel in, most often have a strong ballet background. Even those insanely talented hip hop dancers are ballet trained!

2. Secondly, ballet helps to build a strong dance vocabulary! The technical terms learnt in ballet will often be used in other dance styles, and sometimes even during everyday life! Ballet is also the perfect way to brush up on your French!

3. Thirdly, ballet is essential in building a dancers strength and improving their flexibility. Ballet definitely isn’t easy, and often pushes the body to its limits, therefore improving muscle strength and flexibility! This gained flexibility and strength is important during dance class, both for safety and performance quality. It is very important that dancers have enough strength to perform difficult dance movement, in order to avoid injury, and ballet is perfect for this purpose! In terms of flexibility, dancers are able to improve the quality of their performance by improving flexibility. Who doesn’t want to be able to kick their leg above their head?! Both strength and flexibility are both incredibly important aspects of dance, and ballet is essential in improving these skills.

4. Fourthly, ballet helps to build a dancers confidence. In ballet, dancers are constantly improving, and this constant improvement often leads to an increase in confidence! Not only does ballet help to increase a dancer’s confidence when in class, but also when performing on stage, as they are equipped with the proper technique needed to execute movement correctly, and gracefully!

5. Lastly, just like all styles of dance, ballet is great for your health! Constant exercise is great for everyone, and is super important for young children who want to grow up nice and strong! Ballet can be performed by people of all ages, and is great for both physical and mental health. Exercise is so good for you!

So there you have it, five reasons why ballet is important! Hopefully this gave you more of an idea of why ballet is such a great tool in helping all dancers improve. And I forgot to mention, ballet is so much fun!!!