My Ballet Journey as and Adult Dancer

[@sylviecharlois1165]

As someone who took ballet classes from the age of 5 until I was 18, then stopped (life, college, marriage, work, these things have a way of messing some things up...), then went back to ballet at 57, I kind of relate to this ! I think it was my mother, who had never had the opportunity to do it herself, who signed me up when I was 5, but I know I loved it probably instantly, since I never stopped until I was 18. I never was your typical, thin and willowy ballert dancer, being short, somewhat chubby, and about as flexible as a broomstick. Not great on pointe either, when I was a teenager, but I think I can blame it on a pretty bad teacher at the time, and pointe shoes that were not fitted right. After 39 years, and bariatric surgery, I made my dream come true and signed up again for classes in september 2019. Coronavirus played havoc with my plans, but I still added pointe class to my schedule in 2020, and tap dance, another lifelong dream. The high point of my pointe class was when in june 2021 my teacher complimented me on my feet, how good they looked in pointe shoes, and put the cherry on top of it by asking how much pointe work I had done as a teenager... If I had been a peacock I would have spread my tailfeathers, that's how proud of myself I felt ! 2 years later, I still take 2 pointe classes a week with the same teacher, and although I am not yet able to do a pirouette in the center, I made huge progress. I am the oldest in my class, sometimes by 5 decades, but as long as my body will let me do it, I will go back to barre and center. I have already killed 2 pairs of pointe shoes, I'm working on the third, and I will say this : once you get bitten by the ballet bug, you are pretty much hooked for life, there's no cure. And let nobody tell you that you are too old, too stiff, too fat, to try ballet. I am now almost 61, still overweight, stiff with arthritis, and twice a week I stand at the barre. ANd, barring injury, with my pointe shoes on !

[@crystalbrambila]

Thank you for sharing.. I teared reading this.. felt it was my future older self speaking..

[@dizzylizzy7582]

What a lovely, inspiring story. Something I took from your story is that we shouldn't give up on things we love (even if we don't know we love them yet!). While initially, ballet wasn't your 'dream', clearly, ballet was in your heart in some way because you kept returning to it and because of your determination, you've now found a way to bring ballet into your life in a way that suits you and your goals. My dream is to play the guitar. Yet again, you've inspired me to revisit that goal. Thank you, Margot. I'm also incredibly sorry for your loss. Grief is always there, hidden in the shadows. It recedes,, and we learn to live with it, but, in my experience, it's always there.

[@jamescarpenter3639]

So encouraging to hear your story just now, especially the way that tiny pointe goals grew into what is now possible. Yay! I started ballet at age 56, and 2 years ago our teacher invited a few of us to start a pre-pointe class. Two years of consistent work, and I can see real progress as the body learns and adapts, slowly. She gave us an adage for the first time a few weeks ago, and that made me realize how far we have progressed. Don’t stop!

[@patriciatolliver4057]

Patty-I wanted to give you an update. I shared with you that I was going through a rough patch with the deterioration of health with a family member. Well, that was my sister who recently passed. I have to say that what you shared and the comfort you gave me is helping me so much. I'm working with my watercolor in some way every day, as you suggested. I'm trying to show up every day with my art. It is helping me quite a bit. I feel you are gem and a treasure. Thank you so much for being here.

[@Pointebrush]

Oh Patty, I am so so sorry for your loss. It's impossible to put into words what it's like to lose a member of your family, especially a brother or sister. I've been there and what I can say is that, you do in fact carry a piece of their spirit with you forever. I often find comfort knowing that we are forever changed for the better by having had them in our lives and continuing to live ours to the fullest is a way of honoring that. With that said, find comfort in the little things and if that's painting and art, that's wonderful. Sending you lots of hugs and thinking of you and your family during this difficult time. xo Margot

[@NaomieonICEE]

I feel the same about figure skating, after being diagnosed with bipolar 2, the schedule of daily figure skating training, ballets on saturdays and off ice training helped me empty my mind and heal ❤

[@madelinegrudens]

I loved hearing about your journey and it's inspiring to see that you got back into it. I'm also so sorry to hear about your brother. Just think about how many people you will continue to inspire and encourage with your art and dance!!! Thanks for sharing so much personal information and the joy you get from doing what you love.....🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@katiecraig2871]

I love that your goal is “quality of movement.” As a mom of 8, I often ask myself what I am doing pursuing ballet! I have no ambition to go pro or perform someday, but I do have such a desire to learn to move beautifully. I want to enter into this stream of art that has been flowing for hundreds of years and feel like I have a small place in it. I’m an old soul as well. Thanks for your video!

