All Articles by BalletHub

Dancers can get nervous on stage.  No matter how many times or years you’ve been performing, you may find yourself with butterflies right before the curtain comes up, or maybe even hours before! Often times, a dancer may get even more nervous than usual if he or she feels unprepared.  This unprepared feeling can stem…

Stretching and strengthening your feet have many benefits to your overall technique and presentation as a ballet dancer.  Dancers have found all sorts of ways to stretch feet over the years using all sorts of techniques like cramming their feet under a piano or couch, using tools built specifically to stretch feet, or even asking…

When most people hear the word “sickle” they likely think of a useful tool for harvesting grain.  While there may be a sickle appearing in a classical ballet or two (La Fille Mal Gardee, for example), when it comes to a dancer’s technique, they should always try to avoid it as it’s considered a mistake….

Tendu is taught as the action of stretching your leg and foot out from one position to another, while keeping it on the floor.  While most teachers may simply say “Tendu…,” the complete term is battement tendu.  Tendu literally translates from French as “stretched”.  A tendu in classical ballet, outside of a class, is most…

Plié [plee-AY] is one of the more basic steps in ballet, but it’s arguably the most important as its often the beginning and ending of the majority of intermediate and advanced steps, provide explosive power in jumps and pirouettes and help reduce the risk of injury. We’ll get into a more advanced look soon, but…

BalletHub: Hi Sandra, thanks for joining us today and letting ballet fans around the world get to know you a bit better and what you’re up to now! Let’s rewind some and start with how it all started. How did you get started in dance and when did you know you wanted it to be…

Believe it or not, there is actually a technique to properly hold the barre in ballet class.  It may not seem important to a beginner, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense.  After all, every step and position in ballet has a specific technique, why would holding the barre be…

Having a stretching routine is a great thing to have for both students and professionals.  However, poor stretching habits can lead to fewer, and possibly unwanted, results when it comes to ballet technique.  Let’s take a look at a few examples of how to properly stretch your muscles at the barre. Tips for Proper Stretching…

If your young daughter or son have expressed interest in taking ballet classes, now is the time to start looking for ballet schools!  If you aren’t quite familiar with dance, this may seem like a difficult task.  Here are some tips to help you decide and hopefully narrow down a few options. Cleanliness and Quality…

Look below to find out more info and enter multiple times to win a custom made ballet skirt made exclusively for BalletHub! The raffle starts from today (7/17/13) and ends Sunday (7/21/13) night at 11:59 pm.  You can enter by checking out the widget below and even enter multiple times to increase your chances of…