The benefits of ballet training are extremely far reaching. Ballet instruction, combining intentional, physical movement in a specific pattern with music, activates different parts of the brain at the same time. It develops the brain differently than for individuals who do not train in ballet. And dancers have known this for ages, but it has finally been proven With brain scans.

What I have noticed most often is the method I created develops memory and particularly helps children with autism adhd and dyscalculia (those who have trouble with math and numbers)

What is something you wish people knew about ballet?

That if you “did ballet” before the age or eight or ten it wasn’t really ballet. Or at least I hope not. If so, you probably have back and knee or ankle problems from it.

A lot of kids that take a class at 4 or 6 Don’t want to enroll in ballet when they’re eight or 10 because they think they did it already, or maybe they had a bad teacher.

But comparing that class to a real ballet class (that should not start before eight)is like thinking because you went to kindergarten you shouldn’t have to go to fifth grade.

And if a kid did do real ballet before the age of eight that could certainly make them not want to continue because their bodies and their brains weren’t ready for it.

How does ballet help individuals who are neurodivergent/ have a history of trauma?

I think you’ll find most people who are neurodivergent are in the arts in some form. I do know that ballet in particular helps the brain in innumerable ways.

Because of the specific and intentional way that my method of ballet training works I have seen marked improvement not just physically but emotionally and academically with students who start training with me, even if they trained elsewhere prior. And this has been backed up by the parents time and again so I know it’s not just something I’m imagining.

I know that ballet has been found to be so helpful for individuals with trauma that dance therapy became a thing movement therapy somatic therapy all involve intentional movement.

I will say that ballet in general is helpful for such things without having to disclose that you have a history of trauma, but if you can find an instructor like myself who is trained in utilizing dance for individuals with trauma, it is doubly helpful. I am very proud that wonderful parents have sought me out for their children, and they still speak to this day of how much I personally helped their children just by being their dance teacher..

What do your dancers do when they finish their training with you?

What is common for anyone that completes their ballet training: work for a ballet company, work for a dance company, get into theater work, go into law, go into medicine,. Those are all very common careers for people who have grown up training in ballet because ballet requires and builds discipline a strong work ethic and patience.

What is most different about how you teach?

I as often as possible am the primary instructor for my students for the entirety of their dance training. I have also taught my method all over the country so I know that this experience is not unique-I have had more students and parents than I can count tell me how different I am than other dance teachers and the kids just love me like I’m their best friend or part of their family. And the medical stuff of course.

Why did you decide to pursue teaching dance from a medical standpoint as opposed to traditional teaching methods?

Injuries. Injuries. Injuries. And individuals involved in the teaching of dance and sports normalizing injury. Or saying I trained all my life and I’m fine and yet they have the body of an 80 year old at 35.

How is your approach to teaching different than other teachers?

Refusing to accept injury and eating disorders as normal.

Realizing that there were many things wrong with how ballet is traditionally taught and being willing to say so, and do something about it.

What benefits are there to traditional ballet instruction vs your approach?

I think I’ve already illustrated the benefits of ballet training in general. My particular method simply adds to the benefits because it is intentional that I incorporate medically based training and utilize dance from a trauma perspective which benefits everyone, including individuals without trauma.

Are there other dance teachers that use a medical approach to dance?

I am happy to say that I know a few ballerinas that took the same approach that I have and spent years getting medical training as well. But I also know a lot of places that say they are taking a medical approach to things, but in reality, they haven’t changed anything at all.

A lot has been done to prevent disordered eating, and that is amazing and that is across the board globally that the ballet world has made great strides in. But when you say that specific ballet steps are damaging or that they should not be taught, you are messing with hundreds of years of tradition. And that is very difficult for a lot of people.

What is some of the advice you got about injury prevention from the doctors you worked with?

Don’t teach ballet before age 8. Don’t let girls do soccer until they are at least 8. How teaching turnout before a certain age damages the female pelvis and a lot more. A whole bunch of things that shouldn’t be taught to girls who are close to getting their first period and still shouldn’t be taught until at least a year after their first menses. Just…a lot.