Pirouettes (en dehors) video tutorial

A 1 hour video tutorial teaching you how to master your pirouettes! Perfect for intermediate and experienced beginner adult ballet students.

Just a heads up we will be working for a CLEAN SINGLE. 😝

It won’t be a magic pill either! A lot of it will be working towards first mastering your relevé in retiré completely on balance with a fully pulled up supporting leg (which is what I bang on about in class!). But I will take you through exercises you can do to get here.

Other than that there are lots of other elements that are important for pirouettes, which I will take you through. But once you master your single pirouettes on balance on your axis, you’ll be able to go for doubles and triples eventually (in class).

Below are the timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
04:05 Common mistakes/corrections
09:42 Mindset for pirouettes
10:27 Two broad elements of mastering your single pirouettes
11:06 Spinning
14:05 Ballet technique
35:46 Summary
39:01 Exercises with music (10 mins barre, 15 mins centre including chassé pas de bourrée)

Pirouettes (en dedans) + corner turns video tutorial

A 1-hour video tutorial going over some turns from the corner that you will do in my Intermediate in-studio classes. I will also teach you how to execute en dedans pirouettes. Perfect for those who find corner turns fun but don’t reeealllly know exactly what they’re meant to be doing with their arms and legs! 

If you are wanting to work on your en dedans pirouettes, I recommend first completing the Pirouettes (en dehors) Video Tutorial.

As you will have limited space at home, this tutorial will be focussed on breaking down the correct execution of the steps slowly. There will be no exercises with music as you are unlikely to have enough space to do turns around the room.

Below are the timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
03:05 En dedans pirouettes without extension to à la seconde
07:06 En dedans pirouettes with extension to à la seconde
12:43 En dedans pirouette into soutenu turn
17:30 Posé soutenu turns with arms in 1st
24:40 Posé soutenu turns with arms in allongé/low 4th arabesque
27:14 Posé/piqué turns with arms in 1st
34:22 Posé/piqué turns with arms in 4th
36:06 Chaînées
41:32 Lame ducks
50:05 Fouetté preparation at the barre

Petit allegro video tutorial

A 1-hour video tutorial going over some common petit allegro steps that you will do in my Intermediate in-studio classes. Perfect for those who have been following along in class but don’t reeealllly know exactly what they’re meant to be doing when it comes to jumps!

Below are the timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
04:00 Glissades
08:58 Assemblés
17:07 Jetés
21:22 Jetés with temps levé
24:36 Entrechat quatres
31:11 Changement battu
32:53 Pas de chats
39:26 Summary
42:50 Exercises with music

Grand allegro video tutorial

A 1-hour video tutorial going over some common grand allegro steps that you will do in my Intermediate in-studio classes. Perfect for those who have been following along in class but don’t reeealllly know exactly what they’re meant to be doing when it comes to jumps! 

As you will have limited space at home, this tutorial will be focussed on breaking down the correct execution of the steps slowly. There will be no exercises with music as you are unlikely to have enough space to do full grand allegro exercises.

Below are the timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
04:06 Sissone fermé en avant
08:16 Sissone fermé en arrière
12:00 Sissone fermé de coté
15:50 Sissone ouvert en avant
19:38 Temps levé in arabesque
22:27 Grand jeté
27:34 Grand jeté in attitude
29:44 Grand pas de chat (flick jeté)
32:33 Gallop into grand pas de chat
37:24 Entrelacé
47:11 Chassé pas de bourée into grand pas de chat

Meet your teacher, Zara Lim

I trained full-time at the Australian Ballet School (ABS) under the guidance of Irina Konstantinova, Lisa Pavane, Tang Xiuyun and Wang Jiahong. 

During my 4 years at ABS, I had the privilege to perform in Swan Lake Act II, in Leigh Rowles' Nutcracker, Coppélia and in Morning Melodies. I also had the opportunity to extra with the Australian Ballet. 

However, instead of completing my studies at ABS, I decided to move into law. I hold a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts (Chinese, French) from La Trobe University. Over a 5-year period, I worked as a commercial litigation and intellectual property lawyer at both global and boutique law firms (K&L Gates and Aptum), and also served as associate to the honourable Associate Justice Efthim at the Supreme Court of Victoria.

In 2021, I came full circle and returned to my first love, ballet. As well as running my own adult ballet classes, I have taught ballet to children at the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet and SCIMM Dance. I have completed my teacher training for junior levels under the Ballet Conservatoire syllabus (Russian Vaganova) and am also a qualified teacher for Progressing Ballet Technique (ballet-specific strength conditioning method). I regularly engage in continuing professional development, and have attended the Royal Ballet School’s Inspire teacher training seminars, as well as teacher training with Runqiao Du.

I am passionate about teaching ballet to adults, and bring well-rounded and varied life experience to my teaching! After many years away from ballet, I have very muchly rekindled my love for ballet, and train multiple times a week myself with Adrian Dimitrievitch and Sakura Shimizu. I find it meditative and believe everybody should be able to participate in ballet!

If you would like to view videos of me dancing so you can see who is going to teach you, as well as footage of the classes, I have plenty at instagram.com/zaramlim.

Terms and conditions for the online course

By participating in the Kwan Studio online course, you agree and acknowledge the following terms and conditions:
a) Online dance classes can involve risk of personal injury, and that risk is accentuated by participation outside the controlled environment of our own studios. While Kwan Studio takes all reasonable care in the conduct of its online course, it accepts no responsibility for injury or loss caused whilst participants are participating in the online course;
b) You or your legal guardian are responsible for ensuring that you are physically and medically fit for the online course;
c) During the online course you must take care at all times of your own personal safety; and
d) The online course is specifically formulated for intermediate and experienced beginner students. However notwithstanding this, students must not attempt any part of a routine that is beyond their level of ability.