We've had a great start to the Winter-Spring term!
Week by week our dancers are growing in confidence and strength - it’s just so wonderful to see! All the children have settled into their classes and welcome their new friends to the school.
I'm super pleased that we have launched our gorgeous Hummingbird Chicks classes on a Saturday morning, which are wonderful lessons full of adventure and fun for children from the age of 2 1/2 years - a wonderful time to begin ballet!
Sometimes the world of preschool ballet education is a bit of mystery to parents, so I’d like to give you a better understanding of what the learning objectives are for Hummingbird Chicks and Pre-School Ballet, leading onto RAD Pre-Primary.
Hummingbird Chick dancer
Pre-School Ballet dancers
Our lessons here at Hummingbird have been carefully planned to ensure a good mixture of fun and learning, whilst doing all that we can to ensure the children meet their objectives and progress. Time is taken to observe each child’s physical developmental needs, but also their emotional and creative development. Our aim is to give each young dancer a good foundation of classical technique in an environment that builds confidence and encourages self expression. Some of our students may go on to do their Royal Academy of Dance exams or want to become dancers themselves, whilst others will carry their passion for dance into their adult life and appreciate how it has enriched their lives.
Royal Academy of Dance HQ is based just off Battersea High Street.
It is a beautiful venue enriched in ballet history - inspiring the next generation. They have 3 exam sessions at RAD HQ each year.
The foundations of ballet require a lot of repetition to gain muscle strength and co-ordination, to give you a simple idea of progression with one key step skipping, the build up from Hummingbird Chicks is a follows;
Hummingbird Chicks:
• Balancing on one leg
• Jumping from two feet to two feet
• Learning to march - then introducing a hop to lead towards skipping
• Learning to wait our turn, working with friends and holding hands in a circle
Pre-School Ballet:
• Jumping from 1 foot to 1 foot, 1 foot to 2 feet, 2 feet to 1 foot
• Learning and developing co-ordination of the whole body
• Building stamina and strength for skipping
• Learning to skip
RAD Pre-Primary
• Learning to skip in time with music
• Learning a combination of steps in a sequence
• Learning key ballet steps with correct placement such as plies and rises
This development from 2 1/2 years to 6 years ensures safe and age appropriate training, which provides each dancers with a strong foundation of dance technique for them to build on over the years. At Hummingbird we pride ourselves in this quality, which makes for a happier dancer.
It certainly makes me happy watching the children develop - their progress amazes me!
