Canada's National Ballet School Teacher Training Audition, Second Try: When Are Adult Ballet Starters Ready to Teach? (And Why They Should!)
One of my favorite parts of the audtion: Doing character dance for the first time!
Can adult ballet starters - and I mean those of us who really started way into adulthood, with no previous training in childhood - eventually become legit ballet teachers?
It seems like a rhetorical questions, because “why not”, right? If you work hard enough, why shouldn’t a late starter to ballet eventually qualify for teaching ballet classes? But fact is, there ain’t many. Like, have you ever had any teachers who started as adults? Exactly. We have very little reference for how a trajectory from “total ballet beginner” to “ballet teacher” could look like, when you start ballet in your 30s, 40s, and beyond. The ballet teacher space is mostly occupied by former or current professional dancers, or those who at least trained in childhood.
And I think that’s a real loss.
While it’s amazing to have since-childhood-trained teachers who spent their formative years in ballet, we completely miss out on those who spent their formative years entirely different. And, just as important, who know how it feels to learn ballet LATE, and can directly relate to students who started late, too.
Fortunately, with the massive growth of adult ballet all over the world, this could be slowly changing. With more adult-age students getting into ballet, we can expect a growing number of them becoming ballet teachers at some point.
So then the next questions is: How do you do it? How do you know when you’re ready to teach, and how do you ensure you have enough technical ability, teaching skills, and ballet knowledge to not burn any students to the ground? :) (Ok exaggerating a bit.)
Two Ways to get into teaching
I think there are many ways into it, but I think they fall under two distinct categories: 1) Low-barrier and 2) high-barrier entry into teaching.
Low-barrier entries into teaching are kind of a slow evolution into teaching: This could be someone simply deciding to start teaching. Which is kind of made easy as the term “ballet teacher“ is not regulated. Anyone can call themselves that. Other examples are getting low-time/money-investment qualifications like Progressing Ballet Techinque and other ballet conditioning methods. So while the entry barrier is low, it doesn’t mean that the quality is low, it just means that experience and abilities are gained over a succession of small upgrades over long, open-ended periods of time.
High-barrier entries into teaching are typically ballet teaching degrees and certificates that happen over a defined period of time and usually require a high investment of time and money. Usually the barrier involves an audition process and meeting specific expectations in terms of ballet technique and commitment to teaching. Of course, teaching experience still has to be gained over an open-ended period of time, but there is a clearly-defined ”bang” - i.e. graduation from the program - that sets off the teaching career.
My observation is that adult starters tend to pursue low-barrier entries into teaching, and that’s also how it started for me. It’s first and foremost a matter of practicality - I mean really, who has the time and resources to study ballet teaching full time for one or several years :-D Also, high-barrier entry options like teacher training programs are scarce and they will usually require a relocation to another city or country for most of us - something not everybody is willing or able to do.
First Audition try: A sobering experience
With my background in sports and professional strength&conditioning, the low-barrier entry into teaching naturally evolved for me, once I started to feel the gentle nudge to teach a few years ago. I started by offering ballet conditioning courses and classes. They were all online, another good example of low-barrier entry - anyone can create a virtual ballet studio at their own home.
But quite early on, I felt I wanted more than that.
So a little less than five years after starting ballet, in the beginning of 2019, I decided to try high-barrier 💪I didn’t think of it as such back then - I just happened to spend time in Toronto, Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS) was around the corner and one of THE big players in the global ballet community, and they had a teacher training program (TTP)! So with full-on bravery, I applied to audition for it.
I didn’t make it.
In fact, I didn’t even make it through the first round, which was basically an intermediate-level, RAD-based ballet class. Barre was ok-ish, but the center was a bit too much for me. In fact, the feedback I got was that my vocabulary in the center wasn’t secure enough and that I should get more training, and ideally work towards a RAD Intermediate exam. There were also other concerns that were not related to my technical skills but rather to my life situation, but I won’t get into detail here because I think those shouldn’t matter that much if a candidate is committed and has potential to be a good teacher.
I was a bit disappointed, but felt that the technical feedback was reasonable. (You can read about it here.) I could definitely benefit from more confidence and security in the center. So I decided that I would just keep training and try again next year.
