Prima Princessa’s Ballet for Beginners: Featuring the School of American Ballet by Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller and is a lovely book to introduce your children to ballet basics. My girls love dancing and twirling around, and as a former dancer myself, it warms my heart! They are just 3 years old, but they already love this book. Prima Princessa is a cartoon character who floats alongside the actual ballerina, and she really caught their attention. So for now they’re just ooohhh-ing and ahhhh-ing over the pretty pictures, but this book will definitely be useful as they get older and if they wish, start taking classes. From basic positions to more advanced moves, all are demonstrated very clearly by dancers from The School of American Ballet (the offical school of The New York City Ballet). Younger students as well as older ones are pictured so that all ages can relate.
This book also covers many facets of ballet class at all levels, such as creative movement, ballet class etiquette (very important…I got in trouble for wearing my big Swatch watch during class!), and what happens in advanced ballet class. Even the pas de deux is described, which my girls called “Mama Dada ballet.” It was a great refresher for me too, as I haven’t taken a class in years. Now all of the arm, leg and foot positions are coming back to me. And if you’ve never taken a class before, this would serve as a great introduction to you too. You could help with practice at home, or when your little dancer tells you about class that day, you’ll know what he or she is talking about! Visit the Prima Princessa website for more resources, including DVDs, recommended ballet schools and camps, a ballet dictionary, where to buy a tutu, free coloring pages, and more. Also, check out their blog, Tutuzone! You can purchase the Prima Princessa book from the Prima Princessa website, or from Amazon.
