Every now and then people write to me and share the story of their First Ballet Class.
The Adult Beginner loves that!
It’s so neat to see the first plié through someone else’s eyes, amIright?
How it was different, how it was the same, that whole, “Yes, me too, I felt like that too!” feeling?
So I was thinking it would be neat to have some place where people can share their First Class stories and it might even be fun for people who haven’t had a first class yet to be able to read other people’s stories and be like, “ok, that’s not so scary”, or maybe even be like, “yikes, that is totally scary! But intriguing!”
Some place…
Like maybe a page on a blog?
Hey!
So, hey, wanna play?
If you’d like to tell about your first ballet class ever, or your first class as a returner, or your first class with a new teacher or new style of ballet, or link to your First Class Story on your own blog, I would really love to read it and I bet other people would too.
- got a question? I might answer with a post! adultbeginner@gmail.com
✱ all this and twitter too‽
- @UKBalletGirl I dream of five hours of sleep. 6 days ago
- I love shopping for things in Ballet Pink. 1 week ago
- @CloudandVictory will totes look for Chacott! In the meantime, have ordered a pair of convertible Capezios. 1 week ago
- "You must spend x amount more dollars to qualify for free shipping". Perfect. Pink tights added to cart. 1 week ago
- Need new tights. GRUMPY FACE. 1 week ago
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✱ you might have missed…
✱ break it down:
badger badger badger badger
- Rheumatic Princess
- Dance Buzz
- Ballet Scoop by the Classical Ballet Teacher
- Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes
- Tights and Tiaras
- Wandering Apricot
- Tutus and Tea
- Ballerina Project
- Interpreting en pointe
- Behind Ballet
- Grown Ups at the Barre
- Adult Ballerina Project
- Rori Roars
- 4dancers
- Leotards and the Buns in them
- Pointe 'till You Drop
- my lil ballerina
- The Ballet Bag
- Dave Tries Ballet
- Thanks & Kittens
- The Classic Girl
- Ballet Cougar
- Dance Advantage
mushroom mushroom
And just for fun, here’s the post about my first class with Smirnoff, and my first and last class with Scary Ghost Teacher
I started taking ballet at the beginning of this semester (I am a freshman in college). I walked in and thought, “Oh God, skinny girls. Oh God, they’re stretching. OH GOD NO.” But to my surprise, the heavier girls in the class–who aren’t fat by any normal standards–were much better dancers. Ballet isn’t just about being skinny and delicate; it takes A TON of athleticism.
Thanks, Adult Beginner, for a fun blog full of wit and wisdom. Here’s my first class back after twenty years away story:
I wore my twenty year old ballet slippers, and thought my feet looked like two sad slices of ham. I also wore a twenty-year-old leotard. Turns out, the eighties look is NOT a going trend in ballet fashion (high cut leg line, slightly shiny material); good thing I had my yoga pants on over the ‘tard, or I would have looked really dumb, especially where I live, in a super religiously conservative community where I, a city person from another planet already feel like a huge freak.
And yes, it was me (41 years old at the time), and about twelve young women under the age of 25. But hey, at least I wasn’t pregnant with my fifth kid.
The weird part for me was that even though I knew what all the names of the steps meant, I still could not do them. Fortunately, the teacher, a 25 year old perky ex-cheerleader type, said right up front, “It’s going to come back in about two weeks.” How did she know this? I don’t know. But she was right.
So, here I am, 43 years old, dancing en pointe again, and happy to get this from one of my work colleague’s 12-year-old daughters (I had to make up a class with the teens one day): “That old lady you work with is pretty good, for a grownup.”
So keep dancing, that’s what I say. It’s so much more fun now than it ever was when I actually thought I was going to be a ballerina.
My first balle class after 30+ years was a year and a half ago… age 43. I don’t know what possessed me to go to an Adult Ballet Class, but there I was staring at my middle age- 20 lb overweight self in the mirror and it was a big wake up call for me. I was not taking good care of my self and embarressed. I regreted leaving dancing behind in school.. have always loved ballet so there I was! After my first class I could barely walk to my car.. my muscles were in shock. I may have changed schools but I rarely missed a week of class since. Recital next Sunday.. hey I am also taking pointe classes now… Living the dream… it’s never too late.
My first ballet class was a year ago. I won’t count the adult class because it once one hour, once a week, and far too recreational for my tastes. I wasn’t even sore after the first class because I wasn’t doing anything correctly since I wasn’t being shown. But my first one was a private lesson with a teacher two years younger than me at 18 (now 19!), but she’s amazing, so I don’t age discriminate. Now I came in totally naturally flexible, but when she had me due the splits and encouraged me to reach further, I overstretched my tendon/ligament/something because I was totally limping to my car. The next day, I was so sore I fell every time I tried to sit. But eleven months later at 21 I’m practically a Barbie doll with my flexibility, already en pointe, and am taking four hours a week now (two private, two classes at another school), and will be stepping up to nine a week over the summer, then possibly 7-9 hours a week during fall semester. I’m a beginner pointe student taking intermediate technique classes with kids (well, the pointe at private lessons), so don’t feel intimidated about dance class, especially if you can’t find an adult program. I love the kiddies I dance with. Further story here: http://thedancingwriter.blogspot.com/2012/05/preface.html.
