Ballet with a Star!
Reflections on a masterclass with Wendy Whelan
I skipped work to take a ballet class. And it was a really big deal.
Well, it wasn’t just any ballet class. It was a masterclass with the Wendy Whelan, former principal with NYCB and a world-class dancer and artist. So, yes, that is a big deal. But, that’s actually not why it was a big deal to me.
I started taking ballet classes at the age of 27. (I’m almost 37 now.) Most ballet dancers start their professional training at 15 or younger, and are long since retired by the age I am now. So, while I have absolutely no illusions of ever becoming a professional dancer, I love it and train as seriously as a I can while balancing the demands of my career and, well, life.
For me, the hardest part of being an adult ballet student is the lack of concrete goals and milestones. If you’re a pre-professional teen, you have the level examinations set by your school, annual performances, summer intensives, and competitions like YAGP and Prix de Lausanne. You’re constantly working towards something. But, as adult students, none of those opportunities are open to us. The most we can strive for is to take class for the “enjoyment” of it. But for me, that’s a given; why else would I take class 6–7 days a week if I didn’t enjoy it? I need a more aspirational goal than that.
But the sad reality is, there is no adult student equivalent of exams, performances, intensives, or competitions. That’s why having the opportunity to take a masterclass with Wendy Whelan was a big deal to me. A really big deal. So big I felt like I was going to throw up on the way over. Because it was like I was finally getting a tiny glimpse of a world that is usually closed to me. And, in fact, masterclasses generally aren’t open to adult students! They’re usually limited to pre-professional teens. It’s because of that I’m especially thankful to LINES Ballet (who hosted the class) for making it open to adults like me.
So, this one 90-minute class meant the world to me. It was like my own personal Prix de Lausanne! And wow, was I a nervous wreck in the week leading up to it. It was all I could do to not think about falling flat on my face and making a big fool of myself in front of Wendy Whelan. Every day I thought about wimping out and eating the $30 class fee. But, thankfully, I have a supportive group of other adult dance friends (you know who you are!) who convinced me not to and that I’d be fine. If anything, they said I needed to go and represent all the adult student dancers who couldn’t be there! So, I went.
And you know what? It was just an OK class. (And I didn’t fall flat on my face.) I didn’t actually know what to expect of the class itself. I think I was expecting some sort of magical, guru-like experience. But, it wasn’t that. Wendy gave a straightforward class that focused on the basics: square hips, simple lines, and finishing every movement.
I don’t think she had much of a choice. She said as she walked into the studio that it was her first time teaching adults i.e. we weren’t all pre-professional teenagers. Not only that, throughout the class she seemed quite thrown by the diversity in the room in terms of technique level and style of training. I think she also assumed we were all trained at LINES Ballet; she kept saying “I don’t know if that’s a LINES thing” whenever she’d see a port de bras or style that was different from what she expected. So, she opted to focus on the basics.
Not to say it was an easy class by any means! I had never taken a NYCB class before and was definitely thrown off by the newness of the movements. I knew all the steps but they were assembled in ways I had never encountered before in class. I couldn’t rely on any sort of muscle memory, nor predict what was coming next. So, my brain was on overdrive the entire time, trying to take in her combinations. And honestly, it felt like I couldn’t hold onto what she was giving us fast enough. She’d finish showing something and I’d already forgotten it. It was so frustrating! It definitely pushed and stretched me, and made me realize how much I must space out in my normal, daily classes. (Oops.)
Charles Anderson, whom I take class from on weekends, also came from NYCB. (He and Wendy overlapped briefly when she first joined the company.) When I told him about my experience, he said she was probably even toning it down! According to him, NYCB is very insular; if you are a dancer who grew up in their school and directly joined the company as Wendy had, you are never exposed to other styles. And because everyone around you is trained just as consistently as you are, you all develop at the same pace. So, to come into an open class, filled with people of all styles and levels, it must have been a completely new experience for her, as well. I found that to be a fascinating insight. I had never considered what it must have been like for Wendy to step into that studio packed with over 50 people from all sorts of backgrounds, and try to figure out what kind of class to give on-the-spot. (I probably would have turned and run out, myself!)
In the end, I’m just so thankful for the opportunity. Wendy Whelan is simply amazing and it was inspiring to watch her move up close. She even came up to me at the end of a combination at the barre and individually corrected me in front of the entire class, which you’d think I’d find mortifying but in fact, I was thrilled! And thank you, again, to LINES Ballet for giving me and all the other adult dancers who were there with me the opportunity to have our own Prix de Lausanne moment.
And yes, I made sure I got a picture with Wendy afterwards!
