The Adult Ballet Studio
Hi! My name's Elizabeth. I've been studying ballet all my life. I started this podcast to connect with the community of adult ballet dancers & anyone working to make ballet a more welcoming space. The Adult Ballet Studio believes in pushing boundaries & taking risks. We view ballet as an art form that should be accessible regardless of age, body type, gender identity, race, ability, or background. This podcast features conversations with the empowering voices shaping the adult ballet community - a world where passion has no limits & dreams can take flight. Welcome to the studio!
Episodes
Abigail Keyes is in the studio this month! She is a former CIA political weapons analyst turned professional belly dancer. With a BA in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton and an MA in Dance Studies from Mills College, she blends academic insight with expressive movement and a deep amount of knowledge from her government background. She’s also an educator currently teaching two lecture courses at Skyline College in San Bruno, Calif...
Jess Spinner, former pro dancer turned health, wellness and lifestyle coach for dancers, is in the studio this month! She’s the founder of The Whole Dancer - a platform where she seeks to transform the way dancers approach health, body image, and self-worth both inside and outside of the studio.
Jess is a lifelong dancer, but she says her professional career ended partly because of an injury and partly because she never worked t...
Adult ballet dancer and volunteer studio manager at Dance Theatre Northwest in Washington, Sarah Witherup, joined the studio this month!
We spoke about how ballet became not just a passion for her, but a lifeline. As a highly trained endurance athlete, Sarah is no stranger to challenges. But after the loss of her son and at the age of 49, Sarah stepped into a ballet studio for the first time and says it was one of the most diff...
Former dancer and senior teaching artist for The National Ballet of Canada, Annemarie Cabri, joined The Adult Ballet Studio this month!
- Follow Annemarie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemariecabri.dance/
- Learn more about Cabri Dance: https://www.cabridance.com/
- Subscribe to Annemarie’s Silver Swans newsletter: https://www.cabridance.com/past-newsletters
- Register for the Silver Swans Summer Session for 2025: https://docs...
Kathryn Morgan is in the studio this month! She is a trailblazing ballerina - or bunhead - as she described herself in this interview - who has redefined what a ballet career can look like beyond traditional company life.
She began her professional career in 2006 with the New York City Ballet, rising to the rank of soloist before making the difficult decision to leave the company to focus on personal health challenges. She made a r...
Adult ballet dancer and board member for the Children’s Dance Theater of Okanogan County in Washington, Rob MacCaul, is in the studio this month!
Rob’s story about discovering ballet is a testament to passion, perseverance, and self-discovery. It began in 1982 with a chance encounter at a dance studio in Waikiki—an experience that sparked a lifelong love for ballet. From taking classes in Pasadena to performing on stage as an...
Eduardo Vilaro, artistic director and CEO of Ballet Hispánico, is in the studio this month!
Ballet Hispánico was founded back in 1970 by Tina Ramirez, and the company has spent more than five decades celebrating the vibrant diversity of Latino cultures through dance. The company says it’s not just about performances—it’s also about breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes, and making space for Latino/Latina voices on stages all...
Janine Kovac joined the studio for this episode! As a retired professional dancer turned award-winning author, she shares her journey from the stage to the page after a twelve-year international ballet career spanning Iceland, Italy, and the U.S. Her latest memoir, The Nutcracker Chronicles: A Fairytale Memoir, intertwines her personal experiences in ballet with stories from one of ballet’s most iconic tales, offering a reflection...
This month’s guest for The Adult Ballet Studio is Marilyn Klaus, the visionary artistic director and founder of Ballets with a Twist, a New York City-based ballet company that brings the glamour and charm of Old Hollywood to life through dance. Marilyn’s company redefines classical ballet, adding a pop-culture twist with choreography inspired by iconic American cocktails, like the Mai Tai and Martini, in its signature production, C...
The Limón Dance Company is presenting its 78th season this year, and on this episode of The Adult Ballet Studio, we have two incredible guests to celebrate: Limón Dance Company Artistic Director Dante Puleio and Choreographer Kayla Farrish!
After a career performing with The Limón Dance Company, touring national and international musical theatre productions, television and film, Dante received his MFA from the University of Cali...
Chelsea Weidmann joined The Adult Ballet Studio for this episode! She is a ballet instructor and the founder of Geeky Ballerina, a platform offering resources and curriculums for ballet instructors and students alike.
Chelsea has been teaching ballet for more than 25 years, She taught for Ballet West Academy for four years and has an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts. She’s fully ABT certified, fully certified in mUvmethod and cer...
Joining the studio for this episode is Helen Banks, owner and CEO of the sustainable dancewear brand, Imperfect Pointes!
Helen founded Imperfect Pointes in 2020 out of frustration at the lack of dancewear brands focusing on sustainability. After working in fast fashion and seeing the darker side of the fashion industry, she was upset by the amount of waste going to landfills and the poor working conditions in some factories w...
Pirkko Markula, contemporary dancer and professor of socio-cultural studies of physical activity at the University of Alberta in Canada, is in the studio!
She has a Ph.D in kinesiology and major sport sociology from the University of Illinois. Beyond academia, she’s a dancer herself, previously training in the Dance Department at the University of Illinois with an emphasis on Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and José Limón tech...
The Adult Ballet Studio has another special guest for this episode! Cecelia Beam, faculty member for adult ballet and dance classes for people with Parkinson’s at San Francisco Ballet, is in the studio.
Cecelia is a former dancer, training at School of American Ballet in New York City and graduating from the high school ballet program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. After dancing in Oakland, California,...
Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Daniel Watt is in the studio for this episode! Dan is producer and director of the award-winning documentary “Everybody Dance” — currently available on iTunes, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime, which is offering it for free in recognition of the month of July as Disability Pride Month.
The film follows five kids with different disabilities and their families as well as their dance teacher, Bonnie...
Julie Dupas, founder of Amsterdam Amateur Ballet and Morlaix Ballet Camp, is in the studio for this episode!
After beginning ballet in her 20s and noticing a lack of performance opportunities for adult ballet dancers, Julie founded Amsterdam Amateur Ballet, an inclusive and affordable amateur adult performance group based in Amsterdam. She also founded international summer camp Morlaix Ballet Camp, in which adult dancers take clas...
Adriana Pierce is a dancer, choreographer, and director based in New York City, and she joined the studio to talk about her work elevating queer artists in ballet, creating community, and her career in classical ballet as well as musical theater!
Adriana is the founder of Queer the Ballet, an initiative with the mission to widen the scope of classical ballet by producing queer work by queer dance artists. Queer the Ballet say...
Sander Blommaert is in the studio for this episode! He’s the founder and director of Blommaert Ballet School in Birmingham, England, and a former first artist at The Royal Ballet company. Since the school’s official founding in 2021, BBS has become known as an audition preparation school, working with young students pursuing professional ballet careers as well as offering classes for all ages. Over the last two years, students stud...
Aubrey Lynch II, dean of students and director of ABT Wellness and RISE with American Ballet Theatre in New York City, joined the studio to talk about his work to further mental health and DEI initiatives at ABT and beyond! He focuses on mentoring students at ABT and providing resources for them, as well as expanding access to mental health resources that support the whole dancer in and out of the studio. He also works to build upo...
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