Now Trending: Adult Ballet

What are you, five? 

They have classes for old people? 

Are you trying to get flexible for … you know? [insert obnoxious wink-nudge]

These are all things you might hear if you take ballet classes as an adult. Nevertheless, adults doing ballet, whether as first-timers, former professionals, or recreational returners, seem to be trending lately. There are several reasons for this adult ballet interest, from the current balletcore fashion trend, to the search for the next perfect workout, to pandemic lockdowns.

In her article, Adults Are Rediscovering the Joy of Ballet, Alice Robb mentions that Covid lockdowns helped make ballet less intimidating. This is because ballet dancers such as Kathryn Morgan, former soloist with the New York City Ballet and the Miami City Ballet, Tiler Peck, principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, and more began offering live and recorded classes online, via platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. This allowed people to try ballet, and sometimes fall in love with it, without the pressure of attending an in-studio class, which for many adults would have meant taking class with teenagers.

Image by Cottonbro/Pexels.com

Although I took ballet for about ten years as a child, and then for a few years again in my mid-20s and early 30s, when the pandemic hit, I was in yet another ballet hiatus. I was living and working in West Africa, and ballet classes were hard to find, let alone ballet classes that accepted adult students. My regular exercise had  included a great local traditional dance class, a Zumba class, and a Djembel class (think Zumba, but with African music). Then, we went on full lockdown. It seemed like that was going to be it for dance classes for a while, until I saw a post on my Facebook feed about a dancer named Adam Boreland, who was offering free ballet classes via Facebook Live in his group, Dance Accepts Everyone. (Full disclosure: I have since become a moderator for the group.)

I tuned in for one of the scheduled classes, and there was Adam: a friendly, funny, and extremely talented professional company dancer offering classes for free! Not only had I discovered an accepting and supportive community for dance lovers that felt like a family studio, but thanks to Dance Accepts Everyone, during the pandemic, I had the opportunity to experience master classes with professional dancers who had been Adam’s colleagues as well as with dancers like Skylar Brandt, principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater. Before this, the idea of taking classes taught by professional company dancers would have seemed like some out-of-reach dream. For me and for many others, pandemic experiences like these made ballet professionals seem more real and more human, contributing to making the art form less intimidating.

Another factor that has contributed to the increase in the popularity of ballet among adults is one that I know I relate to: Many of us enjoy the benefits of regular exercise, but the number of people who enjoy actually working out seems to be much smaller. Ballet, and other forms of dance, provide a full-body workout that doesn’t always feel like one. Over the years, I have found that I have a much easier time staying consistent with dance classes than I do going to the gym. Additionally, I seem to be much more likely to stick with other types of exercise when I see their effect on my dancing. 

Image by Madison Inouye/Pexels.com

Also, beyond the physical benefits, many adult ballet students experience other benefits. In What Can We Learn From Women Who Take Adult Ballet Classes, an article summarizing recent research on the topic, Dr. Pirkko Markula points out that engaging in ballet classes as an adult also has cognitive and emotional benefits. Activities such as remembering the patterns and combinations that are part of class help improve memory. Additionally, several participants in the study mentioned that they began to think of themselves as “ballet dancers” rather than as “old.” ballet also allowed them to experience and process emotions through artistic self-expression. For me, although my long-term relationship with ballet has been complicated, this feels familiar. When life is full of worries and overwhelming emotion, the focus and precision of ballet help me clear my head.

Overall, I think that ballet has much to offer adult dancers, such as the benefits mentioned above, and I also believe that adult recreational dancers can bring a lot to the world of ballet. For example, adults who are not only paying for their own classes, but also are not competing for spots in companies or at highly selective summer intensives are much more able to call out a toxic ballet teacher or speak up when they need modification than younger students. At the same time, as they gain an appreciation for ballet, they become more likely to support the arts. If you ask me, whether they are doing so virtually or in person, adults taking up ballet is a win-win situation. If you are an adult who’s been thinking about it, go ahead and jeté in!

Sources:

Lefroy, Emily. 2023. “Adult Ballet Classes Are the New Fitness Trend.” New York Post. February 13, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/02/13/adult-ballet-classes-are-the-new-fitness-trend/.

Markula Ph.D, Pirkko. 2023. “What We Can Learn from Women Who Take Adult Ballet Classes.” Psychology Today. February 22, 2023. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fit-femininity/202302/what-we-can-learn-from-women-who-take-adult-ballet-classes.

Robb, Alice. 2023. “Adults Are Rediscovering the Joy of Ballet.” ELLE. February 28, 2023. https://www.elle.com/life-love/a43102096/adults-rediscovering-ballet/.