I'm a 31 black adult ballet dancer myself. I did ballet for a while at a young age but it got to a point when my folks couldn't afford it always moving from place to place, school and later divorce. And now as an adult it's been a struggle to be honest to find motivation. But thankfully all the videos about adult ballet and lovely teachers that support adults helped me get my dream to be a ballerina skeleton out of the closet
Thank you so much for sharing ❤️ I am mixed black and white and doing ballet when I was younger was challenging when I felt I did not fit in and was actually why I stopped. Now as an adult I am perusing my other childhood dream of horses! I just started taking riding lessons a month ago but am so happy to be making my inner child happy and not paying attention to what others may think. Thank you for continuing that motivation/inspiration. :) I hope you enjoy your next class!
Thank you so much and so glad and happy to read that!! I wish you a lot of fun too in your horse riding lesson ♥️☺️let‘s continue showing up in places where people like us aren’t expected ✨♥️
Sorry to hear about your experience, but very glad that you're doing what you love, keep shining💖 I wanted to be in ballet when I was young, but my mom put me in gymnastics, now that I'm older I just want to do ballet for the fun of it.
Oh I‘m sure you would do super well ☺️♥️ I hear a lot of stories like these recently 🤔 why are parents like this tho 😅 maybe she wanted to protect you or so?
i'm so happy you uploaded this video so i could find another ballerina returning to ballet in their adulthood! i am also returning to ballet after 8+ years off. i understood everything you were talking about as i had to go through the same thing as a child. i was flexible but not when it came to my feet. that as well as me being one of the few black girls at my studio made my teachers feel as if i was a waste of time to teach. it really sucked and was very discouraging. the money involved in ballet is expensive too, so it was all just a ton of bricks landing on me at once. really sad i had to give up my passion but so happy I've found it again and can continue! we may not become professionals, but in our eyes, we can be. haha. there's more out there to dance than just being that prima ballerina on stage. i hope to one day teach not only kids but adults ballet as well. cheers to our journey! please share your experiences getting back into it! you have a whole community supporting and cheering you on! 🩰🤍
Thank you so much for sharing your experience Dash I started ballet two years ago completely from scratch and it’s become the biggest joy in my life. Even though of course there are some people who will try to go out of their way to make it a negative experience like you said, since ballet is so deeply rooted in elitism. Seeing the joy on your face now that you’re back and not listening to any of the negativity and racism that’s around you makes me so happy - I’m so glad I stumbled across your video and I really hope you keep documenting! PS your English is fantastic- I didn’t have to speed up the video and I speed up pretty much every video I watch, native speaker or not lol!
Oh, I‘m so sorry to hear that 🥺 it must be extremely hurtful to hear this words from someone who’s supposed to support you no matter what 🙈 I totally feel you and no matter your body size, you are awesome and you’re capable to do anything and everything you like ♥️ feel hugged and loved ♥️♥️♥️
I am black as well I went did ballet for 4 years as a child and quit because I had no friends I was the only black girl no one would talk to me or include me in the class. Very unfortunate.
I love that you're going back to ballet for yourself! I always wanted to do ballet, as well, but my mom wouldn't let me as a child because she had heard how difficult and strict it was, especially in regards to weight, and didn't want that for me or my sisters. It always made me sad, though. I am not graceful or slender, my flexibility is long gone and my feet now cause me too much pain to ever be able to dance, even just in my kitchen, so ballet only lives in my heart now. Take advantage of your youth. It doesn't matter that you're too old to be professional. You can still dance and you won't regret dancing for yourself. Also, please don't apologise for speaking English with an accent or without feeling you speak perfectly! I'm sure anyone who would criticize you speaks only one language! Your English is more than adequate.
Thank you so much for your kind words, I highly appreciate it ♥️ I lost a lot of muscles while I stopped dancing, so I‘m currently not super graceful either 🙈 I‘m hoping to get back to where I was really quickly though and I‘m always insecure about me speaking English but I feel like I‘m getting better the more videos I do haha
I remember when I was 12, and taking ballet very seriously, that my teacher told me to bind my breasts because (and I quote, perfectly over 20 years later) "large breasts are vulgar and we don'i do vulgar in ballet". I struggled on for a few more years, but gave up after a bad ankle sprain. If I could go back to it now as an adult, I absolutely would! I switched to other forms of dance after my ankle healed, even making a living dancing as a young adult, but had to give up dance at 23 due to disability. So don't take your ability to dance for granted, and do it for as long as you can. Even now that I'm a wheelchair user and mostly bedbound, I make my physical therapy exercises as ballet-like as possible (mostly because it helps with getting the right technique, but partly because it brings me some joy). So do whatever brings you joy for as long as you can. There's nothing worse than the regret of not doing something. Best of luck with your dancing!
