Back to Basics: Why I Still Take Beginner Classes
Kate practicing 4th Port de Bras with Épaulement By Kate Feinberg Robins Back to Basics A Surprise Beginner Class This year, I took advantage of the first week of school to head over to the School of International Ballet , a local studio here in Redlands, California that I'd recently discovered. The Wednesday Adult Ballet class was taught by Ms. Barbara, a founding member of Ballet West (and retired psychologist, according to my classmate, Jennifer). It was a lovely class, with only one other student that day, and it was nice to be back in a studio with space to move and a bit of an audience, both of which always motivate me. Jennifer and Barbara both warned me before class began that it was intended for beginners. I suppose they could tell by how I carried myself and walked confidently to the barre that this was not my first time in a ballet studio. They encouraged me to come back on Thursday or Friday for Intermediate Adult Ballet. I noted their recommendations and settled in