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How to fold an origami ballet class

A dance studio to stand up. Fold a framed mirror, a barre on legs, a window, an upright piano with keys, three ballerinas with swinging tutus and their teacher.

You need: Pink A4 and about 28 smaller pieces: brown, pale blue, lilac, dark purple, pale pink, skin-tone, pink, purple and teal (sizes in steps). Glue, pens.. Challenge, 85 steps, about 100 minutes.

Steps

  1. Wall: crease the middle. Start with the wall: a pink A4 sheet lying long. Fold it in half, short edges together, and open it. It bends on this crease to stand.
  2. Floor: new sheet. Set the wall aside. For the floor, take a 29.7 × 3.7 cm light brown piece, brown side up.
  3. Floor: soft ends. Fold both top corners behind, 1.5 cm along each edge.
  4. Mirror: new sheet. Set the floor aside. For the big mirror, take a 15.6 × 13 cm pale blue piece, blue side up.
  5. Mirror: frame top and bottom. Fold the top and bottom edges in 9 mm. White bands show.
  6. Mirror: frame the sides. Fold the side edges in 9 mm too: a white frame round the blue glass.
  7. Mirror: round the corners. Fold the four corners behind, 1 cm along each edge.
  8. Barre: new strip. Set the mirror aside. For the barre, take a 29.6 × 2 cm brown strip, white side up.
  9. Barre: fold in half. Fold the strip in half along its length, top edge down to the bottom edge.
  10. Barre: thin rod. Fold it in half along its length again: a stiff brown rod.
  11. Barre: legs down. Fold both ends straight down on 45° folds, 7.6 cm from each end, so they stand as the barre's legs.
  12. Window: new sheet. Set the barre aside. For the window, take a 7.5 cm lilac square.
  13. Window: curtain rail. White side up, fold the top edge down about 1 cm. The lilac band is the curtain rail.
  14. Window: window sill. Fold the bottom edge up about 8 mm: the window sill.
  15. Window: close the curtains. Fold the left and right edges in, about 2 cm each, so they nearly meet in the middle. Two lilac curtains.
  16. Window: tie them back. Fold each curtain's inner bottom corner out on a long slant, from near the top to the sill. The curtains open and the window shows.
  17. Piano: new sheet. Set the window aside. For the piano, take a 6.6 × 12.8 cm dark purple piece, white side up.
  18. Piano: case and keys. Fold the top edge down 3.4 cm and the bottom edge up 2.6 cm. A white band 8 mm tall stays between: the keys.
  19. Piano: shape the case. Fold the lower case's sides behind on slants, 5 mm in at the bottom, so the keys stick out. Fold the top corners behind 1 cm.
  20. Ballerina 1: legs: new strip. Set the piano aside. For the first ballerina's legs, take a 9.1 × 0.8 cm pale pink strip, white side up.
  21. Ballerina 1: legs: fold in half. Fold the strip in half along its length, top edge down to the bottom edge.
  22. Ballerina 1: legs: turn them down. Fold both ends down on slants 4 mm either side of the middle, so they hang a little apart as two legs.
  23. Ballerina 1: arms: new strip. Set it aside. For the arms, take a 7.1 × 0.7 cm skin-tone strip, white side up.
  24. Ballerina 1: arms: fold in half. Fold it in half along its length.
  25. Ballerina 1: arms: pose them. Fold both ends up on slants just out from the middle, so the arms reach out like a dancer's.
  26. Ballerina 1: leotard: new sheet. Set it aside. For the leotard, take a 1.9 × 2.4 cm piece, coloured side up.
  27. Ballerina 1: leotard: slim waist. Fold the lower corners behind on long slants down to 11 mm wide at the bottom, and the top corners behind a little.
  28. Ballerina 1: tutu: new strip. Set it aside. For the tutu, take a 5.6 × 3.6 cm piece of the same colour, white side up.
  29. Ballerina 1: tutu: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge.
  30. Ballerina 1: tutu: flare it. Fold the top corners behind on long slants from 10 mm either side of the middle to near the bottom corners. It flares out wide.
  31. Ballerina 1: tutu: round the hem. Fold the two bottom corners behind a little.
  32. Ballerina 1: hair: new sheet. Set it aside. For the hair, take a 2.3 cm brown square, brown side up, turned like a diamond.
  33. Ballerina 1: hair: shape it. Fold the side corners behind on upright folds, the bottom corner behind and just the tip of the top corner behind: a bun on top.
  34. Ballerina 1: head: new sheet. Set it aside. For the head, take a 1.9 cm skin-tone square.
  35. Ballerina 1: head: round it. Fold the four corners behind, 6 mm along each edge: a round face.
  36. Ballerina 2: legs: new strip. Set her aside. Fold the next ballerina the same way, starting with her legs.
  37. Ballerina 2: legs: fold in half. Fold it in half along its length.
  38. Ballerina 2: legs: turn them down. Fold both ends down, just out from the middle, as the legs.
  39. Ballerina 2: arms: new strip. Set it aside. For the arms, take a 7.1 × 0.7 cm skin-tone strip, white side up.
  40. Ballerina 2: arms: fold in half. Fold it in half along its length.
