Over the last decade or so, I have been pleased to periodically read articles about people taking up dance classes as adults. As someone who advocates for people to recognize they have the capacity to be creative, it is always encouraging to read that people are connecting to that aspect of themselves.
Though I feel like it is rare to see articles about people taking up their instruments, singing, acting, or visual arts practice again. We know it is happening, but maybe it isn’t deemed as news worthy?
In any case, the LA Times recently ran a piece about the trend of people returning to or picking up ballet in a pretty significant way.
Interest in adult ballet has increased by 75% over the last three to five years, according to Patti Ashby, U.S. National Director of Royal Academy of Dance, the primary ballet organization in the country that trains teachers and tracks national engagement with ballet. And the number of adult ballet summer intensive programs have nearly doubled since the pandemic, according to the weekly online ballet-centric magazine Pointe.
And as you might expect, there is an “adult ballet” TikTok trend which probably both reflects and cultivates this.
The trend is also alive and well on TikTok, where the popular hashtag “adult ballet” retrieves countless videos of women documenting their progress in the dance form. Professional ballerinas such as Mary Helen Bowers, with half a million followers on Instagram (@balletbeautiful), stream ballet-inspired workouts that focus on feeling beautiful while building strength.
An encouraging positive aspect accompanying this return to dance is that many participants aren’t experiencing the focus on ideal body standards associated with the dance form. Some of those interviewed expressed they had some anxiety in that regard prior to starting classes. Finding that the old stereotypes didn’t exist in these classes, they were free to enjoy the experience and focus on their practice.
Getting started late in life is not that unusual.
I got started in acting a couple of years after I retired from being an engineering professor. I’ve now taken 5 college theater courses (and am in 2 more), three workshops, go to improv groups 2–3 times a week, do online table reads on Discord, and audition for parts in amateur theater (so far, 8 plays—six of which were done as script-in-hand staged readings). I’m currently waiting to hear about this year’s short-play festival, as I got three callbacks—I’ll be told by Saturday whether I got any of the parts. No one is allowed more than two roles, so it is certain I won’t get all three. There were 57 people auditioning for 45 roles across the 16 plays, so some of us will be disappointed.
One of the women who has been in three of my community-college improv and intro acting courses is 83—she is starting even later than me!
That’s great. You have certainly been active in attending performances up and down the West Coast in a number of places over the years. I am glad you are finding your experience so fulfilling