Just like many other little girls, I had a dream about being a ballerina and took ballet classes as a little girl for about three years before moving on to soccer, tee-ball, gymnastics, swimming, etc. You name it, I probably tried it as a little kid.
About two years ago, I decided to take a ballet class randomly at Philly Dance Fitness after trying out one of their hip hop classes. To my surprise, I fell in love with ballet.
Me in random ballet studio about a year ago.
Starting (or returning) to ballet as an adult can be a terrifying adventure. The Adult Ballerina Project is designed to create a community for beginner adult ballerinas to come and learn about ballet as well as find dancers who are similar to themselves.
I don’t claim to be the best adult ballerina ever–in fact, I’m far from it, but I’m looking to share my journey and the journey of others. I’ve met many wonderful people because of this blog, and they’ve inspired me to keep dancing, even when faced with perpetual injuries.
The infamous boot for my stress fracture.
I’m also a runner, although some ballerinas frown on the idea. I hated running in middle school and high school–it wasn’t until about a year ago when I decided to start running. I owe Philadelphia Runner a lot of the credit for making running fun by hosting awesome events and being super supportive.
In a middle of a run on a river trail.
You’ll also find a lot of stories about friends and family since they make up my support system. My friends and family have been great workout buddies too–my sister just started running too. One of my best friends, Sarah, used to be my gym buddy when we went to college together. Even now that she lives far away, I’d like to think of her as my virtual gym buddy.
Sarah and I at our first color run.
My sister, Nicole, at my second color run.
There’s one more person you’ll be seeing an awful lot of, and that’s HQ. He’s my boyfriend, running partner, fellow dancer–he means the world to me (not to mention he’s a frequent editor of the blog). He even runs his own site about exercise, running, computers, games, and more over at Run. Play. Sleep.
HQ by the river!
What’s your story? Share it with me by e-mailing me at adultballerinaproject@gmail.com!
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