Posted by Taylor Gordon
Hi everyone!
Thanks for the warm welcome. I’m really excited to be contributing to The Winger and I hope you’ll enjoy hearing what I have to say.
I wasn’t sure what to do my first post on because it’s been a really busy summer of work, school, and dancing. I have a lot to say and I apologize in advance if my posts become long…I’m really going to try to self-edit to make things more concise (my biggest challenge as a writer). There’s a lot of issues in the dance world that I hope to touch on in this blog, but I thought I’d start off by simply describing the open classes I’ve been taking recently.
This summer I’ve been taking open adult classes around the city and with one teacher in particular. I decided that instead of going to a ballet intensive for the 13th year in a row (6 of them away from home), this summer both my body and my mind needed a bit of a break. There were other things that needed to get done as well, so I decided to remain here in the city and take classes at my leisure.
The day a few weeks back when all my friends near and far left for their dorms full of competitive bunheads I admit that I second guessed myself. I honestly can’t remember a summer without a strict schedule of plies and tendus. But this regret lasted only a minute - I am fully happy with my decision to take a break, which, it turns out, is not a break at all!
The main factor in this decision was that by the end of the spring season I was truly exhausted. I knew I needed a brief change, mentally and physically: I needed to get back to the stage where I actually looked forward to class, where my “bad turnout and flat feet” didn‘t ruin my day, where I could just dance for me.
I am thrilled to say that I found all that quite quickly in the adult classes. And, as an added plus, I’ve met new dance friends that are not in it for the competition or the self-destruction. They dance for the sake of dancing: to move, to be free, to embody music, and to have fun. Isn’t that why most of us began dancing in the first place?
To go back to these roots at this point seemed naïve at first, but as I watched some of the others in those classes I found myself to be truly inspired. Some of these adult students are far past the retirement age. Some are busy business folks. Some are stay at home mothers. Despite their age or occupation, they all share a passion for dance, and that is what I appreciate about them.
They become so involved and dedicated, just as much as the pre-professional students I’ve always been surrounded by. They work very seriously and take each combination with the concentration of a brain surgeon. They are determined (some even a bit overly so!) to get this ballet business under control.
Many are eager to go on pointe and do so successfully. At first glance with my bunions and blistered perception I wonder why on earth they would want so badly to wear those painful shoes. I spend hours a day in them and cannot wait to get them off, and here they are begging the teacher for more time on their toes. Then it hit me: we all still have that childhood dream of becoming a prima ballerina. It really is a certain internal passion which brings us all to ballet. And with these people, as jaded New Yorkers as they may be, this passion is in its purest form.
Something that surprised me most was the number of men in these classes. As ballet students we are trained to consider male dancers as gold. It is completely different with these adults. There is a far larger percentage of men in these classes compared to any children’s class. And even some of THEM go on pointe! I respect their courage, determination, and dedication for facing certain stereotypes and physical factors that prevent most men.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of all this is that these adults do pas de deux work! Regularly they meet to learn the technique and to practice traditional and contemporary choreography. They treat these classes just as seriously as the professionals treat a rehearsal - they work together to fix problems, make adjustments, and keep trying. I have been taking this class for about 6 months now and it’s so neat to see the improvement everyone has made, different from a pre-professional setting,
Sometimes I think people wonder if I’m losing my technique by taking adult classes and simply slacking off by not maintaining a strict dance schedule over the summer. The opposite is true: I really cannot wait to get to class every day, a feeling I haven’t experienced in quite a while, and I’m dancing just as much as I was during the year. I know myself and my body now and I am able to train myself with a freedom that is impossible to have in a pre-professional school or summer intensive setting.
Although these adults are not working for ballet careers they have something special - a genuine desire to dance, with no inhibitions or limitations. I can only hope that as I grow older I will continue to find that unyielding passion.
I wanted to end with this great anonymous quote I once read but can’t seem to find it. Here’s one pretty similar to it:
Beginning dancer: Knows nothing.
Intermediate dancer: Knows everything, too good to dance with beginners.
Hotshot dancer: Too good to dance with anyone.
Advanced dancer: Dances everything, especially with beginners
i can only imagine how bad it gets in the professional levels…