Next year came, and I absolutely didn’t feel it any more. I am not quite sure what it was - but teaching was just not in the foreground for me. Maybe, as it was the beginning of 2020, things started feeling a bit tense around that Covid thing. But maybe it was also the realization that I wanted to be at a much better point in my ballet before taking on the big responsibility to teach it to someone else.
Then Covid hit, and many of my training plans were instantly pulverized. I made the best of it, managed to continue daily training, and amongh other things, started working with a new teacher who would have massive positive influence on my technical development. For a total of two years, I went back to full-on student-mode. Not even distracted by rehearsals and performances, because, ya, Covid. I have written here before how it starting morphing into something I call “practice” - i.e. the doing and learning of ballet just for its own sake; with more commitment than “just a hobby”, but also a different quality than “professional”.
POst-Covid Resurrection of teaching dreams
But then somewhat unexpectedly, in the beginning of this 2022 year, the tug to teach came back, and a little less gentle this time. On quite short notice. In the months prior, I had been teaching a bit more online and in-person private classes; I had gotten all three levels of Progressing Ballet Technique Certification, and I was invited to sub occasionally at one of my favorite studios and absolutely loved it. It was already way into February when I re-connected with the idea of a ballet teacher certfication. I checked the NBS website, and alas, it was not too late to audition for the 2022/2023 school year. I didn’t think it over, I immediately registered for the first audition round. It would again be a ballet class and an interview, but online this time.
A Sudden Second Audition try
And then things happened very fast. After the registration deadline, I received an email offering me to join an audition session the next day if I wanted, a spot had opened up. I had expected a bit more advance notice, haha, but I jumped at the opportunity - I know that I usually benefit from less overthinking time :-) The class was again roughly intermediate level, RAD-based, with about five candidates attending our session. I had a bit trouble with making the center exercises in my small home studio and started getting a bit worried. But we were encouraged to modify the exercises slightly to make them work for our space, and that kind of “co-creating” (to give it a bit of a positive spin hehe) actually felt empowering and helped me find more confidence and calm my nerves. The class was followed by an approx. 30min interview a few days later which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was with the teacher training program coordinator and I truly enjoyed talking with her about what it means to teach and help students not only get better in their technical skills, but better as human beings. And how I was passionate to work with people who had gotten into ballet late while still believing in and holding them accountable to high technical standards! I felt there was an openness to consider teacher candidates not only on the basis of training them to teach pre-professional children, but based on a variety of backgrounds and goals for later teaching.
Still, I was extremly excited and positively surprised when I was informed that I had made it into the final stage of the audition! The fact that I had come a step further compared to three years ago felt extremly rewarding.
It’s getting serious: Final stage Assessment Seminar
But, next challenge: The second and final stage of the audition would be an intense two-day assessment seminar with dance classes, lectures/lessons, and written as well as practical assessments. All online, via Zoom. The kicker: We were required to secure studio space for those two days, about 15 hours in total. Now try to get a studio, in Toronto, during the week for two full days, that is available AND financially accessible :-D (The audition cost itself was already around CAD 400 for both stages, so the studio rent would be on top of that). As expected, it proved a bit challenging. I called, and emailed, and talked to all kind of studio owners or -knowers, but the studios were either in use or prohibitively expensive.
Until a dance friend referred me to one of her dance friends who had a small belly dance studio. Since the studio was empty on those days, she was able to offer me a very friendly rate for the two days together. Still, it was small, so I made sure to check in with the school if it would be sufficient and you can imagine my relief when I got green light from them :-)
I then quickly took care of other formalities (borrowing a skirt for the character dance class and confirming that I was allowed to use my ballroom dance shoes for the class as well, borrowing suitable leos that would contrast the studio background well). And then of course panic set in: I needed to prepare!! I wasn’t good enough and surely I would not be able to pick up the combinations quickly enough!! My studio space wasn’t large enough so they won’t be happy with my diagonals!! I’m screwed, I am way too old, and why am I even trying??
As the audition was announced as “intermediate and beyond” level, I started working on RAD Intermediate exam exercises as a way to prepare for the audition. Most of the training I had done since the first audition was focused on foundational ballet movement patterns and my classes were thus more basic when it came to combinations and complexity. I actually had lots of fun with the RAD work and enjoyed the challenge of learning the combinations and getting better at them. I mean, I didn’t have any studio space for my work, so it all took place either marking at home or in the half hour before a class, but still, it was a nice way to get into the logic. I still felt blatantly underprepared, but when ever don’t I ;-)
FINALLY: THE AUDITION DAYS
The days came, and equipped with all kind of virtual class gadgets (laptop, projector, LED light ring) and nourishing food (Thermosed lunch, afternoon snacks) I made my way over to the studio. I arrived very early, as it took me about two hours to empty out the space, set up my equipment, and warm up.
