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I haven't copied this from anywhere, it came about from a combination of what my teacher said and from listening to other adult students woes, and helping them to progress. It seemed to work so I thought I'd share.
1.If you want to improve you have to push yourself. Your teacher will not push you unless you push first...so be pro-active and don't wait around for someone else to motivate you.
2. If you want to improve, always keep your mind active ballet-wise during class. This means, when a group are doing their combinations, don't just stand there and mindlessly watch/chat/look out the window/chew gum. If you have space practise behind the group that combination. If you don't have space, practice improving your arm positions or head. Practise your pirouettes if there is space, or concentrate on following the combination in your head, try it facing the wall and see if you can do the steps without looking at someone,but while the music is going. If you can, and again if there is space, keep joining the groups so you do 4 or 5 reps of the combination or more. Its exhausting but it help improve your ballet.
3. When your teacher corrects you, don't just stand there and nod enthusiastically that you understand him/her. Do the step in front of the teacher incorporating the correction, and keep practicing it when you can throughout the lesson. If you still have difficulties, go see the teacher after class and work it out. Don't shrug your shoulders and walk away until the next lesson when you find you have the same problem with the same step next time. Listen and absorb what your teacher says to you.
Also, if the teacher is correcting someone else, listen and never think it doesn't apply to you. Try and see if the correction applies to you first and then if not, try harder anyway.
4.If you are having problems with a step and the teacher has spent time with you already going through it. Work on it at home, do what you can to get into your head. You will feel more satisfied when you get it right in your next class, and your teacher will see that you are working hard, even if you haven't mastered the step, a teacher can tell if you have been practicing or not...they have eyes everywhere
5.Try not to sit out a section of class, just because you can't do it or don't want to. Sometimes you may physically be unable to do it due to injury, in which case learn the arms, anything is better than just sitting there. With beginner adults I literally have to take their hand and go with them, and they love it after that. If you don't know how to do a grande allegro step, then go up to the teacher and say "is there a simpler step I could do to build me up to this?". its what I do as I can't do some grande allegro steps because of my knee. So I ask for an alternate combination, which is great as it means I no longer have to sit out.
6. Try and watch ballet videos/dvds/. I know they are expensive though. Although the Prix de Lausanne is coming up in february and it's online and free. Its great to watch and they have a fabulous documentary from a past Prix de Lausanne to watch and inspire.
7. Challenge yourself. go into classs with a mental thought such as 'today I'm only going to do double pirouettes', or 'today I'm really going to work on those developes to second'. if you challenge yourself it makes class innteresting and fun, especially on those days when you are feeling a bit down.
So, go into your next class with some of these points in mind, and make the most of your hour and half-two hour lesson. Remember you are paying for these classes, so get as much as you can out of them..that is if you want to.
Have fun you crazy kids
