Ballet
A ballet studio has a mirror along the whole wall, and whatever is not quite right is visible to everyone at once. The pictures below settle the order before the studio, so the body's work can take all the attention during class.
♂Dancer doing a plie at the barre
A smiling dancer in a blue top and white tights bends their knees at a wooden barre with pink ballet shoes on.
♂Dancer balancing on one leg
A smiling dancer in a light blue top and blue tights stands on tiptoe on one leg with arms curved in a ring above the head.
♂Dancer in a mid-air split
A smiling dancer in a light blue top and black shorts floats in a split in mid-air with arms curved above the head.
♂Dancer leaping in a circular frame
A circular icon with a smiling dancer in a blue top and blue tights leaping with legs apart and arms outstretched.
♂Dancer in a grand leap
A smiling dancer in a blue top and grey tights floats in a large leap with one arm up and the other stretched out.
♀Dancer in a pink skirt leaping
A laughing dancer in a light blue top and pink skirt floats in a sideways leap with arms outstretched and pink ballet shoes.
♀Dancer in a blue skirt doing a split leap
A smiling dancer with a braid in a purple top and blue skirt floats in a split leap with one arm raised.
♀Dancer in a pink tutu with arms raised
A laughing dancer in a light blue top and pink tutu stands with legs apart and both arms raised.
♀Dancer in a tutu jumping with wide arms
A laughing dancer with long hair in a light blue top and pink tutu jumps with legs apart and arms stretched wide.
About this visual support
Ballet makes demands that few other hobbies make. The feet have to hold a set angle, the back stays straight and the arms follow a line, all at once and all visible in the mirror. For children still building body awareness that is a great deal of information to hold in the air at the same time, and the tiredness often comes from the concentration rather than from the movement.
Visual support helps most before and around the class. The bag, the hair, tights and shoes, the way into the studio: the fewer decisions left when the lesson starts, the more capacity remains for the dancing itself. A row of pictures covering the parts of the class, from warm-up to the barre and then the floor, also gives a sense of where in the hour you are.
One tip is to practise a single position at home between classes, in front of a small mirror with the picture beside it. Short and often beats long and rare. In Routined the training day can sit as a routine with packing and departure, and the app can be tried for fourteen days at no cost.
Use this image in a schedule
Build your own visual schedule with this image and download it as a print-ready PDF. Completely free.
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Take the visual supports with you
In Routined you build schedules from these pictures, add timers and voice instructions, and your child follows the day on their own.
* 14-day free trial, then $2.39 a month or $20.99 a year (US pricing). Cancel anytime.