[@abbiemi6228]

Thanks for sharing! Your art and dancing are beautiful. ❤ As a beginner adult dancer, I find your journey very inspiring!

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you so much Abbie!

[@colleenm9188]

You have such an interesting story about your relationship with ballet, music and the arts. I really, really appreciate your sharing your story. And, of course, I am so sorry for the tragic loss of your brother at such a young and vital age. When I first saw your work in your videos, I thought you must be directly involved in ballet as a professional dancer. That's not the case, but from your story, dance is so important to you. Ballet helped you with your loss, and you've always been drawn to it, even if you didn't want it to restrict and control your life in Royal Ballet style. What a beautiful, ever evolving story. You really are remarkably gifted and inspiring in so many ways.

[@elainesutton7183]

You are most certainly an interesting person. I really enjoyed your ballet story. You have a lovely way about you when storytelling and I hope to see more from you. I'm a late starter adult ballet dancer and like yourself, never in a million years thought I would be able to dance, turn etc. en pointe. My love of ballet has taken me to levels that both surprise and delight me.

[@christophermckellar1352]

Thanks! I have been wanting to ask and assumed you would have made this video. Glad I found it.

[@clairemurray3202]

How lovely to watch you talking about your passion. You light up when speaking of dancing, I hope you achieve all you wish for. 💜💜💜

[@50andCountingcom]

You dance beautifully and skillfully, Margot! What a joy to hear your story. Enjoy your journey! But I am glad you are here for painting most of all, selfishly speaking!

[@yukikomatsubara5932]

I enjoy and admire so much your ballet journey!!! I love you, Margot💞💕I'm very very sorry for your brother's loss😢

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you Yukiko! I’m so happy I got to dance alongside you and looking forward to the next time we do. You are a jewel! 💎

[@TheRacingWind]

I feel this way about figure skating! Exams totally killed my love for skating, but I recently started again at 25 and I adore it. I am looking for ways to get better, which is why I was looking for adult ballet perspectives on KZbin. I am in New York too, so I'm looking for adult classes now!

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you for sharing! And I agree! That’s the difference between doing something for yourself vs for some other person or comparative metric. I’m glad you rediscovered your passion and are going for it it now! Happy dancing and skating!

[@muireannin09]

Oh Margot - such a beautiful exquisite life story, and I am so very sorry about the loss of your brother. So difficult. My brother was killed in a school bus accident in Ireland at age 12!when I was 11. I feel your pain. You are one of the most elegant exquisite women on You Tube. Pure Joy ❤

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

Thank you for telling your story. I'm very sorry for the loss of your brother. You have cleared up something that was always a mystery to me: don't children and teens get very bored doing slow exercises for an hour at the barre / in the studio? When you said that it cleared your mind, and there was nothing except ballet in your head, I understood that. People have the same "it must be boring" misconception about competitive swimming training, but I always found that to be a time to be alone with myself in a peaceful way even though there are lots of other kids at practice. When you start swimming, it's just you and your thoughts. When the drill is finished, you giggle with your friends or roll your eyes because the coach just gave instructions for an even harder drill, but then it's back to being with yourself again. I just found your channel recently, and I find you to be very pleasant and soothing while also being educational. Subscribed! I follow Kathryn Morgan's KZbin channel as well. You might like the channels "Hannah Martin RG" and "Ballet Reign." Hannah used to compete in rhythmic gymnastics for Great Britain, then she attended Elmhurst, and is now dancing professionally at Birmingham Royal Ballet! She was also a competitor on a British reality TV dance competition and she has all the videos of her routines on her channel if you check her playlists tab. Ballet Reign has delightfully funny and cute videos about various aspects of ballet. Best wishes to you and your family 💐

[@Maspets]

Hannah Martin RG has nothing of substance to say.