I‘m so sorry she said sth. so toxic to you 🥺 The ballet world lacks so much in diversity it’s insane. I‘m so happy you kept on dancing, even though it wasn’t ballet and thank you for the motivational reminder 💛
I had similar comments about my body when I was a tween. Sorry that happened to you too. I was wondering if you have or know of videos of wheelchair ballet as you described since I have disabilities too but love ballet?
I started ballet at 6 years old, quit, and then restarted at age 13 and danced through college! It was wonderful and I don't regret going back. Because I danced so much and probably danced through injuries I shouldn't have, I no longer am able to do ballet but I am so happy I have the memories and friends that I have now from that time. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and for being courageous to do something that makes you happy without worrying about what others think! Doing something for yourself is so important and ballet is really something you will never regret. I can't wait to see and hear more about your dance.
I have a really similar story but with theatre. I haven't stopped practicing in the privacy of my home but I still haven't gotten the courage back to try again. Thank you for the example of courage you set for me ❤ Maybe soon I can get back out there again.
Hi Nadine! I’m sorry about your horrible experiences in ballet, but I’m so happy that you’re getting back in to it. I wanted to do ballet as a kid, but I couldn’t. Now I’ve made the decision to do it as an adult in her early 20s!
It was my childhood dream to learn ballet but my family didn’t have enough either. I started taking lessons in 2022 and im so happy to be doing something for myself now! Thank you for sharing your story x
I just want to say, you are amazing. Your English is very impressive, don’t feel like it’s not good enough. I find it very hard to learn new languages and the fact that you can learn a whole nether language is so so cool.
Thank you for sharing your story! It's soooo recognizable. I started when I was 4 years old, after seeing Swan Lake, and loved it. But with getting older, I noticed how competitive and toxic it became, especially when it came to getting into balletschool. And with perfomances only one (light) skincolor of make-up would be available and no-one knew what to do with my curly hair. I didn't get into balletschool in the end, also because of my bodytype, and I was so sad at that time but now I strongly feel I've dogded the bullet. Happy to hear that you found something that makes you happy, that's the only thing that matters in the end!
I feel so sorry because of what happened to you and totally feel you ( especially the curly hair part 🙃). Ballet can indeed be extremely toxic, especially the people who constantly feel like competing with each other 🙈
The shoes I cannot get over 😭❤️❤️ honestly the experiences we endure being a POC or mixed POC ITS HARD. But I hope you love for ballet didn’t ruin it ❤️🩹
Thank you for the video. I’ve always wanted to do ballet so I am starting my first class in 2 days. I’m excited but also nervous because I’m 30 years old and never danced. But it’s always been something I wanted to do, so I want to start enjoying my life
You’re so right, it’s so important to follow your heart and do whatever makes you happy❤️ Also, your English is so good! I’m not a native speaker either, English is my third language, but I understood every single word💕 Sending love from Ukraine❤️
Aww thank you so much! If feels really good to hear that bc I‘m always a bit afraid people won’t understand what I want to say ♥️ sending love to you too from Germany 🤗
So glad I checked into your story today to find this video! I wanted to get into ballet when I was younger but had too much going on and pivotal figures in my life discouraging me so Im really glad you're doing it and I can cheer you on from afar!! I think personally I might try ice skating to honor my own inner child 🥰
I also started ballet really late (19 years) because one day me and my 14 year old friend decided why not🥺🌸🩰 after one year we went on pointe shoes and we were so happy 😁 even though we were definitely not ballet type (i’m 180 cm with 41,5 shoe size, and she is 160 cm height) we had a performance in theater. Then covid started and we haven’t danced for 2 years which makes me really sad and i want to start again, but i moved and now i can’t go to my studio 🥲 i thought about classes online but it’s not that experience, but i’ll be back at some point, i’m sure 😌so if 180 cm tall giraffe could dance and was called “prima”, you can too🩰🌸
I'm a 31 black adult ballet dancer myself. I did ballet for a while at a young age but it got to a point when my folks couldn't afford it always moving from place to place, school and later divorce. And now as an adult it's been a struggle to be honest to find motivation. But thankfully all the videos about adult ballet and lovely teachers that support adults helped me get my dream to be a ballerina skeleton out of the closet
Thank you so much for sharing ❤️ I am mixed black and white and doing ballet when I was younger was challenging when I felt I did not fit in and was actually why I stopped. Now as an adult I am perusing my other childhood dream of horses! I just started taking riding lessons a month ago but am so happy to be making my inner child happy and not paying attention to what others may think. Thank you for continuing that motivation/inspiration. :) I hope you enjoy your next class!
