Ballet Jazz

Ballet Positions Explained In Plain English

It's so exciting to begin ballet work and be part of a real dance class! From the day of your very first class, your teacher will demonstrate the five basic ballet positions. From them you will learn to add the moves, jumps, turns, and leaps that are choreographed into dance routines. Even if ballet isn't your first love, it's still important to learn it. No matter whether you want to study jazz, tap, lyrical, or even hip hop, all basic dance moves come from ballet.

Premiere En Bas

Before and after you perform any ballet routine, you assume this position. The words mean "preparatory position."Head high, you will stand tall. Pretend there is a string pulling your body straight up to the ceiling and make sure your chin is level. Allow your shoulders to relax, and curve each arm slightly. The fingers and thumbs of each hand should point toward, but not touch, one another. There are numbered positions for both your arms and your legs. But you won't always perform them together! For example, sometimes you will have your arms in First Position and your feet in Fourth Position. If you are just running through the Five Ballet Positions, however, do the First Position of the arms with the First Position of the legs, and so forth.

First Position, Legs

When you stand in first position, touch your heels together, and strive to point your toes outward in opposite directions, one foot from the other. The balls of your feet touch the floor. You are trying to form a straight line with your feet.

First Position, Arms

From your preparatory position, raise both arms slightly but still curved, as if you were holding a beach ball. At chest level, your fingers should curve slightly.

Second Position, Legs

In second position, stand with your feet apart-about the length of one of your feet. But you still have the heels facing one another, with the toes pointing out.

Second Position, Arms

Next, raise your arms so that you are holding them straight out to your sides. But remember you are a graceful ballerina! Even though your shoulders are up, let your elbows drop slightly below the level of your shoulders. Your fingers curve gently downward.

Third Position, Legs

You reach Third Position by placing one foot in front of the other. The heel of the front foot rests against the arch of the back foot. Continue to point away from one another with your toes. Practice, so that you can stand either way with equal ease, first with your right foot and then with your left.

Third Position, Arms

In this position, one of your arms remains as at Second Position. The other arm is raised gracefully upward so that your fingers are over the top of your head, as if you are trying to feel the top of a hat. If your legs are in Third Position with your right foot in front, then your left arm should be the one over your head. The right arm will curve slightly downward.

Fourth Position, Legs

Your feet are the same as in Third Position, but there is about a foot's-length of space between your front and rear feet.

Fourth Position, Arms

In this position, keep on feeling for that top hat perched up on your head with one arm. Move the other arm forward, curved slightly inward at the level of your chest. If your right foot is placed in front of your left foot, then your right arm is the one in front of your chest.

Fifth Position, Legs

In what some dancers have named as the most difficult ballet position, stand with your feet aligned against one another. The toes of each foot touch the heel of the other.

Fifth Position, Arms

Raise both arms, curved, over your head. They should be about six inches apart. Your palms should face inward, and you should be able to see your fingertips without raising your head.

And Remember...

As you transition through your ballet positions, use your hip and thigh muscles to move your legs. If you try to turn your feet outward from the knees, you're going to hurt your knees eventually, and you'll never learn good form. As you move your feet from one position to the next, keep your toes on the floor. And your arms should always be graceful!

About the Author

Learning your
ballet positions
is easy when you know how. Find out the inside secrets here:
http://balletpointe.net

is it too late for me to start dance (ballet, lyrical, jazz, or contemporary) ?

im in 8th grade, and im thirteen and turning 14 in march, and i also have just very little ballet and jazz experience.

but im just worried that after my 4years of high school, obviously comes college and i dont know if i would be able to keep on continuing dance.

so... is it too late?

oh i'm the same age and just started. I'm doing jazz and lyrical, but everyone's been telling me it's best to start with ballet (root of all dance etc..)Anyway of course not - well probably if you're looking to be pro but for fun it's ok. Also, you have to not mind being with like 5th - 8th graders or possibly younger if you start with levels 1, 2, or junior. (i started in intermediate senior)

Jazz Ballet 2007

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