My (Late) Ballet Journey | Starting Ballet as a Teen/Adult
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- Hi everyone! I'm excited to share my teen/adult ballet journey with you from ages 16-24
I took adult drop-in classes from age 15-17 in San Jose. Then in college, I took ballet classes at Berkeley along with drop-in classes from a nearby studio. I was teaching technique and pointe at this time and have a lot of good memories to keep. Dancing in college was difficult because I had to balance dance with an academic course load. I eventually took a leave of absence to train pre-professionally in the East Coast.
The summer intensive experience was fun and you can watch a quick vlog of that time! Unfortunately, I injured my back during the intensive and that started to cause injury in other places. The school year experience at the ballet school in the East Coast was tough mentally and after a few months, I decided to fly back to California and quit dance. I was dealing with depression and anxiety and started therapy when I was back. I learned so much about myself that year.
On a whim, I decided that my next career path would be as an engineer and today I am a software engineer with Disney. It's been a wild journey!
Instagram: / ballet_misfit
Thank you so much everyone for the kind words! Though I may not be able to respond to all your stories, I am definitely reading every one of them :) Ballet (and the arts in general) can be a tough journey but it's great to see that we aren't alone~
Thank you for uploading this video. You are a inspiration to many people. I am a person who is visually impaired but I just love taking ballet classes through my university. Unfortunately I can only do the bar work.
I know you have a Instagram but do you have Facebook? Do you have an email address where I can email you?
am 15 but am starting next year.
I'm 15 and I've loved ballet for so long but now I have a chance to start going to classes and this really inspired me :D
Fr I loved ballet it a rlly unique dance and I love it
My heart is beating so fast and I haven’t even started yet- I’m 15 and wanted to start dancing ballet but my parents also never could afford it. I’m not flexible at all but I really want to try at least once
I’m 12 and I did dance for 2 years as like a 4-5 year old and then but I quit bc my gymnastics schedule was too much to do both so I did that and I’m going to quit gymnastics soon to do dance, I’m flexible and I hope I can do good in ballet and jazz but I’m afraid I’ll embarrass myself because I don’t know what level my friends will be in and if I accidentally do a gymnastics turn instead of a good ballet turn🥺 I hope I do good
@@annikagreen8455 gurl ur gonna do fine I'm 15 and I think im going to start ballet not sure yet but hoping but don't be embarrassed your do great
@@esme6994 ty
I'm 15 too and I don't feel brave enough to start formal classes because I'm not strong, flexible or resistant… but I think I'll watch videos and educate myself until I'm ready :) I wish you luck and hope we can pull this off. (Sorry if my english is not perfect)
@@isamunita3307 hey :) I’ve been doing ballet for 7 months now and totally love it! I’m in a beginners group so we’re all just learning together and having fun. I’m still not super flexible or strong but classes really helped me improve. I did start educating myself about 4 months before I went to my first class tho and I think that it really helped me understand moves faster and make them easier. And don’t worry your english is great mine isn’t perfect either
You really inspire me as a 16 year old trying to get into ballet, I now believe I can do it too now😭thank you so much!
hey i'm also 16 and want to start! how is it going for you?:)
I am sorry that you had a bad experience at the second school. It sounds like they took advantage of you! I started ballet at 15 years old and did dance professionally. I have been teaching for 35 years since retiring as a dancer. Once I started as a teen-- I was determined and so passionate about it. Thus, I can relate and your parents sound so generous in their support and time! I hope you keep your interest in classical ballet and wish you much success as an engineer. (I also grew up in the SFBay Area and now teach here). XOXO, Sarah
Hey, I’m 16 and I really want to start ballet. Do you think I still have the opportunity too? Also how would I bring it up to my parents?
I live in the Bay Area I’m in my 20s and my dream was to dance but we were too poor. I need a better teacher. Can you teach me?
I love your videos! I’m kind of in the same boat. I started in ballet when I was 15 because of a disability. Now I’m 22 but took gap years because I really needed more training so now I’m going to audition for point park university’s dance major. I know that I would dance with 18 year olds like usual. I just wanted to share my story.
I started doing ballet on my own at 15, I was 226lbs and unable to take classes because my family couldn’t afford it. It’s a year later and I’m 174lbs and I’m taking one ballet class a week. I’ve made a lot of improvement but I know taking more ballet classes would help to much. I pray one day beginner ballet classes for teenagers will be as normalized as adult beginner classes and will be taken as seriously as classes for kids who started young.