Thank you so much and so glad and happy to read that!! I wish you a lot of fun too in your horse riding lesson ♥️☺️let‘s continue showing up in places where people like us aren’t expected ✨♥️
Horses & ballet... Dream life! ❤️😘
don't apologize for your accent, I can understand you perfectly!! :)
♥️☺️
The scottish ballet has a wonderful youtube channel with their company classes posted. I love dancing along
Thank you will definitely check it out ♥️
Sorry to hear about your experience, but very glad that you're doing what you love, keep shining💖 I wanted to be in ballet when I was young, but my mom put me in gymnastics, now that I'm older I just want to do ballet for the fun of it.
Oh I‘m sure you would do super well ☺️♥️ I hear a lot of stories like these recently 🤔 why are parents like this tho 😅 maybe she wanted to protect you or so?
i'm so happy you uploaded this video so i could find another ballerina returning to ballet in their adulthood! i am also returning to ballet after 8+ years off. i understood everything you were talking about as i had to go through the same thing as a child. i was flexible but not when it came to my feet. that as well as me being one of the few black girls at my studio made my teachers feel as if i was a waste of time to teach. it really sucked and was very discouraging. the money involved in ballet is expensive too, so it was all just a ton of bricks landing on me at once. really sad i had to give up my passion but so happy I've found it again and can continue! we may not become professionals, but in our eyes, we can be. haha. there's more out there to dance than just being that prima ballerina on stage. i hope to one day teach not only kids but adults ballet as well. cheers to our journey! please share your experiences getting back into it! you have a whole community supporting and cheering you on! 🩰🤍
Thank you so much for sharing your experience Dash I started ballet two years ago completely from scratch and it’s become the biggest joy in my life. Even though of course there are some people who will try to go out of their way to make it a negative experience like you said, since ballet is so deeply rooted in elitism. Seeing the joy on your face now that you’re back and not listening to any of the negativity and racism that’s around you makes me so happy - I’m so glad I stumbled across your video and I really hope you keep documenting! PS your English is fantastic- I didn’t have to speed up the video and I speed up pretty much every video I watch, native speaker or not lol!
I really needed to hear what you said at the end of the video. My mom comments about my body and discourages me from my passions.
Oh, I‘m so sorry to hear that 🥺 it must be extremely hurtful to hear this words from someone who’s supposed to support you no matter what 🙈 I totally feel you and no matter your body size, you are awesome and you’re capable to do anything and everything you like ♥️ feel hugged and loved ♥️♥️♥️
I am black as well I went did ballet for 4 years as a child and quit because I had no friends I was the only black girl no one would talk to me or include me in the class. Very unfortunate.
I love that you're going back to ballet for yourself! I always wanted to do ballet, as well, but my mom wouldn't let me as a child because she had heard how difficult and strict it was, especially in regards to weight, and didn't want that for me or my sisters. It always made me sad, though. I am not graceful or slender, my flexibility is long gone and my feet now cause me too much pain to ever be able to dance, even just in my kitchen, so ballet only lives in my heart now. Take advantage of your youth. It doesn't matter that you're too old to be professional. You can still dance and you won't regret dancing for yourself.
Also, please don't apologise for speaking English with an accent or without feeling you speak perfectly! I'm sure anyone who would criticize you speaks only one language! Your English is more than adequate.
Thank you so much for your kind words, I highly appreciate it ♥️ I lost a lot of muscles while I stopped dancing, so I‘m currently not super graceful either 🙈 I‘m hoping to get back to where I was really quickly though and I‘m always insecure about me speaking English but I feel like I‘m getting better the more videos I do haha
I remember when I was 12, and taking ballet very seriously, that my teacher told me to bind my breasts because (and I quote, perfectly over 20 years later) "large breasts are vulgar and we don'i do vulgar in ballet". I struggled on for a few more years, but gave up after a bad ankle sprain. If I could go back to it now as an adult, I absolutely would! I switched to other forms of dance after my ankle healed, even making a living dancing as a young adult, but had to give up dance at 23 due to disability. So don't take your ability to dance for granted, and do it for as long as you can. Even now that I'm a wheelchair user and mostly bedbound, I make my physical therapy exercises as ballet-like as possible (mostly because it helps with getting the right technique, but partly because it brings me some joy). So do whatever brings you joy for as long as you can. There's nothing worse than the regret of not doing something. Best of luck with your dancing!
