ADVERTISEMENT
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISEMENT & PAID CONTENT OPPORTUNITIES
SUBSCRIBE NOW
No Result
View All Result
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
The Ballet Herald®
  • HOME
  • BALLET MAGAZINE
    • Ballet Performance Reviews
    • Interviews with Ballet Professionals
    • The Latest Ballet News
    • Feature Ballet Stories
    • On This Day in Ballet History
    • Ballet Schools & Training
    • Opinions
  • BALLET PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
  • BALLET SHOWS IN…
    • Ballet Shows in London
    • Ballet Shows in New York City
    • Ballet Shows in Paris
    • Ballet Shows in Washington, D.C.
  • FAMOUS BALLETS
    • Cinderella
    • Coppélia
    • Don Quixote
    • Giselle
    • La Bayadère
    • La Sylphide
    • Romeo and Juliet
    • Swan Lake
    • The Nutcracker
    • The Sleeping Beauty
  • 2023 BALLET SUMMER INTENSIVE RESOURCES
    • 2023 Ballet Summer Intensive Programs
    • How to Successfully Prepare for Ballet Auditions
    • How to Organize Your Ballet Auditions
  • MORE
    • Ballet Books & Gifts
    • Dance Jobs
    • List of Ballet Companies
  • HOME
  • BALLET MAGAZINE
    • Ballet Performance Reviews
    • Interviews with Ballet Professionals
    • The Latest Ballet News
    • Feature Ballet Stories
    • On This Day in Ballet History
    • Ballet Schools & Training
    • Opinions
  • BALLET PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
  • BALLET SHOWS IN…
    • Ballet Shows in London
    • Ballet Shows in New York City
    • Ballet Shows in Paris
    • Ballet Shows in Washington, D.C.
  • FAMOUS BALLETS
    • Cinderella
    • Coppélia
    • Don Quixote
    • Giselle
    • La Bayadère
    • La Sylphide
    • Romeo and Juliet
    • Swan Lake
    • The Nutcracker
    • The Sleeping Beauty
  • 2023 BALLET SUMMER INTENSIVE RESOURCES
    • 2023 Ballet Summer Intensive Programs
    • How to Successfully Prepare for Ballet Auditions
    • How to Organize Your Ballet Auditions
  • MORE
    • Ballet Books & Gifts
    • Dance Jobs
    • List of Ballet Companies
No Result
View All Result
The Ballet Herald®
Home Ballet Magazine Ballet Schools & Training
SPONSORED BY RUSSIAN MASTERS ABLLET

Online Ballet Class: The New Dance Studio

by Cherilyn J. Lee
November 9, 2020
in Ballet Schools & Training
Reading Time: 5 mins read
Online Ballet Class - The New Dance Studio

Online Ballet Class - The New Dance Studio

We are accustomed to a world that is constantly revolving, but for most of us this pandemic is making life spin faster than we’ve ever experienced before. We are making adjustments to how we work, how we shop, how we visit our loved ones.

And how we take (online) ballet class.

The definition of “dance studio” has broadened. What we used to envision as a space with marley floors, wooden ballet barres, and upright pianos now includes carpeted livings rooms, kitchen counters, and laptops.

ADVERTISEMENT
Asiya Lukmanova
Asiya Lukmanova

Online ballet class is currently more the norm than the exception and this has caused many a change in the structure of a conventional class. We chat with Asiya Lukmanova, former soloist ballet dancer in the Saint-Petersburg Ballet Theatre and current director of Russian Masters Ballet, about her experience during this new state of things.

Online Ballet Classes - The Current Norm

‣ What technology are you using to hold your classes and how did you decide upon it? Was there a learning curve for you and your faculty, or was it something you were already familiar with?

Before the COVID situation we never planned to do online classes or intensives; we like the traditional way of teaching, with contact and a live experience. But the moment we saw what a disaster the pandemic situation was creating for ballet students, we decided that we needed to support them.

After some research we decided to try Zoom. A big part of our teaching team was very skeptical. We spent two months creating a special methodical program that would be perfect. From April to June we gave a lot of free classes after which we felt very prepared to give technical support to our teachers and students, and our teachers were better prepared in the methodology.

So during the Russian Masters and Vaganova Academy Online Intensives held this summer we got very satisfactory results, even better than we expected.

‣ Do you think you will continue using Zoom when you return back to the studios?

For the moment I think it’s too early to predict what the future will hold. We can see that online ballet courses can be very professional and beneficial, especially for the students who can’t travel due to multiple reasons such as schedule, money, and nowadays… restrictions. So for the next couple of years, we certainly would like to offer the option of professional extracurricular intensive training. In fact, we are now preparing for our official winter course, a Vaganova Academy Online Intensive that will start on December 27.

‣ What have been the main challenges of preparing online ballet classes?

Training our teachers to use computers, cables, cameras, Zoom, etc. The faculty that works with us are the most experienced teachers of classical ballet in Russia; they work at the Vaganova Academy, Eifman Ballet Academy and the country’s biggest theatres. They know everything about ballet, but they weren’t prepared for digital training. We provided managers and translators for each teacher and created a really comfortable space for them, so finally we all got it!

