triphazard

Apropos of nothing, having had an excuse to come into London and stick around for a class for the first time in absolutely ages, I have just learned that Tom isn't the only recent departure - it seems Alison is also no longer teaching improvers at ENB ("a mournful cry rent the air," sort of thing! Yes, things change, but they shouldn't, darn it *sniffle*) I would just like to take this opportunity to say OMG ONOEZ. Anyone happen to know if she still teaches anywhere else? Alison, if you happen to read this, greetings from the west country. And incidentally that space-helmet simile still makes me smile at least once per barre on average

I went into Bloch the other day to catch their sale. They gave me a cardboard carrier like the one with presumably Polina (arabesque) on the side, but this one was just plain pale peachy pink on the outside with the word BLOCH picked out in silver, and really looks more like it should contain lacy undies than ballet gear. I commented on it and asked what happened to the canvas ones, they said they'd used up the old ones. The logic by which they go between one bag type and another is a mystery to me. Maybe I should try buying a whole lot of stuff and see if they give me a big bag (as if I need an excuse...) but then again the one time they gave me a big brown bag, I'd only bought one pair of canvas flats! Over the last year or two I've accumulated several Capezio big red cardboard carriers and a couple of smaller ones, same design, just smaller. They seem rather more consistent in their branding than Bloch.

FWIW there were blokes in the most recent 3rd Stage Dance class I attended, which is in Brizzle city centre, and everybody involved was just fine with it. People who genuinely care about dancing are likely to be far too busy trying to remember what they're meant to be doing to spend any time thinking about other peoples' bodies or genders. Maybe start with attending a couple of drop-in classes or trial classes and see how you find them. In my experience, more cosmopolitan locations with more technical classes are more likely to have chaps in the room. I've never met a bloke yet in a small-town ballet class, although there's bound to be a first time, but mostly there tend to be lots of women with variable levels of interest in ballet. There are also ballet classes at Bath Uni, which, being studenty and a bit more serious, might well be a more mixed bunch than you'd get in some places. And If you feel like a bit of positive reinforcement you could indeed try popping into London on a couple of occasions and doing some ENB classes (there are some drop-in evening classes...), or even taking a couple of classes at somewhere like Pineapple: there generally tend to be a couple of blokes in these classes, often including the teacher. I second/third/tenth the suggestion of London ballet weekends - there's a fair amount of good stuff going on and it's a tiny, tiny world. Once you attend a couple, you'll be meeting people at the barre you recognise from last time And, obviously and importantly, if you find any good classes in Bath/Bris/Somerset, especially anything with classes longer than one hour or which treats adult ballet as anything more than 'enjoyable exercise', offers any repertoire or, unimaginably, exams, please get right back on this board and put up the bunhead-signal. I'm leaving employment in London for Bristol soon, meaning I may not be able to continue ENB classes, and I'm already pining for all the wonderful ballet opportunities of the City... can't find anyone in the entire Bath/Bristol area who would contemplate RAD inter foundation for adults and seriously considering commuting to Clapham just for that If one more dance teacher tells me that ballet for adults is solely good for keeping fit, I shall probably snap entirely and sharpen my fountain-pen to write an angry letter to the authorities certifying these schools: 'Dear RAD, You should teach dance teachers to care about adult learners of ballet, because as it stands we seem to care about learning your discipline distinctly more than most teachers think we should. Yours sincerely, signed Disgusted of Bath And Wells.'

