The Women's Page
Tales from the adult dance student avant garde

33-Year-Old Inspired by Karen Kain
When I was kid, we were pretty poor. Not a sob story honest :) . Just that the idea of ever having any kind of "lessons" of any sort was completely out of the question. Also a result of our lack of riches, I was not exposed to many of the things that I have discovered I like in my adult life. One being ballet.

So one day I was watching this Canadian program about a Canadian dancer of whom I had never heard, Karen Kain. I was really impressed. She was a wonderfully charismatic lady, who was also, pardon the expression, human.

She spoke of her struggles growing up in the National Ballet School, her bout of depression, etc. And I was intrigued.

Shortly thereafter, I learned of her upcoming retirement, and her farewell ballet. I decided to go see it. And, from there, the rest is history.

I loved it, and began taking adult ballet classes. I am not kidding when I say "no previous experience." Heck, I know I am not very good, I know that I will never become a ballerina, and I know that I am old (hehe). But, I love it.

I have fun, I get frustrated with my body and its refusal to do what I tell it to, and my only real goal with this is to get up on pointe.

I love the way it looks and sounds when I watch ballet, and I love the amazing musicality of the dancers. So, to achieve this is really beyond my dreams, but working towards it is satisfaction enough for me. So as I say to myself . . . "Dance On." :)
-- Holly