This is extremely inspiring🥺🥺 esp for someone who’s always felt too old and too poor for ballet
Thank you so much. Judging by the comments I'm not alone...I fell in love with figure skating as a little kid watching the 2006 winter Olympics but never had the opportunity to try it until now (I just graduated college). At first I was really jealous of kids like Nathan Chen who started when they could walk, but after hearing several interviews and watching lots of competitions, I'm really glad that my sense of self and body were already formed before I could start this sport. To me, there's something painful about having a competitive or comparative sport become a part of your identity (and job security!) at such a young age. I hope that over time we can normalize falling in love with these sports as adults. I'm not ashamed to be beaten by 12 year-olds if they've been doing this for 6 years and I haven't! I'm so grateful to you for sharing your journey and your wonderful classes, which I think will really help me improve off the ice. There's no reason we can't become fantastic at these things later in life, as you've basically already proven. And hopefully, coming at them from a more mature place will help us love them for many decades.
Super late reply but as an adult figure skater aswell, I totally agree! I used to wish my parents put me in skating as a kid, but I've realised that there's something really beautiful about choosing to take up a sport later on because you have a true passion for it. I think finally being able to fullfil our childhood dreams helps us appreciate it a little more than people who grew up in it :)
It’s always been my dream to be a ballerina but didn’t have the best childhood. Now I just started ballet at 28 and it feels so good but it still breaks my heart because I know I could put everything into it and not ever be able to do more than take classes recreationally
I feel the same but only a couple years younger. I wish ballet was more accessible
As an older woman (50’s), I hope I can encourage you as you’ve encouraged me with your videos. It’s never too late to learn and enjoy the new things that will most certainly come your way as you seek your purpose and path. You were made for the things that you are now doing. Keep seeking. The Bible tells us that those who seek shall find. As long as God gives us our breath of life, there is always more to do, more to give back and more to learn and enjoy. We may have physical/mental limits (we all do) but the eternal beauty that you see in ballet is timeless and can be created,admired and shared at any age. You are a lovely dancer and you will continue to be so as long as you have life❤
your journey is so similar to mine...minus the fact that I didn't go to a pre-professional school. I recognize myself in a lot of what you said, about how ballet became something that made you feel sad about rather than excited. although there is still a sadness and a longing to be able to dance everyday all the time I think im happy I didn't go for it fully because I think that would have broken me completely. but im super grateful that im still dancing because after all I do love ballet and besides I don't feel like crap every time I make a mistake in class. thank you for this video, it was super nice to hear your story. you could maybe a series about the whole journey, the first video could be about what it was like when you first took classes, then a video about the college experience and lastly one about the pre- professional school? other than that, im glad you're back :D
LovelyMe93~ I was hoping I would hear from you :) I'm glad you related to my story! Hahaha professional ballet was also definitely not for me. I'm glad we both can still dance w/o feeling pressured to be perfect. Thanks for all your suggestions and sticking around since the beginning!
this video made me subscribe!! It was so powerful and exactly what I needed to hear right now. I've just started ballet at the age of 20 and although I do not want to become a professional ballet dancer, I can definitely relate to your journey as a person who is at university right now and is thinking about training for musical theatre. I relate to the sense of not knowing what my purpose is but at the same time wanting some stability, I look forward to watching more of your videos.
Thank you for sharing! Really powerful. Glad you’re in a better place.
Aw thank you :) Definitely in a much better headspace now. Thanks for all the kind comments~
You packed in lot in just 15 minutes. Well done! Thank you for sharing your story. You posted this 3 years ago. I hope during that time that you have found a comfortable place to navigate. Your story is inspirational.
Girl I’m 34 and just started my ballet journey 2 months ago! I do ballet to your videos 1-3 times a week ❤ I plan to take an in-person adult ballet class when I get the time! You are so inspiring and made me feel comfortable being an adult starting in ballet- you’re amazing!
I started at just 13 and that even felt too old. I just started because my siblings were starting it, but after a year I fell in love with it! And after that I started improving quickly. I am now in a advanced beginner class and am going into 3rd year of ballet with my younger sister. I want to go professional eventually.
I’m 36 and enjoying your videos so much! You are my favourite RUclips ballet teacher
im 14 and have a job to afford ballet classes and i'm taking a ballet trial class soon! your journey is so inspiring as well
hey ! im basically having the same "problem" as yours, and i thought we could talk abt it together ? if u want to i can give u my number :)
@@anouk7085 hi! we could talk on ig if you'd like to?
@@rietveld8329 hey !! yeah ofc !! mine is @anoukthe2nd
I am so happy that you love making these videos, because I absolutely LOVE waking up in the morning and doing them! I’m 15 and I’ve always wanted to try ballet, but I’m not able to find any classes for people my age, and I felt like giving up, but your videos help me to comfortably do ballet at any time And anywhere. You are truly a blessing, thank you so much! ♥️
I am 17 and have always wanted to do ballet but there is no place that teaches it in my area plus I'm so not flexible but now I'm trying to learn with your videos and it so much fun i love how encouraging you are and passionate about ballet thank you so much. I know i will never be really good at it but I'm doing it to heal my inner child and as a fun hobby at home and thats enough for me
Thank you so much for this. I resonate so much with it and it is such a blessing to hear this
Thank you Thuan for being so honest about your experiences. It really helps to hear about other people's struggles with ballet. You are a brilliant teacher.