I started taking The Bar Method recently and just became so intrigued with the precise movements and having to be aware of posture and position. I love detail and this has made me so curious about ballet. Sooooo, I am signed up for an Adult Beginners class and am starting June 25th. I am so happy that there are others like me. All of my friends are like “oh here she goes” (recent undertakings were singing, ice skating, running a half marathon, writing, etc etc). I like to mix it up and keep it fresh yo! Life is too short to say maybe another time or I’m not skinny enough or flexible enough etc. I cannot wait to go at it! Love your blog, it is so much fun.
My first adult ballet class was TONIGHT. I took ballet for about 5 years as a child (I’m now 30). I emailed the instructor prior to the class and she told me not to be nervous… Yeah right. I was a bundle of nerves tonight. I walk in, introduce myself to a few people and do some stretches, basically just copying what other people are doing…
Then class starts and OH MY GOD. I don’t remember ballet being so hard! I couldn’t follow anything. I didn’t know what to do with my arms and spent most of the class looking like an idiot. I bailed out after an hour.
Am I the only one who has felt this intimidated? We didn’t go over positions or anything. It was like okay, time to dance across the room in front of anyone! I’m so frustrated. This couldn’t be the first class. Really, please tell me this wasn’t the very first class. Otherwise, I must accept that ballet is soooo not in my future.
What level were you taking? Was this a beginning adult class or an open one? If you take an open one, you’re more than likely not going to receive any instruction at all. I took an open adult class and was frustrated because I wasn’t learning anything, so I switched to private lessons. Now I’m doing a grade four summer intensive–which is technically the beginning of grade five, above my actual level but I’m not doing too bad keeping up (there are six levels)–while also doing private lessons twice a week for a total of nine hours a week. If you find a real, genuine beginner class or a good class period, it shouldn’t leave you feeling frustrated. Ballet is hard, yes, but it shouldn’t be so hard that you feel like you’re doing something beyond your level. My first class ever did not leave me feeling frustrated. It left me feeling sore, but I wasn’t doing anything insane.
I have no idea. It was the beginning summer session of an open adult beginner ballet class. I don’t want to just give up! I was expecting to relearn the positions and how to do a plie at the barre. But nooooo…. we had to do chaines and arabesques across the floor in groups of five. Very upsetting
Well, if this was a beginning summer session, and an open class at that, then you can assume the adults doing it are on the cusp of the intermediate level or beginner advanced level. This is how my summer intensives are functioning. The grade four over the summer is a continuation of the grade four that has been going on all year, so we’re being introduced to grade five stuff that will happen starting fall.
So you can either keep attending this class or you can wait until the fall for the open beginners class, which likely will take you back to the beginning. A lot of the adults in your open beginners class over the summer are probably going to be moving up a level come fall.
At least, this is what it sounds like to me.
Hi Leigh!
This might not be the class for you, but that doesn’t mean Ballet is not for you.
Try sending another email to the teacher, explain that the class was above the level you were expecting and ask if she/he can recommend a class or studio that would suit you better.
You are brave! You went back after years off! High-five to you! Don’t despair!
Even in my wonderful ballet basics class that I now love, we did chaines in my first class. I wouldn’t say I left frustrated, but it was intimidating. I think being ok with looking like an idiot at first is helpful when starting ballet. It gets better!
I finally started dancing again after a 15 year hiatus after dancing 7+ hours a week as a kid. Yes, of course, there were 16 year olds in my adult class… Anyway, I’m proud of myself for keeping up and generally not looking like a water buffalo. Turns were a little rough (hello spotting?), but I did manage a passable foutte! However, after attending class #2? I managed to tear my gastrocnemius and now shall be sporting a walking boot for six weeks. Not the footwear I was hoping for! So happy to have found your blog! It makes me warm and fuzzy to know that there’s a whole group of adults who dance because they’ve fallen in love with it.
