Music and ballet are intertwined - in the classroom and on stage. In the history of ballet it has worked both ways - musicians have composed with the idea for a ballet in mind, and ballets have been created from the inspiration of music.

As students, we had piano accompaniment of the classics with each combination, and to this day I am uplifted hearing the music of Bach, Beethoven, Bizet, Chopin, Debussy, Dvorák, Grieg, Händel, Lehar, Franz Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint-Saëns, Smetana, Johann Strauss, Jr., Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi, amongst others.

KEY TO TEXT

Abbreviations
ct - count
cts - counts
fwd - forward
bk - back
R - right
L - left
F - foot
rpt - repeat

Numbers of corners and walls
The corners of the room
stage right front is 1
stage left front is 2
stage left back is 3
stage right back is 4
The walls of the room
center front wall facing the audience is 5
stage left wall is 6
back of stage wall is 7
right stage wall is 8

To develop both sides of the body, exercises are done on right and left sides equally.

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

Classical Ballet Beginning to Advanced by Susan Kramer. Preballet, beginning, intermediate and advanced levels of ballet with hundreds of combinations including a separate section of pointe work. 100 pages. Buy as an Ebook or Paperback Book


Article by Susan Kramer