Hi! Welcome to the series How to Teach Preschool Ballet! In this video we are going to talk about how to teach ballet to preschoolers.
Even though we are working with preschoolers, we still can teach steps and choreography. They may not learn the entire Nutcracker, however they can still learn a few things. Always keep in mind it is important the children learn through creativity and encouragement. By using imagination and positive reinforcement your students will make great progress.
Teaching Steps
Frist, how do you teach ballet steps to preschoolers? Remember preschoolers learn differently than other age groups. You do not want to drill steps and dances with the children each class. Be creative.
For example, I remember watching a teacher teaching tendus to a class of preschoolers and they were practicing them over and over again. She was frustrated and didn’t understand why the children were not learning and they definitely were not listening. Why is this?
My students know their steps and I never drill them. Preschoolers do not learn by repeating steps over and over again. This is the biggest secret to teaching a preschool ballet class. They are a different kind of learner. I quickly go over a few steps with the children after I have had them jumping around in our warm-up at the beginning of class. Then, I will go over a couple steps before each dance that might be new or just need practicing. I do this though, not only so they learn, but in order for the steps to look familiar when they come up in the dance. At the end of class, after I gather them for stamps, I will quiz the students on what steps we learned that day. They are always excited to show me what they remember. We don’t want to drill steps, but we also don’t want the students to become frustrated because the class is going too fast for them and they don’t know what is happening. In both instances, you will lose their attention and enthusiasm. Talk about the steps a little bit at different points in the class and they will learn.
Another point is to teach the ballet steps in a creative way. For example, how can the children learn first position? I have heard teachers call first position “pizza feet” or the letter “V”. You could also ask the children to use their magic twinkling fingers or magic wands to open their toes. What about doing a plié? How can you make that fun? Can we make a diamond or pretend to open a window with our knees? Can you turn performing the steps into a game? You can use your imagination for any ballet step. When your students are seeing the same steps week after week in a fun way, they will learn and remember.
Positive reinforcement is also a great tool to use to teach preschoolers. Praise them often when they complete a skill even if it is not perfect. At this age we first want them to perform in any way they are able. Then they should receive a compliment for simply trying. After you have established they are doing well you can then add some technique. For example, when we pretend to dip our toes in a pond doing tendus I will say, “When we dip our toes into the pond let’s make sure we point them all the way! Great job!”
In a previous video I mentioned the steps I feel preschool students can handle. They won’t be perfect but they are doable at this age. Again they are first position, second position, plié, relevé and tendu. I often add passé and arabesque even though they are challenging. The students love to try them and they make them feel like real ballet dancers. There are a few others I will add in each session to mix it up. I want to keep the class interesting for both old and new students all year round.
If you follow what I’ve mentioned, your preschool students will learn ballet steps. Not only will they learn them but they will associate performing each step with a fun, creative game they will want to do again and again! This is how to teach preschoolers ballet steps.
Teaching Choreography
Let’s move on to choreography. Teaching Choreography to young students is exciting and so much fun! I love seeing preschoolers act out creative songs with passion and energy. However there are a couple things that need to be considered. If you go over too much choreography at once they will become bored. If you do not demonstrate enough, they may become frustrated because they don’t know what you are doing. Find a balance.
There are a couple different ways you can teach choreography to preschoolers. If you teach at a studio where students have many months to prepare you can approach choreography differently than if you teach in a recreational program that only runs a few weeks. At a studio the students may also need to be more polished than in a recreational program. Therefore we may teach the choreography a bit differently for each. In the end, for both instances, the choreography still needs to be creative and fun.
When I have to prepare students for a big recital, and we have many weeks or months before the show, I teach the choreography for our dance little by little every week. I teach the first verse one week, then add the chorus the next week, and so on until the dance is finished and we can just run it. I will probably have the children run the section we have worked on that day two or three times if I can tell they can handle it. In this instance, I want the choreography to be clear and well learned. I don’t want to just skim over it. Just covering a little each week will help keep the students interested. Then we also have more time for creative games.
In a recreational program with a shorter session, I’ll teach just the first verse of choreography before I turn on the music. Then, we will dance the whole song with music and they can follow me for the rest of the song. Or, if there are new or tricky steps I will go over them first before we dance the whole song with music. The students are happy to follow along if you are upbeat and energetic. During the dance you should also try to sing the song or talk about what you are doing at the same time. Not only that, but be able to quickly call out what is coming next. This is why it is very important to know your dances. You have so many things to think about when you are teaching, as I have already mentioned. This way, the children will be ready and able to follow you. If you have good, upbeat energy and you call out what they are going to do before they do it, everything will be fine.
This is another secret I have learned along the way. Preschool students will follow you no matter what you do. If you just turn on the music to a dance and start dancing, they will follow you. Like I always say you must dance big and call out what they should be doing in order for this to work.
If I have a class that is unfocused or if I can see the energy is too high I will also just turn on the music to a dance and have the students follow me. This is a good way to keep from losing your students. Going through the steps and choreography isn’t as important for a preschool class as it is for older students. They just want to dance and jump around. They will follow you if necessary.
