As a child, I was an avid dancer. I was inspired by films like Happy Feet and Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses. Those films are where my love of dance started. I was a dancer from the ages of 2-10 at Gold Star Academy, which is unfortunately no longer a dance company. I had decided to quit dancing to try my hand at school sports like volleyball and basketball, and even though all those sports were fun, I found myself missing dance. I partook in tap dance, ballet, jazz, and hip hop. If you had asked little Emma what her favorite type of dance was, she would have said that it was between hip hop and tap dance. Never would it have crossed her mind that ballet would even be an option.
Roughly two years ago, my hometown library was hosting an event where a retired New York ballerina was coming to perform some of her personal choreography. I decided to go to the event because I missed seeing dance live, and I jumped at the chance of seeing a professional New York City ballerina. Though her routines weren’t all ballet focused, I was entranced by her movements. The way she held herself, how she moved her arms so gracefully, like a swan. Watching her performance, something within me clicked. I needed to get back into ballet somehow. I went home that night and immediately started looking into ballet classes for adults locally. I considered costs, weekly attendance, as well as how beginner level it was. I gave up on the local dance studio dream because the cost and what days of the week they were just would not fit in my school schedule, work, and extracurricular activities.
That is when I decided to look into Illinois State University’s course catalog and see if they offer beginner’s classical ballet classes. In my most dramatic fashion, my heart truly skipped a beat when I saw that ISU does offer beginner classes for classical ballet. I immediately booked a meeting with my advisor to make sure that if I took this class, it wouldn’t be a problem and that I am qualified to enlist in the course for Fall 2025 semester. I got the okay from my advisor and added every cute ballet outfit and accessory I could think of in my Amazon list.
Today, I am currently taking DAN 106: Beginning Classical Ballet with the most incredible and kindest ballet teacher I have ever had, Ashley Jones. My experience with this dance class has been by far the most fun I have had in a class not only in my academics but also in my dance experience. I get to re-learn the things I have forgotten about and feel like a piece of myself that I thought was long gone to come back again. We learned choreography for barre and center stage, and my spark and excitement thrived. I am constantly practicing tendu, dégagé, piqué, and so much more in my living room or my boyfriend’s kitchen while we wait for our leftovers to heat up. Any chance I can get to practice or show my family, friends, and my (favorite) coworkers the movements I am learning, I share with them.
This class is what I look forward too, yes, sometimes I complain because I am tired but the moment I step foot into the studio. I am reminded about how grateful I am to have this opportunity to be able to learn ballet and move my body this way. I think of little Emma and her dreams of becoming a professional ballerina, the time I thought I would be able to do pointe ballet. Which I am not at that level and unsure if I ever will be nonetheless, this experience has been wonderful. I cannot recommend enough taking a beginner level course of any dance course if you’re allowed to. I am guaranteed to be my happiest during my ballet class. I can be found to be disgruntled from time to time when I am struggling with my movements or timing but, at the end of the day, this reintroduction to ballet is not only what I wanted but also what I really needed not only as a student but as myself. I felt connected to myself again and that is all I could ever wish for. All in all, I could go on for ages about ballet and my experience but what I will leave you with is to try the things that once brought you joy as a child, and you may find peace and happiness within it again.