Simple Ballet Positions Your Young Dancer Can Practice at Home

Quick answer

Ballet positions are the five foundational shapes of the feet, numbered first through fifth, that nearly every ballet step starts from and returns to. They were codified in 1600s France and are taught the same way worldwide, which is why studios drill them from the first class onward. Kids can safely review all five at home in about ten minutes a day, and this guide shows you exactly what correct looks like.

Key Takeaways

• There are five basic ballet positions of the feet. Ballet master Pierre Beauchamp defined them at Louis XIV's dance academy in the 1600s, according to Britannica.

• Kids usually learn first and second position early, then third, then fourth and fifth as their turnout and balance mature.

• Turnout should come from the hips, not the feet. A modest, comfortable V beats a forced flat line, especially while a child's turnout is still developing.

• Arm positions (port de bras) are a separate system that pairs with the feet; we cover them briefly here and in depth in a dedicated guide.

• Ten minutes of home review, a stretch of bare floor, and a kitchen-chair barre are enough to reinforce what class teaches.

• The two mistakes that follow kids home from class are forced turnout and rushing; short, upbeat practice sessions head off both.

What Are the 5 Ballet Positions?

The 5 ballet positions are standardized placements of the feet: heels together (first), feet apart (second), one foot half-crossed to the other's arch (third), one foot ahead of the other with a gap (fourth), and feet fully crossed heel-to-toe (fifth). You may see them called ballerina positions, ballet positions 1-5, or positions of the feet; those labels describe the same five shapes. The ballet position names stay consistent from studio to studio because they date back centuries: Ballet Arizona notes the system was developed in the 1600s under Louis XIV.

Here is the quick-reference version before we go one by one:

The Ballet Positions of the Feet, One by One

The foot positions in ballet all build on the same skill: turnout, a rotation of the whole leg from the hip so the toes point away from the midline. Lots of parents search for ballet positions names with pictures; the checkpoints below do the same job in words, so you can glance at your child mid-practice and know what to praise and what to gently fix.

First Position

Heels touch, toes point outward, and the legs form a relaxed V. This is the first position ballet teachers introduce because it teaches turnout and tall posture at the same time. A 1st position ballet stance looks the same from studio to studio: heels together, knees straight but not locked, arms low and rounded as if resting on an invisible skirt.

What you should see:

• Heels touching, or nearly touching, with weight spread across the whole foot

• A comfortable V, not a forced straight line

• Straight, quiet knees and a tall back, ribs relaxed

Common kid mistakes: cranking the feet toward 180 degrees (the ankles roll in and the knees twist), gripping the floor with the toes, and sticking the bottom out to fake a straighter back. If the knees and toes point the same direction, turnout is coming from the right place.

Second Position

Second position keeps the same turnout as first, but the feet slide apart, roughly the length of one of your child's feet between the heels. The wide base makes it the steadiest of the five, which is why so many knee bends and early balance exercises happen here.

What you should see:

• Both feet turned out at the same angle, weight even between them

• Ankles stacked upright, not collapsing inward

• Hips level, as if balancing a book on the head

Common kid mistakes: stepping out too wide, which makes rising and bending wobbly, and locking the knees backward. A quick fix is asking your dancer to bounce softly once; locked knees will reveal themselves right away.

Third Position

In third position, the heel of the front foot touches the arch, or instep, of the back foot. It exists mostly as a teaching step: a gentle introduction to crossing the legs before the tighter demands of fifth. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre notes that third is rarely used in choreography anymore, so the 3rd position ballet classes teach today is mostly a stepping stone, and many syllabi move through it quickly.

What you should see:

• Front heel resting at the middle of the back foot

• Hips and shoulders facing squarely forward

• Both legs still turned out, not just the front one

Common kid mistakes: sliding the front foot too far (which turns it into a sloppy fifth) and twisting the hips toward the front foot. Third is also easy to mix up with first from the ankles up, so check the feet, not the knees.

Fourth Position

Fourth position moves one foot ahead of the other, turned out, with a gap of about one foot-length between them. Most teachers consider it the trickiest of the five because the feet no longer touch, so the child's core has to do the stabilizing.

What you should see:

• A gap about the length of your child's own foot, front heel roughly lined up with the back toes

• Weight centered between both feet, not leaning forward

• Both heels staying down

Common kid mistakes: leaving too big a gap, pouring weight onto the front foot, and letting the back heel peel off the floor. If your dancer can hold fourth while you count to five out loud, the balance work is paying off.

Fifth Position

Fifth position crosses the legs fully: the front heel touches the joint of the back foot's big toe, so the feet look locked together. It demands the most turnout and control of the five, which is why it usually clicks last, often after a year or more of classes.

What you should see:

• Feet crossed and touching, both flat on the floor

• Straight knees, level hips, tall spine

• A cross your child can hold without wobbling or rolling the ankles

Common kid mistakes: forcing a tight cross before the hips are ready, bending the knees to cheat the feet closer, and rolling forward onto the big toes. Many teachers accept a partial cross from young beginners on purpose; a clean, comfortable fifth beats a forced one.

