A Sit Down with Dena Abergel

When one looks back at the Covid-19 pandemic, great sacrifice, isolation, and loss come to mind. I think each of us can recognize this. It was no different for ballet dancers around the world, both professionally and recreationally.

What was seeded in this most difficult time was connectivity that barely existed pre-Covid. Suddenly, through Zoom and Instagram, world class teachers were at our fingertips. On any given day, you could log in from your living room, back porch, or bathroom and take class with teachers you only once dreamed of learning from. Never in my wildest ballet dreams could I imagine one day studying in the direct lineage of George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet, the only school in my mind and dreams.

And this is where our story begins. The School of American Ballet, or SAB as it is affectionately called, is the first preeminent professional school of ballet in America. Founded by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein in 1934 in New York City, it is the school that trains dancers for the New York City Ballet (City Ballet) and over 80 other major ballet companies around the world. The dancers’ speed, musicality, and athleticism are unsurpassed.

I started dancing at the ancient age of 14 in the late 1980s and quickly became obsessed with all things City Ballet and SAB. My age, unfortunately, gave little chance to ever fulfill the dream of dancing at SAB. Fast forward many years and deep in a pandemic that had not touched the world in over a hundred years, and through social media, I found my teacher—a teacher who filled a void, which was a longing to learn to dance like a Balanchine ballerina. Suddenly, I was standing under the watchful eye of Dena Abergel, former New York City Ballet ballerina and current faculty member at the School of American Ballet, as well as New York City Ballet’s Children’s Repertory Director. Journey with me, friends, as I ask Dena a lifetime of unanswered questions…..

I saw you recently perform in a clip you shared on your Instagram. Seeing a pro ballerina perform post-retirement in my mind signals a change in the dance world and a world of more inclusivity in dance.

I love to perform. Even those two minutes with my dancing friends on stage at a summer camp was thrilling. We got a high just from creating the dance, having fun in the studio together, putting on the music, and just moving together. As I get further and further away from my performing days, it does feel like it’s less and less possible for me to really perform, so I don’t have the same yearning. Dancing in pointe shoes is no longer realistic. But I still have the yearning to be swept by my waltzing partner across the room any time, any day. Balanchine’s Vienna Waltzes was like a dream for me. I was in three different gowns with many different partners—from the woods to the ballrooms with chandeliers. I could go back to that world forevermore. I was so aware of what was happening at the time—that I was living my dream. I did it, I loved it, and it’s in my heart and in my memory. Would I do it again? Sure, in a second, but it’s not realistic. I am grateful that I am in the world that I love so much and I feel like I can share my passion with eager children, and that it’s not just tucked under a mattress somewhere.

How old were you when you retired?

Almost 39, 38.

Dancing the First movement Solo Girl in Balanchine’s Brahms Schoenberg Quartet 

Photo by Paul Kolnik 

And 40 is around the average age, right?

Much sooner for dancers in the corps. People don’t usually go past early 30s. I was considered old. If you’re not a soloist or a principal, you’re usually gone after 10 years, because to dance in the corps you have to be doing it because you love it so much, which I
did. I would have gone on and on and on. And once I retired, I was ready in the wings if I ever got the chance to get back on stage. I was lucky because Peter Martins called on me to do some character roles after I retired. I will never forget the first year that I was working with the children at SAB. I was teaching them Sleeping Beauty and then I was suddenly on the stage performing as the queen alongside them. It was so incredible to have these little kids turn to me, present their flowers, bow, and walk off. It was the sweetest thing.

And it probably gave them confidence having their teacher out there?

Yes. I was like, “…and 5, 6, 7, 8. turn one and stand, now breathe.” Just kidding, they knew their choreography but it was mutually thrilling and comforting to be on stage together.

Dancing the Prayer solo in Balanchine’s Coppelia 

Photo by Paul Kolnik

Did you have nerves all the way through your career or was it all joy? I know
everyone is different but for you?

Everyone is different. For me the performance was the freedom. It was like sigh, this is where I’m free, so I couldn’t wait. There were occasions when I had a big opportunity or solo where I had some nerves before, but normally as soon as I got out there with the music and lights, it dissipated. Dancing is not scary to me, it’s what I feel I should be doing, it’s where I feel I belong—on the stage with the music and the costumes. I had the opportunity to dance in so many Balanchine ballets. Most of these ballets are about dancing with each other to beautiful music. You are literally dancing with your friends. It’s so rewarding.

