When it comes to teaching turnout (to any age), there are some tried and true tips you should always think about. But when it comes to teaching turnout to young children, there are a few more things you should be thinking about.

teachingAshley HartfordNovember 9, 2022preschool dance, teaching preschool dance, preschool ballet, preballet, beginning ballet, toddler ballet

Help Your Beginning Ballet Students with Retiré

By the age of 7, children have much better control and awareness of their bodies. We also work much more on turnout, especially turning out correctly and safely at this age. Because of this, we work more on a turned out retiré.

teachingAshley HartfordOctober 31, 2022retiré, beginning ballet, beginning ballet class, ballet class, teaching beginning ballet

Tips for Teaching Ballet to 7 to 12 Year Olds

Today, I bought my oldest son, Hudson, ballet shoes. I was trying so hard to contain my excitement. Being a boy mama, I knew my chances of buying any of my kids a pair of ballet shoes were slim.

teachingAshley HartfordOctober 26, 2022teaching, teaching ballet, teaching beginning ballet, beginning ballet, beginning ballet class, beginning ballet curriculum, how to teach beginning ballet

Breathe Life into Your Teaching with Stories

When we teach ballet though stories, we immediately open up a new world for our students. The way ballet is often taught is like watching a silent, black and white movie from the 1920s. Teach through stories, and it’s suddenly like watching in 4K color.

teachingAshley HartfordOctober 16, 2022beginning ballet, beginning ballet curriculum, how to teach beginning ballet

How to Inspire Your Students with the New OUB Story Ballet Curriculum for Ages 7 to 12

When I set out to create our 7-12 year old curriculum, the OUB Story Ballet Curriculum my biggest struggle was not having everyone’s students in front of me. Not knowing how long your classes would be or how many times per week your students are taking ballet.

CurriculumsAshley HartfordOctober 14, 2022teaching, beginning ballet curriculum, beginning ballet, how to teach beginning ballet

Learn How this Elementary School Teacher Turned Dance Teacher Sparks Imagination in Students

Visit Briarwood Ballet in Birmingham, Alabama and you’ll likely see Once Upon A Ballet Certified Teacher Danielle Brabston sparking the imagination of her three to eight year-old students. “I think it’s really important with that age group to use imagination as much as you can in the classroom, that really seems to help inspire them. It keeps them engaged, and they just come alive with that.”

Spotlight SeriesAshley HartfordJuly 13, 2022teaching, pre-ballet, creative dance, creative movement, beginning ballet, toddler dance, preschool ballet, once upon a ballet, certified teacher, contributing teacher

A Little Pixie Dust for Your Children's Dance Classes

When Once Upon A Ballet Licensed Studio Owner Kari Novikoff found the OUB program, she immediately fell in love. “I love how sparking their imaginations helps in getting them to dance with correct technique, but in a fun way! They pretend they are princesses and pretend they are wearing a beautiful necklace or tiara. It improves their posture immediately, and I don't have to just tell them, they do it automatically. They are learning and it is fun.”

Spotlight SeriesAshley HartfordJuly 6, 2022teaching, pre-ballet, creative dance, creative movement, beginning ballet, toddler dance, preschool ballet, once upon a ballet, certified teacher, contributing teacher

How Studio Owner, Vickie Szeplaki, Sets Her Studio Apart

As a Once Upon a Ballet Licensed Studio, fairytales and dreams can certainly be found at Kidz Gym and Dance. Owner Vickie Szeplaki makes a point to empower and spark her students’ imaginations by bringing creativity and fantasy into her classes. “I love the program. It’s one of those things that made my studio in my area stand out and be different.”

Spotlight SeriesAshley HartfordJune 27, 2022teaching, pre-ballet, creative dance, creative movement, beginning ballet, toddler dance, preschool ballet, once upon a ballet, certified teacher, contributing teacher

What is a brand?

Previously, I talked about why your dance studio’s brand is important for growing your business. But what exactly is your brand?

It does comprise your logo, and the fonts and colors you use. Visual design is important, of course!

