ABT CURRICULUM

ABT CURRICULUM

WHAT IS ABT®?

American Ballet Theatre®’s National Training Curriculum is a program for the development and training of young students that embraces sound ballet principles and incorporates elements of the French, Italian and Russian schools of training. This specialized curriculum consists of a comprehensive set of age-appropriate, outcome-based guidelines to provide the highest quality ballet training to dance students of all ages and skill levels.

ABT® is an exam-based curriculum, but distinctly not a syllabus or a one-size-fits-all. Unlike traditional ballet curriculums, ABT® Educators individually create each syllabus and each exercise based on their unique set of students each year – that means no two exercises are the same, allowing for a dynamic and developmentally appropriate dance experience.

Artistically, ABT® focuses strongly on kinetics, coordination, anatomy, and proper body alignment providing dance students with a rich knowledge of classical ballet technique and the ability to adapt to all styles and techniques of dance.

Ballet Masters Franco De Vita and Raymond Lukens developed the ABT® curriculum in collaboration with ABT®’s Artistic Advisors and the Medical Advisory Board. It is the only ballet curriculum developed alongside medical professionals, ensuring material meets dancers where they are at physically, developmentally, and psychologically. Visit the ABT Healthy Dancer Guide or ask an ABT educator at CAS to learn more!

The Healthy Dancer – ABT® Guidelines for Dancer Health was published to set the precedent for scientific and artistic cooperation in the dance world. This manual is the collective work of the Medical Advisory Board – a group of medical professionals from the fields of sports medicine, nutrition, physical therapy, and orthopedics – and the ABT® Artistic Advisors who created the ABT® National Training Curriculum. The first of its kind, The Healthy Dancer is a testament to the necessity of scientific and artistic collaboration.

This manual enables ABT® to share the best practices of healthy dance training with parents, students, and teachers around the world by addressing the needs of young dancers, both pre-professional and recreational. While focused primarily on ballet training, the advice in the manual is applicable to all types of dancers and athletes.

HOW DOES CAS APPROACH THE ABT® CURRICULUM? 

Our ABT® NTC Certified Instructors, Lori Charbonneau and Honour Stahl, submit students for examinations on a case-by-case basis once every two years.

This allows dancers to become familiar with the material, develop appropriate muscle memory, and cultivate both the mental and physical capacity to perform an examination class. The ABT® Team at CAS believes strongly in presenting students who are not only capable of passing the exam but also of achieving excellence; our educators use their discretion when submitting students to ensure the best possible experience and outcome for each dancer.

RISK

We risk by submitting our work for external evaluation.

RESTORE

We restore by taking a pause between submissions each year.

REJOICE

We rejoice by celebrating the hard work of preparing, studying, and executing exams.

ABT® Student Examinations benefit students by serving as a skill assessment to document students’ progress, build their confidence, and improve their training. Each participating student receives a rubric outlining their proficiency both technically and artistically with comments from the Examiner. Students who pass the exam will also receive an official certificate listing the level of the examination class they took along with their level of distinction – Pass, Merit, Honors, and High Honors. 

Unlike most ballet examinations, ABT® allows the home ABT® educator and Accompanist, Farida Amirhanova, in the examination room with their students throughout the examination process. Mirrors remain uncovered. ABT® also only accepts groups of students for examinations to be assessed at the same time, so no student is left alone to perform an exam and no individual examinations are conducted. This breakaway from the traditional examination style removes unnecessary barriers for students, making the experience more enjoyable, educational, and equitable. 

During the examination day, ABT® presents students with the opportunity to attend a Master Class with their examiner. This is a highly beneficial and highly sought-after element of the ABT® method as it gives small groups of students hands-on experience with a Ballet Master in the ABT® technique. 

ABT STUDENT® EXAMINATIONS

  • Regularly attend their ballet classes 

  • Adhere to the rigour and ritual required 

  • Commit to learning and memorizing the work presented by their ABT® NTC Certified Teacher 

  • Demonstrate joy in dancing and artistic presentation

HOW CAN STUDENTS PREPARE FOR EXAMINATIONS? 

Learn more about Student Examinations via ABT’s Parent’s Guide.