If you are a principal, you are almost always dancing with one partner or alone. I loved that I had the opportunity to do certain solos, but the fact that I got to do both was a pleasure. When I came back after having my daughter, I always thought about the fact that the principal dancers who had children had to go back into carrying the entire ballet, whereas when I went back I was just dancing with my friends. It was a much less burdensome role.

What made you decide to retire when you did?

The offer of working with the children came. Peter said, “I need someone to do this and I want it to be you.” I was already 38. I was dancing at my peak at that point, my body was in the greatest shape it was ever in, I was enjoying myself tremendously. It was, in a way, hard to leave, but I said to myself, “This is the way to leave—when I feel great, not injured and hurting.” If I didn’t take the position right then, he would have had to find someone else. He really believed this was the place for me, and I trusted him. I believe Peter noticed certain things about me that I wasn’t aware of myself. He had known me since I was 17 years old and over the course of 20+ years he took an interest not only in my dancing but also in who I was, how I approached dancing, and the way I worked.

Teaching at SAB

What an honor to have someone say to you, “Here, I want you to lead the children at SAB.” That’s huge.

Yes, it was huge and I didn’t quite realize it at the time, and I didn’t see myself that way either. Now I can’t imagine doing anything else!


Sometimes it takes someone to recognize something in us before we see it in ourselves ☺ How does post-retirement look for Dena the dancer? Do you have goals and aspirations for yourself?

The truth is I always love to dance. It has been a loss in my life in terms of missing the performing, missing the daily routine of taking class. Especially before the pandemic, whenever I did have the opportunity I took company class. As a performer, my entire day used to be spent on taking care of myself—my physical body, my nutrition, massage,
everything that had to do with what I needed to do to get on that stage. It was all-consuming. I was lucky because my husband was very supportive. As I got older and had a family I was always balancing and juggling.

Kids, career, college. That’s amazing!

That’s how I felt fulfilled—by doing everything. I have had to slow down a bit as I’ve gotten older because I have gotten injured. The first 10 years post-retirement I really was always looking for that opportunity to get back on that stage. I am past that now because my body can’t do what it used to do. I do get that fulfillment now when I teach. When I’m warmed up and I can really show a class, I make up combinations that I would love to dance, and I get that fulfillment by sharing with my students. So much of learning for everyone is by watching and absorbing, by seeing. It’s visual. When they can see a feeling of movement they can replicate and not imitate but they can understand what you’re saying. When Suki [Schorer] was teaching me, which was, I guess, 35 years ago, she was 100 percent full out. So much of my movement quality and musicality I learned from her because she was doing it all. And she pretty much still does at 83. Suki is one of a kind and continues to inspire students and others alike.

And like you said, it’s so important that you move and demonstrate for your students. For me this past summer was the summer of Balanchine. I have been reading Suki’s book all summer, taking classes with you, and watched all
the essays. It’s one thing to read the theory and watch the videos, but it’s another thing entirely to work directly with a teacher whose teacher literally wrote the book.

On one hand I feel that my experience is so narrow because my entire dance life has been going from SAB to City Ballet back to SAB. Since I began teaching at SAB, I have become so much more aware of the building blocks of technique and not just getting to the final
product. I love helping people understand their bodies and achieve positions and movements that will give them the freedom to dance. Watching young people discover themselves and their abilities is so fulfilling, and to be a part of that process is rewarding for me

Teaching at Belvoir Ballet

Do you have a routine every day for yourself?

I took yoga for dancers classes diligently with Hilary Cartwright from the time I joined the company and I continue to do those stretches and exercises most days before I teach. When I have time and the schedule works out, I love to take company class. It feels like a huge breath of fresh air for me. But normally, once my kids have gone to school, I walk the dog, do my exercises, eat lunch and then head to work. Classes at SAB start at 4 and I rehearse the children for NYCB performances until about 9pm.

If you had to describe Balanchine technique in a few words, how would you
describe it?

