Ballet Level 1
Ages 6+ | Foundational Training

Every dancer remembers their first true beginning — the moment ballet starts to feel less like play and more like purpose.

Ballet Level One at Northern Nevada Ballet Academy is where that transformation begins. It’s designed for young dancers ready to focus, listen carefully, and build the foundation of classical ballet technique. Here, imagination from earlier years meets structure, discipline, and artistry.

Students explore posture, turnout, placement, and coordination — learning how to align their bodies with precision and grace. Barre work becomes a daily ritual of focus and strength; center exercises refine rhythm and balance. Step by step, they begin to understand how discipline becomes freedom — how form creates expression.

Parents continue to play an important role in this journey. Their support, consistency, and encouragement help shape a young dancer’s mindset — teaching patience, perseverance, and pride in steady progress. Together, they share the joy of watching the child grow in both skill and character.

Each class builds on the foundations of Pre-Ballet, now introducing proper terminology, musical phrasing, and longer combinations. Dancers begin connecting effort to artistry, learning that every step, even the smallest one, is part of a larger story — their story.

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Curriculum Overview

Ballet Level One introduces the structure of full ballet training while maintaining a supportive, age-appropriate environment. Students are encouraged to stay curious, take notes, and understand how daily repetition leads to mastery.

Our weekly lessons include:

• Warm-Up / Conditioning: strengthening posture, flexibility, and body awareness through floor work and light stretching.

• Barre Work: demi and grand pliés, tendus, dégagés, relevés, rond de jambe, and balance exercises to develop alignment and control.

• Center Practice: adagio and simple allegro combinations, port de bras coordination, turns from 1st and 2nd positions, and controlled transitions.

• Across the Floor: chassé, glissade, balancé, and introductory leaps, teaching confidence and musical timing.

• Artistry & Expression: phrasing, musicality, and stage presence through improvisation and guided performance tasks.

• Extended Study: dancers are encouraged to explore storytelling and performance through Musical Theatre for young kids, building confidence and expression beyond the ballet studio.

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At the heart of Ballet Level One lies something deeper than dance — the shaping of a human being. Each class strengthens not only the body but also the character: focus, humility, discipline, and kindness. We are not just training dancers; we are helping children grow into centered, capable, and compassionate individuals.

By the end of this level, students move with awareness and purpose. They know how to connect their technique to emotion and their effort to artistry. The foundation built here supports every level that follows — in ballet and in life.

This is where the dancer within begins to emerge.