I’m going to start my story as an adult beginner off at the age of 28 at a studio called JovoDance run by the talented fabulous Scott Jovovich. I knew I wanted to dance and not just some weekly beginner adult class. I wanted a challenge. I wanted to dance en pointe no matter what it took. I needed a studio that would take me seriously and give me the chance to pursue my dream. Prior studios limited me to classes with older students where the curriculum was already beyond me, other places provided little instruction and allowed for less than ideal technique. Some studios provided ballet classes but you could tell this was not their primary focus. It was a blessing when i finally found JovoDance. I started off in their teen/adult ballet class but made it clear I wanted more. My natural flexibility gave me an advantage that limits some adult beginners but I loved learning, loved finally getting corrections, loved that I was seen as something more than just a source of money. They started me off where there was openings but it became clear that I would have to climb the curriculum to get to where I wanted to be. This meant starting in Ballet I – wearing a lavander leotard and taking class with 2 girls easily 20 years younger than me but I didn’t care and in fact I loved it. When registration opened again I signed up for every class that I was allowed to take, some classes required the instructors permission but I wanted to show that I meant business. I was taking every ballet class I was allowed to take, I was taking modern 1 and modern 2,contemporary and jazz and eventually acro, tap, hip-hop AND pre-pointe/pointe 1. Do what you love. Stick with it. Find a studio that will take you serious it makes such a difference. I’ve since moved and am looking for a new studio I can call “home” again. I’m very excited to be taking ballet, modern, contemporary, pointe, jazz and conditioning in about 2 weeks at this new studio, though JovoDance will always be considered home to me.
Well I am a very adult beginner, 51 yrs old plus, and have been taken classes for the last 7 months and absolutely love, love it. I did take a semester in college, 30 yrs ago, but never thought of continuing because ??? I wonder. I can’t get enough. I have always been active, and saw an ad in the paper for a begining ballet work out, just thought it was some type of work out routine, and wow is it! I walked out of class so excited, like I had just found something I had lost. I was taking 3 classes a week and was looking forward to a 4th, and going to a very traditional ballet school to learn technique, when I twisted my foot in class on a jump and broke a foot bone, the 5th Metarasal. It just broke my heart to have to stop for 6-8 weeks. I had surgery last friday, 2 screws to bring the bone back together. Looking so forward to being back to class, and a little more careful about placement.
Dear Esther
I am also a very adult beginner, to be 51 by the end of March. I have never dreamt of dancing ballet myself, but then suddenly, by coincidence, I’m there! I was looking for a fun dance class that fitted my scedule and when the best choice was ballet, why not try? I’we had four lessons by now, and it’s really fun! I picture myself never stopping, just keeping on dancing into my old age! By the way, my husband loves it too! He very much enjoys the feminine curves I bring into our home, while practicing some moves now and then. Even better, he – and mee too, already can tell that the strengthening of my inner body enhances our common pleasures! (if you know what I mean!).
I hope your injury by now has healed up just perfect, and that you are enjoying the dancefloor again. All the best to you!
hello yesterday I did my first blog it will be mostly about my experience dancing as an adul I am 23 right now you can read it in
http://elizaand99.blogspot.com/
I’m 24 and starting out as a complete non-experienced beginner. Not only did I attend a ballet class for the first time ever today, but I was filmed for footage to go on the dance studio’s website. Not as dodgy as it sounds, but I’m mentally a bull in a china shop, which would have definitely come across on camera. After all, my body has developed bad habits which have been horrifically honed over the last 24 years! Didn’t help that the other girl had natural grace and strength; her brain and body were in a better marriage than mine. I can’t tendu because of my flat feet – so I keep forming a sickle with my non arches as opposed to elooooongating them. Also, I can’t remember the terminology but we swung our legs from side to side, front to back to “oil” our hip bones – couldn’t do this to save my life! But I enjoy the challenge so much. Making my brain work and think about what my body is doing, but not thinking too much so it hinders my body’s fluidity. Working every muscle and the battle for excellent posture. These are keeping me going.
Can this flat footed, uncoordinated 24 year old girl make it…your blog is giving me hope!
Another truly ‘adult’ beginner here! Hadn’t taken class since I was 28, and decided at 55 I was going back (after a few years of weekly pilates). Fortunately we have an excellent choice of schools around here and I went to observe one class of Adult Beginner. Tears of happiness came to my eyes when the waltz step began. Something in classical ballet pulls on my soul to join the dance. So I began to take 2-3 classes each week. Flexibility has been frustratingly slow to return, and my goal is to again be able to do the splits, at least on the floor, if not en l’air in jete LOL! My first goal was to remember the traveling combination long enough to make it across the studio.
Recently an outstanding teacher returned to our studio to teach again. She is a stickler for detail and correct placement and technique, and safety. Most of us in this class (which meets twice a week for 90 minutes) are quite ‘adult’, but we do have some 20-somethings who are regulars. I have no desire to dance en pointe, (although one of the women in my class still does at 60+), but a yearning to have a passable ‘line’ with artistic and musical expression.
Your blog is a delight, and I hope you continue to dance through motherhood. But even if you must take a hiatus, you will always have a place at the barre when you return to class. And your heart will sing when you do.
Oops! meant to say that it will be two years next month since returning to ballet class.
