We all know that its good for students to have as much ballet a week as posible.. however unless all of your teachers were trained by the same person.... styles vary slightly. When making up your ballet faculty... what differences can you tolerate... or when do you say " this is how id like them to be taught"

in my opinion anything "stylized" or personal prefences... ( slight variations of the arms.... or toe intfront of the knee as opposed to to the side.... or frappes with the emphasis on the out beat instead of the in etc) are all fine for older students.. i think its important that they realize there are so so so many ways to do things, that if they go to an audition they have to be able to slightly alter things like that...


BUT... in your opinion, what is a "deal breaker", where you wouldnt hire the teacher bc what they teach contradicts what you teach?


For another dif. but slightly on topic... how do you teach piroettes? I start from first and make sure they can go up to passe and balance first... then we do qtr and half turns with spot holding at least 3 counts ( down on 4) and then full turn.... THEN we hold passe, lower leg so that they are in releve; andthen end in plie.... that way they have control at the end of the turn as well instead of falling out of it... how do others teach a clean finish to the turn?

Well i can only aswer the pirouette thing...

From grade 3 ballet (aged 9-10) the pupils learn the basic positioning (toe under the knee, knee well turned out etc.) This is an excersise they perform at the barre.

In grade 4 (aged 11-12) the pupils perform another excersise at the barre with a releve into the position. Then in the centre thy releve bringing the leg up to the position. They do not turn yet.

In grade 5 (age 12-13) the pupils turn from 5th position the pirouette en dehor. They perform a 1/4 turn of pirouette en dedan from 4th.

In grade 6 the pirouette should be well established. The pupils perform pirouette en dehor from 4th, pirouette en dedan from 4th and have 2 pirouette amalgamations.

This is in big contrast to jazz, when jazz pirouette positioning in learnt in grade 1 (age 7), and the first turn performed in grade 2 (age 8). Doubles are introduced in grade 5.

If you are the SO then you have every right to say how you wish your pupils to be taught, really though, if you have all of your teachers trained in the same method then the differences should be very small and they shouldn't cause problems.
As for the pirouettes, that sounds similar to what I do, it's a good way of getting them to feel the retire postion, the releve and co-ordinate it with the spotting.