Every dancer has that parent or friend who asks things like, "When does your practice start?" Trust me, I know how annoying it can be. It's nice that they equate dance with sports (it is a sport, after all), but it sounds so funny to dancers. Even though there is soccer practice and football practice, there is no ballet practice.
Here's the breakdown:
A dance class is where a group of students complete movements and combinations at the direction of a teacher. Classes are usually pre-scheduled on a certain day and time and reoccur for a period of time (such as every Monday at 6pm from August through December). Classes that are scheduled last-minute (such as a class held for dancers to warm up right before a performance) are called pick-up classes. A class held one time with a well-known or celebrity instructor is called a master class or a workshop.
A lesson is a one-on-one (or two-on-one if it's ballroom or pas de deux) interaction with a student (or couple) and a teacher. The term lesson is only used in dance if it's describing a private lesson (also sometimes just called a private). Private lessons may be structured like classes with specific warm-ups, combinations, and cool-downs, or they may be more instructive (like a teacher shows the student a new step or focuses on improving one thing).
A rehearsal is a session with one or multiple dancers and either a director, choreographer, teacher, or rehearsal assistant. During rehearsals, dancers learn and practice choreography to prepare for performance. Even though dancers do practice their choreography, they rarely use the word practice to describe what they are doing. Practicing is usually called running (as in, "we will run the dance twice"). The only time the word practice is used is when referring to a very specific action, usually involving sets or props (like, "you two need to practice handing the Nutcracker to each other"). Even then, it's just as common to hear a teacher say work on instead of practice.
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