I would say one of the biggest things is the musicality of it. You don’t take your time, you dance exactly on the music, but you can also play with the music. Balanchine himself was a musician. That influenced his style and therefore his training. Also clarity. Everything is
crystal clear and precise. Sharp, but also full, huge, the energy and line go beyond the body.

I would describe it as challenging. I feel like an absolute beginner studying Balanchine with you. At what point did you feel Balanchine technique was not challenging? Suki describes in her book that he would push and push and then when the dancer achieved, he would push harder. I assume Suki was the same as a teacher too, right?

Yes, there is no end. I felt that I worked toward goals and in trying, I achieved the best I could at that moment. It was never a final destination.

Does that bring doubt and self-criticism in or do you say I’m on a journey, it’s the journey, not the destination, and I’m on a journey?

That’s the Wendy Whelan idea. It’s about the journey, it’s about the process. There’s always more. The leg can always go higher. The reach can always be longer. I never felt that there was even going to be an end to the journey.

So that was OK? You know how every dancer has something they don’t like about their body or something they want to work on.

Yes, for sure, and of course I have those too, but I think that that has more to do with the person than the technique. Just how you process critical information and corrections. We really have to clarify with students that a correction is not criticism. A correction is a good
thing. It means we are helping you find a way to achieve the result that you want. Plus, even if I got it right one day, it could disappear the next. But knowing I had done three pirouettes the day before, meant that it was possible and achievable. It’s not like you got there and you’re there. I teach these ideas to my students as well—how to think productively about one’s self so that they don’t self-sabotage or become negative.

That’s really refreshing to hear from a professional ballerina. You have the same feelings all dancers have even at the highest level. What is a day at SAB like for you?

It’s different for every dancer and teacher. Because I have two jobs—NYCB Children’s Repertory Director and SAB faculty, both involving the students at SAB, my typical day at SAB is not like other faculty members’. I am creating a whole schedule that has to fit with
City Ballet’s schedule, the kids’ academic schedules, SAB’s class schedule, and studio availability. It’s a huge puzzle so a big part of my job is organizational and on the computer. My mornings are spent arranging, scheduling and emailing, while my afternoons and evenings are spent teaching and watching performances.

How does teaching adults differ from teaching children?

The pandemic gave me my first opportunity to teach anyone above 16. What I loved about it was that I could discuss and explain the workings of the body and artistic ideas in a very different way than I do with children. I can talk so much more freely about everything with
adults. You don’t have the concern about discipline or of hurting anyone’s feelings. I found more freedom for me as a teacher speaking with adults. Adults come to class for a different reason, and I love that they want to learn ballet. They love to move to music and there is
something about ballet that is appealing to them. And I am just so happy to share my passion with people of any age. It’s another kind of fulfillment teaching and working with people closer to my age, a little older, a little younger, to share what I love on a different level. I find it admirable to dedicate part of your day on a regular basis to learning this beautiful art form. I feel that there is so much value and pleasure that one can get out of teaching adults.

And the hope is that the ballet world becomes more inclusive to adult ballet dancers. My last question is whether there is any hope of an adult summer intensive at SAB?
Dena, can you please make it happen? There are so many of us that dream of this!!

That’s highly unlikely at SAB. Maybe City Ballet one day. You never know.

Since sitting down with Dena and writing this, I found NYCB offers a summer adult workshop I am beyond excited to attend and have been kindly invited by Dena to visit SAB to observe classes while there finger crossed the timing is right. This adult ballerina’s dream come true.

Thank you Dena for your time and dedication to this adult ballerina as well as the recognition of the adult ballet world’s rightful place in the world. Your meticulous eye and firm yet kind corrections have fueled the love of this art form for a lifetime. Follow Dena through her Instagram as well as in the Disney documentary, On Pointe.

A Sit Down with Lynne Charles

If you have not heard the name Lynne Charles before, ballet friends, you’re welcome. She will change your pointe work forever. She is an American who has spent most of her adult life living and working in Europe.

Former principal dancer with John Neumeier and the Hamburg Ballet, Béjart Ballet Lausanne, and principal permanent guest artist with English National Ballet, as well as professor of classical ballet, Lynne has made it her mission postretirement to push the evolution of pointe work in a holistic and safe way. It was so exciting to have the opportunity to sit down with my amazing teacher and pick her brain. 

How was 4 Pointe conceived?

