Primary Division
Where Ballet Begins
Our Approach
Our Approach
Primary Division
Our Primary Division is joyful, imaginative, and deeply intentional. From their first class, students are learning ballet—not as smaller versions of older dancers, but in a way designed for their growing bodies and minds.
Encompassing Pre-Primary, Primary A, and Primary B/C, the division follows the AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE® National Training Curriculum at the Pre-Primary and Primary levels. Every class is led by an ABT® Certified Teacher, using carefully sequenced, outcome-based exercises to develop posture, balance, coordination, weight transfer, spatial awareness, musicality, and focus before formal barre work begins. When working with young children, imagination gives physical ideas a shape they can understand. Music, storytelling, and structured games allow students to experience real movement concepts before they have the vocabulary to describe them.
In a game of hopscotch, students move through different combinations of one-footed and two-footed jumps, learning the five basic ways ballet jumps take off and land—movement patterns they will later recognize in formal ballet steps.
In an imaginary orchard, students reach across their bodies to pick apples from a tree and place them in a basket, developing cross-lateral coordination and finger articulation while exploring the expressive skill of pantomime.
Where Ballet Begins
What appears playful is never without purpose.
Familiar routines, thoughtful repetition, and active participation from the teacher help students
build trust, confidence, and independence. Children learn how to move as individuals and as part
of a group, how to respond to music and instruction, and how to respect their teacher, their
classmates, and the work taking place in the studio.
As dancers progress from Pre-Primary through Primary B/C, the classes gradually become more
structured. Ballet vocabulary is introduced with care, expectations become more precise, and
students take increasing responsibility for their movement. Each stage builds upon the one
before it, preparing children physically, mentally, and emotionally for the formal study of
classical ballet in Level 1A.
These students are not
simply playing until they
are old enough to begin
ballet. They are
learning ballet from the
very beginning—in a
way their growing bodies
and minds are ready
to understand.
Primary Classes
Primary Classes
Pre-Primary
PRE-K | AGES 3-4
Pre-Primary offers our youngest dancers a joyful, age-appropriate introduction to the ballet classroom through music, imaginative movement, and carefully structured play. Students begin developing posture, coordination, balance, musical awareness, and spatial understanding while learning to follow their teacher, move alongside classmates, and participate confidently in the routines of the studio.
Eligibility: Students must turn three on or before September 1.
Required Training: One 45-minute class per week
Class Size: Limited to 12 students
Tuition: $100 per month
Primary A
KINDERGARTEN | AGES 5-6
Primary A carries the imagination and active learning of Pre-Primary into a more structured ballet class. Students begin working with defined ballet positions, vocabulary, and center exercises while developing poised posture, foot articulation, balance, musical phrasing, and an understanding of direction and spacing. Floor work builds the alignment and strength they will need before barre work begins in Level 1A.
Eligibility: Students must turn five on or before September 1.
Required Training: One 60-minute class per week
Class Size: Limited to 12 students
Tuition: $115 per month
Primary B/C
FIRST AND SECOND GRADE | AGES 6-7
Primary B/C continues the same carefully sequenced material with greater precision, control, and independence. Familiar exercises are refined through clearer placement, stronger coordination, and more exact musical timing, while additional footwork, port de bras, turning, and jumping expand each student's vocabulary. This stage prepares dancers to enter Level 1A with the physical understanding and classroom readiness that formal ballet training requires.
Eligibility: Students must have completed Kindergarten.
Required Training: One 75-minute class per week
Class Size: Limited to 12 students
Tuition: $130 per month
At Western Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, the ABT® National Training Curriculum guides every Pre-Primary and Primary class.
These students are not simply playing until they are old enough to begin ballet. They are
learning ballet from the very beginning—in a way their growing bodies and minds are ready
to understand.