Because the chassé is often neglected during the execution of this traveling step, Judy Rice asks her students to do a minimum of a six-inch chassé before transitioning into the pas de bourrée. She encourages dancers to pay close attention to their shoulders and hips in effacé, too. “Kids tend to open it up. They look like they’re fencing,” she says. “You don’t want that.” Both shoulders and hip bones should be facing the corner.

Judy Rice is an associate professor of dance at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She trained at the National Ballet School of Canada and performed with the Joffrey Ballet, the National Tap Dance Company of Canada and American Ballet Comedy. She is on faculty with Artists Simply Human (ASH) and Industry Xperience dance conventions, and she guest teaches at studios, conventions and companies nationwide. She is the co-founder of Behind Barres, a series of CDs and instructional DVDs for ballet class.

Olivia Cece is an assistant teacher/demonstrator with ASH.