Another tip is to make sure the choreography is fun and interesting for the students. It shouldn’t be all ballet steps. Add some gestures that go with the song. For example, in “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” can the students make twinkling stars with their fingers? Can they float around like a star in the sky? Tell a story with the song and the children will love it.
Make sure you mix up the steps as well. Have the students perform some tendus and then change it up with some sauté jumps or turns. It also helps if the children can move around at times and not be stuck in one place. Chassé or skip around in a circle. This is also great for learning spatial awareness. I always practice moving around in a circle in my warm-ups. This way we can move around in circles in my choreography and the students already know what to do. Moving to new places in the room is just as challenging as learning new steps. It does need to be practiced.
Preschoolers will eventually pick up choreography. You just need to be patient. However, at this age don’t expect them to do a whole dance all by themselves, especially at a performance. You will always have to be there doing the dance with them. Not only should you be there to remind them of their dances, but just being there makes them feel more secure.
Teaching Technique
There are many different beliefs as far as how to teach ballet technique to young children. Some people believe you should teach just as you would teach older children, standing at the barre in turn out. Another side believes preschool children shouldn’t stand at the barre or turn out at all, teaching everything in parallel. Some people believe you shouldn’t even touch the subject of ballet until children are older.
I believe there is a happy medium. Little children love to pretend to be ballet dancers. Therefore, I think it is okay to teach ballet if you teach responsibly and keep the health of their little bodies in mind. At this age preschoolers do not have the muscle development or the understanding to handle technique. For example, I dance in turn out but I don’t force my students to dance in turn out. Preschoolers won’t anyway. I show them first position and have them try it, but then I let it go. During the rest of the class their bodies will naturally dance how they dance at this age. They usually won’t even notice if they are in turn out or not. You don’t have to completely avoid turning out. It is part of our range of motion and touching on it is fine. However, don’t force the preschoolers to stay in turn out. There is plenty of time for that and other more complex technique later.
There are some children too, who want to over turn out. This, however usually happens with older students. Some students also might want to walk on pointe in their soft shoes. We always want to correct students who are performing any step that might injur them. Don’t encourage your students to over extend their bodies. As teaching artists we are not only responsible for teaching them to dance but are responsible for teaching them how to take good care of themselves.
There are some easy elements of technique I do teach my preschool students. We do want the students to stand up tall, point their toes and dance with big energy. Learning to do those things is definitely achievable. It depends on the class but I don’t talk about technique much more than that at this age.
Using creativity and games to teach technique is always the way to go. When we plié, for example, I ask the students to open a window with their knees and tell me how the weather is. “Is it cold outside? Oh no! Quick, close your window!” It is a fun exercise my classes never get tired of. It can be cold, hot, rainy, snowy, or anything they want!
Another way I teach technique besides using creativity is to challenge the students in a fun way. To encourage the students to dance big I will say, “who can jump as high as I can?” or “Who can reach up super high?” Preschoolers love a challenge and they love to show you how well they can perform.
Technique can be achieved at the preschool level. Preschoolers can definitely understand how to stand up tall and dance with big energy. Some can also understand how to point their toes or have straight legs in tendu or arabesque. It is fun to see how much they can accomplish when it is taught in a fun way!
Don’t Expect Perfection
Finally, preschoolers should not be expected to perform everything correctly. When teaching students of all ages teachers should always be mindful of whether or not the students are having fun and are inspired. We want them to love our classes and leave wanting more! When we expect perfection we risk losing the fun of class.
This is especially true for preschool classes. Preschoolers think of dance as purely playtime. It is a place where they can use their imaginations and jump around. They are usually not paying attention to whether they have the steps correct. In fact, they think they already look amazing!
Most preschoolers will not even notice if they are doing a step correctly. However once in a while you will have a preschool student who recognizes they are not quite doing a step right. Then they might become frustrated and not want to participate if they don’t feel they are doing well. If that is the case help them the best you can but try to let them know it is fine if they don’t have it perfect. For example, most students will be able to perform a chassé starting with either the right foot or left foot. Performing it with the opposite foot might be too tricky. If you see the look of frustration on their face just let the student perform the chassé with the same foot until they feel more confident.
At this stage dance should be all about having fun! We want to inspire the students so they will want to continue in our program. Even if they don’t continue we still want them to have fond memories of dance class. Maybe they will take other classes or go to see dance performances in the future.
Children learn best through creativity and fun. Of course, every child is different and some may be able to handle a more technical class and still enjoy it. However I don’t think it is necessary to teach preschoolers in any way that is not full of imagination. Play and have a great time!
Teaching ballet to preschoolers can be achieved. Through creativity you can teach steps, choreography and a bit of technique and your students will have a wonderful time learning! Try not to feel the pressure for perfection. There is plenty of time for that if they want to pursue dance more seriously in the future.
Thanks so much for joining me in this video on teaching ballet to preschoolers! In the next video we will talk about tips on how to keep your class listening and engaged so everyone has a great time.