World Ballet Day: Experience the art of the rehearsal

Every ballet class, whether you're a prima ballerina or a 4-year-old in your first pink tutu, beings with pliés. A simple bend of the knee stretches the legs, demands proper posture and begins to regulate breathing. It is the key to launching and landing leaps with grace, ease and power. For the four-year-old, it won't get much more challenging than a plié, whereas the prima ballerina will use a plié later as one of many components of her choreography.

As a young ballet student, I desperately wanted to rush past the barre exercises and hurry into the center of the room for some "real dancing." Endless pliés, tendus and rond de jambes were a snooze when my pointe shoes were calling my name to do pirouettes and tour jetés across the floor. But barre routines are a sacred ritual of every ballet class. At the barre, dancers practice and perfect the foundational steps that contribute to their performances. Without meticulously focusing on the details of each toe, the shape of the foot, the position of the knee, location of the hips and posture of the shoulders, a dancer lacks the key ingredients of their craft.