Friday 4 August 2017

Sophie Rebecca's Adult Ballet Class Map



Adult ballet students everywhere owe a great debt of gratitude to Sophie Rebecca for compiling this map of adult dance classes around Britain. We move heaven and earth each week to attend our usual class but sometimes work gets in the way or we go on holiday or maybe the teacher has flu.  If we had to miss a class for any of those or other reasons there was very little we could do about it until now. Disappointing because a day without ballet is like a day without sunshine.

Now, thanks to Sophie, if we miss a class or find ourselves away from home maybe there is something we can do about it.  Perhaps we can find another class elsewhere.  Experiencing another studio, meeting new people, observing how another teacher works, picking up a useful tip, perhaps even having a previously undiagnosed fault pointed out and corrected is always worthwhile.

Sophie's map shows just how popular adult ballet has become.  There is hardly a town of any size without a thriving class.  But there are sure to be many that we have missed and that is where you can help.  If you are a teacher, school proprietor or student drop Sophie or me a line. If you contact me I shall make sure she gets the message. Also, if you have attended any of those classes and are willing to write a short review I should be very glad to publish it. Especially if you could tell us stuff that will not be on the teacher's website such as the nearest parking, bus stop, tube or railway station, whether there is a pianist, where you can change and how much the classes costs.

There are great swathes of the country such as the whole of the south coast where I know there are plenty of classes but I don't know where. And I can't believe there are no classes in Northern Ireland or the East of Scotland. So lets help Sophie complete the map.

Changing the subject every so slightly, one of the things I love about about ballet is its universality. Tp show you what I mean, there is a school in Moscow called Dance Secret. Why it has an English name I really don't know but it has an adult ballet class as you can see from this YouTube video. This film appears to be an exhibition by the members of the Beginners Class.  They are performing to their kids, husbands and boyfriends. They must have been full of nerves before the show.  Look at their satisfaction with a job well done. I have never met those women but I do what they do and it makes me feel so proud of them.

Returning to the map, so long as Sophie allows me to do so I will always link to it. You can access it by clicking the "Adult Ballet Classes" button.

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