The Adult Ballet Studio

The Limón Dance Company is presenting its 78th season this year,  and on this episode of The Adult Ballet Studio, we have two incredible guests to celebrate: Limón Dance Company Artistic Director Dante Puleio and Choreographer Kayla Farrish!  After a career performing with The Limón Dance Company, touring national and international musical theatre productions, television and film, Dante received h...

Chelsea Weidmann joined The Adult Ballet Studio for this episode! She is a ballet instructor and the founder of Geeky Ballerina, a platform offering resources and curriculums for ballet instructors and students alike. Chelsea has been teaching ballet for more than 25 years, She taught for Ballet West Academy for four years and has an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts. She’s fully ABT certified, fully...

Joining the studio for this episode is Helen Banks, owner and CEO of the sustainable dancewear brand, Imperfect Pointes!  Helen founded Imperfect Pointes in 2020 out of frustration at the lack of dancewear brands focusing on sustainability. After working in fast fashion and seeing the darker side of the fashion industry, she was upset by the amount of waste going to landfills and the poor working...

Pirkko Markula, contemporary dancer and professor of socio-cultural studies of physical activity at the University of Alberta in Canada, is in the studio! She has a Ph. D in kinesiology and major sport sociology from the University of Illinois. Beyond academia, she’s a dancer herself, previously training in the Dance Department at the University of Illinois with an emphasis on Merce Cunningham, Pa...

The Adult Ballet Studio has another special guest for this episode! Cecelia Beam, faculty member for adult ballet and dance classes for people with Parkinson’s at San Francisco Ballet, is in the studio. Cecelia is a former dancer, training at School of American Ballet in New York City and graduating from the high school ballet program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. After d...

Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Daniel Watt is in the studio for this episode! Dan is producer and director of the award-winning documentary “Everybody Dance” — currently available on iTunes, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime, which is offering it for free in recognition of the month of July as Disability Pride Month. The film follows five kids with different disabilities and their families as well...

Julie Dupas, founder of Amsterdam Amateur Ballet and Morlaix Ballet Camp, is in the studio for this episode! After beginning ballet in her 20s and noticing a lack of performance opportunities for adult ballet dancers, Julie founded Amsterdam Amateur Ballet, an inclusive and affordable amateur adult performance group based in Amsterdam. She also founded international summer camp Morlaix Ballet Camp...

Adriana Pierce is a dancer, choreographer, and director based in New York City, and she joined the studio to talk about her work elevating queer artists in ballet, creating community, and her career in classical ballet as well as musical theater!  Adriana is the founder of Queer the Ballet, an initiative with the mission to widen the scope of classical ballet by producing queer work by queer dance...

Sander Blommaert is in the studio for this episode! He’s the founder and director of Blommaert Ballet School in Birmingham, England, and a former first artist at The Royal Ballet company. Since the school’s official founding in 2021, BBS has become known as an audition preparation school, working with young students pursuing professional ballet careers as well as offering classes for all ages. Ove...

Ballet instructor, classroom teacher, mom and former pro dancer Leigh Brockman Horowitz is in the studio for this episode! She’s talking about mental health, physical health, brain science, neurodiversity in ballet and the arts, and more. Leigh is a certified ballet and character dance teacher who has been teaching dance for more than twenty years. She is currently based in St. Louis, where she te...

Aubrey Lynch II, dean of students and director of ABT Wellness and RISE with American Ballet Theatre in New York City, joined the studio to talk about his work to further mental health and DEI initiatives at ABT and beyond! He focuses on mentoring students at ABT and providing resources for them, as well as expanding access to mental health resources that support the whole dancer in and out of the...

Rachel Toburen is a multidisciplinary artist working with paint, photography, perfume, and dance, and she’s in the studio this month talking all about her exploration of memory, mental health, and adult ballet! Rachel uses her artwork to explore memory and the experience of memory, and she shared how those concepts show up in her dancing and choreography. We talked about how sights, sounds, and sm...

Jessica Wallis, founder and executive director of the non-profit organization, Ballet in the City, joined the studio for the March 19th episode! Ballet in the City presents programming and events to promote and enhance the culture of ballet in cities all over the world. It works to connect ballet enthusiasts with professional dancers, scholarships, and educational opportunities. Jessica is a dance...

Award-winning dancer, choreographer and creative director, Dani Vitale, is in the studio for our March 5th episode! She is a Los Angeles-based artist and has not only toured the world as a backup dancer for other top artists, but choreographed and creative directed world tours, awards shows, and music videos. She has also been a voice for the dance community, advocating on the boards of SAG-AFTRA...

Vanessa Woods, the founder of Vitality in Motion and Vitality Ballet and a former professional dancer, joined the Adult Ballet Studio for its mid-February episode! Vanessa trained at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase, Princeton Ballet, Miami City Ballet School and STEPS on Broadway in New York City. She has performed with ballet companies around the country, including Suzanne Farrell Ball...

Author, librarian, archivist, and adult ballet dancer Joanna Marsh joined The Adult Ballet Studio this month to talk all about books, history, ballet and more! She’s the author of two novels — Cantique and La Follia — that focus on the adult ballet community, and her work as a librarian and archivist has led her down some fun rabbit holes into the history of ballet. She’s also a visual artist and...

Happy new year! Natalie Orr, body-based intelligence coach and former professional dancer and instructor, is in the studio this month to talk about dance, embodiment, chronic illness, and more! She has more than 16 years of teaching experience both as a dance teacher and an English as a foreign language teacher. She taught in Madrid for many years and created an online dance movement for adults ca...

Phil Chan, co-founder of the non-profit Final Bow for Yellowface, joined the studio this month to talk about his work with the organization to improve representation of Asians in ballet and eliminate offensive stereotypes on stage. Phil co-founded the organization alongside Georgina Pazcoguin, former New York City Ballet soloist, and they are both doing great work to advocate for Asian artists wit...

Julie Leung, founder of Broche Ballet, joined the studio this month to talk about her journey from being "a clumsy and inflexible teen" to taking her first ballet class at 17 and eventually opening her own studio for adult ballet dancers in 2017! Broche Ballet is now thriving as a fully online ballet studio offering classes and resources to help adult dancers follow their ballet dreams....

Leigh Purtill Ballet Company is an LA-based non-profit adult ballet company, and artistic director Leigh Purtill joined the studio this month to talk about its mission of bringing ballet to everyone! We chatted about the need for more women in leadership roles in ballet, breaking boundaries with storytelling and reaching those who don't fit the mold of the perfect dancer, zombies and a spooky-...

Two guests are in the studio this month! Jana Carson, professional photographer for the Oklahoma City Ballet, and Abby Hudgins, ballet instructor, mom and former pro dancer, chatted with me about founding Ballerinas by Night, a support community that provides resources for adults who are beginning or continuing their dance education. Both have been dancing since they were kids but took a break bef...

Hello and welcome to the first episode of The Adult Ballet Studio! Joining the studio is Patricia Pyrka, ballet technique level 3 teacher, coach for adult ballet beginners, and blogger at Ballet Misfits. She began ballet at age 37 and in just eight years, was accepted into Canada's National Ballet School for its teacher training program. She talks about the audition process (including failing...