Hah, I empathise! I never realised how much I must talk about these things until one time when out and about, the other half saw me lost in admiration and staring at a ballet poster. He said (in 'Minion' voice): 'Banana!' He wasn't wrong either: she had lovely high arches! Swayback knees, though, I could grumble about for hours. By default in first position my knees are in first while my feet are in some sort of scrappy ten-centimetres-apart nothing-much non-position. The various bits of my knee joints have weird and painful ideas about where they should be, too. Admittedly they look nice on proper dancers

I realise part of the original point of the thread was to compile opportunities for advanced dancers. I didn't initially comment on here because, well, what do I know about advanced dance? Then thought, well, maybe some of this info would be useful for someone moving to the area. I've tried to indicate which classes are more technique-focused, but it is a subjective judgement necessarily taken from the perspective of someone who isn't very good at ballet. Also, my info may be out of date & my geography was never great...! Sorry if this is too diffuse to be useful On the subject of Bristol 3rd Stage Dance (http://3rdstagedance.com/) have beginner, intermediate and advanced ballet classes. They are a very friendly bunch with dancers from all walks of life and the classes struck me as technically challenging in a good way. Drop-in (£6) or block payment. Some classes take place at The Island, which is near Broadmead shopping centre and the Odeon. Really easy to get to from the uni. Louise Bracey (http://www.adultballetclasses.co.uk/) does adult ballet classes at a 'general' level at various venues, including the Tobacco Factory and St Francis Centre in Southville. This is a fair walk from the university (downhill, across the harbour, across the Avon...). She also does some classes in Stokes Croft, near the uni. Emily Baker School of Dance run open adult ballet classes on Saturdays at David Lloyd, Westbury-On-Trym, which is up to the north of Bristol http://www.emilybakerschoolofdance.co.uk/group.html As mentioned by others, the Russian Ballet School (http://www.bristolrussianballetschool.com/adult_ballet/) now does adult ballet. They started last year with Intermediate and progressed this year to offering classes for beginners on a drop-in basis. These are at another David Lloyd, this time David Lloyd Sports Club, Long Ashton, which is a good couple of miles out from the university near a park-and-ride. Again as mentioned above, 344 seem to offer lots of adult ballet (and tap, and Irish, and...), have been around for a long time and also offer ISTD syllabus work. Sadly the Fishponds location is a little bit difficult to get to from the university, being about four miles away on a route potentially involving a motorway, but again there are buses and it is achievable if you're feeling mildly dedicated. Emerson's Green is even further out to the north-east, Knowle is on the Bath side of town. http://www.dancestation.org.uk/schooladulttt.html And also as mentioned above, Ballet Bristol classes are on Wednesdays in Bradley Stoke. You'd want to be reasonably dedicated for this one too: I believe it's a reasonable way to the North of Bristol, near the M4, but again there is a bus from the centre. http://www.balletbristol.co.uk/class_timetable.html and Bath (which is very close) Ballet classes on Wednesdays at Bath Uni/ICIA (Institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts, essentially Bath Uni's arts centre). Bath Uni is on top of a reasonably large hill; the ICIA is located there. Good stuff, but if you want more than one day's ballet per week you'd want to supplement with some classes in the town centre. Although ICIA is part of the university these classes are open to the public. https://www.icia.org.uk/classes/ Ballet at the Barre: various weekdays down the hill near Bath city centre. http://www.bathyogastudio.com/ Kim Jones offers beginner, intermediate and advanced ballet in Bath. These were in Bath Sports Centre but I understand they're moving to La Scala Studios (https://twitter.com/K4KimDance/status/666643277920251905/photo/1). I hear she also runs summer intensives though haven't been lucky enough to attend one yet. http://k4kimdance.co.uk/ @DanceInBath (http://www.danceclassesinbath.co.uk/timetables/) apparently do an hour and a half worth of intermediate ballet class on Wednesdays at 5:40-7:10pm, which is notable as most classes in the area are, sadly, only an hour long. From their website they also seem to have something of a focus on rep. If you're living in the Frome direction Danceworks offer adult body conditioning on Tuesday evenings (8:00-8:45), tap on Thursday evenings and ballet on Friday mornings and evenings (7:15pm). They ran a summer intensive this year and, it seems, plan to do more. Really nice friendly group, challenging material and each class includes some rep (Swan Lake, etc), which makes it 'dancier': http://www.danceworksfrome.co.uk/ Bojangles don't currently do beginner's ballet but do offer an open drop-in ballet class at 6:45 on Mondays. ISTD syllabus. Again, a very friendly group, and a very popular class. They are that rarest of beasts, an adult ballet class that (sometimes) does pointe and works towards performance, exams etc. http://www.bojanglesdanceschool.co.uk/dance-class-times.html Tri Art offer intermediate ballet for adults, Friday at 7pm. http://tri-art.co.uk/dance-academy-timetable-2015-2016/ ... or nearer Devizes Charlotte's School of Dance do adult classes, which include pointe at intermediate level: http://www.charlotteschoolofdance.co.uk/index.php/our-classes/timetable/devizes For those around Salisbury and Southampton Salisbury Dance Studios: adult ballet classes at three levels (Beginners and Improvers on Thursday, Experienced on Wednesday). Pay per term. Focus on enjoyment and fitness. http://www.salisburydancestudios.co.uk/ Southampton Uni's ballet society arranges its own ballet classes on Tuesdays. I've no idea if those are open to the outside world: would have to pop onto their Facebook and ask (https://www.facebook.com/UoSBallet). Roynon in Southampton offer adult tap and ballet from beginners through to experienced. http://www.roynondance.com/classes/adult-classes/ Jo Hyne's Experienced adult ballet class in Southampton on Tuesdays http://johynedanceschool.co.uk/timetable/ intermediate ballet at The Point, Eastleigh https://www.thepointeastleigh.co.uk/participate/dance-classes/ballet/ballet-intermediate-%28adults%29/ And of course London Royal Academy of Dance. Their adult classes include the only RAD syllabus courses I've ever encountered. Not too hard to find (get to Clapham Junction or Victoria, take a 170 bus and get off at Battersea High Street). Terms follow the traditional school term structure. RAD also run a one-week evening intensive for adults during the summer which last year included ballet, pilates and street dance. https://www.rad.org.uk/learn-to-dance/adult-classes-at-the-rad/adult-enrolment/apply

