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: \u201cany body.\u201d<\/p>\n
And according to Holland, no matter your physique, there\u2019s no reason to feel intimidated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s an opportunity for people to see what ballet is,\u201d Holland explained. \u201cBallet 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Class members are learning to express themselves through ballet.<\/p>\n
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Holland said the attendees of the Pioneer Winter classes aren\u2019t the usual suspects. She said the class attracts \u201cpeople who have never taken ballet, but always wanted to, but didn’t think they could\u2026 or just didn’t think that they could because it just looks so hard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Gaile Holland with Pioneer Winter, the founder of Pioneer Winter Collective.<\/p>\n
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)<\/p>\n
She also said the class attracts former dancers who either studied dance in school or a studio but then eventually \u201chad to go and be an adult and felt that they had to leave that behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holland said that there\u2019s more to the class than just learning ballet.<\/p>\n
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Gaile Holland leads a class.<\/p>\n
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat 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,\u201d Holland said. \u201cWe’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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said she goes over the basics, but also, \u201cwe\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Gaile Holland said she wants her students to have fun.<\/p>\n
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)<\/p>\n
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\u2019s.<\/p>\n
While working on another project together, Holland said Winter asked her if she\u2019d be interested in teaching a class.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018Kid, I’ll do anything for you,\u2019\u201d Holland said.<\/p>\n
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Gaile Holland performing in Pioneer Winter Collective’s “In the Belly of the Bird\/Godmother.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Passion Ward)<\/p>\n
A successful six-week session in the summer led to the current session.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe very first class, we had 45 people, and yeah, we were both blown away,\u201d Holland recalled.<\/p>\n
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Laurah Merisier and Gaile Holland performing in Pioneer Winter Collective’s “In the Belly of the Bird\/Godmother.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Passion Ward)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe response has been overwhelming,\u201d Holland said. \u201cIt’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.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said a third session is still undetermined, but classes remain for the current one.<\/p>\n
Holland said a typical class begins with trained dancers stretching while the lesser experienced wait for the class to start.<\/p>\n
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The ballet classes have drawn a diverse set of students.<\/p>\n
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Holland said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0She has class members introduce themselves to two people they did not know.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat helps to build a sense of community in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she puts the class through basic ballet exercises, followed by simple stretches.<\/p>\n
Holland says one of the more rewarding aspects of the class is seeing class members encouraging others who may be struggling to continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’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,\u201d Holland said. \u201cAnd then when they get to the other side, they applaud each other, and that’s just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if her students have ever surprised her, she\u2019s quick to answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think every week is a surprise,\u201d Holland said. “Because I hear from some that’ll say, \u2018I’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.\u2019 Or, \u2018Before I came in this class, I hated ballet. I don’t hate it anymore.\u2019<\/p>\n
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Classes are open to trained dancers and novices.<\/p>\n
(Courtesy of Pioneer Winter Collective)<\/p>\n
\u201cTo hear somebody say \u2018I 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\u2019 \u2014 those kinds of things surprise me. They surprise me and they touch me,\u201d Holland said.<\/p>\n
IF YOU GO<\/p>\n
When: Mondays, Nov. 9, 16, 23 and 30, from 7:30-9 p.m.<\/p>\n
Where: The Light Box Studio at MTC, 9806 NE Second Ave., Miami Shores<\/p>\n
Cost: Classes are free and open to all bodies and levels. Donations are accepted and appreciated.<\/p>\n