Giving corrections is one of the most important parts of teaching ballet. But here's the thing: a correction only helps if a dancer understands it, knows what to do with it, and has the opportunity to practice it.
As ballet teachers, we can spend an entire class correcting turnout, posture, musicality, footwork, and a dozen other details. But are our students actually applying those corrections? Or are they so busy remembering the combination that everything else goes out the window?
After decades of teaching ballet, I've learned that effective corrections involve more than telling dancers what needs to change. They involve teaching students to think about their dancing, recognize what they can improve, and understand the actions that will help them get there.
The approach I take depends on the age, experience, and physical abilities of my students. Younger dancers need guidance and encouragement as they develop body awareness. More experienced dancers can take greater responsibility for their own learning. And advanced dancers often need corrections that account for their individual physicality.
Here are some of the ways I help my students turn corrections into meaningful progress.
1. Give Students Something to Think About Before They Dance
One of my favorite approaches is to ask students what they intend to focus on before they perform an exercise.
Perhaps we've discussed maintaining turnout, stretching through the foot, keeping the supporting leg straight, or using the head along with the arm. Before we begin, I'll ask, "What are you going to concentrate on during this combination?"
This simple question encourages dancers to approach the exercise with a purpose beyond remembering the steps.
After they've performed it, I'll ask for an honest show of hands: "Who thought about what we discussed while you were doing the exercise? And it's okay if you didn't!"
Then comes the interesting part. I'll ask one or two students who didn't raise their hands what they were concentrating on.
Their answers can tell me a great deal about what's happening in the classroom.
Sometimes, a student was concentrating so hard on remembering the combination that there simply wasn't much attention left for anything else. That tells me I may need to repeat the exercise, simplify it, or break it into smaller sections.
If the students need more time to become comfortable with the steps, we can work on those first and gradually add the technical focus. We might revisit the combination over several weeks, building the pieces before putting everything together.
Repetition is always good. Students need time to absorb information and develop the coordination to apply it. Expecting them to master a complicated combination and simultaneously focus on several technical corrections may not be realistic.
This is particularly helpful with younger and intermediate dancers. Asking them to identify their own focus gives them a sense of ownership over what they're doing. Instead of simply following instructions, they're learning to participate actively in their own progress.
2. Let Students Discover What They Need to Correct
Another approach is to let students perform an exercise and then ask, "What do you think you could have done better or differently?"
You might be surprised by what they notice!
Some dancers immediately recognize that they lost their turnout or forgot to cross their fifth. Others may notice that their arms weren't coordinated with their legs. And some won't know what to look for yet—and that's okay, too.
Our job is to help them develop that awareness.
One way I do this is by taking a video of the class performing an exercise and then watching it together. I'll ask the students what they see and what they think could be improved.
Rather than immediately supplying every correction, I encourage them to identify something they can work on and discuss what action would help them make that change.
Then we practice it.
I sometimes tell them to pick their favorite side—or their not-so-favorite side—and try the action of the correction on themselves right there.
It's not enough to say, "I need to keep my supporting leg straight." The dancer needs to understand what they can physically do to help make that happen.
Watching themselves gives students a different perspective. Practicing the correction immediately helps connect what they see with what they feel.
The goal isn't to criticize their dancing on video. It's to help them become more aware, recognize opportunities for improvement, and discover practical ways to make changes.
3. Teach Students to Learn by Watching Others
Students can learn a tremendous amount when they're not the ones dancing.
With younger classes, I sometimes divide the dancers into two groups. One group performs the combination while the other group sits and observes. Then we switch.
After the first group dances, I ask the observers what corrections they think would help their classmates.
Of course, we discuss how to offer corrections kindly and respectfully. We're not looking for criticism or opportunities to point out mistakes. We're learning to observe movement and recognize what could make it stronger.
I also encourage students to offer a compliment. If someone isn't comfortable suggesting a correction, identifying something a classmate did well gives them a way to participate.
As dancers become more experienced, I introduce another important concept: a correction given to one dancer is actually meant for everyone in the room.
In a more advanced class, if I notice that several students need the same correction, I may announce, "This one is a global correction!"
But here's something I want all dancers eventually to understand: Every correction is worth listening to, even when it isn't directed specifically at you.
In the dance world, when a teacher corrects another dancer, the rest of the class should consider whether that correction applies to them, too. If a teacher tells one dancer to keep the supporting leg straight, the other dancers shouldn't assume their own supporting legs are perfect simply because they weren't the ones addressed!
I don't emphasize this too much with my youngest students. First, they need to develop an awareness of how they're moving and learn how to work on the steps themselves. As they mature, I gradually introduce the idea that they can learn from every correction given in class.
This helps build independent, observant dancers who understand that learning doesn't stop when someone else is receiving feedback.
