Ballet Leotards

All ballerinas have a few cherished pieces of dance apparel, and usually among all of the equipment and shoes are a few favorite ballet leotards. While some dancers prefer to always wear one style, other dancers prefer different styles for different occasions and different seasons. One might think that virtually all ballet leotards are created equal, but ballerinas think otherwise!

Stylish Ballet Leotards

At different times, different styles of leotards are popular. Sometimes a trend revolves around a particular type of material, other times, it's the cut of the leotard that makes it fashionable, and sometimes it's the color(s) of the leotard itself. One of the more recent trends is the trend of different strappy backs, such as this Capezio leotard; another recent trend is the empire waist leotards with various embellishments on the bodice, such as this Natalie leotard.

Walking into any dance studio will immediately give you an idea of what the current trends are in ballet leotards. Of course, the trends vary depending on geographic region and on the age of the dancers as well. In many dance studios, the pre-teens look up to the older dancers and take over their styles; if you observe a group of six-year-olds, you're more likely to see economical black nylon ballet leotards than to get any insight into current fashions.

Leotard Cuts

Ballet leotards come in many different cuts. The three main variations are the sleeve length, the neckline, and the leg cut.

Sleeve Length

Some ballerinas prefer to always wear a camisole leotard (spaghetti straps) and add layers before and after class when sleeveless is a little cold. Other ballerinas wear camisole leotards in spring and summer and switch over to short sleeve leotards (rare) or three-quarter sleeve leotards (more common) in the fall. Additionally, long sleeve leotards can be worn in winter.

Neckline

The traditional ballet leotard is with a 'boat neck', a rounded, wide neck. While this cut is comfortable, it is, in some circles, not very fashionable or considered a little boring. Newer styles of leotards have introduced sweetheart necklines by gathering the material in the center of the chest; not only is this option fashionable, but many leotards with this neckline are also fully lined, making a separate bra underneath the leotard unnecessary. Less common necklines are V-necks and mock turtlenecks. The halter top neckline is becoming more and more common.

Leg Cut

The traditional leotard leg cut is a quite low line on the hip. Most modern versions of the ballet leotard have a slightly higher leg line than the traditional version, but leotards are seldom 'high cut'. High cut leg lines are more common in fitness leotards and bathing suits.

Leotard Fabrics

The fabric a leotard is made of is extremely important because of the effect it has on the ballerina's temperature. The material can also affect body odor.

Cotton Leotards

Cotton is a very comfortable fabric, and is a material of choice for many ballerinas. Generally speaking, cotton is warmer than nylon/spandex blends; however, if you wear camisole leotards, overheating is unlikely. One drawback of cotton is that sweat is more visible than with nylon blends. Another drawback is that the colors often fade long before the leotard needs to be replaced because it's become too small or because it has worn out.

Nylon Blend Leotards

Leotards that have a high nylon content feel much cooler (especially the long sleeve or three-quarter sleeve variants) than all-cotton leotards. In addition, nylon is less bulky, so for ballerinas who like to layer, nylon creates smooth lines. Nylon blends also stretch more and the color does not fade with each wash, staying vibrant for years and years. One significant drawback of nylon blends is that, depending on how much you sweat, nylon can create some foul odors if you keep the leotard on for long periods of time. If you have a 1.5 hour class and only put the leotard on for the class itself, body odor shouldn't be a problem, but it is something to consider.

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Leotards, along with tights and shoes, are the basic ingredients of a dancer's wardrobe. There has been an explosion in the variety of leotards available both in shops and at online sources such as Discout Dance Supply, and All About Dance, and many dancers have a different leotard for every day of the week! However, legwarmers, shorts, ballet skirts, warm-up pants, and various tops and sweaters are all fun ways to change your look daily even if you always wear the same black leotards.

Ballet Stretches

Ballet stretches are an essential part of training in this form of dance. Not only stretching, but stretching correctly, can improve your performance now and extend your dancing life for years.