This is the first day I do ballet, I never even had thought about it, but then suddenly got your video, when I tried it, I felt something new come to me, I will follow along all your videos, thank you ❤
❤ Thanks a lot for sharing your story here, I appreciate you and your videos very much. A big “Hello” from Germany
Thank you for sharing your story!!!! 💖 I did dance at five and quit at 12 and as a 15 yr old now I want to start again but I was always telling my self it was to late.
Same here!! I did ballet at the age of 7 till I was 9. Now that I’m 15, I would love to join once again. But I feel like I’m too old to be a beginner://
I don’t think is too late I started ballet at 4 quit at 8 and starting again now at 11
Don't feel empty you are such a great teacher you've helped me so much
Thuan!! I met you during my time at UC Berkeley during the EAP session freshman year. I recall you showing ballet pointe shoes during a show & tell. It's so wonderful to see your ballet journey. At 25, I recently picked up beginner ballet & I enjoy your videos! Keep it up!
We really appreciate you and your videos Thuan thank you so much 😊
Hey I'm 15! I want to start going to ballet classes but I'm not sure how. Do I go to an adult ballet class or a kid's one? Thanks for reading this!
Hey! It depends on the studio and the teacher. I would recommend you try both if possible and see which one you are more comfortable with. Remember, you can always change your mind!
I’ve been dancing for 8 years but I haven’t done ballet in a very long time, I’m 14 and I’m basically starting from scratch! I’m so nervous! 😬
how’s it going??
I am 23 years old and I will take my first class in two weeks; if you were "old" when you started, I believe I am just worse hahaha... But I don´t care if I get classes with younger girls, I just love ballet and it is a frustrating dream that I want to achieve.
❤
Thank you so much for this video! I recently started ballet at 15 and thus has helped me.
I totally understand about the feeling of lacking purpose - I recommend searching up Psalm 57:2. My faith in God, as cheesy as it may sound, has allowed me to feel so fulfilled in life, and I hope it can do the same for you.
Hi. I’ve recently started ballet as a fifteen year-old also, and I’m having issues with body image (I’m beginning to hate my legs). I just feel like I could focus and dance a lot better if I have the perfect body. I love dance more than anything and on a positive note I’m going en pointe soon but a major point I’m anxious about is that I’m auditioning for the Nation Ballet School of Canada. I know I just started but I’m just gonna go to see what I need to work, to boost other people’s confidence and overall just for the experience. Thank you!
Im 15 and I want to learn ballet but I dont money for ballet classes and I think I'm too old to try it but I saw your video your story was amazing❤
thank you so much for sharing your story its really inspiring. im 26 and began ballet in september. I absolutely love ballet and dancing is my joy and meditation. however i just cannot understand the resistance to adult beginners in the ballet community. why is there so much shame in dancing for joy and starting late? why cant we have the resources to advance in our skill? any advice for keeping up morale?
I'm 20 and I so want to try ballet to help my confidence and balance etc. I want to do it so I'm going to push myself soon to do so
By the age of 8 they wanted me en pointe but long before that I had to have a ballet class/teacher that left me in tears after every class. I never went back to the easier classes or nicer teachers.
Maybe I’m a masochist then 🤷♀️
Scary thought 🤣
I'm 14 now and have a dream of dancing since 11. My parent (yes, without "-s") never allowed it to me because of her anxiety and my curvy body, which is not a plus for late starters. I've tried to become more flexible and lose weight at home, without her support, and even have got some results. But she wasn't impressed and continued forbidding it to me. I've tried to kill this dream many times for all this years, but І couldn't. It affected my mental stability a bit, and I gained all the weight back. Because of inability to do the thing that makes me happy and my freaking horrible fat I've got some troubles with selfharm. She noticed it and saw there nothing wrong, just asked if I had cleaned the knife. But when she brought me to my dad for a weekend, he saw my hand and forced her to show me to a psychologist. And *finally* the doctor said that she just must allow me to do at least one sport! So, now I go to the gym for a month, take medicines for my mental struggles, and have lost some weight and even became two clothes sizes smaller. It makes me feel much better and happier in general. I am doing stretching at my own at home and also can see the results, but not that impressive. So I've decided that when I will become size S and have front splits, I will force her to let me go to the ballet for adults classes. I've already felt the taste of victory over her (and my weakness), so it will be hard to stop me. And now the dad's support is also on my side😎
Sorry for mistakes, guys. My first language is Ukrainian.
I am 14 I was embarrassed when I joined first ever ballet class yesterday…….but now I am not🥹Tq
how is it going now?! 😊
you have my respect!