Ballet Arm Positions: A Quick Overview

The ballet arm positions, part of what teachers call port de bras, are their own matching system: arms held low, forward, to the side, or overhead, framing whatever the feet are doing. Depending on the school, they are numbered first through fifth or given French names like en bas (low), en avant (forward), and en haut (high), so your child's studio may use different labels than a video online.

At the beginner stage, feet and arms are taught together in simple pairings: rounded low arms with first position feet, arms out to the side with second, and fifth position arms, rounded overhead as if framing the face, once balance is steadier. Fifth arms often pair with a rise onto tiptoe, and that ballet tiptoe position is called relevé: beginners rise to demi-pointe, on the balls of the feet, while dancing on the tips of the toes (pointe) is reserved for older, trained dancers whose teacher says their feet and ankles are ready. Teachers also use the word allongé, French for "lengthened," for the elongated arm position in ballet, where the usual soft curve stretches out longer through the elbow and fingertips, often to finish a movement. The shapes matter less at first than the quality parents can spot from the couch, soft elbows and relaxed shoulders. Our guide to the 5 ballet arm positions walks through each one with the imagery kids actually respond to, like hugging a tree or sprouting wings.

How Positions Connect to First Ballet Steps

Positions are where steps live: a plié bends the knees inside a position, a relevé rises out of one, a sauté jumps from one and lands back in it, and even a showpiece like the arabesque begins from a clean, turned-out base. That is why teachers drill basic ballet positions and moves together, and why home review pays off so quickly in class. When your child is ready to see what grows out of these shapes, our walkthrough of how to do a plié correctly is the natural next read, and our guide to basic ballet moves tours the first steps, from tendu to sauté, that all launch from these five positions.

How to Practice Ballet Positions at Home

Ballet positions for beginners are ideal home practice material because they are stationary, quiet, and hard to get hurt doing, as long as turnout is not forced. A clear hardwood or other non-slip floor works well for a quick review; avoid slippery tile and socks on smooth floors. A full-sole ballet slipper gives a beginner more grip and more feedback from the floor than socks do, which is worth having once practice becomes a routine; Stelle's girls' ballet shoes cover the soft full-sole styles studios ask for.

Here is a simple ten-minute plan that mirrors how a real class is structured:

1. Warm up (2 minutes). Gentle marching, ankle circles, and reaching stretches. Cold muscles and turnout are a bad combination.

2. Position review (2 minutes). Move through first, second, and third slowly, holding each while you check the bullet points above. Add fourth and fifth only once class has introduced them.

3. Barre basics (3 minutes). A sturdy kitchen chair stands in for a barre. Pliés in first and second, then slow relevés, with one hand resting lightly on the chair back.

4. Center practice (2 minutes). Repeat the positions away from the chair, arms included. This is where the balance training actually happens.

5. Cool down (1 minute). Slow breathing, a gentle forward fold, and one big finishing bow, because dancers who end on a fun note come back tomorrow.

Two habits to coach from the sidelines: keep sessions short and upbeat rather than long and corrective, and praise effort over flexibility. Rushing and forced turnout are the two mistakes that follow kids from living room to studio.

FAQ About Ballet Positions

Who created the five ballet positions?

Pierre Beauchamp, ballet master to Louis XIV and director of the Académie Royale de Danse from 1661, is credited with defining the five basic positions of the feet, according to Britannica. That is why ballet vocabulary is still French, and why the positions your child learns match what students learn in Paris, Tokyo, or New York.

Why are there five positions in ballet?

Five positions cover the practical ways two turned-out feet can relate to each other: together, apart, half-crossed, separated front to back, and fully crossed. Between them, they give choreography a launch pad and a landing spot for essentially every step, so extra positions were not needed for classical technique.

What age do kids learn ballet positions?

Preschool dance classes, around ages 3 to 4, usually play with first and second position informally, while formal training in the full set tends to start around ages 5 to 7. Syllabi differ from studio to studio, so confirm the details with your school before signing up. Our guides to the right age to start ballet and what to expect at a first ballet class break down what those early years look like.

Is there a sixth position in ballet?

Informally, yes: the sixth position ballet students sometimes hear about simply means parallel feet, heels together with toes pointing straight ahead. It is not one of the five classical positions, but teachers use it constantly for warm-ups, jumps in modern choreography, and rest moments between exercises.

What are the ballet positions of the body?

Lists of 8 positions of ballet usually refer to the eight positions of the body in ballet, an intermediate concept that describes how the whole dancer angles toward the audience, facing front, croisé (crossed), or effacé (open), rather than where the feet go. Young beginners will not meet these for a few years, so if your child's class mentions only the five foot positions, nothing is missing.

About the Stelle Team

Stelle is a mom-trusted dancewear & athleisure brand best known for girls’ ballet and dance essentials since 2015. Every article is created and reviewed by the team behind the products, drawing on what we hear from dance teachers, studio owners, and dance parents every day. Learn more about Stelle.