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

@@Maspets Interesting comment. How do you know unless you have watched all of her videos or follow her social media? What “of substance” do you look for in a channel, and which channels could you recommend? I recently found “Sergio Romero” channel -I also recommend this one!

[@Maspets]

@@dronesclubhighjinks I saw her constantly putting up useless "how to get flexible" videos that fail to acknowledge it is genetics, all for clicks and money.

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

​@@Maspets thanks for your reply! Hannah has 41 flexibility videos out of 386 total videos. I also thought genetics were heavily involved with flexibility, but I’ve heard so many rhythmic gymnasts and their moms say that they weren’t flexible at all naturally, and had to work at it constantly for years so I don’t know. I don’t think Hannah is unrealistic or misleading in the video content. The title “how to get flexible fast: the truth“ is definitely clickbait-sounding, but almost right away, she acknowledges the ironic title and says that there is no easy and quick method despite what many other channels’ videos claim. A consistent stretching routine of 15 to 60 minutes per day every single day is required, as well as a few other factors, which she explains. “how to get flexible fast: my story” explains her history. Hannah was born with amazing natural flexibility which made her mom worry she might not be able to walk. That ended up not being a problem, but her flexibility was a hindrance in artistic gymnastics so she switched to RG. When she started getting serious about RG at 10-11, she was told that she hadn’t been taught to use her flexibility correctly and had to relearn the basics. It took months of stretching for her to achieve a split position correctly. Hannah said naturally flexible kids lose that quickly as teens if they don’t stretch every day. Her flexibility has decreased since she switched to ballet, because oversplits, constantly used in RG, are not welcome in classical ballet. Hannah says her weakness has always been strength, which has to counterbalance flexibility. It also takes tons of practice to be able to control flexibility, especially for girls with long arms and legs (see “Ballet with Isabella” channel for more. She was the first UK girl to train at and graduate from Vaganova! She did an interview with Hannah all about her background.). I have followed Hannah’s KZbin channel for a few years, and I have never found her to be even remotely offensive or claiming one thing in one video, and then saying the opposite in the next. So I have not found any reason to doubt her credibility. If you look through Hannah’s comments, there are always many thanking her for being such an inspiration, etc. KZbinrs don’t earn very much money unless they have at least 1 million subscribers and get millions of views per video so Hannah’s not getting rich by any means. I don’t know if you make videos yourself, but even a 10 minute video can take 20+ hours to make and edit. I’m not saying that the flexibility videos take that long to make, but those are only a small portion of her videos. As for clickbait titles, I follow many different genres on KZbin, and creators from all over say their videos do better with clickbait titles. I don’t have a problem with the titles as long as the video content is good quality. I do understand why some people dislike them but again, if you make videos, you’ll understand how difficult it is to get views and might sympathize with creators as I do. Anyway, those are just my thoughts and of course you’re free to have your own opinion. I hope you have a great day! 🤩🌸💕

[@Julia29853]

Yay Kathryn Morgan! I wondered if you would mention her. I love her ballet classes. I’m much much older than you and haven’t progressed very far but still love the little bit that I have learned.

[@nancyrolfe3033]

