100 Reasons To Study Ballet: Part 1

If you are one of the many adult ballet students around the world, you have probably been asked the question "Why?" with the implied or spoken questions of age, utility, safety, use of time/money, you name it. I suppose I understand the puzzlement; until I started ballet, I had no idea that people did ballet for fun in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond! Why study ballet? Well, the flippant answer is "Why NOT?", but to dig deeper into this topic, I used a simple but powerful brainstorming tool, The List of 100, as described at this website:

Over a year ago, I made my list of 100 reasons to study ballet during a time when a lot of changes were going on in my life, both personally and professionally, and I was enmeshed in introspection and examination of priorities and motivations. I made this list, jotted down on a couple of sheets of notebook paper, and then promptly stuck it in a desk drawer where it sat until I happened upon it during a fit of spring cleaning last week. Let me tell you, GUB friends, re-reading that list was a revelation and a resonance…just about everything I had written down on that list was validated by my dance experience or had rung true to me at some point during the year that had lapsed, making it seem nearly prophetic (to my great delight). And so I will share with you my list of 100 and some short thoughts on each in manageable chunks over a series of posts.

So without further ado, here is Part I, the first 20 reasons why you or anyone should study ballet (and I'd love to hear your thoughts and your own reasons in comments!).

1. Exercise: Ballet is certainly good exercise, from the thigh-burning slow grand plies and controlled adages to the brisk petit allegro and flying leaps of grand allegro. And it's tons more fun than the gym!
   
2. New challenge: I had never done any kind of dance as a child or an adult. I had watched ballet, but the extent of my knowledge were the words "plie" and "pirouette", so I knew I was embarking on a formidable task and jumping into unknown territory. However, I like taking on things that are difficult; as Johanna has said, "It doesn't get any easier, you just get better!"
   
3. Enjoyable music: Though I hadn't studied dance, I had been subjected to years of piano lessons and band/orchestra. I hated practicing and recitals, but I loved classical music and the orchestral music that accompanies ballet.
   
4. Athletic skill: A lifetime in sports and athletics had given me a good level of fitness and excellent body awareness, two things that certainly came in handy for learning ballet. The blend of artistry with athleticism is one of the qualities that makes ballet unique in the performing arts and I wanted to get a taste of that myself.
   
5. Spatial ability: Although I had developed spatial ability in sports and the study of mathematics, the spatial ability required in ballet was new, especially the concepts of "self space" (the bubble around you) and "stage space" (how you and your bubble fit into the larger space).
   
6. Brain work: The amount of brain work and concentration required for ballet is astounding. From trying to remember a tricky combination to building the ability to make your arms and legs do two completely different things simultaneously, ballet requires you to use all your powers of concentration and focus.
   
7. Grace: Gracefulness has never been one of my strong points; I figured that studying ballet could only help me in that regard, as I had always admired the poise, carriage, and grace of dancers. Grace is defined as "seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion", which immediately comes to mind, but another definition, "a temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve", was revealed to me when I found that no matter what stresses, moods, or anxieties I brought with me to the studio, once class began, it all fell away as I immersed myself in the mind and body work, leaving me refreshed, lightened, and literally in a state of grace when I left class :)
8. Posture: This was the most immediate and most noticeable outcome of my foray into ballet. Friends, family, and acquaintances all remarked on my much improved posture. As a tall and awkward kid, I had learned to slouch and slump, and years spent at university and at work hunched at a desk or in front of a computer had only contributed to my bad habits. Ballet makes you ultra-aware of your spine and skeleton and keeping everything lined up and vertical, supported by the core and finished off with a lifted gaze.
9. Emotional outlet: This was another surprise that went along with 6. and 7. I did not expect that ballet and dance would be such a wonderful way to process, direct, and express my inner emotional state, to channel all that I felt and internalized, all thankfully without requiring words.
   
10. Musicality: Learning to take the music and use it to give meaning to the movements and vice versa is a skill and a treat. Having a live pianist play exciting and gorgeous music just begs you to lose yourself and really dance those steps.
11. Interpretation: Those ballet movements have a history, starting with court dances and manners of the nobility, and then the story and the choreography adds another layer, and finally, the dancer his/herself adds to the rich meaning of a simple offering of a limb or graceful bending of the body. Adding interpretation to the steps gives dance it's life and power. Whenever I get a little glimpse of that during a good day in class, it gives me chills!
12. Sense of rhythm: One of my instructors challenges us constantly with new rhythms: counting in 5s or 9s, asymmetrical phrases, syncopation, emphasising certain beats, all of which develop a new appreciation for and mastery of rhythms.
13. Group activity: Ballet class can be social! The shared experience of working hard, mastering complex movements, sharing tips on ballet shoes and dance wear sales, and sweating in summer/freezing in winter in the studio together makes for good camaraderie and inspiration.
    
14. Make new friends: Although talking in class is discouraged, chatting with classmates before and after class has expanded my circle of friends and put me in contact with a larger group of people than I encounter in the rest of my work and home life. Contrary to the stereotype of snooty ballerinas, adult ballet students are a quite friendly and welcoming group. We encourage each other and laugh together and sweat together. I look forward to seeing my "barre buddies" and I like that I feel accountable to them as well as to myself for showing up and giving each class my best effort.
15. Step out of my comfort zone: This was true for me in so many ways. I'm an introvert. I was never a centre-of-attention person, I have a phobia of performance in front of people, I hated the thought of being stuck in front of a wall of mirrors, I didn't think I was particularly graceful or had a ballet body, I was afraid I would be awkward and awful and everyone else would be sylph-like and skilled, but the more I came to class, the less weird it seemed and the less self-conscious I was until one day I realized that the dance studio had become a place where I felt at home and was proud to take my turn in the front line.
16. Have a routine: I like a lot of structure in my daily life (as long as it is self-imposed and not externally imposed) and the weekly schedule of regularly occurring ballet classes gives me a set of anchoring points around which I arrange the rest of my activities. When I travel or go on vacation, I try to find a drop-in class not only so that I can stay in shape but also to carry a little bit of my happy routine with me.
17. New outfits: Taking ballet class means new additions to the wardrobe, from your first soft slippers and yoga pants to leotards and tights, and maybe even pointe shoes and tutus. I'll never be a fan of pink (it clashes mightily with my olive skin tone), but I have learned to be more comfortable in form-fitting dance wear and see it and myself as functional AND decorative. I now have a drawer devoted to tights of various colours, styles, and fabrics, and another drawer of leotards in jewel tones with interesting backs.
    
18. Historical link: Ballet is so rich in history, both its own history beginning with the court of Louis XIV, and also heavily influenced by the history of the cultures and times that ballet spread to. I enjoy feeling that connection to the past and musing on where ballet is heading in the future and reading about great ballet dancers and choreographers of the past. Learning about dance history is also an education in art history and world history!
19. Culture: Learning about ballet and watching ballet and soaking in the stories and the music has made me a more educated patron of the arts and increased my knowledge of Western culture. Learning about dance history is also an education in art history and world history!
20. Tradition: From the quiet lining up at the barre and commencement of plies to the lovely ending with reverence, the traditions of ballet class are the same no matter what studio you find yourself in, practically anywhere in the world. It feels good to be part of such a longstanding ritual that connects me to dancers everywhere, past and present.

More to come...stay tuned, and please share your thoughts and observations in comments :)
-Kaija for GUB