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  • My name is Maegan Woodin, and I'm a professional dancer, choreographer, teacher and student.

  • I have danced for MTV, Diana Ross, Marc Jacobs and have appeared in many music videos. You

  • can find more information about me and my career, as well as photos and videos, at www.dgtnyc.com.

  • I'm going to be talking to you about ballet. The five basic positions of ballet are the

  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. So first position is when your toes are apart

  • and your heels are squeezed directly together. A lot of people try to turn out the toes too

  • much, and this creates stress in the knees, so follow your natural turnout line, and stand

  • fully supported, very tall, making sure you're not rolling onto the inside of your foot,

  • or rolling to the outside. Make sure that your feet and your weight are directly over

  • and centered onto your toes. And then your arms are going to be like a round beach ball,

  • and you should have your arms directly in front of your belly button not too high and

  • not too low so directly in front of your belly button, your chest is open and your shoulders

  • are down and you are engaging your back, and you stand in first position.

  • Second position, your arms and legs are out to the side, and you actually want to gauge

  • the length of your second position by putting one toe next to your heel, then opening it

  • up, and then extending it a little further. you shouldn't have too wide a second position,

  • or too narrow, because you wont be fully supported when you're moving around in that position.

  • Second position arms are rounded and slightly forward, you dont want to throw your arms

  • too far back, so keep them nice, round, and forward, and that's second position.

  • Third position is used on a very basic level. It is when you are practicing to get to fifth

  • position. You want to put your heel in the centre of your foot, and stand with both feet

  • firmly on the ground, feet turned out. Your arms are going to come one high above your

  • head and one directly to the side. Make sure that both arms are rounded and that your chest

  • is lifted and your neck is long.

  • Fourth position, your leg comes out, and your heel is going to try to become in front of

  • that toe, and your arm is going to be coming in front of your belly button. We want to

  • make sure that your fourth position is not too wide, just like second position, and not

  • too narrow. You want to have a pretty narrow fourth position, which will help you when

  • you do turns in the centre. Fifth position, both arms are up very high,

  • and your chest is open, shoulders down, and your feet and heels are going to be connected.

  • You don't want to try to squeeze your turnout and make both feet and heels connected fully,

  • you want to follow the natural line of your turnout, and make sure that when you pliet,

  • your knees are going directly over your toes.

  • So standing in fifth position, your arms are going to go all the way up, like this, and

  • thats high fifth, and then low fifth, your arms are down here.

My name is Maegan Woodin, and I'm a professional dancer, choreographer, teacher and student.

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