I’d missed this video and definitely not a dancer😂. My husband had a scholarship for athletics and has a grace and movement that I find beautiful…. I fell during aerobic classes (yes, I’m much older) several times 😂. I’m not coordinated or graceful and I’m ok with it ❤ Oh, sweetie, I lost my sister when she was 18 and a senior in HS. I was 20. I’ve lost several people, including my father, but nothing has ever compared with that level of pain and loss. I love your spirit!!! You looked for healthy coping mechanisms and ballet finally had opened up in beauty and a way of expression that will always hold a special place in your heart ❤ now!! You know what I mean by this…. I truly believe all the times you were in ballet, quit, started again were preparation for “this exact time and event”… In my life I believe it’s very important (at times difficult) to focus on hope ahead of life being better and engaging in some creative expression with others…nothing heals a soul, especially an “old” soul (I’ve had a friend for 50 years who is always telling me “you’re just a very old soul, Nancy “ and especially a sensitive one . My painting has also done for me what ballet has done for you. The excitement of getting “back to work on the painting “ . I began with oils and it was perfect for the time but the minute I put a sable brush in water, paint and danced it across cotton paper I found my calling❤ It emptied my mind. My heart just leaps with joy even though I’ve never really created anything like I did in oils… It doesn’t matter. I love the practice and just “fiddling “. You are such an amazing inspiration and a sweet yet strong young lady. I’m blessed to have heard your story!! Oh yeah…tenacious aren’t you?! Thank you for sharing

I am deeply sorry for your loss dearest Margot.

[@harmonybertrand7393]

I love your story! Thank you so much for sharing! I love the way you set goals and you’ve inspired me to make some! First up for me: getting smoother échappés on pointe! :-) Keep dancing; darling! You are amazing.❤️❤️xo

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you so much Harmony! Definitely setting (achievable) goals helps you with recognizing he mini victories you make along the way. Happy dancing!!

[@miyeipark4032]

I love your perspective on your goals! I think that artistry is something people should consider more. Thank you for sharing. 💕

[@Pointebrush]

You are so welcome Miyei. And yes, artistry and digging deep into what motivates you as a dancer and a human being is so important in dance and in art!

[@Angie-pl3uw]

Lovely story! I somehow got through my brother’s death studying classical flamenco guitar. I can no longer play, so I took up watercolor in my 70’s. My goal? To paint something I like out of every twenty I don’t! Seriously, to see bits of improvement. I too am a classical music junkie!

[@Pointebrush]

Hi Angie and welcome! I’m so sorry about your loss. Nothing heals the soul quite like art and music, right? I love your goals and how patient and forgiving you are with your art practice 👍

[@bellebb8673]

Your story resonates with me so much! I've taken ballet most of my life, but with some years off when my kids were young then again when my parents were sick. I'm 70 now, and my classes are such an important part of my life. It also makes me happy that there are so many more adult non-professional classes now. I know it helps that I live in a large city in the NE of the US that supports several professional companies, but I think high quality adult classes are much more available everywhere now. I also describe the experience as going with the flow. Sometimes I walk into an open class and the next younger person is 30 years younger than me, but I don't get embarrassed. I'm just there for the joy of it. The flow of it.

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you so much for your kind words. Wishing you a wonderful road back to ballet ❤️

[@Winstonsmom]

Have you done much reading about the state of “flow”? There is a wonderful author I have just discovered that I think you would find interesting. I just bought “the Art of Impossible” by Steven Kotler. Here is a kernel of what it is about. When you have an adequate amount of skill coupled with the right amount of challenge, you can enter a mental state which allows something like 10 times the progress and growth you might otherwise achieve at a given task. When you mentioned the feeling you get in ballet class, where everything else falls away, that is what flow feels like. Just thought I’d share that. BTW, pre elementary is where I stopped ballet. Still love it to this day, though my arthritic feet don’t!

[@Pointebrush]

This sounds fascinating! I haven’t read it but definitely sounds like something I would love to check out and learn more about. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@Winstonsmom]

@@Pointebrush if you are interested there are many KZbin videos available as well.

[@LCLand]

I’m sorry about your brother 🤍✝️🙏🏼

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you so much for your kindness xo

[@kristiLB93]

Margot, can you talk about how your Pointebrush artwork business began taking shape?

[@PeggyHimbauch-ut7xy]

You won me over.

[@yizhenglogan6500]

Beautiful body pastures and lines in those videos. You have already achieved the " being interesting to watch".💐👏 Thanks for sharing the wonderful journey, looking forward to see more of your videos coming ☕! Happy dancing...... 🩰🎶🎨

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you so much!! ♥️♥️♥️

[@marjoriejohnson6535]

Time to watch Chorus Line again..i spent 12 years in a studio..not as a dancer but a dance mom. Up the stairs....