And off we went.
Long story short: It was truly an amazing experience. The program was extremly well put together and NBS did a great job keeping things rolling with great clarity and solving any technical issues that invariably come up when you spend two days on Zoom. I can honestly say that I learned tons, especially around music, that immediately improved my understanding of teaching ballet. Each class was staffed with three panelists in addition to the teacher; some classes ran initially without the panel and were joined by the panelists towards the end (to kind of see the “end result” or assessment).
Here is a quick recap of the seminar if you are interested, otherwise just skip this paragraph:
The first day started with an introduction, followed by a ballet class, followed by a creative movement class. The momentum was high, in the center we went group by group, and being in the first group it was a nice kind of challenge, because, well, less time to pick up combinations, so I had to face my biggest fear head-on hehe. In the creative movement class we had a section with breakout rooms where we quickly had to put together a choreography with five other candidates that we had never met before. (I was honestly very impressed and delighted by the leadership qualities of some of the candidates - so much younger than me and so much more confident!). Next up was a music lesson and a dance history lecture that opened up a whole new world for me. On the second day, we started with a written assessment: We were sent questions - by email - related to the history lecture, and then had a bit more than an hour to complete our responses, in essay form, and email them back. Next was the character dance class. I had never done character dance before, and the class was designed in a way that it could be done by character novices, but it was nicely challenging and kept me very high on my toes. In fact I loved it more than I expected, I totally enjoyed my skirt and heels, and it actually made me want to do more of it! After that, another ballet class with another teacher. Finally a practical assessment: Our homework from the day before was to prepare one 32-count center exercise that exemplified the things we had learned in the music lesson. I was assigned port de bras/adage, and had to go as the very first one (I’m not kidding, I was assigned number 1A for the whole audition, so that put me in the first group, as the first one :-D). I liked this part a lot (even though I was so nervous that my voice felt tense), also because it was the first time that we actually connected a bit more among each other (everyone was invited to go along as the demonstrating candidate showed the exercise).
And that was it. We had a chance to watch a NBS class that was running that day, and finally we got together with current NBS TTP students. I enjoyed that meeting of other candidates and current students, it was really nice to chat and hear about the current students’ experiences and recommendations.
Post-Audition Feels
I briefly sat with the relief of having made it through and the gratitude for everything I learned. I felt a mix of anxiety - had my performance been good enough? Did they see enough in my small space? - and a great sense of accomplishment of just having gone through something that not many people in my age and in my life situation would attempt, and that I certainly never expected to do. I gave myself credit for how I did a full-blown audition despite being nervous, despite part of my attention having to deal with an angry landlord and a grumpy teenager during those two days, and despite not being in an ideal studio space. Yes, I had certainly messed up a lot - falling out of pirouettes, missing steps, losing turnout, Zoom connectivity problems - but just the fact that I had managed to come that far and showed up for the seminar was way more accomplishment than NOT doing it and spending the day at home! This became the overarching feeling. And in the end I did have the feeling that I was able to honestly show where my technical abilities were at and who I was as a person, teacher, and leader.
We were 23 candidates at this final audition stage, and we were informed that about 10-12 spots would be opened, and we would be informed about the results of our audition within two weeks.
I didn’t have a clear sense for how things might go, so I tried to let go of thinking too much about it and tried to not get my hopes up. In the end, the audition had made it even more clear to me that I wanted to teach and that I would find ways to get good teacher training. I really wanted and felt ready for that high-barrier step in my ballet teacher evolution. I wanted to be challenged to the max, and get the experience of an intense period of learning and getting better, in an environment that wouldn’t easily let me off the hook. The professionalism, the dedication, the commitment to teaching that was immanent in the school and the teacher program felt like the quality that I was seeking.
