FELDENKRAIS® AND BALLET: my personal story
I became seriously interested in studying dance in my late teens at university. It started with modern dance with the most offerings and access to a small performing group. Still, I was drawn to classical ballet.
I had a few ballet lessons as a young child and even as a young adult the ballet music and grace appealed to me. Kinesthetically I felt more in tune basic ballet movements than the increasingly acrobatic modern classes I took.
And so began an over twenty-year dedicated study of ballet. Then I began my Feldenkrais® training. I began to notice in some cases my choice of how to follow a movement direction informed by my ballet training was not what was valued in the training. In fact I have learned that Moshe Feldenkrais had a dislike for ballet. Some movement habits I likely developed in my ballet training actually seemed to get in the way. This, as well as juggling my travel to training sessions and my private then physical therapy practice, led me to abandon my ballet training.
Fast forward another twenty plus years … I am searching for some sort of movement practice that would really “spark joy”. I am noticing on social media that adult ballet was/is having a moment, both for adult beginners and those returning after longer breaks. There are all sorts of options available online. And so, I take the plunge.
With years of Feldenkrais® practice behind me I have a very different perspective. The essence of Feldenkrais is to be able to sense what movement feels like from the inside, not necessarily a prescriptive way of moving. Traditionally the mirror has told a ballet dancer if what they are doing is correct. Now dancing for my personal enjoyment, I am using ballet as a tool to explore sensing movement from the inside.
This is a unique approach I bring to my professional consultations dedicated to helping dancers of all ages thrive. In those we explore your unique technical concerns, performance plateaus or injury concerns, You can find out more about that work by checking out the Dancer’ Corner tab on this site.