All Ballet classes taught at Merrilee Studios are in the Russian, or Vaganova technique. This technique was developed by Agripina Vaganova in the early part of the 20th century.
Vaganova was a dancer with the Kirov Ballet and was not satisfied with her technique training. When she began to teach it was noted that her students all went directly to perform at the Kirov. Her technique was then studied and became THE standard for all the Russian Ballet schools. Today a large number of major dance companies in the world use some form of the Vaganova technique. This is the same technique that trained such great ballet dancers as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolph Nureyev, and Galina Ulanova.
We have been teaching exclusively Vaganova technique for almost three decades! It has a goal of teaching your child complete body control in the same way the schools teach your child to read – one step at a time. This technique is producing some wonderful Ballet dancers in our studio. We always have many comments about the quality of the Ballet in the dance recital. Many people say we have the strongest Ballet program of any dance studio in the area.
Ballet is the hardest dance form to learn but it is the one that gives your child the most. If your child doesn’t take Ballet, please consider it. Ballet instills discipline and concentration that will last their lifetime, and has been proven to help children do better in both school and sports.
If your child already takes Ballet, you should definitely consider your child taking a second Ballet class each week. Much like sports, it is much easier to become proficient if you practice and take class more than once a week. If your child is serious about Ballet, carefully consider this second class.
Merrilee Studios offers Ballet classes for students of all ages, including adults.
At Merrilee Studios, pointe is begun when your child is at least twelve years old and has developed good strong muscles and good Ballet technique. Our students continue to take Ballet while taking Pointe.
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