Adults ballet world vs “real” ballet world - looking for the bridges
This story is also one example of my drive to seek bridges between the adult ballet world, and the “real” (professional) ballet world. I strongly believe that it won’t serve us adult ballet starters if we hide in our own fortress of “less than”, of self-doubts, or excuses why we can’t get very far, or settling for less movement quality than we are capable of. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean we have to adopt all the practices of childhood and professional ballet training and dance - on the contrary, we have so much to contribute to the healthier, more diverse, more humane, and more empowered ballet of the future. But in order to be heard and seen, I think we also have to show up where all ballet things are happening, where ballet cultures are built, and were ballet dancers and teachers of the future are created. And not only show up - we need to be willing to be held accountable and continue to hone our skills with the confidence that they will get better if we keep at it.
How good do you have to be in order to teach?
Someone on Instagram asked a great question under one of my audition posts: “Why would teacher candidates have to go through an audition? Does it really matter how well you dance in order to become a great teacher?” To which I’d say (briefly, as this could be a question for an entirely seperate article :-)) - to some part it doesn’t matter, otherwise only principal dancers could become great teachers. But to a large extent it does matter, because showing a certain technical quality is an indication of one’s understanding of ballet movement and artistry. It shows that you have dedicated enough time and energy to learn something in such a depth that you can take it apart and teach it to someone else. It doesn’t mean that you have to be able to demonstrate everything you teach perfectly and flawlessly - but once you have that basic skill set, it allows you to find ways to get your teaching points across, even if your students will eventually be able to execute the things you teach better than you.
But then the final question: What is that “basic technical skill set” that is a prerequisite for good ballet teaching? How good do you have to be in order to teach?
Of course it all depends on whom you want to teach - my goal, for instance, is not necessarily to teach pre-professional children but rather peope who started like me - way into their adulthood. Or people with physical limitations. Which means that I want my teaching skills to be absolutely sharp and as professional as someone’s who is teaching pre-pro kids, but it won’t require the same technical and artistic experience and ability from me. I won’t be teaching future world-class principal dancers - I will be teaching amazing adults with high ballet aspirations.
But still - is there a milestone that adult ballet starters should reach before considering to teach? I once heard someone say that it takes about 10 years of intense work to get proficient at something (a bit of an adaptation of the 10,000 hour rule) and while that is a bit of a rough estimate, there is a bit of truth in it. I also think that setting the bar at an Intermediate level (whether that’s RAD or any other syllabus) has merit - it acknowledges that you don’t have to be a professionally trained dancer in order to be a good teacher, but that you need a solid foundation that can be held accountable to certain technical expectations.
Audition REsults are in :)
So, now ya all want to know what came out for me, right? :-D (Unless you follow me on th Gram, then you already know hehe.) So, *drumroll*: Yes, I made it 🎉I was offered a place in the one-year certificate program and I immediately accepted with lots of enthusiasm :-D I am still processing, and there is A LOT to take care of until the fall (like, fundraising for the tuition of approximately CAD 22,000 and additional cost of living, getting more support into place at home and for my son), plus, based on the feedback I got, a lot of technique things to work on. But it couldn’t feel more right to finally set my foot into the NBS door. I really appreciate this opportunity and the fact that the school was open and willing to increase their teacher program student diversity with regard to my age and non-ballet background. I think it’s wonderful when schools recognize that people come in with different starting points, goals, and technical abilities - but that as long as they are willing to fully and whole-heartedly commit themselves to the learning process and as long as they show potential and dedication as a teacher, they should be given a chance.
Why more adult starters should teach
Regardless of the actual path into it, I am excited and looking forward to seeing more adult ballet beginners grow into great ballet teachers. We need your unique ballet learning experience as an “old” starter, your non-ballet life skills and experiences, and your reflected, nuanced, and educated take on learning and teaching ballet. While nothing and no one can replace teachers who got into ballet in early childhood, us late starters can come at it with a fresh perspective and our unique, fully-developed-body-and-brain ballet learning experience.
To those of you who are on the fence or not sure about teaching ballet some day: The fact that you’re even considering it, no matter how vaguely, is a clear sign that the desire is in you, trust me :-) I hope that my sharing of my story will give you the little nudge you need to explore and start out on your own path to teaching ballet, or at least think about it more bravely!
I recently ran a little Instagram Story poll about adult ballet starters and teaching, and the vast majority (about 2/3 or all respondents) was either teaching, planning to teach, or not sure about it yet. Meaning most of us feel the call not only into learning ballet, but also to passing it on to others. Where are you on this spectrum, and how do you feel about my thoughts and audition story?