Shaanaaz de Jager WEEKEND POST REPORTER

MANY women who did ballet in their youth yearn for the opportunity to pick it up again, while others may never have been able to realise that favourite childhood dream of feeling like a ballerina.

Tanya Wyatt, a former professional dancer, understands that yearning only too well and since May this year has been offering ballet classes for adults at the Elan Health and Wellness Centre in Walmer, Port Elizabeth.

For one hour every Thursday, dancers ranging from teenagers to pensioners and representing a broad spectrum of fitness levels get a chance to Pliee and learn other ballet techniques.

Ballet student Kim Pudman finds the classes so inspiring that she travels all the way from Bluewater Bay to Walmer to join the group. Pudman had never danced before and said ballet had been on her “goal sheet for three years”.

“I have the ballet shoes and wearing them makes me feel like a dancer. I move more gracefully in them,” said Pudman, who described the class as “therapeutic” and “very good exercise”.

Wyatt, who is the co-founder of The Happy Body under whose banner the classes are run, is a former lead dancer in many well-known ballets.

She said she started the class simply because she wanted to “get back to dancing myself but no one in Port Elizabeth appeared to hold an open adult class, so I decided to offer one myself”.

Wyatt’s group currently includes only women dancers, but it is open to men too: “We did have one male for a while, which was great”.

No prior training was required and there wasn’t considerable emphasis on technique, she said. In fact the only real prerequisite was a desire to dance and enjoy it.

“I’ve had some women come along in takkies and jeans and most had never, ever danced before. I always tell them I don’t care if they manage to do what I’m asking for, as long as they move in the same direction and dance their hearts out,” said Wyatt.

Medical sales representative Jenny Rubidge, of Walmer, danced as a child but gave it up many years ago. “I saw the advert and it’s been the best thing, not just for strength and balance but for relaxation as well,” said Rubidge.

She loves dancing so much that she makes sure no business trips are planned that will take her out of town on a Thursday night.

“I highly recommend this to everyone. You don’t have to have past dance experience to join,” she said.

Occupational therapist Liezl Bosch, originally from East London but now living in the Bay, said she’d stopped doing ballet when she went to university.

“This is my first year in Port Elizabeth. I missed ballet and heard of the classes, so I decided to join. The classes are for anyone and it’s very relaxing,” said Bosch.

Kezia da Silva from Walmer said ballet was an excellent way to keep fit. “I danced until I was 14 years old,” she recalled. “I always loved ballet and this class functions for all of us. We feel comfortable.”

Teacher Mynie van Wyk from Schoenmakerskop, who has more dance experience than her fellow dancers, said dancing made her feel “like a 19-year-old again”.

“I find coming to the classes uplifting. It’s good for toning and exercise and it brings back wonderful memories,” said Van Wyk.

Wyatt performed extensively in youth ballets and eisteddfords during her ballet career and was the lead dancer for four years (from 1986 to 1990) in ballets like Cinderella, The Water Babies and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, among others. She’s been dancing since she was just four years old and trained in the Bay with Norma Blakeway until she was 18.

She then moved to Cape Town and did a year at UCT Ballet School, before auditioning and being chosen for Capab, now the Cape Town City Ballet.