Ten Weeks Ballet At Home
May, 2020
From The Studio Into The Home
It is ten weeks now since I taught the last class at Danceworks, on 15th March 2020. I am teaching online since. Have we adapted well?
I assume I am not alone in initially thinking that staying at home would last a month or two and that we would be back to normal very soon.
As I stressed myself setting up the online classes, figuring out the booking system and other tech-stuff, I quietly hoped the lockdown would last for a few more weeks to make it worth the effort. Be careful what you wish for!
You can watch Herbert in action here:
When the notion of a limited time in lockdown changed to 'we don't know how long this is going to last', it was difficult to come to terms with. I had no problems with empty shelves and waiting in queues. It evoked nostalgia of growing up in former East-Berlin and queuing provided time to finish some books.
The difficult part for me was the idea of physical distancing until unknown times, which meant staying away from close friends and family. I am immensely grateful to have Herbert for company, who demands a lot of attention and loves to cuddle. Yet, a human hug is important too, especially when one needs to be comforted.
And of course, I miss teaching big groups in person, something I enjoy the most because of the special energy that is created in the studio.
At the same time, I feel incredibly lucky to be able to teach at all. I am indebted to all who are with me week after week, going through the ups and downs of Zoom. I feel the common enthusiasm for the classes helps us to stay physically and mentally strong.
In Eckhart Tolles's words: "Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it... This will miraculously transform your whole life."
It may not always be applicable but I think most of us live in fortunate enough circumstances to at least remind ourselves to accept what we cannot change.
Benefits Of Zoom Classes
There are many benefits to classes via Zoom.
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Having our pets with us must be top of the list and I am sure we are going to miss them when we are back in the studio.
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Enabling people who do not live in London to join the classes is another big advantage.
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Some of you seem more courageous to try steps without the worry of being watched by others.
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We have great footage for you to repeat the classes and to see yourself in the recordings.
filming a ballet class and Herbert steals the show
I also find that online teaching works extremely well for private lessons as there are very few distractions and I can 'zoom-in' to work in great detail.
Many of you ask whether I will continue to teach online classes in the future and I definitely consider this. Maybe we will have some students at my studio with more joining us online.
Saying this, I do not know when I can teach small group classes at The Mews again but one-to-one lessons may be possible soon.
If you are unable to attend the online classes, I am very happy that I can now offer three ballet classes, one pointe class, a Pilates class (short and long version), and of course the Holistic Ballet DVDs for download. I never imagined how useful the DVDs would be one day!