A local Niverville dance company is offering a new program for adults who are looking to dip their toes into the world of ballet.
The new eight-week class will run alongside the full season program at Prairie Soul Dance Company and give those who aren’t ready to fully commit to the nine-month program the opportunity to learn the foundations of ballet.
“Ballet is an excellent form of exercise which works on strengthening and toning muscles while developing posture and flexibility,” say Melanie Ducharme and Danielle Auld, Prairie Soul’s owners and artistic directors. “Participants will work through basic exercises and movements with and without the assistance of the barre.”
Ducharme and Auld have been serving the dance community in southern Manitoba for 15 years, starting with the Sadler School of Dance in 2002 before opening Prairie Soul in 2016.
The adult ballet program is open to all levels and doesn’t require previous experience, something that has enticed Niverville resident Ruth Braun to enrol in the full season program for the past three years.
“Everybody in the class is in the same boat as you, so it gives you more of a feeling of ‘I can do this,’” she says. “It’s a great way to learn posture, balance, and control… all of these things are important as you get older.”
Braun, who is in her sixties, has a granddaughter who is also taking ballet at Prairie Soul—in a class for four-year-olds.
“That part is funny to me,” she says with a chuckle. “It just shows that you are never too old to start something new.”
The eight-week sessions will run from January 16 through March 6 on Wednesdays from 7:35 to 8:35 p.m. The cost is $126 and simply requires comfortable exercise clothes and socks or bare feet to participate.
“I’m so thankful that Prairie Soul offers this here,” says Braun. “This is a program you could take at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, so it’s great that a program like this is offered locally.”
