Feeling Stuck in Your Ballet Training? Why You Shouldn’t Quit

[If you’ve ever stood at the barre wondering why you’re even still doing this, this post is for you.] ♥

As adult ballet dancers, we show up with full lives behind us: careers, families, responsibilities, and often a history of stopping and starting again. That’s what makes our journeys both beautiful and uniquely challenging. And yet, we often hold ourselves to near-impossible standards. It's no surprise that discouragement can creep in quietly... or crash in suddenly.

Why Do We Get Discouraged?

There are a few common reasons we hit emotional walls as adult dancers:

• Progress Feels Slow: We’re often trying to fit ballet into busy schedules, squeezing classes into our evenings or weekends before running off to the next commitment on our calendar. Progress takes time... lots of it. (Especially when it comes to things like pointe work).

• Comparison: Whether it’s to younger dancers, lifelong professionals, or even our past selves, comparing can make us feel inadequate and inhibit our ability to identify progress in ourselves.

• Physical Limitations or Injuries: If we're honest, we know our bodies don’t bounce back quite like they did at 16. Often it takes adults a bit more time to recover from injuries, and we might even have chronic conditions that affect our training and cause discouragement.

• Lack of external validation or clear benchmarks: Adult dancers don’t get promotions like professionals, and many of us aren't in structured programs with grade levels like younger students. It can be really hard to know if you're actually progressing without these kinds of clear benchmarks!

Recently I hit a wall of discouragement, specifically about my progress en pointe. I’d been working hard, attending classes consistently, trying to be patient, but I just wasn't getting noticeably better. I started thinking, “Maybe this just isn’t going to happen for me. Maybe I should just hang up the pointe shoes and be content to dance without them.” It was the closest I've ever come to quitting.

But something inside me whispered: Just keep showing up.

So I did. I put on my pointe shoes, logged on to a Saturday Zoom class, and it happened...

After weeks of feeling stuck, I had a breakthrough. I did my first pique turns en pointe, and that one moment made every ounce of struggle worth it. And it reminded me of something essential:

Sometimes, the breakthrough comes right after the moment we were ready to give up.

How to Move Past the Discouragement

If you’re in a valley right now, here are a few things that might help:

• Redefine Progress: Progress isn’t just about achieving perfect technique or higher extensions. It's also showing up consistently (even when we don't feel like it), being present and working through fear.

• Talk About It: Share how you're feeling with your teacher or fellow dancers. Most of us have been there, and voicing your discouragement will invite the support of your community and help you feel less alone.

• Take Breaks With Intention: Rest isn’t quitting. Sometimes stepping back for a day or a week can help reset your mind and allow your body to absorb what you’ve been working on.

• Track progress in a visible, tangible way: Use journaling, video, and photos to document your progress and write down the compliments and encouragement you receive in class. These tangible reminders of your progress will help you push through hard seasons!

• Habitually celebrate small wins: Things like a clean pirouette, holding your balance a bit longer, or picking up the choreo faster - these are all things that indicate progress and should be noticed and celebrated after every class.

• Focus on the process, not the end product: Enjoy moving, learning, and being present in your body, responding to the beauty of music, connecting with friends in class - those things are available to you no matter your level! You have access to the same amount of joy in the studio as a professional - that's a choice you can make (as opposed to thinking you'll enjoy it more when you've arrived at a specific goal or level). Give yourself permission to enjoy class now, just as you are.

• Limit social media comparison: Curate your feed and take breaks from scrolling to protect your mindset when you're in a vulnerable, discouraged period.

• Intentionally encourage others: Being other people's cheerleader can often pull us out of our own negative or discouraged state. As we focus on encouraging others and celebrating their wins, we are more apt to be kind to ourselves as well.

  
  

Know You’re Not Alone

Discouragement is part of the process. It doesn’t mean you’re failing, it means you’re stretching yourself beyond comfort, and that’s where growth lives. So if you’re feeling like it’s just not happening, keep showing up. Your breakthrough might be one class away.

I’m proof that it happens. And when it does, it feels like magic.

Keep going. Keep dancing. We’re all in this together. ♥

Sincerely,

An Adult Ballerina Who Didn't Quit ◡̈