Beginner adult ballet class: does it work? – GOOD SHAPE

If you’re on the team that always wanted to try the class but feel that their time has passed, think again. Ballet doesn’t have to be a rigid art that you start as a child and train for 5 hours a day. It is possible to reap the benefits of the modality by training later as an adult, yes — of course, the chances of you becoming a Cia. Brasileira de Ballet are very small in this case, but the posture and firm butt are more possible advantages. For this reason, our editor tested a class of beginner adult ballet and counts the benefits from the experience itself. Check it out below.

1, 2, 3 and 4, I BEND MY LEG AND JUMP…

Hands up those who were forced to do ballet as a child. Now lift up the ones who got kicked out of ballet class. I fit into the second case, under the pretext that I was holding back the rest of the class. I don’t exactly remember my performance in those classes, but I don’t need to: it’s recorded forever in a video of the little school’s presentation in which, unable to keep up with the rest of the class, I’m removed from the stage in the middle of the presentation by the teacher.

But calm down, this will not happen to you! “Ballet was once very rigid. When I was a child, it was common practices like the teacher holding a lit cigarette under your leg so you wouldn’t put it down. But today, that has changed”, explains Gisele Albano, pfirst ballerina of the National Ballet of Brazil and dance teacher. She focuses her classes on the student’s well-being combined with serious dance teaching, creating motivation for learning to happen.

The goal is, in addition to learning the technique, to feel good about yourself and reap the benefits.

BENEFITS OF BALLET

Sitting for hours in front of a screen (as happens to most of us during the day) creates postural habits that are usually very bad — or do you really sit with posture and with a suitable chair and table?

The ballet posture is with the torso perpendicular to the floor at all times, even when you “squat”

Ballet classes help to develop a more correct posture, while also improving balance and coordination. That’s because, in all exercises and even at “rest” (between one movement and another), you always need to be very aware of your posture. “In the ballet posture you are always ‘look at your neighbor’, looking forward, with a high chin, trunk always as if there was a line pulling you up”, says Gisele.

When you’re going to do lowering movements (like the plié), the tendency is for you to take your hips back, because that’s how our skeleton is used to it. But, in ballet, the hips are always fitted, keeping the torso perpendicular to the ground, even when you bend down (pass the photos in the post below, from Gisele’s Instagram, to check it out).

It is not a requirement to practice ballet. You will inevitably develop flexibility with classes, which involve a lot of dynamic stretching (like what I did in the first class, in the video below, completely hard).

HELP BUILDING MUSCLES

Due to the constant contraction of the glutes, it is possible to see very fast results in the region.

Especially the technique taught by Gisele, who is from the Russian Ballet, strength work is present all the time. You need to contract your glutes all the time (this even helps with ballet posture, to keep your hips in place), as well as your inner thighs. Even the classic ballet arm—in front of the body and slightly curved—holds up with muscle contraction. “The idea is that you manage to keep your arm in that position even if someone comes to push you down”, says Gisele who also says that, due to this constant contraction of the glutes, many bodybuilding students claim that they see faster results in the region doing ballet than lifting weights.

The upright posture with an open chest automatically makes you feel more confident.

In addition to the physical benefits, ballet also improves mental and emotional health, improving self-esteem as you master the moves. And it’s not just the feeling of accomplishment that helps you feel better about yourself. The upright posture, always with your chin up, looking forward, chest open and torso stretched out, automatically makes you feel more confident and, as practice becomes regular, you learn to take this posture — and its benefits — for everyday life.

CONCLUSION

Ballet is a demanding modality but with many benefits. You don’t have to be a dance professional to reap the benefits. The important thing is to feel good about yourself and that Ballet tends to cause even by the posture required in the modality, which conveys confidence.

Feel like trying a class even though you have zero experience? Jump in, you won’t regret it!

.