Who dances ballet?, Why do they do it? and What next?

There are many reasons for going to a ballet class from enjoyment, to improving fitness to wanting to become the next best dancer. Ballet is not just for one person but rather it can be beneficial for everybody in one way or another. In this blog we explore some of the famous faces that have done ballet and why it was an important part of their life…

1. Body Builder, Actor and Politician Arnold Schwarzenegger chose to take ballet classes to improve his body building poses. Schwarzenegger explained that ballet helped him to understand the mechanics of his body bringing him improved physical self awareness.

2. Queen Camilla has participated in Royal Academy of Silver Swans classes and has talked about the pure joy that doing ballet classes brought to her!

3. Actor and dancer Patrick Swayze took his first dancing steps in ballet before then going on to perform in Disney parades and act in famous movies such as Dirty Dancing. Ballet is said to be the core of other dances and so many performers take ballet class before moving into other styles.

4. Footballer Rio Ferdinand had classical ballet training as a child and has since attributed some of his success on the pitch to the balance and flexibility he developed as a dancer.

5. Madonna originally started out in ballet with a dance scholarship at Michgan University. She later adapted her ballet training to create the moves that make her songs so notable today!

I love finding out why people dance and I find it so interesting how dancers use their fitness, discipline and musicality in a whole range of other careers. When I’m not teaching I’m a careers consultant and supporting individuals to take their next steps, whether that be in dance or beyond, is something I will never take for granted! The thing is you don’t have to dance to become a dancer you can dance to learn, you can dance to explore, you can dance to stay healthy and best of all you can dance to laugh!