As a dancer, pointe work or articulation in the legs and feet was my specialty. I was well known for being an extremely articulate dancer, which I learned from my teacher Robert Scevers, who has since passed away. The first year I moved to Europe, I would go to his home every night and hang on his stove and do barre with him. He retrained me. He promised me that if I listened to him and did everything he said, I would become a very articulate, wonderful dancer like Elizabeth Carol, a ballerina with Harkness Ballet who we both were big fans of. I trusted him. He also said, “It will make you have a long career,” which was true because I danced until I was 53. I didn’t have injuries or problems like most dancers have. 

When I retired and started teaching and coaching, I started noticing that dancers today are being required to do, ever since Billy Forysyth, such incredibly difficult pointe work—so much turned in and over the foot and back on the foot and just much more than is required in a simple classical ballet. I thought there must be a way to add something to the pointe class to make sure that in doing this, dancers can do it well but don’t get injured. 

I was a Professor at the Folkwang University in Essen and worked with contemporary dance students for five years. I learned a lot about the contemporary side of dance. This opened my mind to more possibilities. The only way dancing will survive is if everything evolves and changes. One does not want to ever lose in classical ballet the classical, pedagogical background or the essence, but over the last twenty years classical ballet has changed and evolved through pilates, Gyrotonic exercise, and sports medicine. I pride myself on being a teacher who’s very open minded and also looking to evolve my class. 

This all led me to wanting to do 4 Pointe. I had also watched a lot of things on YouTube and discovered there has been no evolution in pointe training. Pointe training has basically stayed the same as it was 50 years ago. I decided to use aspects of everything I’ve learned and work with dancers to discover and develop how to make pointe training better. 

I always say that right now, in the phase where my 4 Pointe is, it is never meant to replace a pointe class where you do piqués and all the classical pointe stuff. It is meant to be an addition. Within a year, I hope to have developed it so that it is a whole class. That being said, if you do my whole 4 Pointe barre, you have worked your whole body. 

What are some of the most important elements for an adult dancer preparing for pointe?

The correct shoes. If an adult beginner does not have a good pair of pointe shoes, it’s miserable. They will get blisters, have sore feet, it’s going to be an uncomfortable experience. Do some research. You may want to wear the same shoes as your favourite ballerina, but maybe those shoes are not good for you. You have to invest time and find out what kind of shoes there are. Try on 4 or 5 different shoes. Invest and try 2 different kinds, alternating until you see which works better. Your first time on pointe is an experience and you want it to be a good one, so you need to have good shoes. Pick a teacher that is interested in your well-being, not interested in making a buck. Otherwise you become one of the crowd. 

What advice would you give to adult students going on pointe for the first time?

I think in the beginning it is painful in the knees, hips, and lower back. This is normal. I would advise strengthening their feet with a TheraBand. Do some relevés at the stove when cooking to strengthen the ankles. I think if they are interested in doing it, more power to them. 

I have great respect for adult beginners. For someone at 40, starting ballet puts tremendous strain on the body. It’s a tremendous investment of your time and your energy. I think that sometimes adult beginners are not treated with enough respect for who they are and what they have achieved in their life. Some are double, triple mothers, have had a full-time job, and take care of families. It’s a whole different kind of person. It’s not a 12-year-old, it’s a mature adult. I think sometimes they are not taken seriously enough. 

If you can teach an adult beginner and a child, then you can teach anybody. The easiest thing to teach is a very talented dancer. Half your work is done. If you can get something out of an adult, that is a real challenge to your teaching qualities. 

Any final thoughts for the adult ballet world?

Don’t let anybody demotivate you. If you have two kids, three kids, a husband, a house, and a job and you still want to do ballet, oh my God, more power to you. And even if you don’t have any of those things and you want to go to ballet and you’re not 18, you’re 35, 40, 50, whatever—if it makes you happy, ballet is a wonderful thing to do and it’s a way to get in tune with yourself. I think anything you do that makes you happy, you should just do it. And ballet is not just wonderful for the body, it’s a wonderful art form. Don’t give up, don’t let people discourage you or make fun of you, just go for it. 

Thank you so much Lynne for sharing with us. I leave you all with Lynne’s mantra….

