A Dance Studio We Call 'Home'

When I opened my ballet studio 24 years ago and included ballet classes for adults, I had no greater motive than my love of this art form and my belief that it would be a great form of exercise. Time and circumstances have proved me wrong. Like many women, my dancers have gone through their share of life struggles; personal illness and the illnesses and death of loved ones, physical and psychological battles and responsibilities that continue despite it all. What my dancers have taught me is that these ballet classes and our ballet community have a healing power and that there is something truly transcendent in the beauty of this work.  

Ballet has something for everyone.  It has both goals and process, right and wrong and room for interpretation.  It makes us stronger, more powerful, gives us energy and stamina, yet helps us become calm and efficient.  It teaches us to be determined and thoughtful, but to let go when necessary and to trust implicitly in oneself.  These are life lessons on their own, but made much more powerful by the experience of community that holds our dancers together.  Our studio is quite remarkable in that regard.  The men and women have danced together through many life stages, triumphs and tragedies, day to day routines and exceptional life experiences.  Failure, on both a personal and artistic level is not an option for our group.  There is implicit and explicit trust that we will hold each other up, both literally and figuratively, in our journey.  In ballet and in our community, no matter what, there is always another chance and people to move you forward.

Pirouette, Pilates & More is a unique place, and ballet I have come to understand a most profound metaphor for life!

Linda Freyer