Learning ballet, one step at a time
Every student starts where their age and their body allow, then moves at their own pace. Nobody is turned away at the door: that is the principle of the school.
How a class runs
A class always follows the same order. The barre first, to place the body and wake it slowly. The centre next, without support, where the work done at the barre has to hold on its own. Travelling steps and repertoire at the end, when there is time and energy left.
That order does not change with age. What changes is the length, the vocabulary and the demand. A four-year-old and an advanced student are doing the same work, at two different scales.
What also changes is the tempo. A child asked to spend twelve counts stretching the foot and twelve counts bringing it back does not come back the following week. Here we explain, then we move: students learn to dance early, and not only to exercise. The accent falls on musicality and on what each of them has that is their own.
From the first steps to the adult classes
These are the stages of the training. The exact groups, their hours and their sizes are settled each year with the families, and are shared on request.
The youngest
For the youngest children. They learn to listen to the music, to hold a position, to cross the room without hurrying. The body discovers dancing before it learns the vocabulary.
At that age, a good class is not a class where everything is clean. It is a class the child leaves wanting to come back.
The groups, by age
The move from first steps to real work. The barre enters the class, placement becomes precise, and the children begin to recognise in their own bodies what they see in dancers.
The groups that follow keep the same logic: full barre, centre, first danced sequences. This is also when musicality becomes work in its own right, and no longer an accompaniment.
The committed students
Repertoire enters the class. The students prepare the end-of-year performance and discover what a stage asks of them: memory, stamina, and responsibility toward a group that dances together.
For those who want to go to the end of what classical training can give, the work intensifies: pointe work, repertoire variations, competition preparation for those who wish it. Access to this level is decided with Victoria, based on the work already done.
The adult classes
There is no age limit for taking a place at the barre. Complete beginners, former dancers, parents who have been bringing their children for years: everyone is welcome.
Adults come with a ten-class pass, which leaves the freedom to come when the week allows. Those who wish to also take the stage at the end-of-year performance.
Private lessons
Work face to face, alone or in a pair, to correct one precise point, to prepare a competition or an audition, or simply to move faster.
Availability is arranged directly with Victoria, alongside the group classes and never instead of them.
What to know
Every class begins with a free trial class, with no commitment. It is the only honest way to find out whether the child and the school suit each other.
Group sizes stay small so that every student is corrected personally in every class. When a group is full, we say so.
Fees are shared on request. The hours for the season will be confirmed.
And during the holidays
Alongside the weekly classes, the school runs summer and winter intensives, with a guest teacher and dancers from other countries. It is a different rhythm, and often the moment something clicks.
Come and try a class
Tell us your child's age and what they have done before, if they have done anything. We will suggest the group that fits, and you come and see.
Book a trial class