Dance skills
19 skills, beginner to advanced. 18 of them you can film on a phone and get measured. No fake scores.
Skills by level
You can film18 of 19 skills
Beginner 5
- Alignment & Pulling UpEverything in dance begins with ALIGNMENT and 'PULLING UP' — a sense of lengthening up through the spine and crown while staying grounded through the feet. The stack is simple: head over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over knees, knees over feet, with the pelvis NEUTRAL (not tucked or arched), ribs in (not…
- Turnout from the HipsTurnout — the outward rotation of the legs that defines ballet's lines — is the most important (and most commonly forced) concept in dance. The cardinal rule: turnout comes from the deep HIP ROTATORS, rotating the whole leg outward from the top, so your KNEES point in the same direction as your TOES.
- The Five PositionsThe five positions of the feet are the 'alphabet' of ballet — the starting and ending points for nearly every movement, all built on turnout from the hips. FIRST: heels together, toes turned out (a V to a line, depending on your turnout).
- Plié & RelevéPlié (to bend) and relevé (to rise) are the two most fundamental movements — the foundation of every jump, turn, and balance. PLIÉ: bend the knees while keeping your alignment and turnout, sending the knees OUT directly over your toes (never letting them roll in), pelvis neutral, heels down in a demi-plié.
- Pointing & Foot ArticulationPointed feet and articulate footwork are central to dance's line — a fully pointed foot extends the leg's line all the way to the toe tip. Pointing isn't just curling the toes: you plantarflex the whole foot (ankle, then arch, then toes) to draw a long, continuous line, WITHOUT 'sickling' (the foot rolling inward…
Intermediate 5
- The Arabesque LineThe arabesque is one of ballet's signature shapes — standing on one leg with the other extended straight BEHIND you, drawing a long continuous line from your fingertips to your pointed back toe. The keys to a beautiful arabesque: a STRAIGHT supporting leg (or a controlled demi-plié), the working leg lifted directly…
- Attitude & PasséAttitude and passé are two key shapes built on a single supporting leg. ATTITUDE is like an arabesque but the raised leg is BENT at about a right angle, turned out so the KNEE is HIGHER THAN or level with the foot (it can be to the back, front, or side) — a lifted, sculpted bend, not a droopy one.
- Balances & Relevé ControlHolding balances — especially on relevé (demi-pointe) — builds the control every turn depends on. The keys: rise to a high relevé with a straight supporting leg and the ankle aligned (no sickling/rolling), stack your center of mass precisely OVER the ball of the supporting foot, pull UP through the whole body, keep…
- The Single PirouetteThe pirouette — a 360° turn on one leg — is dance's signature turn, and the single is where it all starts. The sequence: a PLIÉ prep from fourth or fifth to load, PUSH off the back foot to start the rotation, RELEVÉ onto a straight supporting leg on demi-pointe (reducing friction), snap the working foot to PASSÉ…
- Sauté & Soft LandingsA sauté (jump) and its landing teach the plié's two jobs: power and absorption. The sequence: from a demi-PLIÉ, PUSH through the floor to spring up, fully EXTEND the legs and POINT the feet in the air (a straight, lifted air position — the look of suspension, 'ballon'), then LAND THROUGH the foot — toe, then ball,…
Advanced 5
- Spotting & Turn ControlSpotting is the technique that makes clean, controlled turns possible — you fix your eyes on a single POINT at eye level and keep your head still as your body rotates, then WHIP your head around fast so your eyes return to the same point. Your EYES LEAD the body.
- Piqué & Chaîné TurnsPiqué and chaîné turns travel across the floor and live or die on spotting and alignment. A PIQUÉ turn STEPS directly out onto a straight demi-pointe (or pointe) leg — that becomes the supporting leg — while the other snaps to retiré, turning as you step (no wind-up; you 'prick' straight onto the leg).
- Extension & Line QualityLine quality is the aesthetic heart of dance, and EXTENSION — how high and how cleanly you can lift and hold the working leg — is a big part of it. A développé (unfolding the leg from passé to a held extension) shows it best: you draw the foot up to passé, then extend the leg out (front, side, or back) to its…
- Jumps & BallonBigger jumps — jetés, grand jetés, sissonnes — are about BALLON: the look of light, suspended elevation, seeming to float at the top before a soft landing. The mechanics build on the sauté: a deep PLIÉ to load, a powerful PUSH through the floor, full leg EXTENSION and pointed feet (and, in a grand jeté, a split…
- Port de Bras & ÉpaulementPort de bras (carriage of the arms) and épaulement (the angle of the shoulders/upper body) are what turn correct technique into ARTISTRY. Port de bras is moving the arms with CONTROL and LINE through the positions — rounded, supported, neither stiff nor floppy, the energy reaching out through the fingertips,…
Insane 4
- Multiple Pirouettes & FouettésMultiple pirouettes and fouettés are the pinnacle of turning — and they're built entirely on the single. Multiples need a stronger, sustained AXIS: the same plié prep and clean relevé to a straight leg in passé, but with the core braced to hold the COM stacked over the ball of the foot through several rotations, a…
- Adage: Control & ExtensionAdage (adagio) is slow, sustained, controlled movement — développés, promenades, penchés, balances flowing one into the next — and it's the ultimate test of strength, control, and line. Because it's SLOW, it's also the most reliable thing a camera can analyze in dance: there's no motion blur, just held shapes and…
- Line & Technique ScoringDance is evaluated — in competitions, auditions, and graded exams — on LINE, alignment, turnout, extension, control, and musicality. That makes a 'match-the-ideal-line and flag faults' tool a natural, codified scoring fit, the same way gymnastics and martial-arts forms are judged.
- Healthy Training & Injury CareDance carries a high injury burden — ballet musculoskeletal-injury prevalence often exceeds 80% — and it's overuse-dominated and lower-limb-centric: foot and ankle lead (ankle sprain is the #1 acute injury), then knee, hip, and low back, with stress fractures (classically the 2nd metatarsal on pointe) the most…