When did you start doing ballet as an adult?About 3 years ago.
Did you ever take lessons as a kid?
HA – I did – as a child I was incredibly clumsy. The local ballet studio gave free classes to boys, so I took lessons. Can’t say it helped me be any less of a klutz, but I did learn to love it.
Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?
I started up again for a couple of reasons:-
-A coworker told me she’d always wanted to take a ballet class – but she was sad now b/c she was too old to try. Thats a pet peeve of mine – saying ‘I’m too old to do xyz’, if you’re not dead yet, you’re not too old. You might never be the greatest, but thats ok, you can still have fun.
-The second reason I took classes was because my elder sister had majored in theatre and dance, but as she got older she got a ‘normal’ job and has let those things go out of her life. I told her that I’d take a ballet class if she would…
Where do you take classes?
I take classes wherever I can – these days I take classes primarily at Gainesville Ballet (http://
What is your favorite part about ballet?
I love the structure, that there is a right way and a wrong way to do things – I love that for all the artistry and expression, there is a set of rules, movements, etc – that must be learned and perfected. I may never do a perfect tendu, but I know that such a thing exists – at least hypothetically.
What is your least favorite part?
petit allegro and I have a love/hate relationship. I feel like I’m just incapable of moving as fast or jumping as high (and definitely not capable of quickly jumping high) as I would like to.
Who/What is your ballet inspiration?
Since beginning adult classes I’ve gone to a number of schools – I have to say that one consistent thing is that the teachers are all amazing people – I don’t mean only that I find their dancing beautiful, but their kindness and patience is incredible. Every teacher I’ve had has done a fantastic job in showing me the right way to do things but also at showing me their love of ballet.
What motivates you to keep dancing?
That I might someday get any better at it 🙂
What are your hobbies outside of ballet?
I used to be a long distance runner but have taken a rather long break from that – I desperately need to get back to running, if only to get rid of my growing gut.
What advice would you like to give to those who want to start ballet or have just started?
Turn out starts at the hip, don’t push stretches too hard – you can hurt yourself that way, if it feels natural you’re probably doing it wrong.
What advice would you give to other guys who want to take ballet?
As a dude, you might worry that people won’t be accepting or that they will be judgmental – generally I’ve not found that to be as true as I would have thought. Reactions from others range from complete disinterest to full-fledged curiosity. Reactions from class mates vary, I have found that there is usually a class or two period where I’m not sure that my class mates are cool with the strange, ugly, bearded dude in class. If you work hard though the other students will accept you and it is a nice feeling when you feel like you’ve been accepted into the class – note of warning though, once you are accepted you may hear all kinds of conversations that you were never ready for.
A second note – as a adult student, clothing/uniform restrictions are generally more lax than they are for the younger students, so no, you probably won’t have to wear tights (although you could if you wanted to), and while almost everyone will ask you if you wear a tutu b/c EVERYONE seems to think thats a hysterical joke, as a dude (unless you’re a trockadero) a tutu is definitely out. A dance belt is a good idea though. . .
How as a whole can we encourage more guys to take an adult ballet class?
Well – I don’t really have an answer for that – I guess I have two thoughts on this:
On the one hand, I think the issue is that men see ballet as feminine, ‘artsy-fartsy’, and just generally not for men – or that the men who do it are weird. Ultimately I think men just need to be exposed to more ballet. Thats really the only way they can learn to appreciate the athleticism and precision. Outside of that, I think inviting a male friend to a class couldn’t hurt – I can’t lie, a man might go to his first class thinking it’ll be easy (or thinking it’s an easy way to meet women) but once class starts, I think that nonsense would drop out. . .
On the other hand, ultimately how to get more men involved is the same problem I feel ballet at large faces – how to get more people involved… I think the way to get more people involved in ballet is to educate the public, but that costs money that the smaller local companies and schools don’t want/can’t afford to spend on outreach, but unless the audience/enrollment grows then the budget won’t grow – in my humble opinion, it’s a problem for ballet – not just for appealing to men, but to American participation/viewership at large.