Additional note about Bristol performance options: especially if 18-20something DS's are involved, folks such as the Bristol Russian Ballet School, who do full-length ballets, will quite probably be very happy :-) Sue: Things have really changed in the Bristol/Bath area (they are very close) in the last couple of decades. While Bristol still isn't (yet) a patch on London (who have RAD, ENB, all the dance schools in town, LAB, Crystal Ballet, loads and loads of classes and quite possibly a partridge pirouetting in a pear tree), these days you could describe adult ballet opportunities in the greater Bristol area as 'encouraging'. It's relatively easy to find a class now, with groups like Third Stage Dance doing drop-in classes in various locations. I have also heard dark rumours to the effect that one or two of the London adult ballet groups may contemplate expansion towards Bristol, which would be even better. Back in the day, there seemed to be the square root of nowt in terms of adult dance other than 344 in FIshponds, who are not tremendously accessible from the uni, or classes offered by universities. If you didn't get on with the teacher at your uni class you pretty much had to go to another uni for classes or give up ballet (yes, I did this. Bitter? Maybe a bit). Nowadays it's wonderful to see so much going on. It's even possible to have a choice of summer intensives, at least in the sense of a week of daily evening classes. That's something to celebrate :-) I'll try to add a few notes to the other thread, should've done that before really... That said, the one downside is that there's still, sadly, a strong tendency in the area's dance schools to view adult ballet as sixty minutes of stylised keep-fit: I still find it very very hard to find anyone in the Bristol/Bath area willing to teach RAD syllabus to adults. If anyone comes across someone who does please PLEASE post about it! It would save me a lot of travel time...!

At Bath Uni there always seem to be classes offered by the arts centre there, which have varied in quality over the years but are now taught by, hmm, one of my most favouritest ballet teachers ever... (how real life challenges the bare constraints of English grammar...) No pianist though, at least not in my day (which was way back... back when a blackberry was still a fruit). There is also a mostly unrelated dance society called, of all things, BodySoc. I personally used to think of them as rather frighteningly intense and tended to avoid, but then again that was a very long time ago: dance culture has opened up quite a bit since. Bristol dance society organise classes themselves but then there are also loads of other good classes in Bristol. They also appear to do an annual dance show and attend various competitions from the looks of it. In both cases the shows look to be 'variety shows', if you see what I mean: bits of this, that and the other, no full-scale two-hour performances of classic ballets seem to be likely to occur. That said, Bristol has an increasing amount of adult ballet performance stuff going on, like Ballet Bristol, though still little compared of course with the trad age groups, so perhaps there's no need for the uni to host...

