Confessions of an Anonymous Dance Teacher: Adult Ballet’s Dark Side

IMAGE A woman stands in darkness. Yellow light shines behind. IMAGE

Every class has one… or two. That student that gets on your nerves or ruffles your feathers. Teachers of adult dancers are no exception and when certain students cause stress or strain in the classroom environment, a teacher just needs to vent a little. If you are a teacher, you will recognize some of the “personalities” our anonymous author presents. If you are a student, well, we hope you don’t resemble these students.

Who Inspires You?

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I’ve been given a blog award but I’m announcing it with a twist and a shout out. Meet my nominator, Jean who blogs 52 Weeks of Ballet, and Melissa, the young blogger behind the award. They got to ask me questions too in this post that covers everything from first dance solos to returning to ballet as an adult.

Storytime With Two Adult Ballet Beginners

IMAGE The Adult Beginner poses in front of an orange wall wearing a large chicken head. IMAGE

Dave of davetriesballet.com, The Adult Beginner, and I had fun after the New Year chatting about their close encounters of the ballet kind. They weave an entertaining story and if you are a teacher working with adult beginners, I think you’ll find it splendidly insightful, too. (Part 1 of 2)

Teacher’s Top Three: Music for Adult Ballet

“Finding good ballet class music is so difficult. I am hard to please, and I want the music I choose to inspire my students, not just provide accompaniment. To that end, I have gone through a lot of CDs searching for ones that have good length, sound and quality. I use these CDs for my intermediate adult ballet class.”