“4 Pointe is meant to be a somatic and mindful method of training dancers on pointe. I believe a dancer’s body is their tool and it must be cultivated with wisdom and respect, kept in good health, well fed as well as artistically nourished. This is the challenge of our generation. Therefore as leaders we must learn enhanced ways of transmitting valid and timeless information as well as further developing how classical training methods can be updated without losing the sense of what art is and why we do it.”

Find Lynne on Youtube….

On her Instagram…

https://www.instagram.com/4pointe/

And meet Lynne in person at our upcoming Adult Ballet Weekend Intensive on June 13th. Details here…..

Until our next plié ❤

A Sit Down with Marie Walton-Mahon Part Two

“Pure line doesn’t have a measurement. Fonteyn never had high legs, but when she left the stage she radiated something that was still left in your heart”

Since posting Part One of my conversation with Marie Walton-Mahon, I have had the pleasure of incorporating a regular Progressing Ballet Technique into my weekly routine, as well as introducing the Adult Program One to my students. Let’s dive right back into our interview with Marie and learn how Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) became what we know it to be today and how it can benefit adult ballet dancers on their journey.

How Did PBT grow to what we know it to be today?

I had no intention of sharing it to the world until 2012. Back then I was an examiner for the Royal Academy of Dance and also a tutor. I was giving a tutor course and I always had my fit ball with me.

This day I said to the teachers, batterie is so problematic. If students don’t understand where the batterie comes from (those deep rotators and adductors), then the muscle memory tells them that this is OK and they keep doing it wrong. If they stand up and do it wrong, whether it’s a child or an adult, wrong goes into the body that wrong is right. You have to take the floor out of it, get them to actually do that batterie. I said to the teachers, “I’ll show you. One at a time lie on top of the ball, hips center, and do some royale or changement battu and just beat and feel where that comes from.” It was like this light bulb moment. And this day in 2012 they said to me, “Marie, how many exercises have you got?” When I told them I have been working like this for years, they asked me to please share. And I said, “Really, share it?” My husband said, “Oh I don’t know, who’s going to want this? What, ballet on a ball?” The first website was made by our son and we cut a DVD. I had absolutely no idea. I’d have laughed at that crystal ball if it’d have said that PBT has gone into over 40 countries now. It’s extremely humbling.

Many adult ballet students are very serious about their training and they dive head first. How many days a week do you recommend PBT for adults?

PBT can be done daily if they’ve got the time. I practice it daily. If they set aside an hour or hour and 15 minutes a day, it will transfer through their muscle memory into that ballet class. Study the coaching, do the exercise, and then by the end of three weeks be able to do the exercises by themselves without the coaching. This is the indicator of whether they are ready to go to another stage. The last class I love for them to shut their eyes and use imagery and actually tap into what their body is feeling. Breathe the music through the body and listen. And make some notes. I encourage the adult students to make some notes about what they are feeling. If something feels too hard, go back a bit. Don’t push beyond because the best result is taking it slow to move into the class.

What are your thoughts on pointe work for adults?

The pointe does worry me with adults. I have seen a lot of dangerous things. They must do the pointe preparation–the toe slings, the doming. They must prepare the feet and not leave the barre. Their bones are stronger than the children, but they still need that preparation. They need to understand the intrinsics, not to pronate, where it all comes from. I think something needs to resonate with adults that want to get on pointe quickly–the grand master Balanchine said, “What is the use of being en pointe if you don’t know what to do up there?”

What advice would you give to adult students that struggle with not being taken seriously?

There are more and more teachers offering just adult work. They are springing up everywhere. I suggest they research. A lot of teachers are following the curriculum Silver Swans.

What advice would you give to the adult student that maybe doesn’t feel they have the right body type? Not flexible enough, they don’t have the ballet body? Those that are afraid to take the first step?

Love the movement. Forget the surroundings around you. Just love the feeling of breathing the music through the body. And pat themselves on the back for going for it. They’ll get coordination. They’ll get an understanding of better breathing. Much better posture, they’ll have better balance. They’ll understand the value of transfer of weight in daily life instead of just standing on one leg with one hip sinking. They’ll understand their bodies better.

And they are going to be a valued member of an audience. They will sit in the theater and know how much it took to get there. This art is very beautiful but not many people understand the in-depth training and what goes into it. We need valued audiences.

