In the Auckland ballet world, Valerie Murray is well-known as the teacher who founded the South Auckland Ballet Academy (SABA) and trained premier dancers who went on to perform internationally in places such as Paris, London, Norway and the US. <\/p>\n
Ballet teacher Valerie Murray, aged 88, at Edmund Hillary Retirement Village. Photo \/ Annaleise Shortland<\/p>\n
She went to her first ballet class at the Sandringham Tennis Pavilion at the age of 5. It was more of a convenience for the parents, who could drop their kids off at ballet and then play tennis.<\/p>\n
For Murray, it unlocked a deeper purpose and would lead to her lifelong dedication to ballet.<\/p>\n
She thinks everyone, no matter what age or stage of life, should learn to dance.<\/p>\n
At one point in her life, Murray was running seven studios while also looking after five sons. Their large and bustling family had to plan each day around a stream of endless ballet classes.<\/p>\n
Valerie Murray, aged 14, says dancing has always been part of her life.<\/p>\n
She has never stopped dancing, and now at 88, even after suffering a nasty fall earlier this year she continues to teach her weekly class.<\/p>\n
At the Edmund Hillary Retirement Village in Remuera, Murray guides the class mostly sitting down, her body is much shakier since the fall, but she still gives short demonstrations at the front of the room to improve the students\u2019 technique.<\/p>\n
The expressions of the dancers are focused and peaceful as they lift and bend in time to Murray\u2019s orders, their slippers scuffing on the wooden floors.<\/p>\n
In the corner of the room, William Green plays soft music on the piano in time with Murray\u2019s instructions. He has been playing piano since he was 7 and has been working with ballet dancers for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on, you\u2019re here so you should be happy,\u201d Murray tells the class.<\/p>\n
There are occasional bursts of laughter, and the odd groan as Murray asks the group to perform another pli\u00e9.<\/p>\n
When asked how she enjoyed the class, 92-year-old Annette Wilson responds with a gentle smile, \u201ccan\u2019t you tell?\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray taught both of Wilson\u2019s daughters ballet as teenagers and now coaches their mother with the same keen eye.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really is wonderful, I feel so good afterwards. Aren\u2019t we lucky to have her?\u201d Wilson says.<\/p>\n
Ballet is often thought of as only suitable for young people because of the strenuous demands on the body of professional dancers.<\/p>\n
Ballerinas are incredible athletes, and their fine-tuned muscles are sculpted through rigorous and painful practice. The art form requires dancers to create a picture of flowing elegance and flawless execution without giving away the strain involved.<\/p>\n
When asked if she thinks ballet could be intimidating for an older person, Murray dismisses the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she says, \u201cI don\u2019t think so at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, many of the elderly women, or \u201cgirls\u201d as Murray calls them, in her class never took ballet lessons when they were younger.<\/p>\n
In her classes, no one is asked to go en pointe or perform a difficult leap across the studio, but the principles of elegance and poise remain the same.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a good way for the women to improve their flexibility and balance, as well as helping to slow down some of the progressive decline in muscle mass that happens with old age.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s really my main objective, just to keep them standing in the right position so they\u2019re not having falls and things,\u201d Murray says.<\/p>\n
Most of the students don\u2019t come for these reasons, but because they find simple joy in Murray\u2019s classes.<\/p>\n
Eighty-two-year-old Alison Sutcliffe says the class is the highlight of her week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel uplifted,\u201d she says. \u201cAll of the girls coming to ballet are in their 70s and 80s \u2013 it\u2019s very brave of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over her 74 years of teaching, Murray has moulded thousands of young girls by showing them how to stand correctly and to hold themselves in a graceful manner.<\/p>\n
In 2002, Murray received a Queen\u2019s Service Medal for services to the dance community. Her career in ballet has recently been written about in the book Dancing through my life by Rochelle Sewell of Life Stories NZ.<\/p>\n
In her younger years, Murray admits she was a strict teacher, but she has softened with time and is much gentler with her elderly students: \u201cWe have a lot of fun\u201d.<\/p>\n
As for hanging up her slippers, Murray doesn\u2019t plan to stop until her body forces her to completely give it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do I love it? Because it\u2019s part of my life, that\u2019s really what it is,\u201d she says. \u201c I love it because it\u2019s always been my life.\u201d <\/p>\n