On this particular morning, in the sunlit Studio C, school director Lise La Cour leads an Open Division class of a dozen girls ages 10­12 through exercises at portable sets of barres arranged into two lines down the middle of the studio. The girls smoothly follow La Cour's instruction, which to an untrained ear, is a rapid-fire string of vaguely familiar French phrases. "I try to put things together so it's not only one step," says La Cour, formerly a longtime associate director with the Royal Danish Ballet, who became the school's director last September. "They're learning how to move their bodies, but also how to use their brains. If they're doing the same step all the time, they'll just be doing it the one way they're used to, and they don't think so much then. You have to use your brain when you're dancing."

The school offers three divisions: Professional, a track for ages 7­18 intended to lead to a dance career; Open, a division for ages 4­14 designed to stimulate interest in ballet; and Teen/Adult Division, a recreational category. School faculty, comprised of professional dancers and experienced teachers, decides placement in the open and professional divisions.

"It depends on how strong the body is," says La Cour of the differences in the Open and Professional Division curriculum, "because you can maybe be as young as 10 or 12 years old and come to the Professional Division if you have a strong body and a strong technique. And you can be 14 and still be in the Open Division because if you're not strong enough, you will hurt yourself."

Some of the Professional Division students go on to join the company. Many students dance their first roles in the company's annual holiday production of The Nutcracker.

At 4, the school's youngest students might seem too tiny to understand what they're studying, but these littlest ones get schooled in fundamentals. "For 4-year-olds, classes teach discipline and how to use your body and get control over your body and that you have to stand in a position and not talk," says La Cour. "Of course, we also play with them in a way that's sort of like mime—how to look sad, how to look happy."

Discipline isn't just a lesson for the youngest students but a tenet of the school, evident in everything from the strict dress code to the orderly lines in which classes enter and exit the studio.

The fine art of balancing discipline with keeping little ones engaged is demonstrated later in the day when La Cour teaches a class of girls ages 5­7. La Cour keeps the tone of the class lighthearted and easygoing as she works the students through basic concepts like the starting positions of the feet and the proper way to point toes. Jumps, however, are clearly the favorite move in this class; the students execute these most enthusiastically. When it's time for each student to receive some one-on-one instruction, the other girls remain quiet and composed—give or take a furtive wiggle.

This class is part of the ballet's outreach program, which each year brings more than 500 local schoolchildren to visit the ballet, where they receive an introductory lesson. Children who demonstrate further interest in ballet can enroll in the school's First Step class, a course that provides the students with—all free of charge—18 weeks of lessons, shoes and uniforms, even bus tokens. Students who finish the First Step classes can go on the Next Step, a pay-as-you-go program that aims to eventually integrate the students into the school's regular programs.

As regular classes conclude, the school gears up for its summer intensive session, July 7 through Aug. 2, which brings in guest teachers from other schools and dance companies and offers a wider variety of classes, including Spanish and Indian dance, even an acting class. Like the school's teen/adult general interest division, these classes are open to everyone.

Audiences can enjoy the fruits of the students' labors firsthand when the school hosts a Spring Showcase featuring more than 50 students.

The Spring Showcase takes place June 9­11 at Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley School, 40 N. First St., San Jose. Admission is $5-$10. Call 408.288.2800 for more information.