The Adult Open Program

Today, let’s dive into how adults are currently taught ballet. We’ll talk about adult open programs, which are how many of us learn ballet, we’ll talk about what to even teach adults, and how to structure a program for busy adult lives.

Before we start, it’s worth noting that it’s going to get real on this episode. We are going to have some honest conversations, I’m going to dig into the challenges I see with how adults are generally taught ballet. 

I understand why the adult ballet opportunities are the way they are on many levels as a studio owner, teacher, and adult ballet dancer myself, and to be very clear, while I will present my challenge of how the adult ballet world is today, I am not here to begrudge any teachers, any studios, or anyone for doing their best to provide opportunities for adults while making ends meet. 

If this episode resonates with you, the remainder of the podcast season will aim to help you navigate through this system to get what you want from it and help to make changes to the things you have access to.

Let me start with a little background and context.

When I asked my audience all the following questions:

• Do you wish you had more information on levels and progression in ballet?

• Are you dying for a ballet syllabus for adults?

• Do you wish you could level up without having to be able to afford frequent private lessons?

• Are you frustrated by the "open" levels of adult ballet?

• Can you follow along with the steps of an intermediate class, but can't yet land a double pirouette or get your legs up high?

• Are you bored with "beginner" level but are not sure how to get to "intermediate"?

• Do you have big dreams but you're not sure if they are possible, and you're not sure how to achieve them?

• Do teachers tell you things like "engage your core" and "keep your hips level" but you don't know what they mean or if you are doing it?

The replies poured into my inbox and went like this: 

“There are adult ballet classes at several studios near me, however they are all mixed level. What I crave is an adult ballet program with structure in a similar sense as they level children’s classes.”

“I wish I had more information on how steps and posture build on each other to achieve the harder steps. For example, how tendus and posture help achieve doubles and triples. Or how degages build to grand jetes or other jumps.”

“Ballet is very structured, it is just that as an adult we are not usually afforded the structure and curriculums that younger kids have as there is an assumption or maybe rather presumption that we have had that basic training when we were younger. I wish there was a curriculum for adults that did not take ballet as a kid.”

“When I attended ‘open’ adult classes most teachers didn't spend much time on technique, just going over the combinations”

“It is hard to join classes when there is no structure and I found myself spending more time trying to work out what to do rather than focusing on my technique and muscles.”

“I would love to learn things properly and in order from the start forward.”

“My teachers encourage me, but it's not like they are leading me through a step-by-step progression.”

“I would prefer a syllabus so I can check skills off and have a better sense of where I land on the spectrum. Piecing it together myself, as a beginner, is terribly discouraging and overwhelming!”

“Kids get the opportunity to learn within a structured level-based curriculum, so why can’t adults, if they’re serious about ballet? I absolutely wish I could do this without paying for a private tutor!”

“I love my local classes but they are just open and there is no progression. I don't know how to jump levels or get on pointe, I feel like I'm at a stand still.”

“I feel like everyone knows everything and I struggle along.”

DID ANY OF THAT RESONATE WITH YOU?

It does to me too. 

You see, I founded Broche Ballet because I saw a problem with how adults learn ballet and wanted to change it.

How did I see this problem? Because I started ballet the same way these adults learned — in adult open drop-in programs. 

I felt the problem really deeply. I felt the discouragement and the disappointment weighing heavily on me, and then eventually relegated myself to goals of low legs and maybe a single pirouette to save myself the disappointment and allow myself to continue ballet class without carrying that sadness.

I started at 17 in an adult beginner open ballet class. From the moment of my first class, I knew ballet was the place for me, my home. I would spend 10 years learning, training, experimenting, and seeking out training before opening Broche Ballet’s first Denver studio

But, I took drop-in adult classes all over New York City. Know of a teacher or a program there? I’ve probably popped into it. I was all over that town. I remember so strongly the longing feeling of watching the intermediate classes, seeing so many steps I didn’t know, and yet seeing that the beginner classes weren’t teaching them. How would I ever be able to keep up in an intermediate class? When could I learn those steps to be able to join the higher-level classes?

Meanwhile, craving more structure, I snuck into my college dance minor program due to a glitch in the registration software that allowed me to register without auditioning. I was so incredibly lucky to take 2 ballet classes, 2 jazz classes, 2 tap classes, choreography/acting class, and hip hop class (well, hip hop felt a little less lucky). But the program was amazing, and a breath of fresh air. The classes were structured from A-Z, each week building on the skills of the previous week. New vocabulary was taught and broken down, instead of just tossed out there casually as something you’re expected to already know. We were given targeted drills to build coordination, warmups to build strength and flexibility, and a dance to work towards to put our skills together.

All the while, desperate for some way to keep leveling up, I took private lessons on and off in college as I could afford them. Private lessons are great and super helpful when you can afford them and find a good teacher. So helpful to have a person directly addressing what you need specifically, especially when you’re in a plateau or feel a little stuck.

Then, I had the idea to apply to ballet youth summer intensives when I was 21. I was young enough to still go to some programs, so I applied and auditioned all over New York City. I was miles behind all of the young teenagers who I auditioned with, and that was eye-opening in it and of itself. The feeling of the auditioners walking by and literally not even looking at you was a new one! The competition in the air, the intensity, no joy anywhere to be found in the room.

After many weeks on the audition circuit, I ended up going to 2 youth intensives where I could see that I was missing a ton of information. I was missing technique. I knew a good amount of vocabulary by this time just through stabbing in the dark with open classes around town, but I didn’t have the technique. But, the programs actually taught technique. They focused on teaching how to use your muscles and how to actually train. Train, not dance. They are separate. Petite allegro wasn’t exclusively about remembering a fast combination, but more so about how to land your jumps on turned out legs. A barre exercise wasn’t about just executing it in time with the music, but about keeping your muscles engaged the whole time. And the teachers wouldn’t let the classes move on until everyone in the room had mastered the concept. To be clear, this was an extremely intense experience, filled with condescension, competition, and envy. I left almost every day of both programs completely in tears. But the training was to die for.

And then, I was in a couple of shows for adults. And that experience was a whole different experience than class too. We worked on the same piece for weeks, perfecting every little detail. And that allowed the dancers to apply technique and not just work on picking up the choreography.

But I was lucky with each and every one of these pieces. I was in college with limited responsibility compared with someone with a job, kids, ailing parents, etc. I was on scholarship, and able to work while in school to afford all of this. I had a more flexible schedule, and lived in New York City where opportunity is everywhere. And, though I felt old at the time, I was still young enough for some opportunities typically reserved for kids. 

Not everyone is so lucky, and it should not