Stretching Misconceptions

"Bend down and push into the stretch! Now bounce it, three-two-one release!" That's what you might have heard during a stretching warm-up at a ballet studio a decade or two ago. Misunderstandings about how the muscles work, about how they develop, and about what is the best way to do ballet stretches before you dance have caused many injuries and problems.
Here are a few of the concepts behind good ballet stretches, as understood by contemporary medical professionals like Dr. Steven Stark, author of The Stark Reality of Stretching.

1. Warm Up before Stretching. Too many dancers (whether ballet or some other form) seem to feel that stretching is a warm up by itself. The fact is, a warm up is exactly that - getting the blood flowing more strongly in your muscles, increasing your heart rate and respiration, basically informing your body that activity is about to take place. This can be massaging the muscles, walking/jogging briskly, jumping (not leaping, just hopping up and down), anything that just takes you to a slightly more active physical state than walking or standing.
2. Pushing Into or Bouncing a Stretch. - A ballet stretch is designed to encourage your muscles, tendons, and ligaments to be comfortable in a more extended state. Unlike strength training, where the muscle fibers are actually broken and then heal, you do not want to cause any damage when stretching. Forcing your body to go further, or worse bouncing into a stretch (which gives you even less control) can lead to soreness that is not the temporary kind from a good rehearsal - it is the kind that stays, day after day, because you have injured yourself.
3. Holding a Stretch Too Long - In their quest for the perfect arabesque, a deeper plié, or the ultimate split, many ballet dancers will try to hold their stretches past the point of comfort. Often combined with #2 above, this error compounds the potential for injury. The fact is that stretching is an individual thing, and should be held as long as it takes for the muscles to relax into the stretch. This varies from dancer to dancer, and from day to day.

It can be seen from this that stretching is a very individual and very essential part of a dancer's rehearsal. But what kinds of stretches work well for ballet?

Five Essential Ballet Stretches

1. Splits - Sitting on the floor, with your spine vertical and centered, extend your legs our to either side as widespread as you can. Rotate your torso to the left, and slowly, breathing out, move your torso over the leg, leading with the sternum. Extend until you feel the stretch, stop and hold until muscles relax. Repeat to center and over the other leg.
2. Hamstring Stretch - Extend your legs directly in front of you (toes either pointed or feet flexed) as your are seated on the ground. Holding your arms in first or fifth position, extend them over your legs, letting your torso follow. Relax into the stretch, then release, repeating with your feet in the other position.
3. Relevé Extension - Standing in second, lift your body vertically by extending the feet until you are on your flexed toes. This is not so much a stretch as a balance and strength exercise; you won't "relax" into it, but you should hold it until your body feels stable.
4. Calf Stretch - Many dancers like to do this after the relevé extension. Stand facing a wall, placing your hands against it, and extend one foot as far behind you as you can while still keeping your sole on the floor. Lean into the wall, increasing the angle of your foot, letting the calf muscle gently stretch. Repeat with the other foot, and then with both feet together in parallel.
5. Quadricep Stretch - The quads are one of the most essential and most commonly injured muscle groups for dancers. There are many stretches for it, but the easiest is simply to reach behind you and grab your ankle while standing and just hold it. This may not feel like much of a stretch, but resist the urge to arch your back or "push" into it.

Stretching is not a "no pain, no gain" activity - it should be gentle and persuasive to your muscles. Doing ballet stretches correctly will make both your rehearsals and performances more beautiful and safe.

Basic Ballet Positions

There are five basic positions. Each position has a foot position and a corresponding arm position. Some schools differ in the way that they teach first position, with low or high arms. This difference is often a question of children vs. adults; while children hold their arms low in first position, adults hold the arms high. Both positions are correct.

First Position

First position is done with the feet turned outwards (towards the sides), aiming toward a straight, 180-degree line with your feet. Turning out your feet this far has to be worked at and should not be forced. Always turn out as far as you can from the hip, and never let your knees or ankles 'make up the difference'. As far as you can turn out from your hips is where your own first position is.
Round your arms in front of you as though you are carrying a huge barrel against your body. These are the 'high' first position arms. To try the low version, keep your arms rounded and lower them until your arms are almost touching your legs.

