The ballet class: barre and centre

What it is

Barre work warms and aligns the body. It starts with pliés, slow bends of the knees, and moves through tendus, in which the foot slides out along the floor to a point, to circles of the leg, quick beats, slow unfolding extensions and high kicks called grands battements. Each exercise is done on one side and then the other. The barre gives light support while the dancer builds turnout, the outward rotation of the legs from the hips on which the whole technique rests.

Where it comes from

Ballet's vocabulary was fixed in France. King Louis XIV, a keen dancer, founded a royal academy of dance in Paris in 1661, and his dancing master Pierre Beauchamp is credited with setting down the five positions of the feet. Teachers carried the system to Italy, Denmark and Russia, where national schools grew. Their methods are still taught under names such as Vaganova, Cecchetti and Bournonville. They differ in emphasis and in details of arm and head, but share the same structure.

How it works

After the barre, dancers move to the centre and repeat some of the same ideas without support. A slow section, the adagio, tests balance and control. Turns follow, then small quick jumps, then large travelling jumps across the room in groups. Women may put on pointe shoes for part of it. The teacher sets each combination in words and gestures, a pianist plays, and the class performs it. It ends with a bow to the teacher and the pianist, the révérence.

If you go

1. Look for an adult beginner or open class. Most cities have them, and no experience is needed.
2. Wear close-fitting clothes and soft ballet slippers or socks.
3. Take a place at the barre where you can see someone experienced on both sides.
4. Learn a handful of terms first: plié, tendu, relevé.
5. To watch, look for a company's open class day or its streamed class on World Ballet Day.

Good manners

• Arrive early. Entering after the first exercise is poor form.
• Do not talk while the teacher is setting an exercise.
• In the centre, more advanced dancers go in the first group. Wait your turn at the side.
• Thank the teacher and the pianist at the end.

What is danced

BalletA highly technical stage dance with its own steps and styles, shaped in France and RussiaClassical balletA formal stage dance using turnout, pointe work and precise, flowing movementNeoclassical balletA 20th-century ballet style with classical technique and a stripped-down lookContemporary balletA ballet form blending classical technique with modern dance movement

Sources and further reading

• Ballet technique on Wikipedia
• Britannica: Ballet