Class Descriptions

Pre-Ballet

Berkeley City Ballet’s Pre-Ballet classes start at age 2.5. Our youngest ballet students students learn about music, movement, and ballet through exercises and activities that are designed to cultivate student coordination, as well as rhythmic and creative abilities. Dancers explore movement, develop gross motor skills, coordination, and learn preliminary ballet technique.

Dance with Me (Age 2.5-4, 45 min., 1x wk) Toddlers learn about music, movement, and ballet alongside their parents or guardian. Exercises and activities are designed to cultivate student coordination, as well as rhythmic and creative abilities. Students use their imaginations, using parent modeling, to learn basic movement skills.

Pre-Ballet 4-5 (Age 4-5, 45 min., 1x wk) Students explore movement, develop gross motor skills, coordination, and learn preliminary ballet technique.

Pre-Ballet 6-7 (Age 6-7, 45 min., 1 hr, 1x wk) Students develop a basic ballet technique focusing on posture, flexibility and strength.

Youth Ballet

Youth Ballet classes are for dancers ages 8-13 who are interested in exploring ballet, focusing on the fundamentals of ballet including posture, turnout, strength, and flexibility.

Youth Ballet (Ages 8-13, 1 hr, 1x wk)

Adult Ballet

Adults Ballet classes are for adults and teenage students ages 14 and up, whether beginning, or continuing their dance education. A complete ballet class including barre and center focusing on balance, flexibility, strength, and technique. Material will be tailored to the level of the students in the class.

Beginner/Intermediate Adult Ballet (Ages 14 and up, 1.5 hrs, 1x wk)

Pre-Professional Program

BCB’s Pre-Professional Program is a classical ballet training program for students who wish to pursue serious ballet training. This is considered to be a year-round program, as students enroll at the beginning of each school year and are encouraged to attend BCB’s Summer Workshop. 

Pre-Professional Program students are expected to attend all of their scheduled classes and rehearsals and have the opportunity to perform in BCB’s annual Nutcracker and Spring Concert performances. 

BCB students are accepted into summer intensive programs at widely recognized schools such as San Francisco Ballet School, Alvin Ailey, American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and many more.

BCB Alumni have been accepted to and attended some of the nation’s top university dance programs, such as SUNY Purchase, UC Irvine, Alvin Ailey/Fordham University, Butler University, and University of Utah.

Students must be at least age 7 or entering 2nd grade in the fall in order to enroll in the Pre-Professional Program. Entrance into the Ballet 2 and up is by invitation only.

Ballet 1 (2x a week) Young students study the basic foundations of ballet. These skills include posture, turnout, positions of the arms and legs, flexibility, and coordination.

Ballet 2 (2x a week) Students with at least one year of formal ballet training continue to build their basic foundational skills while learning new steps.

Ballet 3 (3x a week) Students with at least 2 years of formal ballet training have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of ballet. These students continue to learn new steps and begin to combine steps into movement phrases. Musicality and performance quality are emphasized.

Ballet 4 (3-4x a week) Students with at least 3 years of formal ballet training continue to expand their movement vocabulary while maintaining strong fundamentals. Musicality is emphasized and more complex movement phrases are introduced. Performance quality develops and roles become more challenging. In addition, students of this level begin preparing for placement on pointe with pre-pointe classes.

Ballet 5 (4-5x a week) Students with at least 4 years of formal ballet training continue to develop their ballet technique with more advanced steps in longer movement phrases. Ballet 5 girls, that have been approved, begin basic pointe work. These students develop more advanced performing skills and corps de ballet expertise.

Ballet 6 (4-6x a week) In this class, students with at least 5 years of formal ballet training are expected to have a complete understanding and control of ballet fundamentals.  Students focus on consistently achieving complex movements while developing musicality and artistry as well as increasing their agility and strength on pointe. Their performance quality and musicality are challenged by roles that are, if appropriate, smaller group or soloist parts.

Pre-Professional Summer Workshop for Ballet 1- Ballet 6 (Mid-June to Mid-July, 9am-3pm)
Is an optional, but highly recommended, intensive program. This workshop gives the student 150 more hours of experience in dance. Students are encouraged to participate until their sophomore year of high school after which they are supported to audition for national professional workshops. Attendance and progress in this program can affect class placement and casting. Entrance by audition only.