The objective of this study was to combine ballet exercise and its teaching principles with physiotherapy practice for improving balance in elderly patients with balance impairment. The purpose of this study was to create theoretical and practical grounds for a balance training programme for older adults comprising ballet exercises. The study resulted in materials for a balance training programme grounded in the current literature on balance control, physiological changes in balance control associated with aging, the principles of exercise and strategies of balance control used in ballet training.

Ballet exercises were selected and modified to make them easy to learn and to serve functional purposes of daily life. The materials for the balance training programme consist of a warm up, ballet exercises which are done with and without support of the barre, jumps and a cool-down. The materials offer the grounds for multimodal training for older adults, incorporating strength training, mobility, agility, body awareness and dual and multi-tasking. The function-specific ballet exercises selected are grounded on the principles of progression, overload and individuality. Together they ensure successful learning in a group framework and allow flexibility for adjusting exercises depending on the needs of each of the participants.