  41. Ballerina 2: arms: pose them. Fold both ends down and out on slants beside the middle.
  42. Ballerina 2: leotard: new sheet. Set it aside. For the leotard, take a 1.9 × 2.4 cm piece, coloured side up.
  43. Ballerina 2: leotard: slim waist. Fold the lower corners behind on long slants, and the top corners a little.
  44. Ballerina 2: tutu: new strip. Set it aside. For the tutu, take a 5.6 × 3.6 cm piece of the same colour, white side up.
  45. Ballerina 2: tutu: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge.
  46. Ballerina 2: tutu: flare it. Fold the top corners behind on long slants.
  47. Ballerina 2: tutu: round the hem. Fold the two bottom corners behind a little.
  48. Ballerina 2: hair: new sheet. Set it aside. For the hair, take a 2.3 cm brown square, brown side up, turned like a diamond.
  49. Ballerina 2: hair: shape it. Fold the side corners, the bottom corner and the tip of the top behind.
  50. Ballerina 2: head: new sheet. Set it aside. For the head, take a 1.9 cm skin-tone square.
  51. Ballerina 2: head: round it. Fold the four corners behind.
  52. Ballerina 3: legs: new strip. Set her aside. Fold the next ballerina the same way, starting with her legs.
  53. Ballerina 3: legs: fold in half. Fold it in half along its length.
  54. Ballerina 3: legs: turn them down. Fold both ends down, just out from the middle, as the legs.
  55. Ballerina 3: arms: new strip. Set it aside. For the arms, take a 7.1 × 0.7 cm skin-tone strip, white side up.
  56. Ballerina 3: arms: fold in half. Fold it in half along its length.
  57. Ballerina 3: arms: pose them. Fold the left end up and the right end down on slants beside the middle.
  58. Ballerina 3: leotard: new sheet. Set it aside. For the leotard, take a 1.9 × 2.4 cm piece, coloured side up.
  59. Ballerina 3: leotard: slim waist. Fold the lower corners behind on long slants, and the top corners a little.
  60. Ballerina 3: tutu: new strip. Set it aside. For the tutu, take a 5.6 × 3.6 cm piece of the same colour, white side up.
  61. Ballerina 3: tutu: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge.
  62. Ballerina 3: tutu: flare it. Fold the top corners behind on long slants.
  63. Ballerina 3: tutu: round the hem. Fold the two bottom corners behind a little.
  64. Ballerina 3: hair: new sheet. Set it aside. For the hair, take a 2.3 cm brown square, brown side up, turned like a diamond.
  65. Ballerina 3: hair: shape it. Fold the side corners, the bottom corner and the tip of the top behind.
  66. Ballerina 3: head: new sheet. Set it aside. For the head, take a 1.9 cm skin-tone square.
  67. Ballerina 3: head: round it. Fold the four corners behind.
  68. Teacher: legs: new strip. Set the last ballerina aside. For the teacher's legs, take a 12.3 × 1.1 cm pale pink strip, white side up.
  69. Teacher: legs: fold in half. Fold the strip in half along its length, top edge down to the bottom edge.
  70. Teacher: legs: turn them down. Fold both ends down on slants 5 mm either side of the middle, so they hang a little apart as two legs.
  71. Teacher: arms: new strip. Set it aside. For the arms, take a 9.6 × 1.0 cm skin-tone strip, white side up.
  72. Teacher: arms: fold in half. Fold it in half along its length.
  73. Teacher: arms: pose them. Fold the left end up and the right end down on slants just out from the middle, so the arms reach out like a dancer's.
  74. Teacher: new sheet. Set the arms aside. For her dress, take a 7.5 cm purple square.
  75. Teacher: frilly hem. Coloured side up, fold the bottom edge up a little. The white strip is the frill.
  76. Teacher: flare the gown. Fold the two top corners behind on slants from near the middle of the top edge down to the sides.
  77. Teacher: puffed sleeves. Behind, fold the top of each hidden flap back out on a slant, so it pokes out at the shoulder as a sleeve.
  78. Teacher: top behind. Fold the whole top behind along a line just above the middle.
  79. Teacher: pinch the waist. Behind, fold it back up a little lower so the top pops up again. The step is her waist.
  80. Teacher: hair: new sheet. Set it aside. For the hair, take a 3.1 cm brown square, brown side up, turned like a diamond.
  81. Teacher: hair: shape it. Fold the side corners behind on upright folds, the bottom corner behind and just the tip of the top corner behind: a bun on top.
  82. Teacher: head: new sheet. Set it aside. For the head, take a 2.6 cm skin-tone square.
  83. Teacher: head: round it. Fold the four corners behind, 8 mm along each edge: a round face.
  84. Set up the studio. Glue the floor, the mirror, the barre, the window and the piano on the wall. Add the three ballerinas in front of the barre and the teacher.
  85. Stand it up. Bend the wall gently towards you on the middle crease and stand the studio up on the table.

And plié!

Draw happy faces, shine on the mirror, black keys and gold pedals on the piano, music notes and sparkles on the tutus.

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