Children's Ballet Classes

At Rochelle Ballet School we run ballet classes for babies from 2 ¾ yrs through to adults.

Ballet is the the most difficult form of dance. It is a very strict discipline although the real pressure of this does not come into effect until grade 3 and above. This is where the work in the syllabuses becomes harder. The perfect ballerina is very rare to find but doing ballet for fun and to keep fit is great for children, even if it is just to help with confidence and good posture.

 At Rochelle Ballet School, we know how important music is to ballet.  It is vital that children learn to recognise rhythm and musicality as it helps them with coordination and brings them confidence in their dance.  To this end, at Rochelle Ballet School, we have a regular pianist that joins our classes to promote the childrens' understanding and enjoyment of music.  We are one of the few schools in Hampshire that provide a pianist during term time and not just for exams.

Learning the ropes: Babies learn the basic technique for example how to stand in first position, to run on tiptoe, skip, use beautiful arms and how to curtsey and most important how to stand still and listen. Once moved out of the Baby/Tiny Class the children move on to pre-primary.  At this point, they should be of school age. This is a much more structured class and the children can now prepare to take their first ballet exam if they wish.

Children doing ballet classes become very excited when moving into Primary grade as they get to have ribbons instead of elastics on their ballet shoes. This is a big step towards being a ballerina. The next exciting step comes when they are told they can go on Pointe.