Ballet on Campus

This week my university class had a challenge to write a blog post related to the school, so I’ve decided to talk about being a college ballerina, something that hasn’t been extremely easy. I know a lot of girls stop dancing after they go to college, either because there aren’t opportunities or because they get busy with college life, but I honestly think that if I had stopped dancing I would have… well, I just couldn’t, probably. I would have gained fifty pounds, been unable to get out of my room without rolling, and died.

To start with, my school is about an hour from where I live and dance, and graduating high school, I was (and still am) very dedicated to the company I dance with. On the plus side, I’m able to keep up with what I love to do, and after coming to college and meeting a lot of different types of people, I know how important it is to be able to do that. On the not so plus side, I have to commute at least twice a week, usually more, to my hometown by bus at times that are pretty much the least convenient times ever. But I firmly believe that if you love something, you will almost always make time for it. And anyway I know people with worse schedules!

Photo from Google. While I'm posting cat photos...

The other thing is dance opportunities on campus. My school has a decent dance program and they offer ballet classes for credit, and of course, there are clubs. Generally, most ballet clubs are audition required, but at my school there’s an awesome ballet club that requires no experience, has drop in classes and is taught by two of the best people ever!

(Ahem. I’m one of them. :D)

A friend and I thought that some students who maybe don’t have the most experience, or maybe none at all, would like to have a space to practice technique or just try out ballet! We weren’t expecting much, but at the beginning of the school year she quit the other ballet club, we did all the paperwork, and got our organization approved. And it has been waaaaay more popular than we thought!

Photo from Google.

Turns out that all the little five year olds who wanted to be ballerinas (or ballerinos!) grew up into eighteen, nineteen, and twenty year olds who still want to be ballerinas and aren’t afraid to look a little dumb before they get the hang of it! And it also turns out that I am not as horrifying at teaching as I thought.

Anyways, to sum that lengthy, self-absorbed story up, if you’re going to college and thinking of giving up dance, DON’T! There are plenty of opportunities. Even if there’s nothing on campus, there might be a few studios in the area with low drop-in rates. Don’t be the one who has to roll to class.

I will never apologize for irrelevant kitty photos.

Comment below if you have any other ideas for college dancing, or any experiences you'd like to share! See you soon.