4. Correct the Dancer in Front of You
As dancers progress, corrections often need to become more individualized.
Yes, ballet has technical principles and standards we work toward. But students have different physical capabilities, and effective teaching requires us to recognize those differences.
For example, I may have a student who doesn't have a naturally generous turnout but is strong enough to hold a well-supported développé à la seconde. Rather than forcing the student into an idealized, perfectly turned-out position, I encourage them to find their appropriate à la seconde angle while maintaining sound alignment and control.
The goal isn't to abandon correct technique. It's to help each dancer achieve the best technically sound movement their body can produce.
Forcing a position a dancer cannot safely maintain doesn't automatically make the movement more correct. It may simply create compensations elsewhere.
As teachers, we need to distinguish between a technical principle that must be respected and an aesthetic ideal that may look different from one dancer to another.
Our corrections should help dancers improve their technique without asking them to force their bodies into positions they cannot properly support.
5. Explain the Action Behind the Movement
Sometimes, dancers know what the finished movement should look like but don't understand how to achieve it.
Consider a grand battement.
It's tempting to tell a dancer to lift the working leg higher. But lifting the leg is only one part of the movement. The dancer needs to understand the pathway of the working leg, the connection to the floor, and the role of the supporting side.
I like to think about the progression through tendu, through dégagé, and then into the grand battement. The working leg doesn't simply jump upward; it builds from the floor and continues through the movement.
At the same time, the supporting leg presses into the floor. That opposition helps the dancer maintain a straight, stable supporting leg and keep the pelvis appropriately aligned while the working leg rises.
When the dancer understands and coordinates these actions, the working leg may achieve greater height without sacrificing the stability of the supporting side.
This is where preplanning comes in. I’ve said that a million times, You can't just lift your leg and hope for the best!
The dancer needs to prepare for the movement and understand what the body must do to make it happen. A useful correction explains not only what we're looking for, but also the action that helps create it.
When students understand the mechanics behind a movement, they have something concrete to practice rather than a vague instruction to "do it better."
6. When Something Goes Wrong, Return to the Root Position
Sometimes, the best correction is to go backward.
If a dancer is struggling to maintain turnout on the supporting leg, I might ask them to return to the root position—fifth position, for example—and take another look.
Would that supporting leg be that parallel if the dancer were simply standing in fifth position?
Probably not!
If the alignment isn't established in the starting position, expecting the dancer to maintain it throughout a more complicated movement may be asking too much.
Rather than repeatedly correcting the leg once the combination is underway, return to the beginning. Reestablish the position, check the alignment, and then start again.
This principle applies to many movements. If a dancer loses their balance, coordination, or alignment during an exercise, the problem may have begun before the movement itself.
Sometimes we need to slow things down and revisit the foundation before asking students to put everything together.
It may feel like we're taking a step backward, but we're actually giving dancers a better starting point for moving forward.
7. Remember That Corrections Must Match the Student
Not every dancer will respond to the same correction in the same way.
A young beginner may need a simple visual demonstration and one clear instruction. An intermediate dancer may benefit from a question that encourages them to think independently. An advanced dancer may need a more detailed explanation of the mechanics involved in a movement.
And sometimes, what a dancer needs most is another opportunity to try.
When a student doesn't apply a correction, I try to consider what might be getting in the way. Do they understand the instruction? Are they physically able to perform the action? Is the combination too complicated for them to focus on the correction? Would a different explanation or demonstration help?
These questions can guide our next step.
It may mean simplifying an exercise, repeating it, approaching the correction from another angle, or giving the student time to practice one element before adding another.
The point is not to lower our expectations. It's to teach in a way that gives students a realistic opportunity to meet them.
The Goal: Dancers Who Can Think for Themselves
We all want our students to execute combinations correctly, demonstrate good technique, and make progress. But we also want them to understand their own dancing.
Can they recognize when their supporting leg isn't doing its job? Can they identify what they want to improve before they begin an exercise? Can they watch another dancer and learn from what they observe? Can they take a correction and turn it into a physical action they can practice?
These abilities develop over time, and they require more than a teacher calling out corrections from the front of the room.
They require opportunities to think, observe, experiment, repeat, and try again.
That's one reason I believe thoughtfully planned combinations are so important. When an exercise is appropriate for the students' level and leaves room for repetition and individual coaching, we have more opportunities to work on the details that make a difference.
We don't need to correct everything at once. Sometimes, one well-understood correction practiced consistently is more valuable than five corrections a student can't remember by the end of class.
Our job is to help dancers understand what needs to change, discover how to make that change, and gradually learn to recognize it for themselves.
Because the ultimate goal isn't simply to teach dancers who can follow corrections. It's to develop dancers who understand how to work, how to improve, and how to take responsibility for their own progress.
And that is a skill they'll carry with them long after they've left our classroom.
