Tiers of Training
Adage Ballet Academy’s full-time program offers a complete training pathway for dancers beginning at age five and continuing through advanced pre-professional study. Through a structured tier system, students progress with clarity, care, and purpose while developing strong technique, musical understanding, physical coordination, artistic expression, and a lifelong relationship with the art of ballet.
This page introduces the academy’s tiers of training. Placement is determined by faculty according to each dancer’s physical, technical, and artistic readiness, not by age alone, ensuring that every student is placed in the environment best suited to their growth.
Full-Time Enrollment
Adage Ballet Academy is now accepting applications for the 2026–2027 school year, running
September 9, 2026 – June 12, 2027.
Preliminary
Ages 5-6 | Two classes per week
Preliminary introduces young dancers to the world of ballet through a joyful, imaginative, and carefully structured first experience. Students explore movement, music, coordination, expression, and early ballet foundations through floor barre, introductory technique, conditioning, composition, and play studies. This tier gently prepares children for future classical training while nurturing confidence, creativity, and a love of dance.
Elementary
Ages 7-8 | Three classes per week
Elementary continues the foundations introduced in Preliminary while guiding young dancers toward a more structured study of classical ballet. Students develop coordination, musicality, expression, early technique, conditioning, and creative understanding through floor barre, ballet technique, composition, and play studies. With increased weekly training, dancers begin learning the forms, positions, footwork, and turnout principles that shape classical ballet, while continuing to build confidence, curiosity, and healthy movement habits.
Preparatory
Ages 9–10 | 8 hours per week
Preparatory marks a dancer’s first step into more dedicated classical ballet training at Adage Ballet Academy. Students build a strong technical foundation while developing coordination, control, musicality, body awareness, and artistic expression. The curriculum introduces ballet technique, pre-pointe preparation, conditioning, yoga, and ballet theory, helping dancers understand ballet as both an art form and a discipline. This tier prepares students for future pointe work and more advanced training through a nurturing, structured, and focused approach.
Primary
Ages 11–18 | 13–17 hrs per week
Primary is the central training tier at Adage Ballet Academy, guiding dancers through the essential years of technical and artistic development. Divided into three progressive subdivisions — Foundation, Essentials, and Advanced — this tier supports each dancer’s growth in classical technique, pointe work, musicality, strength, movement quality, and performance readiness. Students progress at their own pace as they deepen their understanding of ballet, develop greater responsibility onstage, and prepare for the demands of advanced and pre-professional training.
Adagio
Ages 15+ | 25+ hours per week
Adagio Tier is Adage Ballet Academy’s highest level of training, designed for advanced dancers pursuing a professional path in ballet. This pre-professional program develops technical strength, artistic versatility, performance readiness, and career preparation through intensive training in classical ballet, pointe, partnering, contemporary work, choreography, pedagogy, and audition preparation. Dancers take on featured performance opportunities, leadership roles, and individualized mentorship as they prepare for company, trainee, second company, or collegiate dance placements.
