education
My goal is to
remove the
competitive and
professional nature
of ballet and make it
accessible to
everyone.
me realise that as much as I love to
dance, I do not want to live the life of a
dancer.” She is now a certified personal
trainer and is developing workouts
that involve balletic movements. “My
goal is to remove the competitive and
professional nature of ballet and make it
accessible to everyone.”
The ballet world honours tradition
and this can make it a very challenging
environment at times. Judith Mackrell,
a writer focussing on dance for The
Guardian states, “Ballet, like sport,
has reached a pitch of technical
expertise that requires the most finely
tuned of physical instruments. We’re
accustomed to ballet dancers with
a bare minimum of body fat, used to
beautiful, supple bodies that can be
stretched and torqued and angled
to remarkable extremes.” These
unhealthy and unrealistic expectations
for ballerinas have really penetrated
the culture, and are very difficult to
overcome. Hanah advises, “It’s so
important to keep a strong mind and
focus on yourself, not what others
think, or what the norm says.”
Any ballerina will tell you that
ballet teaches you a strong sense
of discipline. Repeating the same
exercises every day in order to formulate
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a strong foundation, long training
sessions and respect for teachers is
bound to form an incredibly disciplined
environment. Hanah also says that time
management is key. When juggling
academics at school or university, it is
absolutely essential to learn effective
time management. “In primary school,
I always did my homework while
stretching before my ballet classes.”
Hanah says this means she is now able
to do a lot more than her peers. “On
top of studying for school, I find time
to go to ballet classes, running, I even
go to yoga classes four times a week!
Anything is possible if you learn how to
be efficient and effective.”
Is dance actually a sport? Hanah
says, “A typical ballet is about 2.5-3
hours long. It doesn’t matter if you’ve
been on stage jumping and turning for
three hours straight, you still need to
continue moving with grace, control and
with a smile on your face. People don’t
realise how much athleticism is involved
in ballet.” Many argue that dance is
an art form, not a sport, which isn’t
incorrect. However, studies have shown
that the physical demand placed on
ballerinas measures up to that of other
professional athletes.
Hanah offers some advice to young
people considering a career in ballet:
“It’s not an easy path. Stay motivated,
passionate and patient. But most
importantly – don’t forget to enjoy
dancing! I decided to adjust my career
path, and step down from the road to
becoming a ballerina. I did this because
I felt that I was starting to hate ballet
more and more. I rediscovered my
passion for ballet after I had stepped
back from the professional side of it
and had started dancing again as an
advanced hobby. I’ve found my perfect
relationship with ballet, and now I look
forward to dancing purely for myself!”
Hanah is currently doing a double
major in Business Information Systems
and Computer Science at the University
of Hong Kong and hopes to graduate in
2020. Her goal is to work as a personal
trainer incorporating balletic movements
into workout routines in order to make
ballet more accessible. “I was inspired
by friends telling me they wanted to
start ballet because of the beautiful
combination of grace and strength they
see in ballerinas but they felt they were
too old to start. My goal is to help girls
and women who feel this way to be able
to learn ballet at any age!”