Скачать или смотреть Setting up your home ballet studio!

Where do we dance during the covid-19 lockdown? At home! Doing ballet at home poses all sorts of questions: What kind of floor is best? What should I replace a barre with? What should I wear on my feet? In this video I’ll help you set up your home dance studio so that you can stay in shape and continue to enjoy ballet at home.

I'm Daniel, a professional ballet dancer whose first first season of dancing with a ballet company was cut short by the coronavirus quarantine.

If you want to learn more about doing ballet at home, subscribe to this channel.

There are three important things to think about when choosing your ballet home studio space.

Your SPACE
The first and most important thing is space. For barre exercises, you need to have enough space to extend your legs behind you, to the side, and to the front. For center exercises you want as much space as possible. Think about the different rooms in your house. Which is the biggest? Maybe your garage? Living room? Kitchen? Be creative. To make space, you may have to rearrange your furniture and other things that are in the way. Make sure there are no sharp edges or pointed objects in the area you're using. Ideally it’s nice to have room under your “barre” so that you can bring your inside leg up to retire, but you may not have that option.

Of course, some of us live in very small places where there just isn’t enough space. For you guys, think about your options for finding a space outside to dance. Maybe a porch with a railing to use as a barre?

Wherever you choose, make sure you’re following local healthcare guidelines and maintaining social distance.

Your BARRE
The 2nd important thing is a barre. Most people don’t have proper ballet barres at home. So we have to be creative and find an alternative. Try to find a piece of furniture that fulfills these requirements:

Most importantly, your barre should be near your waist. It should not be too far below your hips [Insert funny shot of trying to balance using a very small chair] and should definitely not be above your shoulder. || if it’s too low, you can’t use it to assist your balance when you’re on demi pointe; If it’s too high, you won’t be able to hold on to it in a grand plie. Your barre should also be stable. Don’t use a rocking chair, a swivelling desk chair, or anything else that moves. || That’s an easy way to get hurt! Heavy chairs and countertops are great examples of stable barre alternatives. As I mentioned before it’s also best to find a barre that allows you to lift your inside leg to retire.

Your FLOOR
The last important element is, the floor.

Think about the floor’s slipperiness and smoothness.

You want a floor that is smooth enough and pretty level.

You don’t want to hurt your feet on rough or prominent edges when you tendu or slide your foot along the floor.

You also want a fairly grippy floor surface. It’s very hard to turn or do quick steps without losing your balance on a slippery floor. This is especially important when you transition from barre exercises to center exercises.

One way to get the right amount of traction is to wear optimal footwear. Barefeet are the most grippy, Ballet shoes are a little less grippy, and socks are the least grippy.

Wear whatever makes sense for the floor you're on. One way to make your ballet shoes more grippy is to wet a paper towel and step on it with your ballet shoes on. A little bit of moisture on the bottom of your shoes can add a good bit of grip. Remember the last thing you want right now is to have to go to the hospital.

Your MIRROR
Although mirrors are not essential for ballet practice, they are pretty useful since they allow you to check whether you are doing movements correctly. See if there is a portable mirror you can set up in your practice space.

If possible choose a mirror large enough to see your whole body.
An alternative to using mirrors is to set up a tablet in camera mode so you can see yourself on the screen or record the session on a phone and watch the recording afterwards.

It’s not as nice as a mirror, but it’s better than nothing.

You’ve set up your space, you have a barre of some sort, and you have the proper footwear. Maybe you have a mirror too. Now you’re ready to practice ballet at home!

Remember to like this video and subscribe to get notified about my next videos. Next time I’ll demonstrate specific techniques and show you some ballet exercises that you can do at home.

Thanks for watching! Stay positive and healthy during this crazy time. Remember that the more you practice the better you’ll be. Enjoy dancing!