Adult Class Questions

[Kini]

Is your class an Adult Class or Open Class?

 

If an Adult Class is it made up primarily of teens?

 

Does the instructor take you seriously?

[Lidewij]

My class is an adult class.

At 21 I'm usually the youngest. Only when the teens' classes are primarily used for rehearsals, some of them will take our class, usually 1 or 2.

The rest of us are in their late 20's and 30's.

Our teacher takes us seriously yes, she was thinking of setting up an adult jazz class as well and asked our opinions. She also asked if we wanted to perform in the recital. Some of us did, some of us didn't so she always taught a real class for those who did not want to perform, and the rest stayed later for rehearsals.

She gives a good class at our level, she knows who wants/likes to be corrected and who likes to be mostly left alone.

 

Hope this helps you

[Marjolein]

I take class in 2 schools. One is an open class, mostly adults, a couple of teens sometimes. The teacher takes us quite seriously and he's very strict.

 

My other classes I take at a very serious amateur company and I take the company classes there. All company members from about age 13 and up take that class and everyone is taken seriously and treated equally, from the young dancers, over the company soloists to the older adults. I do take pointe with the beginners because I didn't take it for a very long time, and I'm treated exactly the same as the 11 year olds or perhaps even stricter.

[dancingjet]

My class is mostly adults but open to teens. My teacher takes us very seriously.

[Claude_Catastrophique]

My evening class is not really an open class. You can drop in if you want but people usually stay for several months or years. The level is so high that teens have to be in the pre-pro-programm to follow and the adults are either ex-pros, ex-pre-pros or just so crazy about dance that they take many classes. So we do not really have any teens, nearly all of the dancers are in the mid of their twenties and some older ladies (around 50) who drop in and do what they are still capable to do.

 

And yes, the teacher takes us extremly seriouse. That's why I love him so much.

[Organist]

I just got home from an exhilerating class with a new teacher (for me). It was beginning adults of all ages, shapes and sizes; students included at least 1/3 men, one younger boy and a pro gal who was taking the class coming back from an injury, it seemed.

It is open, but seems to have a lot of long-time regulars and groupies who take his other classes around town. People knew each other and there was a sense of ballet commitment among many of them.

He took us all very seriously, concentrating on form, technique and a balance of general/specific corrections, but at the same time infused the class with joy, a positive spirit and encouragement for students at different levels.

I have enjoyed a variety of teachers and styles, and can usually 'get something' out of any instruction, but this was really special.

I always look forward to class, but this time I really can't wait to go back.

 

Before I moved to New York, I took class at a local studio with excellent Vaganova instruction. The adult class was more of a coffee klatch/stretch-n-tone, though, so the school director arranged for me to take class 4x/wk with the teens. It was good for the instruction, and the teachers took me pretty seriously, but I didn't get many corrections and it was hard not to become discouraged sometimes. In an effort to keep up and improve, I developed some bad habits that I'm now trying to fix at a lower level and with adult-specific instruction.

[MelissaGA]

I mainly take open classes. I believe the schedule indicates they are for 13 and up... could be 10 and up. It has changed from time to time.

 

In the summer, before and after the intensive, the classes are mainly teens. During the school year, the classes are mainly adults with very few teens. These classes are in the mornings, so only homeschooled teens can attend regularly. The main instructor takes everyone seriously. Everyone gets corrections. The level is quite high and gets even higher when there are alumni visiting! The other instructor wants everyone to enjoy dance and really only corrects glaring issues. The combinations are usually not as complex, but not too simple either.

 

I also used to take an adult class. It was also for ages 13 and up, but no teens ever attended. It was a graded level class. I took level 2 and 3 out of 4. Corrections were far and few between. My main corrections were not technique based. More like if I started on the wrong foot or missed a step in a combination. I stopped going because I was not getting what I needed.

[kr12]

I take adult open classes at a school with a professional company. The classes are open to ages 15& up. The majority of the students are late 20's-about 40...with a few younger and a few older. People are of all shapes and sizes. We have 4 levels of classes, but I believe they let the pre-pro kids take make up classes in the higher levels regardless of age.

 

I feel like the teacher takes it seriously. We are set up as "drop in" classes so sometimes there isn't consistency in the students that show up, which can be difficult for her. The teachers there also teach in their other divisions, including pre-pro, therefore I feel I am getting good instruction. I've even had company members fill in for the teachers which makes for an extra fun class!

Edited August 22, 2011 by kr12

[LaFilleSylphide]

Our adult classes are all open, and the students are mostly adults. We do have a few teens here and there, and I know that sometimes there are late beginner teens that want to join the classical program but cannot due to their level - many times the teachers will have them catch up the basics in our open classes because the environment is friendly, non judging, and casual.

 

The teachers are very serious, but super fun. They spoke to us like adults, not babies, which I appreciated (censoring ourselves in the presence of teens of course). One of the "serious" things that I loved about my teachers was their open dialogue. Every student could ask any question relating to ballet and it was always readily explained and made applicable to both the individual student and the rest of the class. No one felt embarrassed to ask questions, and because of that, I felt that the improvement rate really climbed quickly.

 

Awesome thing was that all adult classes were open, even our super crazy advanced class taught by venerable teachers from famous companies - you just had to know what level you belonged in. We didn't really have a problem with people who thought they were more advanced than they really were in those classes either.

[Balletlove]

I started off (with this teacher) in strictly adult classes and it stayed that way for a few years until the exams that we were doing coincided with the exam level the teens were doing and the maturity of the youngsters improved and as both were small groups we were combined to be about 12-14 dancers). If everyone is there, the adults are definitely in the majority (I am counting those that could have an exemption due to age for exams and thus 25 and older) although the youngest teen is 16 and the rest are 17-20 (so technically not a teen); for most of the time it is a pretty even split between adults (per the definition above) and teens.

 

This teacher does offer an adults beginner class although attendance is unpredictable (although always low - less than 5 students) and thus I dont know how much longer it will be around...

[arciedee]

Our schedule depends on the time of year. During the summer classes are open so it ends up being the intermediate-advanced teens and adults combined. During the school year there are specific classes for adults (though there is one open class during the week). In the adult class we did have an older teen beginner and occasionally a teen will come take class with us either as a make-up or enrichment, but for the most part adult classes are truly adults!

 

As for whether we're taken seriously, it kind of depends on the student! Most of us are regulars and know one another fairly well. There are some who kind of do their own thing and aren't looking for anything super-serious. Others of us like the corrections and encouragement. The teachers tend to know which camp people fall in and cater their feedback to the individual.

[L-Dub]

In all the adult classes I've been in, it was mostly adults. I've almost always been the among the youngest (I'm 20 now and have been doing adult classes on and off for years).

[TemptressToo]

Both my classes are adult classes. At one studio, some of the older teens (16-19) also take with us. They are more advanced, but Ms. D tells them the slower class allows them to focus on the finer details of their technique.

 

My second studio, I'm sure older teens could participate, but they don't.

[Lyndee]

I take adult classes that allow dancers age 14 and up. The adults are mostly in their twenties and thirties. We have a few teenagers who take class (particularly during school breaks). I think the instructors treat us seriously (some more than others) and I appreciate receiving corrections. I wish some teachers were a little more strict but its a lesson in being self-motivated and strict with myself.