National Ballet Academy: Classical Ballet

During the course, you will learn to understand and apply the syllabus, so that you will be able to teach on the basis of the NBA model. The model also includes a methodology and some general principles. Together with the lecturers, students get to know and understand the different years of the syllabus within the school, and as part of the programme they give trial lessons on the NBA Performing Dancer course and at partner schools. It goes without saying that an understanding of music, working with a musical accompanist and being able to make musical choices in relation to technique are important elements in the development of a classical ballet teacher. Music is therefore a separate module within the NBA programme. Detailed attention is also paid to Pedagogy and Didactics in a module that covers two lesson blocks. We explore what it means to be a ballet teacher nowadays, and how social changes influence the responsibility of classical ballet companies and schools and the way they train young people. In the last module, given in collaboration with Dutch National Ballet’s Health Team, we look in more depth at the mental health of young students and at newly gained insights from the sports world and findings within ballet, both national and international. Students end the course with a dissertation on the challenging question: “What sort of classical ballet teacher do I want to be?”