Including for some reason a set of fleas wearing Mexican dress. I read somewhere that Charles Rothschild bought them under the assumption that they were scientific specimens, and got a bit of a surprise when he opened the box, poor chap. What fun to be able to go to a museum, point at an exhibit and say 'Granddad did that'

Of the classes I attend I've got two with a real live genuine pianist, both of which are basically classical, and one with recorded music. These days the recorded music tends to be lovely semi-classical music like Einaudi, but occasionally the teacher still adds something a bit sillier. One time she had us dancing to the Locomotion, which was naturally the one time the other half happened to be waiting outside, so now he thinks that's what ballet dancers do. I recall one pianist who sneakily slipped into the Star Wars Imperial March half way through a lengthy barre section: perfect tempo, only it gave me the giggles and it turns out it's very hard to dance when you're crying with laughter...

Family member lives there: the cafe & restaurant are his everyday meeting places. Most fortunately he was teaching elsewhere in Paris and so was safe. He is staying with wonderful kind friends out of town but is in shock and afraid that he may have lost friends... I used to live in Paris too. Used quite a few words today, none of them appropriate for social media.

CrystalBallet, something that would be really helpful in general is guidance on required level of ballet for attendees. Having danced various bits of Swan Lake in the past it was attractive. Also, I would especially have wanted to participate in order to encourage more events outside London. However, being on the 'incompetent thirtysomething numbskull' end of the ballet spectrum. I wasn't sure whether it was ok to sign up so I hesitated! :-)

For what it's worth, I was told by a dancer who also does a lot of sewing (makes tutus, etc) that Mirella generally comes up an inch shorter or so in the body, and that mostly Bloch leotards now work better than Mirella if you're a little longer in the body or, uh, pack a little more mass in there According to her, that was a recent-ish change observed in Bloch sizing from the last year or two. That said, I don't know if that's true across the spectrum of sizing. Bear in mind that we were talking about size L. It might be that small Mirellas are larger than small Bloch while large Mirellas are smaller than large Bloch!

Finding a black leotard is extremely tough, though thank goodness Capezio XL mostly fits me now, the sticking point being let's say hip/sitzbone regions Finding a nice white leotard in triphazard size is really quite hard (any recommendations welcome!) I can see why they might not be in heavy demand: white is a scary colour, tends to be see-through and most of my sports bras are black! In our local dance school there was a one-week summer school during which we worked on Swan Lake. It would've been sincerely great to have been able to wear a tutu for the final run-through and many of us joked about it. It feels kind of strange, even, to be doing all those moves that use a tutu as a reference point without there being a tutu there, like you're arranging your hands above a ghost tutu! Sort of like ballet meets mime. But picking up a tutu each would cost nearly as much as an entire half-term of ballet; many of the people there do not want to perform in front of anybody other than one another, so they would never use a tutu in anger; also, some of us fear that we would look like humorous Disney characters (in fact when I told him I was going back to ballet, one family member told me precisely this...!) I don't think anyone would've minded if someone had worn one. At another recent event a few of us ended up bringing hoodies and band tshirts as impromptu costumes, so we're not against costuming on principle. But it's not something we could reasonably insist on... some of us are students or unemployed or both We didn't have tutus in the Italy event but then you only get so much baggage allowance on Easyjet I didn't do the performance option, but I was privileged to view an early version of the performance the younger group had been working on and believe me they looked absolutely brilliant and very professional, even though they were in simple black leos and tights. All this being said, thanks to your kind explanations and recommendations I am now the owner of a romantic tutu from Just Ballet (thanks so much Just Ballet!) and expect to use it shortly. So excited even though I know the poor thing deserves a home with a better dancer! On a sidenote I totally see why some folks would like to know what choreography would be used. Myself, I am in the 'surprise me!' camp - my ideal workshop starts with doing some slightly unexpected stuff at the barre, finding it referenced again in the centrework and then discovering it's part of the day's rep - but then I am a very inexperienced dancer and so I am still finding my feet. It's all an exploratory process for me. Beyond that, I think it's probably different learning styles as much as anything. I teach adults in a STEM subject. Some of my students are happiest for bite-size subjects to be taught at each step. Others feel strongly that they prefer to work from an overview of the whole thing, knowing at each point why they are studying that particular topic or method and how it fits into the overall tapestry. Each group feels out of its comfort zone when working in the way that the other group finds most pleasant: the 'bite size' students tend to find that starting with the full-Monty is overwhelming. The full-Monty students tend to find the bite-size approach frustrating and unsatisfying. In my STEM subject we usually try to publish course materials for the full-Montys, but teach in the assumption that the bite-size students won't have read them. In the end, both groups achieve a similar range of outcomes. It's not wholly satisfying for anybody but it's better than nothing for most. Of course, engineering is not ballet so this rambling analogy only goes so far

