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Ballet studio musings from two 50+ dancers


Hi everyone,
Founder and Director of Ballet4life Donna here. Spring
brings new things such as growth, change, and opportunity. I recently asked two lovely dedicated 50+ adult ballet dancers at Ballet4life to start writing for us about their experiences with dance, on the side, as they progress with their classes, technique, and confidence in the classroom. They were rather receptive so I think it is the time to launch their stage on which their words will dance, work hard, help others, and inspire people to come and dance in the local area.



Images: Ballet4life Director Donna Schoenherr- All rights reserved
Susan and Julia, S & J, I will hand this over to you and soon will be publishing many more of your words.
As a warm up to their first performance, I will quote some of their recent writings/comments already shared with Ballet4life. Here are two samples for your reading pleasure.
Julia- commenting on Rebecca Scott’s rehearsal with Donna for the upcoming showcase on 20 May:
Here are a few notes I wrote whilst watching Becky rehearse.
Today I had the pleasure of watching Becky rehearse her dance to the most lovely and nostalgic music! This dance sequence which encompasses Donna's creative choreography will be shown amongst other dance pieces at the Ballet4life showcase on May 20th at St Peters Church, Turnham Green, and the audience are in for a treat, not to be missed!! A clue to this dance piece; “I can almost see the poppies floating from above."
Image: Julia is Contemporary/Lyrical Jazz Dance Class with teacher Beatrice Ghezzi- All rights reserved
Susan- commenting on the recent big changeover in staff and her thoughts about the first class with our new teacher Mark Kimmett: 
I just want to say that I overcame my anxiety today and
although I missed Clarissa, today's class was wonderful. Mark is very kind and although I initially felt quite apprehensive I thoroughly enjoyed the class and the Pointe class. I don't know why I was so worried ......
Image: Susan after Beginner Pointe Class with teacher Clarissa Rocha- All rights reserved
26 April
Susan’s feedback after class:
Today I attended the 11.15 class at the dance studio at St
Peter’s Hall. This was the first Wednesday class I had attended for a while and was Mark’s first Wednesday class. I find Mark to be a teacher who is very encouraging and is happy to let you work at your own level whilst gently reminding you to think about your posture etc. I now keep trying to think of something pulling me upwards to elongate my neck and spine! The exercises were similar to those undertaken at the Saturday class but were slightly different so no chance of complacency! I found it very helpful that Mark told us “ it does not matter if you make a mistake “ Mark has a very holistic approach to his teaching. The class was made up of ladies of varying ages and the teaching made it suitable for all. If you have time on a Wednesday morning I can thoroughly recommend this class.

Images: Susan in Beginner Improvers Ballet Class with teacher Mark Kimmett- All rights reserved







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