Recently, I was looking online for drop-in ballet classes to continue training during the summer. As a part of my search, I thought 'Hey, I wonder if any of the ballet companies are teaching any ballet classes?' As I remembered that there were some advertisements about zoom dance classes during the middle of quarantine.
Immediately, I found American Ballet Theatre's (ABT) drop-in ballet classes and I couldn't resist trying it out! Who wouldn't want to take a class with ABT? So, I decided to sign up for an Intermediate/Advanced Ballet adult drop-in zoom class to check it out and live out my dreams as Jodie Sawyer from 'Center Stage'!
Signing Up for Class:
Signing up for the class was fairly simple and once you pay for class, you'll receive a confirmation email and your zoom link 30 minutes prior to the start of class. The cost of class for 1.5 hrs is $15, which is fairly standard across most drop-in zoom ballet classes, especially for the experience that is ABT! Classes also run weekly with different instructors and levels. There is also a body conditioning class for dancers which is 45 minutes for $10 and a 1.5hr beginner ballet class.
Attending Class:
On the day of, the class was runs in New York 10am EDT, which is 7am PST BC local time. However, after taking classes at 2:30am BST for the Royal Ballet School, 7am was a breeze.
The class I took was taught by Elizabeth Ferrell, a former ballet dancer with ABT, who had her daughter, who is also a professional ballet dancer, demonstrate the exercises. This made the class much easier to follow, especially through zoom. As per general procedure, mics were off until the end of class, and questions were done through the zoom chat.
Training/Difficulty Level:
In terms of dancing, majority of the class was at the barre with some center work focus on port de bras, pirouettes, turns, adage, and some allegro work. As for difficulty level, I would recommend that you have a fair amount of recent ballet training. Some of the steps we worked on in class included: double attitude turns, double pirouettes in to attitude, temps du fleche, ponches, and renverses.
So, if you're currently studying R.A.D., I would say it's fairly equivalent to Advanced One or Advanced Two level in terms of difficulty. I really enjoyed how there was a wide variety of steps and exercises to learn new combinations quicker over time, a skill which is crucial to success in auditions and in becoming a better dancer. Also, since classes can become repetitive over time over zoom or by dancing with the same instructors over time, it's nice to learn something new.
Class Notes:
Learning from Elizabeth was fun and she was a joy to be around. I thoroughly enjoyed practicing more difficult steps such as double attitude turns and temps du fleche. One aspect I find a bit more difficult with zoom dance classes in general is being able to tell how I'm doing in class without a full length mirror. Improving with only the feeling of dancing to go by is a bit more complex, which is something that is missed when compared with in-person classes :)
Conclusion:
Overall, I enjoyed the class and it's always a joy to learn from some of the industry's best teachers, and I might take another class sometime soon! Over the summer, I'll be doing more ballet class reviews, so make sure to stay tuned for more content! Thank you so much for reading my review, you're the best! Have a great summer and keep on dancing :)
Here is the link to ABT's drop-in adult classes: abt.org
Photography by: (c) 2022 GTFX Photography
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