“I noticed posters for adult classes at my daughter’s local ballet school, and at first, thought there was no way I’d do ballet. But then, a chance conversation with one of the moms there followed, and we both thought we could give it a go. We wouldn’t make the stage or anything, but it could be fun.
So at 40, I started ballet dancing. What got me hooked was how different it was from work. At school, you’re always on the go, you’re busy. At the ballet lessons however, you can’t think of anything else. You have to focus because if you don’t, you’ll lose complete track of what your instructor tells you to do. It would force me to switch off from work and home and devote that time to myself. That hour and a half of practice a week – it would be purely my hour and a half.
As my daughter got older, she joined my classes. It was a whole other experience practicing with her and our instructor would often point out how uncannily similar our movements and mannerisms were. Over the years, I’ve realized how important it is as a teacher to show what you’re doing as opposed to saying or telling. Merely giving multi-step instructions doesn’t suffice. A student should be able to visualize each step, and it’s up to the teacher to demonstrate this, be it at ballet or in the classroom.”