Ballet4Life Talks Dance

Ballet4Lifer of the Month- August!! We just adore learning more about our Ballet4Lifers! Ann-Marie had a few surprises up her sleeve.  Thanks for participating Ann-Marie and keep dancing!   Ann-Marie Ingram As a baby The first dance class I did, aged 6 or 7, was tap and gymnastics. I went with other children from my street. I did not do it for long as I liked tap but not gymnastics. We had to do somersaults over a horse which I found difficult and scary. I have slight poor coordination. This is inherited but I was unaware until much later. In my twenties and thirties, I would meet a friend to do modern dance classes around the Covent Garden area. I remember a studio in Floral Street we especially liked. I loved the challenge of learning new steps though not always able to do them. I felt I could really dance. A lovely photo portrait of Ann-Marie Sometime later, a friend asked if I would go to a ballet class with her. I was very surprised there was a class for adults ...

 Ballet 4 Lifer of the month- July! A month filled with golden shimmery rich Summer days, blossoms, outdoor events, and enjoyment.  We welcome Lara Morley-White this month and although Lara is a relative newcomer to Ballet4life ( been attending for about one year) her natural joy of dancing is readily apparent and is also infectious. Lara as a young Dancer C hassé   it away Lara!  The Lilac Fairy Variation awaits you in the future! Lara ( far right)  with fellow dancers in rehearsal for the 29 May Showcase Fundraiser. In performance  When did you start dancing? Officially when I was 4 or 5 but I’m sure plenty of home videos would corroborate me flitting about from a very early age - I’ve always loved to put on a bit of a performance!   Lara as a young Dancer What makes dancing so special to you? Where to even begin? Dancing, and in particular ballet, has been such a constant in my life. Sometimes it’s an opportunity to fling myself about out of...

 Ballet4Lifer of the Month- June Jubilee June, Start of Summer, Longest Day and London is all buzzing and glowing! We welcome Monique Calmon Grinstein who hails from Brazil and has brought her brawn and brains over to Ballet4Life. Monique is a dedicated, hard-working, analytical dancer who really enjoys the challenges that our Ballet4life classes can deliver. Her rate of improvement is fast and it will be fun to see how much she can absorb and transform and implement into her technique. Monique in our Class with Special Guest Yosvani Ramos  Piqué away Monique!  Hi! I am Monique, 28 years old, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I arrived in the UK in August last year with my husband. We have been married for a bit over one year and currently live in Chiswick (at walking distance from Ballet4Life studios!). I started dancing around 12, mostly taking jazz classes. At 15 I decided to finally try ballet, although I had a lot of insecurities about having already “missed my chance”....

Ballet4Lifer of the Month- May We warmly welcome Serenella to our Ballet4Life group of friends and dancers. She is relatively new to B4l and I only just got to meet her last week. I was so impressed by her dedication, focus, level of effort and energy exhibited, her tirelessness, and her ability to jump right in , so to speak, at class and at the Repertory part of class! Well done! provaci! fallo! Photos: Serenella, 3rd from the left,  with her B4L dancing friends, in classes and rehearsing "The Little Swans" When did you start dancing? I started taking Jazz lessons at the age of 8 and then started ballet at 9. However, if creating choreography with your best friend and performing in front of your family counts, I have been doing that since I was 4! What makes dancing so special to you?  Dancing allows me to express myself, forget all of the problems and stress of life and fills me with calmness and joy. When did you start with Ballet4Life?  Around 6 months ago X marks th...

 Ballet4Lifer of the Month- April Spring Beauty  We welcome Jacira "Jas" Pereira this month to share her thoughts on dance and dancing. Jacira performed the Character Dances created by Alina Luts  plus Ballet selections created by Mark Kelly and Beatrice Ghezzi  with Ballet4life,  before the COVID pandemic. She impressed us all with her quickly learned skills, confidence on stage, team work, and warmth. Coming into Ballet and Dance training as an adult she has shown that it is not only possible to do this, but that this learning new skills and the joy of dancing brings so much to one's life.  We hope she will join us again at our next Showcase. Jas centre of the photo- performing with Ballet4Life at the Belmont Primary School, Chiswick, 2019 Jas on the left at our last Dance Showcase July 2019 at Watermans Theatre   When did you start dancing? I started in Brasil when I was about 20.   At our performance at the Bedford Park Festival ...

 Ballet4Lifer of the Month of March! (Which also means that Spring is around the corner!!)  Camille Lagrange aka "Cami" Cami has always brought a positive outlook to the studios and to her training online. She is very upbeat, strong, focused, works very hard and also brings a bit of brevity and humour to the groups and classes. Her kitten Nairobi , now cat, entertained us for many months during lockdown as we witnessed him trying to do Ballet steps, attack Cami's feet as she executed Ballet steps at the Barre, and/or listened and watched the B4l teachers very intensively online.   ................and here is Nairobi- Feline Ballet Aficionado! When did you start dancing? I started dancing around age 4 and kept doing it throughout my childhood and teenage years. I stopped for a few years when I started working and picked it up again about 5 years ago.   Cami training at around age 9 Her (incomplete) collection of Danse! books, a French series ...