Second Position

In second position, your feet stay turned out, but a space comes between your ankles. Don't go so wide that you lose your balance if you go into relevé, and do keep the same tips from first position about turning out in mind.Your arms should stay rounded and swing out to the sides so that they are extended on either side of your body. In all five arm positions, keep your shoulders down and don't let your elbows sag.

Third Position

The third of the basic ballet positions is achieved by bringing your two feet together again. Third position can be done either with the right heel tucked in front of the left arch or with the left heel tucked into the right arch. As always, feet are turned out.The corresponding arms depend on which foot is in front. If your right foot is tucked in front of the left, your left arm should be (rounded), raised above your head and your right arm should be at your side (the same height as in second position). Make sure that your raised left arm is not thrown back too far; shoulders down, arm rounded and fingers tucked. Alternatively, the raised arm can be rounded in front of your body in 'high first' position.
If your left foot is in front, reverse the two arm positions.

Fourth Position

Fourth is done by taking whichever foot was in front in third position and bringing it forward. There should be a gap now between your two feet, but a gap in the opposite direction as the gap you created in second position.
The arms are done by leaving the arm that was up in third position up. Bring the arm that was extended to your side in third position in front of your body in the 'high first' arm position in front of your chest.

Fifth Position

Fifth brings your feet and arms back together again. Bring the front foot in fourth back to the back foot and try to achieve two parallel lines with your feet. If your right foot is in front, your right heel should be in front of your left toes and your left heel behind your right toes. This is the most difficult of the foot positions; do not injure yourself trying to achieve this position.Arms in fifth are one of the most common ballerina arm poses and accompany many ballet movements. Both arms are rounded above the head; make sure that your arms are not too far back, are nicely rounded and your shoulders are down.

Ballet Vocabulary

Ballet Poses

A comprehensive ballet vocabulary includes a variety of ballet poses as well as ballet steps and positions. These are the most common poses:

Arabesque

This pose is done standing on one leg, either flat, on half point, or on full point. The leg that is extended to the back (always straight) is usually at a 90-degree angle to the leg of the supporting foot (parallel to the floor), although an arabesque can also be higher or lower than 90 degrees.

Attitude

An attitude is not a particular way of doing something (as its name might suggest), but rather a static position that is similar to an arabesque. On one leg, the raised leg differs from the arabesque in that the knee is bent and that an attitude can be done to the side or the front, as well as the back, whereas an arabesque can only be done to the back.

Ballet Steps

Assemblé

This item of ballet vocabulary does have some sense to an English speaker; you 'assemble' your feet (bring them together) while you are in the air. First, brush one foot to the front, side, or back, and then jump, bringing both feet together and landing in fifth position on both feet.

Glissade

A simple step found in many combinations. From the French 'to slide', one foot slides out and the other foot joins it, closing in fifth. The slide can be to the front, back, or side.

Passé

In this step, one foot passes the knee of the other leg, the standing leg. In point work, as the foot comes to the knee, the dancer often raises onto point and comes down again as the foot comes back to the floor.

Plié

The French 'to bend' refers to the knees in this term. This step can be done in any position, and to three different depths: plié, demi-plié (halfway to the floor), and grand-plié (all the way down, with heels off the floor-except in second position).

Tombé

A nice visual step despite its simplicity, you step onto one foot in plié, creating an illusion that you're falling onto that foot.

Ballet Jumps

The most common ballet jumps should also be a part of your basic ballet vocabulary.

Changement

Stand in fifth position, plié, and then jump straight up into the air, switching the foot that was in back on the ground into the front, creating as little visual space between the two feet in the air as possible. As you land, plié again to absorb the shock of the jump. Your feet should be in fifth position, with the opposite foot in front.

Entrechat

This jump is an extension of the changement, and a number always follows the name of the jump; the number tells you how many times the feet have to swap positions in the air before landing on the ground again. In an entrechat-quatre (most common), essentially two changements are done in the air so that you end up in fifth with the same foot in front as you originally had. It probably goes without saying that the jump must be higher than a changement in order to complete the jump before you land.

