So I did what I often do, I asked my dancers.
Why do you attend ballet classes? What is the most important benefit you receive from your classes.
This is a question I have asked myself over and over again throughout my training and thereafter through my teaching career. These are some of my answers and below some of the dancers.
Amy Gould: Ballet teacher and Choreographer.
Yes I love music, I am physically very active, I love moving. Working with different body types and different ways of learning that people have one has to constantly adapt how you teach and what and when you impart your words of wisdom.
Understanding what bodies can do and what limitations there might be in an individual is an important factor in training any age of dancer.
Reading the mood of a class is vital and gently leading people to a better mind set is vital to the learning process.
Choreographically I am at my best when mixing and blending movement, music and bodies in different numbers to make patterns and create moods and tell stories. Creativity reigns supreme.
I asked some of the Adult and teenage dancers what they thought and this was their response. permission.
Bianca Mercedes Lee: I am a professional academic.
Many years ago, I was diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease and started losing the functioning of some of my organs.
Against my doctors’ advice, I joined Theatre On Main as an adult ballerina because it was my childhood dream.
Despite the difficulties of working with a complicated body, ballet has made me learn what my new body is capable of and appreciate the person I am now.
ISABELLE: Psychosocial Director (social worker)
I have always loved to dance! Ballet has the body work, discipline and structure which are fundamental to any type of dance.
Best benefit is my mental health! Ballet class is a treat for my soul.
SHAUNTEL: Data Analyst/Developer
I started ballet to infuse music and movement back into a life that had become dull and uninspiring.
During really hard weeks when you feel you have nothing left to give, but you go to the ballet class.
You show up for the beautiful personalities, which are a spark of light and joy, making the world a little less dark. The encouragement and cajoling of your classmates push you to try things you are sure you cannot do. And that is when you find that spark of extraordinary that is in each of us but so often forgotten.
Ballet is the reminder that discipline and dedication can be fun rather than just hard. And even the ordinary can create remarkable artwork with bodies and minds that can feel too old, too fragile and too mundane to be worth noting at all.
TYRA: Visual Artist
I attend ballet classes to reconnect with my body and gain a better sense of discipline rooted in the present moment.
ZARA: Teenager at High School
Doing Ballet gives me another goal to look forward to and get better at.
ADRIANE: Matric student
I’ve had this deep admiration and appreciation for ballet ever since I can remember.
I started ballet because I longed to look as graceful and beautiful as the ballerinas I had seen on stage while knowing I would have to put in a huge amount of time and effort.
I’ve done almost every sport under the sun but never has one grabbed me like ballet has.
Dancing has helped me through so many hard days in my life and is a welcome break from the chaos of schoolwork especially now that I am in my Matric year.
I have still got a long way to go in my ballet journey however I can already see how improved I have become since I started ballet four years ago.
KRISTEN: 2nd year Bachelor of Education
Even though I am returning to ballet after a few years, I still carry with me the grace and discipline that I have learned.
Ballet teaches me both physical and mental strength and there is nothing better than washing away the day’s stress with a good ballet class.
CHLOE: I have learnt ballet for plus 10 years and am a teenager at high school.
Ballet is my safe place.
It’s an entire world on its own and to be part of it is a blessing.
I dance because I ‘long to’. I dance for myself. I find joy in complicated steps and feel excited when my body breaks its own personal record.