ADVERTISEMENT

‣ How are you able to accommodate students who may not have the ideal equipment and/or space in their homes to take online ballet classes? In particular, pointe work comes to mind!

We offer for each student personal technical support and help them to prepare their dance space. For the most part, students already have a ballet barre and vinyl flooring, so there is no problem for pointe shoes. But jumps are limited, of course.

‣ Ballet training has traditionally been face-to-face and the studio an environment where there is much interaction between teacher and student in the form of corrections and their application.

How do you plan to manage this communication now that the process is through a screen rather than in person?

To not lose personal contact between the students and teacher, we make the groups even more limited than in our live programs. So each class only has seven to ten students.

One very nice thing is that translation works even better in online ballet classes than in person, so students understand all the corrections very well. Also, our teachers are working much more energetically to connect with students in order to catch – and keep! – their full attention. We care about our teachers and have reduced their teaching hours so that they can be always fresh!

‣ Have the learning objectives of your online intensives been adjusted to accommodate all of these changes?

Depends on the grade. For the smallest students it is possible to do almost everything in a small space. For intermediate and advanced grades we need to adapt and pay attention to what they can do at home.

The methodology of the Vaganova System is the same, but we need to reduce our attention to jumps and add special classes for physical conditioning in order to keep all of their muscles in shape. This summer, for those who had access to studios we could offer a full class with jumps and the results were excellent!

Russian Masters Ballet Online Master Classes
Russian Masters Ballet Online Private Training

Featured Photo for Online Ballet Class © Russian Masters Ballet

Tags: Asiya Lukmanovaballet schoolsCoronaviruspandemicRussian Masters Ballet
Cherilyn J. Lee

Cherilyn J. Lee

Cherilyn's lifelong passion for ballet has opened the door to the next chapter of her journey. Her strong foundation includes training at the School of American Ballet, being a featured dancer with Hartford Ballet and Carolina Ballet, and being co-director/owner of City Ballet Raleigh. She was granted the Affiliate Teacher Award after successfully completing the ABT National Training Curriculum®. A professional career in the industry along with extensive global travel provide her with a unique set of experiences to draw upon as a journalist and audience member. Cherilyn is excited to be sharing her insight about ballet around the world.

Related Posts

An Interview with Asiya Lukmanova
Interviews with Ballet Professionals

An Interview with Asiya Lukmanova: Building Future Generations Upon a Foundation of Tradition

November 22, 2022
An Interview with Massimiliano Greco
Interviews with Ballet Professionals

An Interview with Massimiliano Greco: Bringing Piano Passion from Bari to the Barre

November 12, 2021
Like Neverland Quarantine Makes You Forget
Opinions

Like Neverland, Quarantine Makes You Forget

June 30, 2021
NEXT STEP
The Latest Ballet News

NEXT STEP Showcases Talent from PNB’s Company and School

May 28, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

The most interesting ballet news and stories of the week

Receive a roundup of news & upcoming performances direct to your inbox.

Order Now!

Mr. B


Being a Ballerina


Grand Jeté and Me

Popular Stories

Ballerina with Alzheimer’s: The Untold Story of Marta Cinta

Nutcracker Ballet Quiz: Test Your Knowledge!

The Professional Ballet Community Adapts in a Pandemic World

Ballet Books for Your Reading List

Gargouillade Gate: Everything You Need to Know About the American Ballet Theatre and Dutch National Ballet Feud

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram RSS
No Result
View All Result

The most interesting ballet news and stories of the week

Receive a roundup of news & upcoming performances direct to your inbox.

The Ballet Herald

  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 The Ballet Herald™ by BalletNomad, LLC®

No Result
View All Result
  • ➩ Subscribe Now
  • Home
  • ☀️ 2023 Ballet Summer Intensives Resources
    • 2023 Ballet Summer Intensive Programs
    • How to Successfully Prepare for Ballet Auditions
    • How to Organize Your Ballet Auditions
  • Ballet Books & Gifts
  • Dance Jobs
  • Ballet Magazine
    • Ballet Performance Reviews
    • Interviews with Ballet Professionals
    • The Latest Ballet News
    • Feature Ballet Stories
    • On This Day in Ballet History
    • Ballet Schools & Training
    • Opinions
  • Ballet Performance Calendar
  • Ballet Shows In…
    • Ballet Shows in London
    • Ballet Shows in New York City
    • Ballet Shows in Paris
    • Ballet Shows in Washington, D.C.
  • Famous Ballets
    • Cinderella
    • Coppélia
    • Don Quixote
    • Giselle
    • La Bayadère
    • La Sylphide
    • Romeo and Juliet
    • The Nutcracker
    • Swan Lake
    • The Sleeping Beauty
  • Ballet Companies
  • ⊙ About
  • ⊙ Contact
  • ⊙ Advertisement & Paid Content Opportunities

© 2023 The Ballet Herald™ by BalletNomad, LLC®