[@marjoriejohnson6535]

This made me think of yesterday...many years thank you for sharing..

[@a.nonymous2089]

Lost my husband to a brain tumor, too. You have my sympathy.

[@gabrielagonzalez183]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💐💐💐 🧡🧡

[@ShellyColours2]

Hope you'll do a dance for us when you're ready...sweet story. I was a little ballerina until my teens then I dropped out, something i have always regretted. Now in my 60s, I reminisce about how freeing and expressive I felt when I danced. Good for you! 🩰

[@joysoul4089]

I started when I was nearly 22 - the first time in my life I had a chance to take ballet - it wasn't available to me as a child and as I grew older, I assumed I was too old ...until I heard about adult ballet classes. My teacher formed a little local ballet company, and we did small and larger performances, even hiring professionals out of Houston for lead roles. I don't have good feet for ballet - very little point - or good legs - my knees are too relaxed. I'm too tall, and my back is too stiff, but I just love ballet, and as a musician, have a good ear for music and rhythm. I finally gave up ballet after 10 years because I lost my good teacher, and I couldn't find another. But it was totally worthwhile because I appreciate professional ballet performances more than ever, I still use the things I learned, and I simply loved my classes - they fulfilled a lifelong dream for me. The first time I put on tights and leotard, and slippers, and later the point shoes - beyond thrilling even though I never hoped to do anything with it. It's excellent training for posture, alignment, warmup, and v Right now, I'm much heavier than I was then, and suffer from achilles tendonitis, but I'm inspires by you to at least start simple exercises again.

[@rebeccaleavenworth2242]

I am 23 and have been thinking about learning ballet for the last few days. I am already athletic and I am extremely hard working, fast learning and good at tolerating pain and general discomfort so I know I can do it but what I keep getting stuck on is finding a purpose in dance. While being professional isn't impossible for anyone, its extremely unlikely to make any kind of career out of ballet at my age. I always struggle to do anything that doesn't serve a purpose and I guess I don't view fun as a "purpose" in my own life despite encouraging it in others. Is there anything that can be done with ballet skills that doesn't inherently require being truly professional?

[@Pointebrush]

Absolutely! Plenty of schools have performing opportunities for adults of all ages! It may take some digging around to find them but they’re out there! ❤️

[@user-kt1no7yx1u]

Performing, my main motivation is getting en pointe and being in the nutcracker

[@Blulisianthus]

I haven’t had my first class yet, but ballet to me seems like an amazing way to move your body, keep it healthy and build muscle. If it’s something you’ve been wanting to do for a long time, starting ballet and following your heart would be the biggest act of self love and self respect as well.

[@joysoul4089]

I started when I was nearly 22 - the first time in my life I had a chance to take ballet - it wasn't available to me as a child and as I grew older, I assumed I was too old ...until I heard about adult ballet classes. My teacher formed a little local ballet company, and we did small and larger performances, even hiring professionals out of Houston for lead roles. I don't have good feet for ballet - very little point - or good legs - my knees are too relaxed. I'm too tall, and my back is too stiff, but I just love ballet, and as a musician, have a good ear for music and rhythm. I finally gave up ballet after 10 years because I lost my good teacher, and I couldn't find another. But it was totally worthwhile because I appreciate professional ballet performances more than ever, I still use the things I learned, and I simply loved my classes - they fulfilled a lifelong dream for me. The first time I put on tights and leotard, and slippers, and later the point shoes - beyond thrilling even though I never hoped to do anything with it. It's excellent training for posture, alignment, warmup, and exercise. Right now, I'm much heavier than I was then, and suffer from achilles tendonitis, but I'm inspires by you to at least start simple exercises again.

