The Pioneer Winter Collective, the acclaimed Miami-based dance-theater company, is sponsoring free adult ballet classes for anybody, or as instructor Gaile Holland puts it: “any body.”
And according to Holland, no matter your physique, there’s no reason to feel intimidated.
“It’s an opportunity for people to see what ballet is,” Holland explained. “Ballet has always been the thing that has been considered kind of elitist. You had to have the perfect body. You had to have the perfect feet. You had to have the look. And what this class does is it puts all of that to the side, and it allows you to come and experience it.”
Class members are learning to express themselves through ballet.
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)
Holland has been teaching ballet in Miami-Dade County for nearly 40 years. She is co-director of the Edwin Holland Dance Ensemble, a company of formally trained dancers ages 10 to 18 who perform throughout the community. She currently teaches dance to children ages 5 to 18 through the City of North Miami Beach Police Athletic League.
Holland said the attendees of the Pioneer Winter classes aren’t the usual suspects. She said the class attracts “people who have never taken ballet, but always wanted to, but didn’t think they could… or just didn’t think that they could because it just looks so hard.”
Gaile Holland with Pioneer Winter, the founder of Pioneer Winter Collective.
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)
She also said the class attracts former dancers who either studied dance in school or a studio but then eventually “had to go and be an adult and felt that they had to leave that behind.”
Holland said that there’s more to the class than just learning ballet.
Gaile Holland leads a class.
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)
“What it does is, it allows you to leave the world at the door. When you walk in that room with us, you’re there to be in your own space,” Holland said. “We’re also going to come together as a community to encourage each other and to just have a great time in ballet because it doesn’t have to be so serious.”
She said she goes over the basics, but also, “we’re going to laugh. We’re going to encourage each other, and when it’s all said and done, I want you to feel better than when you walked in the door.”
Gaile Holland said she wants her students to have fun.
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)
Holland said the idea for the class came from Pioneer Winter, founder and artistic director of the Pioneer Winter Collective, who is also a onetime student of Holland’s.
While working on another project together, Holland said Winter asked her if she’d be interested in teaching a class.
“I said, ‘Kid, I’ll do anything for you,’” Holland said.
Gaile Holland performing in Pioneer Winter Collective’s “In the Belly of the Bird/Godmother.”
(Passion Ward)
A successful six-week session in the summer led to the current session.
“The very first class, we had 45 people, and yeah, we were both blown away,” Holland recalled.
Laurah Merisier and Gaile Holland performing in Pioneer Winter Collective’s “In the Belly of the Bird/Godmother.”
(Passion Ward)
“The response has been overwhelming,” Holland said. “It’s been amazing, and every (class) we get new people. There are some people who are there every week, but then there are some new people because a friend may have told them about it, or they saw it on social media and they want to come and see.”
She said a third session is still undetermined, but classes remain for the current one.
Holland said a typical class begins with trained dancers stretching while the lesser experienced wait for the class to start.
The ballet classes have drawn a diverse set of students.
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)
“I always open up the class with an introduction explaining that yes, this is a ballet class, but it is your journey, and I run it,” Holland said. “I build it as a traditional ballet class, and then I begin to morph into whatever the music in my head and heart tell me at that moment.”
She has class members introduce themselves to two people they did not know.
“That helps to build a sense of community in the room.”
Then she puts the class through basic ballet exercises, followed by simple stretches.
Holland says one of the more rewarding aspects of the class is seeing class members encouraging others who may be struggling to continue.
“I’ve even seen some of the other dancers go back and do the exercise with that person that’s having trouble for that moral support,” Holland said. “And then when they get to the other side, they applaud each other, and that’s just amazing.”
Asked if her students have ever surprised her, she’s quick to answer.
“I think every week is a surprise,” Holland said. “Because I hear from some that’ll say, ‘I’ve been dancing all my life, and I teach, and I would have never thought to teach it the way that you just taught it.’ Or, ‘Before I came in this class, I hated ballet. I don’t hate it anymore.’
Classes are open to trained dancers and novices.
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)
“To hear somebody say ‘I was always terrified of it, and so I never did it, and so that’s why I became a hip-hop dancer, but now I’m not afraid to go into a ballet class anymore’ — those kinds of things surprise me. They surprise me and they touch me,” Holland said.
IF YOU GO
When: Mondays, Nov. 9, 16, 23 and 30, from 7:30-9 p.m.
Where: The Light Box Studio at MTC, 9806 NE Second Ave., Miami Shores
Cost: Classes are free and open to all bodies and levels. Donations are accepted and appreciated.
Info: Class size is limited to 30 students so advance registration is required. Registration opens each Monday at 9 a.m. for that evening’s class. Register at https://pioneerwinter.com/adult-ballet.