Jane Feldman - We Love Ballet!

Special thanks to Suzanne Osterberg, Danielle Pierce, Kate Thomas, Diane Grumet, and everyone at Steps on Broadway NYC, and to our ballet dancers and their supportive parents: Ursula, Norma, Megan, Bridget, Phoebe, Christian, Zoe, Clil, Fiona, Kaili, and both Nicoles. Thanks to Capezio and Puppet Workshops for the wonderful ballet costumes. Copyright 2004 by Jane Feldman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. PICTUREBACK, RANDOM HOUSE and colophon, and PLEASE READ TO ME and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2004101258 ISBN: 978-0-307-98271-1 (ebook) randomhouse.com/kids v3.1

M y name is Ursula, and my friends and I love ballet! This is my family. We are always on the go. I dance everywhere. I dance to school. I dance to the park. And, of course, I dance to ballet class! Miss Suzanne is my ballet teacher.

My good friends Norma and Megan are in her class with me. Miss Suzanne teaches us to have fun and always do our best. First we learn the five basic positions of the feet in ballet. When we put our heels together in first position, Miss Suzanne says, Use your imagination and picture a slice of pie between your feet. Miss Suzanne begins each class at the barre. The barre helps us to balance while we are learning.

We learn to pli, which means to bend our knees. We learn to relev, which means to rise. Megan and I love to jump and leap. Look, our feet arent even touching the ground! In ballet, its very important to warm up your muscles so you dont hurt yourself. After we do exercises at the barre, we do floor stretches. Reach right! Reach left! Reach and touch your toes! Miss Danielle helps Miss Suzanne teach our class.

Here shes showing Norma how to do a pass. Miss Suzanne is always there to help us. She has special ways of saying things so we remember different moves. She says, Reach for the stars, Bridget! In ballet, you must have good posture. Miss Suzanne says, Sit up straight and make your necks long like a giraffes! Shoe check! It is important to make sure your shoes are tied just right. Not too loose and not too tight.

You dont want to trip. Now we are ready to cross the floor. We all stand in a line like a choo-choo train. Miss Suzanne sets stars and circles on the floor. When we get to a star, we have to leap high. When we get to a circle, we have to freeze like a statue! Dancing across the floor gives us a chance to learn our music and work on the steps that we will use in our big recital.

Sometimes we go across the floor in pairs. Miss Suzanne says, Work together, class! We cooperate and raise our hands to ask questions, just like in school. Its fun to dance together! We have lots of girls in the class, but boys take ballet, too. Ballet dancers have to be very strong. I saw a ballet on television where a male dancer lifted the female dancer high above his head. Miss Danielle told us that lots of football players take ballet!