Ballet Level 4
Beginning Pointe • Ages ~12–14 | Strength, Artistry & Elevation

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Ballet Level Four marks a pivotal moment in a dancer’s development — the point where strength, discipline, and artistry begin to lift literally off the floor.

This is where pointe work begins, introduced gradually, thoughtfully, and only when the dancer’s body and technique are ready.

Students entering Level Four have completed Ballet 3A and have demonstrated not only the technical alignment required for pointe, but the consistency, maturity, and care necessary to protect their growing bodies. Pointe work is not a milestone of age, but of readiness — built through years of focus, patience, and integrity.

In Ballet Level Four, dancers refine precision, clarity, and line. They learn that every movement has intention. Every balance requires breath. Every turn requires presence. As artistry deepens, dance becomes less about performing steps, and more about embodying meaning.

Parents continue to support the dancer’s progression through schedule consistency, healthy habits, rest, and encouragement. This is a shared season of growth — one that builds resilience, confidence, and character in profound ways.

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Curriculum Overview
Level Four expands complexity in movement, coordination, musicality, and expressive performance. Pointe is introduced gradually and strengthened responsibly. Students are required to keep a technique and pointe journal for notes and corrections.

• Warm-Up / Floor: Theraband foot and ankle conditioning, calf raises, relevé endurance, core stabilization, pre-pointe progressions carried into pointe support.

• Barre: Demi and grand pliés with épaulement, tendu/dégagé en croix, pas de cheval articulation, double rond de jambe à terre and en l’air, fondu variations on flat and on demi-pointe, frappé (single and double), petit battement, battu drills, développés above 90°, promenades, penché and reverse penché, grand battement with suspension, battement fouetté relevés, and échappé relevé with battu.

• Center: Adagio sequences with arabesques and attitudes above 90°, sustained promenades, multiple pirouettes en dehors and en dedans, piqué turns, fouettés (introductory), petit allegro with assemblé and jeté beats, entrechat variations, royale, sissonne fermée & ouverte, temps de cuisse, ballonné, ballotté, gargouillade, and grand allegro including saut de chat, saut de basque, coupé jeté en tournant, and tour jeté preparation.

• Across the Floor: Turns en manège, double piqué turns, chaînés with expressive port de bras, and double step-over “lame duck” turns.

• Variations: Repertoire introduction such as “Little Swans” to build musical precision and unity.

• Pointe Work:

  Barre: relevés on two feet and one foot, sous-sus, échappés, piqué to 5th, développés on pointe.

  Center: bourrées, échappés, soutenu turns, piqué turns en diagonale, pas de bourrée on pointe, single pirouette en dehors from 5th on pointe, and traveling bourrée sequences.

• Artistry & Habits:

  Focus: Articulation — toes to heels, movement to meaning.

  Goal: Introduce nuance — épaulement with character, breath in movement, and performance quality that carries presence into the room.

By the end of Ballet Level Four, dancers do more than move through choreography — they interpret it.

They demonstrate strength without force, artistry without overstatement, and confidence without trying to prove anything.

They begin to understand that ballet is not just learned — it is lived.

This is where elevation becomes expression.