Ballet West Academy

Ballet West Academy is found in three different parts of Utah. Salt Lake CIty, Park City, and Lehi. This academy is exactly as it sounds. It is a dance arts school taught by instructors and prior dancers from Ballet West. Normally, academies like this would only teach children up until about high school level, and then you either leave the academy, or go on to perform with the company that teaches. However, at Ballet West Academy, anyone, of any talent and age, can come dance all throughout the week.

I will admit, Ballet West Academy is hard stuff. I went to the beginning level ballet class and thought it would be easy, since I dance advanced ballet at several other dance studios in utah, but i was sorely mistaken. The beginning level ballet class was hard. I definitely felt like it should have been labeled as at least intermediate. I have yet to attend the intermediate and advanced classes. I am sure they are a lot harder, but it probably also depends on the instructor.

Unlike most ballet classes, we spent an hour at the barre. The instructor was very specific in making sure that all of us had correct placement and technique at the barre which is good, since that translates directly into centerwork. However, my legs were on fire just from warming up.

The instructor created very hard combinations to remember. I honestly had a lot of difficulty remembering them, and I have a pretty good memory. Most of the other dancers that were there seemed very advanced. Several were on pointe, most were not. I chose not to do a pointe class just to make sure that I could be warm enough and then decide to do pointe.

Even though it was really hard, it was a good motivator to push myself and to really strive to get better. I notice sometimes that once you get comfortable at one studio, it is really easy to fall into the trap of being really good at one studio, but not as good at others. With this dilemma in mind, I still highly recommend that anyone, dancer or not, try the beginning class. Even though it is hard, it is a good challenge. It will increase your ballet terminology and knowledge drastically. You will get a great workout, increase flexibility, increase memory capacity, and meet other dancers who are in the same situation as you. Ballet West Academy is tough, but it is also a great resume builder, especially if you are looking for well known and highly credible dance studios to gain more of a reputation in the dance world.

After barre, we spent about half an hour doing center work and across the floor. I didn’t think this part was as difficult as barre and the combinations were certainly easier to remember. Most of the center work and across the floor was turns and jumps. Most of the ballerinas who came took off their pointe shoes to focus more on the technique part of things, but some kept them on to focus more on the strengthening aspect of it. Overall, it was a great class and I highly recommend going, just be aware that it is more difficult than most. If you really enjoy it, they sell punch pass cards for $100 for 10 classes that work at all three locations.