Ballet vs Chinese dance

[MummyThreeStreams]

Hi Serendipity!


How old is DD?
I’m trained in ballet, and only did a little little bit of Chinese dance in school for fun. I understand that there are some fundamental differences in technique between the two. If DD learns both at the same time, she may get confused, which is not good if you think you want her to go far in it. Maybe it’s best to start with one and see how it goes. Once she has a good foundation in one she can pick up the other for fun later on.

I’m not sure about Chinese dance, but for ballet, it’s very technically demanding, so she should start young.

[Serendipity]

MummyThreeStreams:

Hi Serendipity!


How old is DD?
I'm trained in ballet, and only did a little little bit of Chinese dance in school for fun. I understand that there are some fundamental differences in technique between the two. If DD learns both at the same time, she may get confused, which is not good if you think you want her to go far in it. Maybe it's best to start with one and see how it goes. Once she has a good foundation in one she can pick up the other for fun later on.

I'm not sure about Chinese dance, but for ballet, it's very technically demanding, so she should start young.

Hi MummyThreeStreams!

Thanks for your advice! My DD is 3 going on 4.

Oh, I didn't realise that the difference between the two dances might confuse her. Mind enlightening this lay person on what the differences are, for knowledge sake? :oops:

But I hear that Dance Ensemble Singapore actually teaches both dances... Wonder how they manage to do both genres...

[MummyThreeStreams]

Oh she’s still very young. At this age, they don’t do much in the way of technique. I suppose if it’s just for fun, then, it’s not problem learning both, or any kind of dance together. But if you want her to pursue it seriously for DSA etc. then at some point it will become confusing.


Like i said, i don’t know much about chinese dance. Only danced for school performance once. I had fun, but had to consciously put aside my ballet instincts to perform some of the movements correctly. for e.g. the way you point your feet, carry your arms, position your pelvis, head etc. A dancer’s body and the way she moves is shaped over many years of training, by repeating movements in a certain way. Chinese dance and ballet have different types of movements, just like badminton and tennis have different types of movements, though both are racquet games. So logically speaking, having to train for two different types may mean less mastery over each, unless she is very talented.

Maybe you can check with the school? After all they have experts in both types of dance. Thinking about it again, although i said maybe it’s best to build a foundation in one first, mabe the little ones are so vesatile that they can be trained in two different techniques at the same time! By the time i tried chinese dance, i was 13 or 14. Maybe too old already!

[Serendipity]

I see. I see. Thanks for your analogy of the racquet games. I liked that. :lol:


Really appreciate your input and advice!! You've certainly given me much food for thought.

Sometimes I'm envious of those with a dance background. Good for you! Now I'm too old to pick it up liao.

[MummyThreeStreams]

Can go learn ballroom and latin dance! If Aunties can do it, so can you! (and I don’t think you’re an Auntie…)

[Serendipity]

Hahah... thanks for the encouragement! I'm not really into ballroom or Latin dances though. Loved mass dances when I was in JC. :boogie:


Would love to be able to dance hip hop or jazz! I guess I can dream, hahah!

Oops! Think we're getting off topic here.

[twilight]

So far, most chinese dance teachers I know do require students to have some ballet knowledge, or they incorporate some ballet exercises into the lesson.

[MummyThreeStreams]

Maybe ballet is like the foundation, and you build other dance types on it?

[Serendipity]

Thanks twilight for joining in our discussion! :welcome:


So ballet does seem to complement other dances.

Btw, does anyone know the difference between Jazz Dance per se and Jazz Ballet? :scratchhead:

[MummyThreeStreams]

It’s hard to explain in words. Maybe you can go do a search on you-tube to see the difference? Jazz has a different beat and different feel because the origins are different (more Carribean, African vs. European for classical ballet). So for example, the hips and pelvis and shoulders can move quite a bit in jazz (so you get quite sexy movements!), but in classical ballet you generally want to keep them still. So when ballet dancers do jazz for the first time, they look very stiff!!


Having said that, there are quite a lot of similar moves because jazz has been influenced by different dance styles including ballet, e.g. pirouettes. So if a dancer has a good technical grounding in ballet, she can do well in jazz (jazz dancers do ballet exercises too). Just need to learn to relax the body a bit! I found jazz really fun, and I think most ballet students do too.

Just want to add a caveat. I’m no professional so these are only my opinions from my own limited exposure to dance! It would be great to hear from someone out there who has studied different dance forms in more depth.