Ballet Bars
Handy Hints for Dancers

Ballet bars can help you progress in ballet and keep your technique in top quality. When you feel like you are not progressing as much as you would like in ballet, then make sure you focus back to your work at the bar.

Especially if you feel like you are waiting FOREVER until your next ballet class, or desperately need some private practice in between your classes, then why not take it to the next step and find your very own ballet bars?

It is actually a very smart idea if you are a serious, passionate dancer.

Even if you are not, it will still keep your ballet body and technique in top shape.

All you have to do is run through the bar exercises each day, it can even just take up to 20 minutes of your day to see a results.

Ballet bars can give you a sturdy support and long lasting usage. You sure will find them in every single dance studio. But what if you don't have time to go to the studio everyday?

Portable bars can be a very practical alternative if you don't want to fix a bar onto the wall.

You can find them in wood or metal and in different heights or styles, but the standard height of most bars is around 40 inches.

The bars should be about waist height and the right level so that your hand can be placed comfortably on it.

The reason why regular practice on any type of ballet bar makes such a difference, is because the technique of ballet needs constant practice in order to see an improvement.

Think about it, if you are only having the chance to do one ballet class a week then each time you come back into class you have to teach your body the exercises again. Your body can easily forget the corrections you told it in the last class, because ballet has a lot to do with muscle memory.

That is why it is so important to have a lot of ballet classes to see a difference, and you shouldn't be hard on yourself if an exercise isn't as good as it was in the class. Your body is your instrument and you have to give it the chance to improve, as well as lot of practice.

The work on the ballet bars is where you can really focus for perfection, because you have the extra support and the exercises are designed to target your technique. It is not like center work, where you also have remember to travel and keep on your balance.

One of my teachers used to say to my class, "What does practice make?". We would all think the answer was "Practice makes perfect", but actually her response was always "Practice makes better".

Actually, she couldn't have been more correct. Although ballet dancers are always striving for perfection, this can be the very thing that holds us back because it is something which is almost impossible to achieve.

You must always strive to be better and improve, but not so much that it holds you back from attempting.

I remember one time as a young professional dancer, I was so focused on making the ballet exercises correct and perfect that I was too nervous to even have a go at trying.

I soon realised I had to learn to let go of the perfection and know that if I never tried, I'd never know. You have to go for it and forget what anyone else thinks.

It is easier said then done, but as I watched in awe at all the other great ballerinas in the same room as me, I knew I had to focus on only myself and my own goal to achieve what I want.

If you want to get your own ballet bar and strive to be better, then you know you can find portable bars just as easily as the ones in your dance studios. Professional dancers use portable bars all the time when they tour to different theatres.

Although practice may not quite make the ultimate perfection for ballet dancers, it certainly WILL make you a whole billions times better. Don't give up in fear. Sometimes you need to blank out your mind and just focus on DANCING!

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