Adult Classes for the Summer

me in adult pointe class

Recently - actually, not so recently… - I’ve been taking open adult classes around the city and with one teacher in particular. I decided that instead of going to a ballet intensive for the 13th year in a row (6 of them away from home) that this summer both my body and my mind needed a bit of a break. There were other things that needed to get done as well, so I decided to remain here in the city and take classes at my leisure.

The day a few weeks back when all my friends near and far left for their dorms full of competitive bunheads I admit that I second guessed myself. I honestly can’t remember a summer without a strict schedule of plies and tendus. But this regret lasted only a minute - I am fully happy with my decision to take a break, which, it turns out, is not a break at all!

The main factor in this decision was because by the end of the spring season I was truly exhausted. An overload school schedule, internships, and performances all took thier toll. Physically my body was killing me and while I was taking excessive classes I stopped improving because I was too tired. I was having back pain through our rehearsal period and ended up finishing my final year of “ballet school” with bad Achilles tendon pain. On top of that I was truly fed up with the bunhead ballet world - the cattiness, the rejection, the ignorance, and the general outlook of it as a whole. Knowing that somehow I still want to be a part of this world and will be rejoining it in the fall, I knew I needed a brief change: I needed to get back to the stage where I actually looked forward to class, where my bad feet didn‘t ruin my life, where I can just dance for me.

I am thrilled to say that I found all that quite quickly in the classes I’ve been taking. And, as an added plus, I’ve met many new dance friends that are not in it for the competition or the self-destruction. They dance for the sake of dancing: to move, to be free, to embody music, and to have fun. Isn’t that why most of us began dancing in the first place?

To go back to these roots at my age seemed naïve at first, but as I watched some of the others in those classes I found myself to be as inspired - if not, more - than when I watch the professionals in the big companies! Some of these adult students are far past the retirement age. Some are busy business folks. Some are stay at home mothers bringing their babies to class each morning. Despite their age or occupation, they all share a passion for dance, and that is what I appreciate about all of them.

They become so involved and dedicated, just as much as the pre-professional students I’ve always been surrounded by. They work very seriously and take each combination with the concentration of a brain surgeon. They are determined (some even a bit overly so!) to get this ballet business under control.

Many are eager to go on pointe and do so successfully. At first glance with my bunions and blistered perception I wonder why on earth they would want so badly to wear those painful shoes. I spend hours a day in them and cannot wait to get them off, and here they are begging the teacher for more time on their toes. But it hit me when I read a quote in the New York Times from this teacher that said, “They have the dream in their hearts of the little ballerina girl.” It really is a certain internal passion that cannot be explained which brings us all to ballet. And with these people, as jaded New Yorkers as they may be, this passion is in its purest form.

Something that surprised me most was the number of men in these classes. As ballet students we are trained to consider male dancers as gold and, in turn, many of them think of themselves that way because they know they are in high demand. It is completely different with these adults. There is a far larger percentage of men in these classes compared to any children’s class. And even some of THEM go on pointe! I respect their courage, determination, and dedication for facing certain ridiculous stereotypes and physical factors that prevent most men from this.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of all this to a trained dancer is that these adults do pas de deux work! Regularly they meet to learn the technique of working together and to practice traditional and more contemporary choreography. They treat these classes just as seriously as the professionals treat a rehearsal - they work together to fix problems, make adjustments, and keep trying. Their persistence and devotion pays off, even if they don’t know it.

Sometimes I think people wonder if I’m losing my technique by taking adult classes and simply slacking off by not maintaining a strict dance schedule over the summer. The opposite is true: I really cannot wait to get to class every day, a feeling I haven’t experienced in quite a while, and I’m dancing just as much as I was during the year (minus the painful rehearsals). And in terms of technique I believe that this summer is the most beneficial one I’ve had yet because I can work how I want to work with a teacher whom I enjoy and who treats me like an adult. I know myself and my body now and I am able to train myself with a freedom that is impossible to have in a pre-professional school setting. I admit some of those adults give me strange looks when I’m in the back of the studio repeatedly correcting my pirouettes, but just as many surprise me by coming over to compliment me (and though I usually disagree with them, it’s a welcomed change compared to the dehumanizing glares and half compliments forced by teachers in many pre-professional classes…).

Although these adults are not working for ballet careers they have something special - a genuine desire to dance, with no inhibitions or limitations. I can only hope that as I grow older I will continue to find that unyielding passion - whether I have a career in dance or not.

I wanted to end with this great anonymous quote I once read but can’t seem to find it. Here’s one pretty similar to it:

Beginning dancer: Knows nothing.
Intermediate dancer: Knows everything, too good to dance with beginners.
Hotshot dancer: Too good to dance with anyone.
Advanced dancer: Dances everything, especially with beginners