Calling all Philly Ballerinas and Instructors!

Not that I don’t love my friends and readers from all over the country (and the globe!) I’m just looking to connect with some ballerinas locally.

If you’re an adult ballerina from Philadelphia (or the surrounding area) I’d love to hear from you! I’m trying to find more adult ballerinas in the area to set up workshops, meetups, and maybe even a performance.

Even if you just think you might want to do ballet, shoot me an e-mail! I’d love to hear from you!

If you’re an adult ballet instructor whose interested in helping me set up any of these things, please contact me as well. I’d really like to focus on expanding the adult ballet community here.

My e-mail is adultballerinaproject@gmail.com! Don’t hesitate to e-mail me if you have any questions!

English: .

English: . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ballerina Profile: Kristen Gillette

Me “stretching” (the railing was low) by Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia.

That’s right, me. I’m still in the process of getting a few interviews back, so in the meantime, I figured I’d share some information about myself that I haven’t posted here before.

I started doing ballet in March of 2012. I took a class once a week at Philly Dance Fitness for a while before I was living in two places this summer (Allentown and Philadelphia) and could only manage the occasional class at Koresh Dance Studio. I started going two times a week (or more, I’m at 3 or 4 now) in the beginning of September.

I took classes for three years as a kid, at about age 4. I quit after year three because my parents moved us to dance classes held in the basement of a church and not a “real” dance studio. I wasn’t a fan of the move, and I quit.

I’ve wanted to take adult classes for over a year now. It wasn’t until my boyfriend helped push me into finally buying a pair of ballet shoes that I finally got over my fears of being the “new girl” in class and finally signed up.

I take classes at both Philly Dance Fitness and Koresh Dance Studio. I started at Philly Dance Fitness, and I love my instructor, Beverly, for being as welcoming as she is to new students. I started taking classes at Koresh to get more of a “real studio” feel, and I love both, although Koresh is super challenging sometimes for a newbie.

My favorite part of ballet is turns. Currently, I can only land en dedan pirouettes (which my instructors rarely seem to work on). But I love working on them, and turns are my favorite thing to work on at home.

My least favorite part is jumps. I was FINALLY getting a handle on them a while ago, but now they

On the Race Street Pier in Philly.

I want to take modern jazz classes. Otherwise, I’ve only taken one hiphop class (and the studio stopped offering them). Koresh offers a variety of classes, and I’ve meant to take modern jazz but the class is labeled “beginner” scares me. I take an intro to ballet class there and that is tough enough as it is.

My hobbies outside of ballet including writing, TV, and crocheting. I ran a TV blog when I was younger on Blogger.

My advice to new beginners is DON’T GIVE UP. Although your first experience in a dance studio can be nerve-racking and you might not do so hot, COME BACK anyway. You’ll get better. I’ve noticed that a lot of people  show up for their first class and never return. Just remember that everyone had to start at some point.

Anything else you’d like to know about me?

 

About The Adult Ballerina Project

Welcome to The Adult Ballerina Project. My name is Kristen Gillette, and I took ballet classes as a child for roughly 3 years. For ages, I debated getting involved in any one of the numerous ballet classes offered in Philadelphia, but I was too nervous to actually go through with it. In April of 2012 with a little encouragement, I finally faced my fears, bought my first pair of ballet slipper since age 5 and began taking classes at Philly Dance Fitness. I instantly fell in love, although I was never any good at it.

Starting ballet classes as an adult is terrifying. My goal with this site is to help those who are looking to start ballet as an adult gain the confidence to do so, as well as give some tips to get the most out of taking adult ballet classes. With this will come videos, advice from instructors, profiles on fellow beginner and adult ballerinas (including you, if you want!) and photos showing the hard work adult beginners are doing.

Check out my blog with my own personal experiences at Awkward at the Barre.

If you have any questions or would like to contribute to the site, feel free to shoot me an e-mail at adultballerinaproject@gmail.com or leave a response below.