Ballet dancing is one of the most elegant forms of dancing and the very ballet stretching exercises that you learn form the basis of any ballet dancing. If you are new to ballet dancing then you will be first introduced to some simple yet extremely focused forms of exercise movements and these invaluable exercises will help you to master the coveted grace, body alignment and other related body movements so as to become a good ballet dancer and enthrall the audience.

The barre or the ballet stretching exercise constitutes a number of exercises and each and every one of them is a uniquely contributing factor for enhancing your grace in ballet dancing.

Plies – This form of exercise is the very base for maintaining balance while dancing and at the same time you will also build a greater level of flexibility in your joints. The exercises are so designed to make your joints, muscles and tendons more flexible, elastic and soft and these are the exercises that you will learn first in your ballet dancing journey.

Tendus – This exercise kind will assist you in mastering your arches and help to learn your force the instep outward better. The tendus form of exercise aims at movement of your ankles and feet and helps you to learn to use them in coordination.

Degage – This is normally considered as an extension to the Tendus and in this exercise form you will learn to get your toes and ankle joints strengthened with more flexibility. And similar to Tendus, Degage will also help you in improving your instep movements.

Frappe – This type of exercise form is a yet another form that complements Tendus and Degage to bestow you with the power of elevation and help you to improve with your instep.

Rond de Jambe – This kind of exercise is generally classified into two types and they are (1) Rond de jambe a terre and (2) Rond de jambe en l air. The first one namely Rond de jambe a terre will assist you to learn the techniques to get your toes and heels aligned in perfect balance of a ballet dancer and the other one namely Rond de jambe en l air will help you to loosen your hip joints and to turn your legs outwards.

Developpe – When you learn this type of exercise, you will be able to get your back muscles strengthened up and at the same time your abdominal muscles and the muscles present in your legs will also get toned up sufficiently. Once you master this Developpe, you will attain greater capacity to maintain balance with your one leg up in the air.

Fondu – This particular form of exercise is very useful in getting your leg muscles strengthened and helps you to make your jumps in the air during the course of ballet dancing.

Grand battement – This is the final part of any ballet stretching exercise or the barre, and with this form of exercise you will get your hip and legs better aligned and be able to elevate your legs effortlessly.

In any ballet dancing, the above set of exercise forms will serve as a base and in order to become a good ballet dancer you must first master these ballet stretching exercises and practice them before any of your future dancing workouts. It also has become a practice for many people, whether they are interested in ballet dancing or not, to learn and practice these ballet stretching exercises with an intention to get their body flexibility back and to stay in shape.

Further, these ballet stretching exercise, due to its ability to tone up all the important muscles of your body, can also help you to get your muscles back in form after any injury or sickness. Today, ballet stretching has become a hot favorite amongst all kinds of dancers and they have started practicing it for an overall development of their body.

[tags]Ballet Dancing, Ballet Stretching, Grace, Calf Stretch[/tags]