I just recently moved to a tiny, tiny town and there is only one ballet studio here. I have wanted to start doing ballet for a long, long time and since I now live somewhere with nothing else at all to do, and lots of spare money to do it with, I thought the timing was perfect!
So I started class in September. I am the only adult taking classes at the school. I am in grade 1 (Cecchetti) with a bunch of 8 year-olds. They’re all adorable. Except for one, who jumps up and down with her hand raised every time the teacher asks a question, and who is constantly bragging about how she did a combination just like this at that workshop she went to last summer, etc etc etc. But they all seemed to be just fine with having a random grown-up thrown into the mix, who doesn’t know anything and keeps asking all these questions that they’ve already known the answer to for YEARS.
In my non-syllabus class, I am with middle schoolers. Who are all going through the phase of being too good for everything, but make me absurdly jealous of how pretty their turns are even while focusing almost entirely on making sure you’re aware that they are suffering terrible ennui.
I love your blog! So funny and entertaining! Not sure if this is the right place to post a question, but there’s lots of adult beginners here, so someone must have an answer! I live in a very small town in Montana, after checking out all the dance studios in my area, there is not a single adult beginner ballet class! I’ve been looking on and off for a year now, and no changes. I’m starting to think my only option is to start with the little kids. Has anyone started ballet in the beginner child class? I’m terrified to be the taller than everyone, more inexpirienced than anyone, 21 year old dancing will all the 5 year olds.
Hey Shelby,
I actually just posted my “beginner story” a couple days ago, about starting with little kids. There’s only the one dance studio in town, and there are no other adults with me. Don’t be terrified, though. The kids honestly don’t care at all. They hardly notice you.
The plus side to starting with kids, I’ve found, is that a lot of times the instructors will give you a little extra feedback, partially because they know you can handle it and apply it, and partially because I think it’s nice for them to be able to talk to someone who’s not a 5 year-old every once in a while.
It is stressful at first, coming into class with a bunch of little ones who have been dancing for practically their entire lives, but trust me when I say they have things to work on, too. They may have heard the terms for things before, and they do tend to pick up combinations a little quicker than adults, but they very rarely are able to really truly apply corrections quickly, and with any amount of consistency. You have that going for you! And the kids are just there to have fun. There’s no cattiness, no judgmental eyes. They are 100% uninterested in you. And that’s nice, for an absolute beginner. It really keeps the tone of class light and relaxed.
I say go for it! And maybe if you start, some other adults will see what you’re doing and realize they could be doing it, too! If you get enough people interested, they may start an adult class for you!
Your blog is wonderful. Thanks so much for being so hilarious (and for stocking the blogroll.) I’ve been reading for a few months, and finally took a class last Friday. And then wrote about it for posterity.
In summary: Melodramatic 23-year-old ex-varsity athlete falls in love with ballet but is frustrated by the casual/recreational level of the class. Wants more.
http://wunderwear.livejournal.com/2013/01/27/
(No guarantees that it’ll ever be updated again, but I’ll be around. Yay adult beginners!)
And before anyone gets too excited, girl-Ryan, not guy-Ryan.
My first class was as follows:
I was freakin’ nervous.. didn’t know what to wear. “Just wear something comfortable” she said.
Comfortable? Do I even have comfortable clothing that won’t rip or tear when I lift my leg higher than 25 degrees?
I decided on wearing a black t-shirt dress thingy, with some leggings. I didn’t remember much from my early years of ballet, only the positions of the legs and arms. I felt like a complete moron, idiot, disabled person, whatever you want to call it. These women were all older than I was but could frappé and battement like crazy!!
However, I got the hang of it and I knew I was hooked.. Now doing pointework, something I had never expected to do!
For all you starters and beginners: There is hope!!!!!!
The morning I woke up before taking my first class, I realized I’d forgotten to bring the top and sports bra I meant to wear, so I had to do the class in a camisole with a built-in bra, and some leggings. I felt incredibly naked.
Then, I took the studio at its word when it said that their “Beginner” classes were for people with no ballet experience, and “Beginner II” was for people who maybe danced as children. I took ballet when I was 5 (I’m 30 now). Okay, so they start barre exercises, and I’m like “Nope, not going to keep up here,” so I raised my hand, asked where the lower-level class was, and slipped out. Real beginner class was already in progress. After realizing I had forgotten everything except first and second positions, I managed barre work.
Center work was worse. Reverence was the worst. I didn’t know any of the combinations and my body just didn’t move with the timing. But I made it. It’s not good for things to be too easy, right?
Well, my second class was worlds away. I was familiar with the combinations. I could do some of the center work. I had this. One of the women who was new to the class that day was complaining during break so I whispered “Hey, it’s only my second class; it gets easier” and she seemed comforted.
It’s been only 2 months of going about twice a week, and I feel much better. I even did a Beginner II class a couple weeks ago and mostly kept up!
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