“I thought, are the women in this class really good, and would I look silly,” she said. “The more I talked to Anne Marie, she made me see this is just a class for women who want to do it to have fun with it.”
In the long run, Mathews said, she can see the benefits of ballet in easing the aging process.
“I feel like I walk taller, like a dancer might,” she said. “... I think internally, my muscles and bones are in much better shape because of the exercises Anne Marie does."
Barre none: Adults find a dancing outlet with beginner ballet lessons by PostCresent.com
This article, spotlighting Valley Academy for the Arts in Neenah, Wisconsin; highlights the fitness benefits unique to ballet.
However, I feel as if ballet is never fully accessed or appreciated unless it is danced and taught as a true performing art. When I dance, I don't want to be there for cardio, for strength training, and to lose weight. I want to experience myself as a living work of art. I want to become an object of tangible beauty through movement. I want to create a image of effortless grace. The strength, lean muscles, and endurance are a byproduct of the process.
I want a teacher who sees every barre exercise as a performance. Your face is relaxed, perhaps with even a slight smile playing on the corners of your lips. Your port de bras is light and expressive as you subtlety gesture towards your "audience". You work in the music, not against it. Your body is an instrument.
Why take the art out of ballet? Ballet was not created for exercise, and it shouldn't be "dumbed down" in this way simply because the students are over sixteen. Should this ability to channel art and beauty through one one's own body only be the privilege of twelve year olds?