I‘m so sorry she said sth. so toxic to you 🥺 The ballet world lacks so much in diversity it’s insane. I‘m so happy you kept on dancing, even though it wasn’t ballet and thank you for the motivational reminder 💛
I had similar comments about my body when I was a tween. Sorry that happened to you too.
I was wondering if you have or know of videos of wheelchair ballet as you described since I have disabilities too but love ballet?
I started ballet at 6 years old, quit, and then restarted at age 13 and danced through college! It was wonderful and I don't regret going back. Because I danced so much and probably danced through injuries I shouldn't have, I no longer am able to do ballet but I am so happy I have the memories and friends that I have now from that time.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and for being courageous to do something that makes you happy without worrying about what others think! Doing something for yourself is so important and ballet is really something you will never regret. I can't wait to see and hear more about your dance.
I've always been overweight so I was never brave enough to try ballet but your story and attitude is really inspiring 🤍
I have a really similar story but with theatre. I haven't stopped practicing in the privacy of my home but I still haven't gotten the courage back to try again. Thank you for the example of courage you set for me ❤ Maybe soon I can get back out there again.
Hi Nadine! I’m sorry about your horrible experiences in ballet, but I’m so happy that you’re getting back in to it. I wanted to do ballet as a kid, but I couldn’t. Now I’ve made the decision to do it as an adult in her early 20s!
It was my childhood dream to learn ballet but my family didn’t have enough either. I started taking lessons in 2022 and im so happy to be doing something for myself now! Thank you for sharing your story x
You're amazing! Screw it you Are a ballerina. ^-^
I just want to tell you that you have the right to call yourself a ballerina no matter what people say you can do this.
I hope you enjoy getting back into ballet! I'm looking forward to seeing your journey
Thank you too for listening and watching ☺️♥️
I just want to say, you are amazing. Your English is very impressive, don’t feel like it’s not good enough. I find it very hard to learn new languages and the fact that you can learn a whole nether language is so so cool.
Thank you for sharing your story! It's soooo recognizable. I started when I was 4 years old, after seeing Swan Lake, and loved it. But with getting older, I noticed how competitive and toxic it became, especially when it came to getting into balletschool. And with perfomances only one (light) skincolor of make-up would be available and no-one knew what to do with my curly hair. I didn't get into balletschool in the end, also because of my bodytype, and I was so sad at that time but now I strongly feel I've dogded the bullet. Happy to hear that you found something that makes you happy, that's the only thing that matters in the end!
I feel so sorry because of what happened to you and totally feel you ( especially the curly hair part 🙃). Ballet can indeed be extremely toxic, especially the people who constantly feel like competing with each other 🙈
love your voice and your accent
Happy New Year I liked this video
The shoes I cannot get over 😭❤️❤️ honestly the experiences we endure being a POC or mixed POC ITS HARD. But I hope you love for ballet didn’t ruin it ❤️🩹
Thank you for the video. I’ve always wanted to do ballet so I am starting my first class in 2 days. I’m excited but also nervous because I’m 30 years old and never danced. But it’s always been something I wanted to do, so I want to start enjoying my life
Ballet is a passion of mine as well. I had to take a break for my health but I’m excited to get back into it soon just like you!
You’re so right, it’s so important to follow your heart and do whatever makes you happy❤️
Also, your English is so good! I’m not a native speaker either, English is my third language, but I understood every single word💕
Sending love from Ukraine❤️
Aww thank you so much! If feels really good to hear that bc I‘m always a bit afraid people won’t understand what I want to say ♥️ sending love to you too from Germany 🤗
So glad I checked into your story today to find this video! I wanted to get into ballet when I was younger but had too much going on and pivotal figures in my life discouraging me so Im really glad you're doing it and I can cheer you on from afar!! I think personally I might try ice skating to honor my own inner child 🥰
I also started ballet really late (19 years) because one day me and my 14 year old friend decided why not🥺🌸🩰 after one year we went on pointe shoes and we were so happy 😁 even though we were definitely not ballet type (i’m 180 cm with 41,5 shoe size, and she is 160 cm height) we had a performance in theater. Then covid started and we haven’t danced for 2 years which makes me really sad and i want to start again, but i moved and now i can’t go to my studio 🥲 i thought about classes online but it’s not that experience, but i’ll be back at some point, i’m sure 😌so if 180 cm tall giraffe could dance and was called “prima”, you can too🩰🌸
This is amazing. Thank you for being brave to tell us your story. I love it.
I found you from ticktock 😃
Mjam mjap mit Migrationsanteil also, ich ja auch