Gulfshore Ballet <\/a>offers classes in Fort Myers for students of all ages. <\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Photo-by-Gene-Schiavone-and-Damien-Hanley-244x300.jpg\")
Photo by Gene Schiavone and Damien Hanley<\/p>\n
\u201cDance builds muscle, [and] you have to work very, very hard on your body; your body\u2019s your tool,\u201d notes Artistic Director Iliana Lopez. Besides the many physical gains, she points out ballet may also bring a multitude of mental health benefits, including increased focus and reduced stress. \u201cThe discipline and the perseverance required foster mental toughness and increased self-confidence,\u201d Lopez explains. With their oldest student in their 70s and other students starting in their 50s, Lopez adds, \u201cIt\u2019s never too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the dance floor isn\u2019t for you, you may still benefit from a seat in the audience. Gulfshore Ballet puts on regular performances in the area with the goal of bringing people together through art. Watching a show, Lopez notes, \u201cbecomes really magical, and I think it takes you out of the everyday stress and worry, listening to the beautiful music and watching the beautiful dancers on stage. It\u2019s two hours of pure joy.\u201d Catch Gulfshore Ballet\u2019s next show, Don Quixote, in Naples at the Wang Opera Center in February. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether practicing or watching ballet, there are a multitude of mental health benefits, including increased focus and reduced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":{"0":"post-126717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-cape-coral","9":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","10":"tag-cape-coral-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Whether](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Whether-practicing-or-watching-ballet-there-are-a-multitude-of-mental-health-benefits-including-incr.jpeg\")
Whether practicing or watching ballet, there are a multitude of mental health benefits, including increased focus and reduced stress. Photo by Gene Schiavone and Damien Hanley<\/p>\n