Grand Jeté

This is perhaps the best-known ballet jump, where the dancer seems to do a split in midair moving forwards. Again, the dancer needs some height in order to have the time to achieve a split before landing again.

Contemporary Ballet

Contemporary ballet is a form of dance influenced by both classical ballet and modern dance. It takes its technique and use of pointe work from classical ballet, although it permits a greater range of movement that may not adhere to the strict body lines set forth by schools of ballet technique. Many of its concepts come from the ideas and innovations of 20th century modern dance, including floor work and turn-in of the legs.
George Balanchine is often considered to have been the first pioneer of contemporary ballet through the development of neoclassical ballet. One dancer who danced briefly for Balanchine was Mikhail Baryshnikov, an exemplar of Kirov Ballet training. Following Baryshnikov's appointment as artistic director of American Ballet Theatre in 1980, he worked with various modern choreographers, most notably Twyla Tharp. Tharp choreographed Push Comes To Shove for ABT and Baryshnikov in 1976; in 1986 she created In The Upper Room for her own company. Both these pieces were considered innovative for their use of distinctly modern movements melded with the use of pointe shoes and classically trained dancers—for their use of "contemporary ballet".

Twyla Tharp also worked with the Joffrey Ballet company, founded in 1957 by Robert Joffrey. She choreographed Deuce Coupe for them in 1973, using pop music and a blend of modern and ballet techniques. The Joffrey Ballet continued to perform numerous contemporary pieces, many choreographed by co-founder Gerald Arpino.
Today there are many contemporary ballet companies and choreographers. These include Alonzo King and his company, Alonzo King's Lines Ballet; Complexions Contemporary Ballet, under the direction of Dwight Rhoden; Nacho Duato's Compañia Nacional de Danza; William Forsythe, who has worked extensively with the Frankfurt Ballet and today runs The Forsythe Company; and Jiří Kylián, currently the artistic director of the Nederlands Dans Theatre. Traditionally "classical" companies, such as the Kirov Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet, also regularly perform contemporary works.

Neoclassical Ballet

Neoclassical ballet is a ballet style that uses traditional ballet vocabulary but is less rigid than the classical ballet. For example, dancers often dance at more extreme tempos and perform more technical feats. Spacing in neoclassical ballet is usually more modern or complex than in classical ballet. Although organization in neoclassical ballet is more varied, the focus on structure is a defining characteristic of neoclassical ballet.

Balanchine brought modern dancers in to dance with his company, the New York City Ballet. One such dancer was Paul Taylor, who, in 1959, performed in Balanchine's Episodes. Balanchine worked with modern dance choreographer Martha Graham, expanding his exposure to modern techniques and ideas. During this period, Tetley began to consciously combine ballet and modern techniques in experimentation.

Tim Scholl, author of From Petipa to Balanchine, considers George Balanchine's Apollo in 1928 to be the first neoclassical ballet. Apollo represented a return to form in response to Serge Diaghilev's abstract ballets.

Classical Ballet

Classical ballet is the most methodical of the ballet styles; it adheres to traditional ballet technique. There are variations relating to area of origin, such as Russian ballet, French ballet, Danish Bournonville ballet and Italian ballet. Although most ballet of the last two centuries is ultimately founded on the teachings of Blasis. The most well-known styles of ballet are the Russian Method, the Italian Method, the Danish Method, the Balanchine Method or New York City Ballet Method, and the Royal Academy of Dance and Royal Ballet School methods, derived from the Cecchetti method, created in England. The first pointe shoes were actually regular ballet slippers that were heavily darned at the tip. It would allow the girl to briefly stand on her toes to appear weightless. It was later converted to the hard box that is used today.
Classical ballet adheres to these rules:

• Everything is turned out.
• When the feet are not on the floor, they're pointed.
• When the leg is not bent, it's stretched completely.
• Posture, alignment, and placement are vital.