Ballet benefits learners of all abilities. When I was a ballet student one of the children in class was completely deaf and moved by feeling the vibrations in the floor. I found out years later that another student who became a good friend was diagnosed hyperactive - ballet class was so active and structured that it was the perfect outlet for her to ‘fit in’ and thrive.

For children who do not do well academically, ballet gives the gift of being able to excel in another mode - good for developing self esteem!

Some of these skills learned in ballet with their academic benefit in parenthesis

a. forward, backward and sideways movement (reading and writing patterns on the page);
b. clockwise and counter-clockwise directions (telling time);
c. identifying right side and left side of body (learning to read and write);
d. developing memory (basic to all academic skills);
e. understanding sequencing (reading comprehension);
f. using arms in opposition to legs (right-left brain coordination);
g. learning what a set of 4 is, and about multiple sets of 4, 8 and 16 counts (mathematics);
h. hearing and feeling the strong beat of the rhythm, the accented part of the step (syllables and reading) ;
i. learning patience with self and cooperation with others (communication skills);
j. finishing what is begun; the steps, the sequence, completing the whole (completing work in a way that others can understand);
k. finding that learning can be fun while moving enthusiastically (enthusiasm increases energy for learning).

Homepage - Table of Contents
Introduction and Key to Text
Academic benefits of ballet training
Dedication to Carol Lynn

Classical Ballet Beginning to Advanced - Manual by Susan Kramer. Preballet, beginning, intermediate and advanced levels of ballet with hundreds of combinations including a separate section of pointe work. 100 pages.
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English to Dutch translation