[@GiselleKlara]

This is a really wise question. There are some non professional performance chances, esp if you enjoy modern or musical theater also. If you learn and study for a while, you might be able to teach younger students and this is often something people enjoy. You’’’re very smart though not to imagine yourself in a major ballet company

[@feivore]

I'm 20 years old and your story has inspired me to start nonetheless. I reconnected to my passion for ballet in 2019 after literally catching a glimpse of a dancer on TV. It reminded me of how much I love the thing. I tried to start but couldn't find any studios and my country doesnt really have a history on the dance and people love something else around here. I've found a studio and I promise myself to start once I'm settled. Thank you all adult beginners out there inspiring hope in us.

[@Pointebrush]

This makes me so happy to read! I’m glad you decided to embark on your own journey. Wishing you a wonderful year full of success and dancing! ❤️❤️❤️

[@theemilyanomaly]

Lovely story! I’m 26 and wanting to start but I’m worried I’m too old to ever go en pointe. How old were you as an adult when you started ballet again? Also how long until you taught yourself to go on pointe? Sorry if you said in the video but I watched it through twice and must have missed it. Thanks ☺️ 💕 🩰 ✨

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you!! I was 32! You’re so young and it’s never too late to start! With pointe I started again after about 2 or so years when my technique and my feet were strong enough to sustain it. Hope you give ballet a shot, it really is a wonderful and meditative artform ❤️

[@JessicaSmith-gd1fu]

What a lovely story! Thanks for sharing. It's important that you have goals and I hope you can dance for a long time for the joy of it.

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you so much Jessica! 🥰🙏

[@patriciatolliver4057]

Patty-I totally understand the interruptions life throes you. I'm currently facing retirement. I live alone and am not relishing being totally alone. My goal at the moment is to be able to be somewhat adept with watercolor. I'm just learning how to mix paints to get interesting colors. Watching your videos is so inspiring. The painting is helping me to cope through a family member's illness as well as

[@patriciatolliver4057]

The painting is helping me cope with my sister's illness. Your voice is so soothing, and your patience is unbelievable. Thank you for sharing.

[@Pointebrush]

Oh Patty, I wish I could reach over through the screen and give you a hug. Dealing with illness in the family is so hard but I admire your resilience and your dedication to learning a new craft and sticking to it. Just showing up and making the effort day in, day out is half the battle and I’m glad I can be here to help you along 💕 Can’t wait to share more of my craft with you 🙏

[@krimirawaa5532]

Omg you inspired me so much your story is very similar to mine I also started ballet when I was a kid I did 6 years and actually got on pointe but I was bullied a lot by the girls for not being pretty and having darker skin and hair so I quit but in my heart I loved to dance so much and that stayed with me for years now I'm 25 and I'm starting in September my dream is to stand on pointe again your story really inspired me but I am still very insecure and I feel like I'm too old but if I am determined and work really hard how long do you think it will take for me to stand on pointe? Thank you so much and I'm sorry for the long text

[@Pointebrush]

Hi Krimi! I’m so sorry you went through that! But the good news is that you’re still very young to start ballet and have so much ahead of you. I was already in my 30s when I came back to it so sky’s the limit! Pointe really varies greatly from person to person but I will say that I would focus on prioritizing your training of the fundamentals because that is the key to success en pointe 👍 Best of luck!

[@garageballet9021]

Beautiful story and thank you for sharing!

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you for watching and I'm happy you enjoyed it!

[@aw878]

I’m starting at 30 years

[@analugoidoyaga465]

I follow you on Instagram and this video just came to me today, I didn´t know the artist behind had such a wonderful story with ballet. I restarted ballet this year after quitting when I was 9 years old (I am 31 years old now). Interesting for me is that I´ve decided to start again due to an urge to express myself as I was in pain too. Thank you for sharing!!

[@Pointebrush]

You’re so welcome and I’m glad my story resonated with you! Xoxo! ❤️

[@ErinaH-wm7hx]

You're a very captivating storyteller and a very lovely and graceful dancer! This is so inspiring, I'm 21 and starting back in ballet after a 3 year break.

[@breemds]

Lovely story! 🩰💕

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you so much Bree! ❤️❤️❤️