Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 11/4/2007

Question
Hello,
Before I decided to ask this question I looked to see if anyone asking the related question anywhere near my age. I didn't find anyone here.

Well, here we ( I feel silly) go. I will be ( 39) this month of November. I ballet danced around 10 until I was 15 years of age. I always loved it.  I attend the Atlanta ballet ( nutcracker) every year. I'm 117 pounds and I am 5'4.  The reason I am tellign you this is because I am serious about going back to ballet.  I 've purchase my shoes already.  I'm not really sure what my limit should be in taking this class. I'd love to teach it oneday but fear I am too late.  I'd only want to teach little girls. As far as exercise I haven't been consistant with that until I decided that I wanted to dance again. The exercises only involve stretching and lifting 5 pound dumb bells. If anything I know taking a ballet class will be great exercise, stress reliever and it will give me strength.  But if I happen( by a miracle) to end up being grea at it can you give me some things I could do to always keep ballet in my life going forward.  I'm not interested in attending some big college four 4 years.  I don't think I'm cut out for all the books anymore to get to do something I love.  What I want is something tha focuses on dancing only..not math social studies..blah blah

I would love your feedback.  May be my question will help others my age find direction in life.  My life has been a wreck and I finally want to do something I shouldn't have ever put off.  

Thanks  

Answer
Hi Daralynn. I think you have a dream that can be fulfilled.

There are teachers courses at all the major schools and regional schools. Some present the R.A.D. method, some the Cecchetti for example. You can learn the grade material as a teacher. This means that when you do the exam your technical prowess is not as important as your grasp on theory.

Even small town ballet schools do the grades and exams and you can probably do 2 or 3 at once and collect credentials.

Do a search for ballet teachers courses - I bet a lot will come up.

In the meantime, take ballet classes and see how it goes. You can do extra stretching with yoga and Classical Stretch.2 DVDs I recommend on http://www.theballetstore.com are Yoga Mind and Body with Ali McGraw and the Classical Stretch Full Body Workout. They are fabulous for the days you don't have a ballet class or another workout. The yoga one is quite strenuous, tho' you always work at your own level.

I encourage you to go forward with this because you don't have to gain the technical expertise you could have if you were 25 years younger. You just have to learn what it is supposed to be, and how to teach it. You can learn that by assisting an experienced teacher, which is also a good way to pay for classes.

Carole Chadwick came to the National Ballet School of Canada when she (my guess) was close to 40. She trained vigorously and did the Cecchetti grades as a teacher. She never became advanced, but was a wonderful teacher for the younger classes, and she became Assistant Principal to Betty Oliphant. How's that for a late start success story? She did have a ballet background, but not in the professional area.

So you never know how far you can go!

Let me know if I can help you further.

(And I have to say this) Check with your doctor before starting an exercise regimen.... etc.

A brief follow up - I've recommended to almost everyone to read my articles and blog entries at http://www.theballetstore.com You have to create a user name to log in to see all the blog entries - your privacy is safe! I really apologize that I didn't tell you this - I'm not a technical person!