Try something new: BALLET

How one adventurous woman fulfilled a childhood ambition later in life by putting on her dancing shoes and taking ballet classes

Standing in the footlights of a stage in a pink ballerina’s tutu is something generations of little girls dream about. But for Sharon, who never took dance classes as a child, she realised that dream in her 40s when she took up ballet as a new hobby. “I was always quite overweight as a child and so ballet was something I never tried, even though I loved going to see things like The Nutcracker at Christmas,” says Sharon. “Then I lost quite a lot of weight and as I approached my 40th birthday I decided I’d like to try something new. I’d also previously had surgery on my back and at one point, the doctors thought I might never walk again, so I was determined to prove to myself that I’d got through it.” So Sharon went along to her local dance class where she started taking one-hour lessons in beginners’ ballet. “At first I found it a real challenge and had no idea what I was doing. I spent a lot of time just trying not to laugh. As surgery had left my back quite upright it made things difficult as ballet involves a lot of bending down, but I had an incredible teacher. “All the steps are taught with French terminology which I didn’t understand, so I had to go home and learn a glossary of French terms for the steps so I could then put them into practice.” After about a year of classes, Sharon was finally ready to take her first ballet exam. “It was really nervewracking. I had to go up to the headquarters of the ISTD – the dance organisation which sets the exam syllabus – where there were lots of children taking exams. There I was, a 43-year-old in my leotard, ballet skirt and hair bun, but I decided I’d just go for it and push myself as far as I could.” Sharon achieved an impressive high merit for her exam and decided she wanted more. So when her teacher, Anna Reeve Cook from Attitude Performing Arts, suggested she also try modern dance and tap, she couldn’t wait to give it a go. “I’d never even heard of modern dance but when I tried it I really enjoyed it, while tap was very different but lots of fun.” Sharon now trains three times a week and is looking forward to taking her next exams in modern, tap and ballet. She’s also just started learning pointe work – where you dance on your toes in special pointe shoes, a skill that takes a lot of practice, patience and strength. But so far the biggest achievement has been making her childhood dream of performing ballet on stage a reality when she performed with her dance school at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London this September. “It was so exciting. Dancing has given me lots more confidence and it keeps me physically fit.”