They should feel proud of themselves for going for it. It’s about personal best, not about competition. Take the word “competition” out of it. It’s those little milestones and those light bulb moments that they understand. Just go for it and love this beautiful art.

Any other thoughts you would like to share with the adult ballet community?

The body is like a house and if it has no foundation, it will just crumble. The body needs a foundation. PBT tweaks the muscles that are close to the bones, that protect the bones. For health and safety, just for well-being, and love of movement and music, its a wonderful thing to do. But they should never compare themselves. And remember that pure line doesn’t have a measurement. Fonteyn never had high legs, but when she left the stage she radiated something that was still left in your heart.

Thank you so much, Marie

It is so wonderful to have PBT. I am so happy that all of those suggestions along the way pushed you in this direction because you are changing the world of dance in such a positive way. Thank you so so much for taking the time!

For incredible online classes with Marie and other PBT teachers, check out https://pbt.dance/en. For live classes via Zoom, book with us here at https://balletgothenburg.com/

A Sit Down with Marie Walton-Mahon Part One

“PBT is about the feeling before the form”

In the last decade the adult ballet world has grown exponentially. Adult dancers are wanting more than a class where they are sandwiched between two perfectly molded teenage dancers in their community’s weekly class. It is a global phenomenon where we have created our own place in the ballet world, and rightfully so. We can dance beautifully, build strength and flexibility, and, with the right encouragement and teacher, meet our own personal dance goals.

PBT is the perfect way to safely meet these goals. What is Progressing Ballet Technique or PBT? It is a gift from Australia to every dancer, young or old. According to PBT’s website, Progressing Ballet Technique “is an innovative body-conditioning and strengthening program that has been designed to enhance students’ technique by focussing on training the muscle memory required in each exercise in all forms of dance. It is a unique training system using ballet-technique specific exercises to train skill acquisition in a graded and progressive manner from junior through to advanced levels. PBT helps teachers around the world prepare their students to receive the strength they need to achieve their personal best.”

Founded by Marie Walton-Mahon, PBT is the ingredient missing in every dancer’s regimen. She has been changing the dance world at as rapid a pace as the pandemic and the pandemic has pushed her to expand her latest program in the PBT repertoire-Progressing Ballet Technique for adults.

Her decades of experience, both dancing and teaching professionally, have led her to create a program taught in the best schools and practiced by professionals. It was such an honor to sit down and chat with her and be able to share with you, the reader. Our lovely hour plus interview was intended to result in a single post but has now evolved into a two part series. There was just too much valuable information not to share.

PBT has a new program for adult ballet students.  Thank you for thinking of us. What inspired you to create these courses just for adults?

The inspiration came really from the need and request from so many adults and I know there’s a whole resurgence out there for this love of movement, love of music. At first I kept telling them to just follow my Junior Program and work through the Junior Program and when they feel strong enough, move into the Senior Program. I had so many adults saying, “that’s great but I feel intimidated watching the children and I would like my own.” It came from requests and fair enough, adult students deserve their own program.

If they are going to take their training serious, students need to know the how and why before the movement. It’s a little bit like peeling apart an onion and then putting the layers together. PBT is about the feeling before the form. The ethos underneath it is that if they don’t understand where the movement comes from how can they stand up and do it. They are intrigued by it so why not give them all the information. They’ve got plenty of freedom to ask questions as my daughter and I are the ones answering questions every day.

How can PBT help adult ballet students as they begin or continue their journey?    

First of all if they have danced before they have to retrain and align things. If they have danced when they were young and had a big break, they’ve got an idea of their body but those muscles need to be tweaked again. The alignment needs to be there. It’s not about how high, but how the alignment is for the pelvis to sit right instead of just throwing things. And they can go into it just too fast. This prepares the mind and body to then train safely. It’s all about safety. Adults deserve this and should be treated seriously but it has to be safe or it’s not worth doing at all. It’s the feeling before the form. It works best if they have a PBT class and the elements of that PBT class molds into the ballet class to follow.

Where did the idea originate to use a fit ball in ballet class?