Hehe OK, I will defer to your opinion, having no experience of what it feels like to be an advanced dancer in a less advanced class! But really the Beginners at ENB is (I believe) entirely targeted for beginners. I guess 'blatantly' isn't the right word, but for info this isn't the sort of Beginners you're probably thinking of. One of the joys of the ENB classes is that it truly does not leave anybody behind. People come from miles and miles away to attend these classes for exactly this reason - these really do start from the beginning. It's not at all like a 'beginners' class at Pineapple which starts with a brief speech along the lines of 'now this thing here is called first position and this here is called turnout' then launches straight into rapid plié en demi-pointe routines and the like. The taster class experience of ENB Beginners, at least, is all about exploring movement and not immediately (directly) movement expressed through ballet as such, which makes it really great for genuine beginners since it leads the student through a process of discovery. Improvers (aka 'Beginners plus' or 'false beginners') on the other hand is probably more what you're thinking of and personally I love it for that reason: it is serious ballet, there's no opportunity to 'cheat' at anything and faults show up like they're outlined in neon Alison is great, too. You'd just have to keep a straight face while the rest of us are (re)introduced to basic steps and fall over our feet trying to do them!... Anyway, hope the info is some use, apologies for daft assumptions

There's also loads of classes at Pineapple in Covent Garden though it can be a bit crowded in there. So if you wanted to ramp up to more than one class... there are options of course... if you are like me you are looking to get the most you can out of each train ticket! Also, there are some classes at the ENB in Kensington open to drop-in attendance. OK, I grant you that if you're studying RAD intermediate you blatantly aren't going to get much out of Beginners or Improvers and would probably want to start at Intermediate or above. Unfortunately their Intermediate classes are not open to drop-in attendance, but their BalletFit might be worth it for you (Mondays at 8am, Wednesdays at 7pm), and they have Advanced (Tuesday evening) and Advanced Pro (Monday) drop-in classes. I can't help you on the level unfortunately, beyond saying that I'm somewhere between Improvers and Intermediate and just starting to look at Intermediate Foundation as a possibility. There are a few summer events that might interest you: Chelsea Ballet summer school next week (3rd-8th August), dance summer schools at The Place (http://www.theplace.org.uk/summer) from 3rd to 21st August - you can pick and mix on a weekly basis from the courses available, and the London Amateur Ballet events (http://londonamateurballet.com/). Sadly this comes a week late for the RAD summer school, which happened last week (I was there - it was great!) Watching this thread for any developments, as I'm just beginning to face the beginning of the end of three weeks of dance intensives. The thought is a sad one. It is clearly necessary to console myself by, umm, signing up for some more dance