Dance Studio OwnerAshley HartfordJune 20, 2022brand, branding, grow your studio, teaching, pre-ballet, creative dance, creative movement, beginning ballet, toddler dance, preschool ballet, once upon a ballet

Teaching Dance to Children in a Positive, Inspirational Way

Walk into Autumn Cantrell’s North Carolina dance studio and you’ll be swept into a world of creativity and inspiration. “I try to be as creative as possible… keeping the studio space very positive and inspirational too. We have all kinds of cute things in there, motivational things,” she tells us.

Spotlight SeriesAshley HartfordJune 13, 2022teaching, pre-ballet, creative dance, creative movement, beginning ballet, toddler dance, preschool ballet, once upon a ballet, certified teacher, contributing teacher

Three Pillars of a Successful Preschool Dance Class

When you understand child development, so many things change in your classes. First, you'll see your young students differently. I can remember when I first started teaching preschoolers. I THOUGHT my students would stand in lines, wait their turns, and work hard just like my older students had.

teachingAshley HartfordMay 30, 2022teaching, pre-ballet, creative dance, creative movement, beginning ballet, toddler dance, preschool ballet, once upon a ballet

Inspiring Children to Dance through Imagination and Make Believe

Over the course of her dance career, Once Upon A Ballet Certified Teacher Kristin Mueller has discovered that to inspire her students, she can’t just watch them imagine and make believe— she has to participate in the magic herself.

Spotlight SeriesAshley HartfordMay 23, 2022teaching, pre-ballet, creative dance, creative movement, beginning ballet, toddler dance, preschool ballet, once upon a ballet, certified teacher, contributing teacher

How to Teach Technique Correctly to Children

We focus a lot on posture in Once Upon A Ballet even from early on. Posture is important in the early years to promote good habits in the future. We focus on students’ posture mostly during the more technical portions of class like centre barre or barre, centre allegro, and traveling exercises.

teachingAshley HartfordMay 16, 2022teaching, pre-ballet, creative dance, creative movement, beginning ballet, toddler dance, preschool ballet, once upon a ballet

How do You Know if You’re Correctly Teaching Turnout in Pre-Ballet?

When it comes to teaching turnout in ballet, there are many schools of thought on when to begin teaching turnout, how much turnout a student should be able to maintain while dancing, and when to introduce what positions.

teaching, Pre-Ballet, Preschool DanceAshley HartfordJune 8, 2020teaching ballet, ballet, ballet class, toddler ballet, preschool ballet, pre-ballet, beginning ballet, mommy and me ballet, parent/child ballet

Better Leaders

According to Forbes, ballet can in fact make you a better leader. I love the reasons they cite. Here are the reasons that make their list.

MarketingAshley HartfordOctober 22, 2019leaders, ballet benefits, pre-ballet, preschool ballet, beginning ballet

Ballet Classroom Etiquette

Classroom etiquette may vary slightly from school to school and from teacher to teacher. To me, classroom etiquette is basically how students are supposed to behave in a ballet class.

teachingAshley HartfordSeptember 19, 2019ballet class, classroom management, ballet, etiquette, pre-ballet, beginning ballet, preschool ballet

Planning Successful Parent Observations

Many ballet schools have a set time every month, session, or semester, in which they invite parents into the classroom to watch their child dancing.

teaching, MarketingAshley HartfordSeptember 3, 2019parents, ballet class, teaching ballet, parent observations, preschool ballet, toddler ballet, pre-ballet, beginning ballet

Teaching Skips

Skips can be a rather difficult for some students to master. Even after a child grasps the coordination of a skip, the technical aspects can be difficult.

teachingAshley HartfordAugust 19, 2019skips, teaching ballet, beginning ballet, pre-ballet, preschool ballet

Teaching Curtsies

We've all seen it. It's recital time, and it's time for a group of little ones to line up and curtsy. (Of course, boys will bow, but for the sake of simplicity we will say curtsy in this post.) Regardless of whether they are pointing one foot front or crossing one leg in back to curtsy, it always seems in disarray.

teachingAshley HartfordAugust 12, 2019curtsies, teaching ballet, beginning ballet, pre-ballet, preschool ballet

Teaching Turnout

There are many schools of thought on turnout in ballet. At Once Upon A Ballet, we recommend the degree of turnout progresses according to each student’s ability and age.

teachingAshley HartfordAugust 5, 2019turnout, teaching ballet, pre-ballet, preschool ballet, beginning ballet