This week’s profile is of Nellie from Knit Two, Pointe, Bake Two Together. I wrote about the awesome legwarmers she makes a couple weeks ago here.
Adult Ballerina Project: When did you start doing ballet as an adult?
Nellie: Six years ago! Sometimes it feels like yesterday though…
ABP: Did you ever take lessons as a kid?
Nellie: I did: I took ballet and tap from being about three and five respectively up to just short of eleven when I decided I’d had enough for a whole variety of reasons. A few years later a friend from school found dancing lessons and – needing something to do for the sport part of my Duke of Edinburgh’s Award – I tagged along and did stage (which involved a lot of ballet and jazz) from fifteen to nearly eighteen.
ABP: Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?
Nellie: I always regretted giving up ballet as a kid, whatever else may have gone down my childhood teacher had instilled a real love of ballet in my soul and I couldn’t really live without it. Shortly after I left university I was musing at a friend about how much I wanted to take it back up again, then I moved to London, she found a class and the rest, as they say, is history.
ABP: Where do you take classes?
Nellie: I take four classes a week divided between two studios which couldn’t be any more different if they tried!
ABP: What is your favorite part about ballet?
Nellie: There’s a feeling I refer to as ‘it’ because I don’t quite know how to put it into words but it’s when everything comes together and just feels ‘right’ and remember that this is exactly why I keep taking class.
ABP: What is your least favorite part?
Nellie: Turns to the left! No matter what I do, they just do not come together ever.
ABP: Who/What is your ballet inspiration?
Nellie: Oh my, there are so many – so, so many. I could watch Marianela Nunez of the Royal Ballet for hours on end for incredible technique and stage presence. Cassa Pancho, founder and director of Ballet Black, is also a real inspiration for proving that anything is possible.
ABP: What motivates you to keep dancing?
Nellie: I guess it’s that endless pursuit of perfection thing, the fact that there’s always something to learn or work on. And dance wear – there’s nothing like having a legit reason to splash out on new leotards 😉
ABP: Do you take any other dance classes?
Nellie: Not at the moment – I took tap back up for a while, and I tried street (I was hilariously bad). I’d like to give jazz and contemporary a try at some point though if someone could just squeeze a few more hours in my day!
ABP: What are your hobbies outside of ballet?
Nellie: Knitting (cabled legwarmers and red and white Fair Isle are my ‘thing’ at the minute), baking (there is always a need for cake), reading (mmmmmm books) and sleeping (which I never seem to manage enough of)!
ABP: What advice would you like to give to those who want to start ballet or have just started?
Nellie: Go for it, stick with it and enjoy it!
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