The Bluebird solo seems awfully advanced though!! Sadly I have another dance thing on next week. Paranoia says maybe it's just as well, given the uncomfortable time I'm having on this intensive. No idea what I'm meant to be doing or which class I'm meant to be in and everybody just seems irritable. Some of it's situational - for example, they don't have enough mats for everyone in Pilates class and so of course being the last person into the room meant no mat for me. Also, at the ENB classes or most of the various classes I frequent 'darn sarf', people usually seem to find time to say hi, remember [or ask] your name, provide occasional information about loos, drinking water, etc... People here all seem to think my name is SomethingItIsn't. The weirdest bit of all this is that my partner commented on how nice everybody was and mentioned that someone had asked him if he was 'Triphazard's other half', so at least one person there does know my actual name. Admittedly I'm a timid soul and probably cause a lot of this by being too quiet, but I feel a bit like I'm trapped in a succession of anonymous Pineapple Dance-style opens in which I am a problem, not a person... Oh well, maybe it'll get better... having a snooze now and we'll see how things look afterwards...

Thanks both for your comments and explanations, it is greatly appreciated! Would that be the tutu on your user pic? It's very very nice! Having an X or so to go alongside the L is generally something I find more comfortable too, so Just Ballet is the way forward for me. Five or six days is certainly a lot in one lump and may be too ambitious: some soul-searching going on right now in Triphazard Towers (temporary Italian edition) :-)

LAB - that's the bunny! The Italy one is a month earlier and has no performance attached to it. I am trying to figure out whether to sign up for the LAB intensive or not as there's apparently currently still space, but it kind of depends on costs to some extent And gosh ... there seems no upper limit to the cost of dancewear - that is, £40 is a reassuring number to hear

Thanks Probably should've started with a hello too, thinking about it! Better late than never... Hi all adult ballet people! I've been lurking on this forum for a little while, it's been incredibly helpful and inspiring and I've found lots of interesting ballet-related activities through it, such as the ENB classes in London. You're all so accomplished I went back to ballet after finishing a long slow PhD. Being an out-of-shape commuter (unless the shape in question is 'pear', in which case...), I'm generally at the back of the class somewhere trying not to fall over my own feet, hence the username. I'm about to run off to Italy for my first intensive since the late 1990s.

Hi all, silly question if I may... Are any of you doing the Giselle intensive? If so, do you happen to know what sort of tutu, leotard etc are needed for this one?

Just to add a data point or two, beginner's adult classes in one South Wiltshire studio cost £7/week - payable by term, about a dozen people, classes last an hour open level classes (around RAD 6) in one Somerset place cost £7.50 - at a fairly big studio with only half a dozen participants, also payable by term, classes last an hour at another place it's £5 - quite a cramped venue, payable on a drop in basis, classes are more advanced ('open level for those with ballet experience'), classes last maybe an hour and a half, all very informal and fun; they also offer workshops sometimes on technique at around £15 per 2-3 hour session. Regarding level, beginner's classes are sometimes viewed as 'keep fit' and sometimes viewed as introduction to ballet... For example, one teacher (for whom I have a lot of time, this is not a criticism) explained to the class that she saw ballet as beneficial to adults for flexibility and balance (which is of course quite true); for that, one class a week was enough, technically complex things such as preparation for turns would not be introduced and long enchainements wouldn't be considered, far less eventual performance or exams or the other amazing things that some adult dancers on this board do. Her students benefit a lot from her class in precisely the ways she identifies, it's the service she offers and she's clear about it. For comparison, I took a second class alongside that one, which is just the sort of open level class you describe, and had a whale of a time even though for the first few weeks I was not waving but drowning during the port de bras The teacher for that class tended to modify things a little by level (beginners in third, intermediates in fifth; beginners do pas de bourré, intermediates do pas de bourré piqué; beginners can try the more difficult version, promise not to point and laugh)... to me this was great as we beginners got to try all sorts of fun and challenging stuff! Forgive the digression: was thinking that these different approaches may have different price points, levels of retention and strategies for getting people involved, although obviously they have different barriers to entry too