Hey, I’m 15 and I’m a male and I was wondering if you had any tips for me if I wanted to start ballet or any other style of dance! I’ve been considering it for a long time but have been holding it off because I feel like that I don’t have a weight or height standard that they’re expecting. Any tips would be appreciated! :)
Hey there~ Glad to see that you want to start. I would recommend that you hold off on creating future goals. The first thing is to just do it. I recommend trying out classes for a month or so and gather up some data. Then start reflecting: Do you still enjoy ballet? How is your progress so far? What type of feedback have you gotten from your teachers? I think you will have a better understanding of how far you want to go with dance/ballet and create some achievable goals. I understand the anxiety with not having the perfect body type, the majority of people in dance feel the same. I definitely do! In your case, you are still young so your body will be changing very quickly for a while. It's hard, but just remember that your body shape/size is temporary and what is more important is your drive for dance.
Question. A lot of ballet studios only have up to two days a week available for adult beginner drop-in classes. Is it unusual to go to more than one ballet studio to get more ballet training during the week? I really want to do ballet all summer as much as possible, especially because I will be in my college break.
I feel like you need to get together with Kathryn Morgan! She's super passionate about making ballet accessible for everyone.
I wanna start doing ballet 😭😭 I always feel like I’m to old bc I’m turning 15 tomorrow and most people start at like 5 or 7 😭😭😭
I’m a 16 year old street dancer, and want to widen my skills on dance. I’ve always wanted to do ballet but my parents couldn’t afford it when I was little. Now that my family’s financial situation is better, I’m scared I’d get laughed out of the dance studio if I started ballet…
Lol I'm 15 now and I started now studying ballet😅
Do you think I can do professional ballett when i am 18 years old
Ofc you can
I recommend doing it
i have had ballet classes when i was 6 but i had to quit when i was 10 because of my schedule and beacuse i changed schools. Lately i have been interested in starting ballet again, but i am afraid of being judged and only having classes with 10 yo
i’m sooo late my god but i’ve always wanted to be a ballerina,i’ve just loved the skill,but i never started since i wasn’t flexable
now i’m 15 and want to join ballet i have flexable feet (like very) because of irish dancing but my legs are flexable. so i’m TRYING MY HARDEST to stretch everything
I started dance at 15 doing jazz 2 years ago, and I’m gonna be taking ballet this year! I am familiar with a lot of ballet skills and technique, and do a lot of online barre classes on RUclips, but have never taken a formal ballet class before. Does anyone have any tips for switching and translating jazz technique to ballet?
I am 14 going on 15 soon. I started taking ballet classes at age 8 to age 10. I had always naturally loved it but stopped once I had been moving around during my early teen years. I regret not continuing the style for those years. I want to get back into ballet, I miss it so much! I am not the strongest anymore, and my technique needs work. But if anyone here has gone through a similar late ballet journey is it possible for me to build up to be a ballet dancer once again? I honestly just love the style and culture and miss the feeling of being pressured in the studio, lolz. so please, does anyone have any tips on how I can get there again? thank you!
Hi,ive been obsessed with ballet since i was young.i am 13 years old now,not flexible but im starting to stretch every day .there is only 1 ballet class near me and its not professional,my parents dont have alot of money, I want to become very good at ballet so i can do dance as a career, is it too late for me? What do you think i can do?
Hello! I’m 14, with no previous experience in any kind of dance, and not flexible, but I’m interested in starting Ballet. If I join a beginners class, would I be put with very young children? If I am, do you have any advice?
hi! i actually just started ballet last year when i was 12, and i had no background experience either. i was placed in a class with 8 and 9 year olds and it really was hard to keep my confidence up while being so much older than everyone else. but i worked hard and did my absolute best in my classes and my teacher ended up moving me up two classes and now i’m placed in a class with people more my age! but to kinda help answer ur question, you might be placed with kids younger than you which is totally fine but just do your best and work hard and a teacher will usually find a better fitting class for you! i know i’m not the publisher of this video haha but i just wanted to share my similar experience with you and try to help u out! i hope you have great luck in your ballet journey :))
@@grace-bs8io, thank you so much for your reply! I started Ballet last week and my teacher said that I was naturally gifted with it- that was very unexpected. I am dancing with children much younger than me, but I’ve been practicing at home so hopefully I can move up soon. Thanks again, and I wish you the very best in life! 😊
@@Hi-sj1ip 💕💕😊
I'm 20 now and I've never really been interested in ballet, (mostly because I didn't see a whole lot of representation for people like me and kinda got the vibe that I wouldn't be welcome, but also just cause it looked really hard 😭) but I went to a trial class for the first time last year and I REALLY enjoyed it!!! It's super expensive so I can't exactly go that often but so far I've been really enjoying using the videos you make to practice!!!!! 🩷