I have taught with a fit ball in the room forever-since they came on the market. Tweaking that alignment is so important. Because the ball is moving constantly, it gives the student that instant feedback. It resonates quite quickly. In ballet class if something is amiss, I’ll just bring the fit ball and put that same déveoloppé or grand battement onto the fit ball to feel it then stand up and repeat it. I am constantly referring back to it.

I have always been interested in trying to keep myself to be able to demonstrate enough, I started to work on a Reformer and did some Pilates. And that’s expensive. I love the feeling of it – the taking the weight out of it and using the Reformer. That feeling is wonderful, but how many of those students can afford those sessions? The cross training is so necessary, but ballet is expensive and they’ve got the shoes and everything else. How many can afford that? So I thought I’ll get a fit ball and just trial some of those things with a fit ball because they are cheap.

I bought fit balls for a ten-year-old class. I started to substitute a class every couple of weeks and we just called it BB Day, Ballet Ball Day. The parents viewed the class at the end of the term and commented how much the children loved it and were practicing at home. They said that instead of substituting a class, they would like to have a special class. And they improved drastically. It was absolutely amazing. It went from there and I kept creating more.

And so PBT began its inception and evolution. It is truly amazing how one creative teacher’s need to help her young students has evolved into one of the most in demand teaching programs in the dance world and beyond. This kind and generous woman is making the dance world a safer place one fit ball at a time. Stay tuned for my next post as we dive deeper into Marie’s personal advice for you, the adult dancer, on your journey.

Until our next plié ❤

A Sit Down with Fredrick Davis

Photo Rachel Neville

“Fred is on a journey and he’s going to get there and that’s very beautiful.” Virginia Johnson, Artistic Director, Dance Theatre of Harlem

Having seen the documentary From the Streets to the Stage, the Journey of Fredrick Davis, it is hard to contain the excitement in sitting down with this incredible dancer at the height of his career. One could anticipate that the stardom of having danced as a Principal with the legendary Dance Theatre of Harlem could easily go to one’s head, but this is farthest from the truth with Fred. His hard work and humble beginnings reflect who he is today.

Our conversation began on a Sunday evening, a six hour time difference between New York and Stockholm. Fred, in the middle of a pandemic forced move, was just settling into his new Hamilton Heights apartment in upper Manhattan. He has spent much of his time post Covid lining up teaching gigs and planning future collaborations in Tennessee.

Fredrick, born in Brooklyn, grew up in Chattanooga and returned to his roots as an adult. His early childhood was rife with uncertainty, hunger, and homelessness. He spent much of his childhood on the streets of Chattanooga with his mother. His grandmother took him in and under her wing giving him the home he needed. At the tender age of 11, his life took the change that lead him to where he is today.

How have you been coping during the pandemic?

I have been optimistic by teaching people online ballet classes during the Black Lives Matter protests. Instead of going to protests I have been teaching online classes in Australia, Italy, Chile, Nigeria, Kenya East Africa, London, UK, Greece, Italy, Hawaii and across the United States.

I saw the documentary featuring you. What an inspiring and amazing journey you have been on. It seems that your grandmother was one of the great influences in your life?

She knitted the quilt. She made sure I was making my own choices.

How old were when you knew that you wanted to dance seriously?

8th grade. I had many dreams. I wanted to be a lawyer, businessman, firefighter, wrestler, football player. I coudn’t afford to try out for the football team and the dance auditions were free, so that was where it all started.

Can you see yourself doing something other than dance ever?

I would love to act and model. I am in the process of opening a non-profit dance school and company in Tennessee. My goal is to build a bridge going forward for the African American and underprivileged community in Chattanooga.

What would you say to the dancers that feel like they don’t fit the ballet mold to dance-too tall, too big, too old, not flexible enough?

To quote Stan Lee I would say, “don’t listen to the naysayers.” If you really want to do something, do it. Don’t look for a job or career. Find your purpose in life and goals and go for it. Nothing is ever certain in life. You can can never be ready when the time is right, you can only be ready enough to take the chance. Be the best that you can be.

Thank you Fred for taking the time to share your story and inspire dancers of all walks!! We look forward to following your journey. Join us on September 12th in our first virtual Adult Ballet Master Class with Fredrick. Find out more about Fredrick in the Emmy award winning documentary From the streets to the Stage:the Journey of Fredrick Davis and follow his journey forward via his Instagram.

Until our next plié ❤