Starting Ballet as a Late Beginner

Starting ballet late is always hard. You have to walk into a room full of people you've never met and execute lots of movements you've never heard of... All while trying not to fall behind and look like an idiot. At least, that's what many of us think will happen. In reality, ballet is something you can prepare for before your first class. I have a few tips for the beginning danseur who isn't sure about where to start- I hope they come in useful!

-Learning the terminology can be a little bit tricky, but if you try to practice movements at home and pair them with the terminology you pick up the basics very quickly. Once you have some basics such as pliés and tendus down, you can move onto the more difficult things. I would recommend only doing barre work at home, as you're less likely to injure yourself or to develop bad technique. It allows you to focus on getting your movements perfect and working the correct muscles rather than trying to figure out what your legs, arms and head are supposed to be doing at the same time!

-I also have to advise you to begin ballet for the right reasons. Lots of late starters do ballet because they, quite simply, want to dance. These are exactly the kinds of people who should go ahead and jump right in. However, if you're thinking about starting ballet to get that 'ballet body', I'm afraid you're in the wrong place. Join a floor barre or barre fitness class, or do some pilates. Ballet classes are for dancers, not fitness fanatics!

-Finally, I will warn you: Walking into a class full of experienced dancers is intimidating. Of course it is- walking into anything new is scary! But once you're standing at that barre and you're plié-ing like a pro, you won't regret a thing. Nobody is watching you. Everyone just wants to focus on themselves and getting those muscles working right. Relax, enjoy yourself, and most of all smile! Ballet is an adventure, and it's one you should never, ever regret.

To help you on your journey to ballet class, I've found a few of my favourite resources and put them together for you.

The Royal Opera House's YouTube Channel has lots of amazing videos to help you really understand the art of ballet. There are performance and rehearsal clips, and even a few full-length class videos!

Kathryn Morgan is a former soloist at the New York City Ballet and she shares some amazing insider tips on her channel for every level of dancer. Her barre classes and basic tutorials are particularly useful for beginners.

I've also found yoga helpful for strengthening and relaxing muscles, and Yoga with Adriene has the best yoga videos on the internet (as far as I'm concerned!)

Thanks again for reading and I really hope you find these little tips useful.

Until next time,
-Sam