Great video - I am a senior. Studied ballet relatively seriously from around 20 into my 40s - Now I am in Kathryn Morgan’s membership after a really long break. She is great. I also have a graduate degree in Kinesiology, recently retired my physical therapist license. I am also a Feldenkrais practitioner. Over the years I have worked with many dancers and I have taught anatomy and kinesiology for dancers. … so valuable. I am I the process of creating cone t along these lines and offer individual consultations.

Hi! Your pronunciation is so clear and understandable. I watch your videos to practice listening in English, haha. And your ballet dancing is inspiring. 🌷

Thanks for this! Good advice. I’m an older woman (past 50) itching to revisit ballet for strength and balance, plus moving to music which I find enjoyable. For those scouting around for free youtube options, I like Thuan at Ballet Misfit. She has a long series of lessons to do at home, from absolute beginner on up, mostly barre at first, and the instruction is excellent and slow-paced enough to really focus on good technique. Of course, within the limitations of video lessons……no feed-back and corrections, no class companions etc…. I highly recommend.

Hi there! First of all, thank you for your inspirational videos, you make me believe more and more in my Ballet journey. Let me tell you a bit of my context and leave two other options for Adult Ballet seekers: I'm also portuguese and I have a long in and out history with ballet, since I was 4 years old until I was 20. This happened at a local school in the small town I grew up at, but I never really felt I was learning technique in a correct way, and most important, in a safe way. For my body and mind (the teacher basically checked on every ballet stereotype box - she judged our bodies, pushed our limits further than possible in a healthy way, mixed methods, etc, etc). At 27 (2 years ago) I found adult ballet in a bigger city, at a studio that follows the RAD method. It was a small class (11 people, more or less), all types of bodies but also all types of knowledge and experience: there were people who danced till they were pre pros, preparing for the RAD exams in different levels, people like me, who had some experience, and people who never had ballet classes. There were no different classes for different levels and I always felt disconnected, not really knowing if I understood everything , after lots of months had passed. I didn't know the names of the steps, the order of steps at the barre (and logic behind that), or why it was slightly different between RAD and what I remembered from my time in ballet as a child and teenager. So, for me the most important thing was to really understand different methods and find the one I fit in. I love RAD because it is probably the one that encourages adults in the most structured way, and follows this value that "ballet is for everyone", with teaching methods that actually know the difference between teaching a child, or an adult. But life was mischievous to me, and I had to leave that city, was unemployed for a while and needed something more accessible. KZfaq world is great, but mixes everything and rarely people really tell you the methods and teach you with structure - or at least, that is what I found. So, the algorithm listened to my needs, and showed me Fernanda Ruschel - here's her YT channel, but she is also on Instagram youtube.com/@fernandaruschel?si=ld89YiB0Jo8mZCBz - , a Brazilian teacher, with an online course, following the Vaganova Method. I love it, because Fernanda is the kindest person and she teaches me to know my body, be gentle with it, but still access my goals with the discipline that you surely need in ballet, even if you are just having fun. The course has theory classes, so you understand a part of the history of Vaganova and her method, as well as the basics you need before starting. Then it has 3 beginner levels and the idea is that you follow them by order, or, if you are already experienced, you can check with Fernanda if you could go for the Intermediate level. She has opened a pointe class twice, but this really needs to be safe, so there are somethings you need to check (like a specific technique level, strength, balance and buying a good pair of pointe shoes and having an adequate floor to use pointe shoes at home) What I like the most is the progress I see and feel. Each class, I can clearly see what's new and how I advanced a bit compared to the last class. I film myself and send it to Fernanda, who corrects me individually, but I also have access to one live class a week and one module dedicated to physical preparation for ballerinas. I only feel it is not enough, because, like you, I have a difficulty committing to online classes with no one but me really, so I feel this is good to start, but at some point it may be more like a complement to local classes in a studio. Naturally, the classes are in Portuguese, and the schedules for the live classes are adapted to the Brazilian time zone. You pay this course in Real (brazilian coin), but it is roughly 280€ - per YEAR, meaning I am paying about 23€/month. Depending on the discounts and offers she has everytime she opens a new class, but the price is pretty much this. Hand in hand with this course, I found another amazing online teacher, Bella Souza, with the best course I’ve known so far for physical preparation. Bella is a ballerina (following RAD) and a physical education professional, specialized in Ballet. She is also Brazilian, and so are most of the students,, so the classes are in Portuguese, but she lives in Portugal, so some schedules are perfectly adaptable to mine. It is divided by: strength and power, bodybuilding, flexibility, cardio and power, specific classes for some ballet steps or postures, core, feet, hip opening (en dehors), floor barre and Progressing Ballet Technique (yes, she is a certified PBT trainer). Plus, there are lots of live dance classes with various types of dance teachers and other physical training classes to explore, as well as live Q&A's with physical therapists, nutritionists, and lots of other pros. It couldn't be more complete. And you still get to have a personalized assessment, where for 45 minutes Bella understands your capacities on every physical and technical level and prepares your own routine including your ballet classes, that you can change to your needs and wants. Every 6 months, there is a new assessment to check the differences and adapt to your new reality. She challenges a lot of myths and makes ballet safer, helps to really know my body, my limits and how it is possible to go further, with persistence and patience. There are students who are actual professionals in ballet companies, adult ballerinas, men and women, all types of bodies and it is a really beautiful community. I pay 177$ per YEAR, meaning about 165,50€, being about 13€/month, and it also may vary depending on the discounts she makes troughought different times of the year. Here's her YT channel, she is also on Instagram: youtube.com/@bailarinapreparada?si=QXtcZTAgKX_Y1hhw . Both these teachers use Hotmart, an online course platform. Having said this, I have tried Studio B as well, unfortunately only once. It is awesome and accessible as well, but for now I am sticking with Vaganova and I really had to decide where to put my money. But the teacher is so kind and empowering as well, I really want the chance to invest in this option as well! I also heard about Ballet with Isabella (BWT), another Vaganova Adult teacher, who studied at Vaganova Academy in Russia. It can go from 30£ to 75£ a month and I know she organizes some summer and winter intensives in the UK, which I would absolutely love to try some day. Here's her website: balletwithisabella.com/ . I am sorry for this HUGE comment, but I just want to leave my input and these 2 options for Portuguese speakers who watch this video + one other for english speakers :). Thanks for reading and good dance!