We will be inviting a guest blogger monthly. If you are interested in contributing a blog about your experiences at PBS, please let us know via our Contact page. All ages are invited: students, former students, parents, faculty etc. Thank you – and Happy Dancing!

Andrea with her daughter, Olivia
Will she love it as much as I did? That is the question that I asked myself this past summer, as it came time to enroll my daughter in her first ballet class.
Like every good parent does, I did my due diligence trying to find a studio that would be the perfect fit for my daughter as well as fulfill my own criteria. We live in Wayland so I started my search there, and then moved on to Weston and Wellesley…and then on to Natick and Waltham. It’s sufficient to say that I was not happy with the choices available, so we moved on to Newton.
Olivia needed a studio that would foster her creativity in a nurturing environment. I wanted one that would provide formal dance training with an emphasis on classical technique. I wanted her studio to be like mine was; a magical place where she could learn some of life’s most important lessons. I wanted a studio where her hard work, tenacity and determination would be rewarded not only with beautiful lines and gorgeous pirouettes, but with grace, poise and self confidence. I wanted her to learn the meaning of pas de deux, while learning what it means to be a true friend. Lastly, but most importantly, I wanted her teachers to be mentors and role models like mine were; encouraging Olivia to strive for everything she thinks she can be.
My search led us to Paulette’s ballet studio, where I knew we would end up all along. This is the magical, nurturing studio that I grew up at. I started at age four and danced there until I graduated from high school. Paulette was like a second mother to me and the studio was my home away from home. If I wasn’t taking class, I was teaching class or helping out around the studio. Paulette’s provided me with an excellent training ground for life. Academics always came first in my house and I couldn’t spend time at the studio unless my parents could see that I was performing to the best of my ability academically. In these formative years I learned how to prioritize, multitask and achieve. The lessons that I learned there have served me well in my professional career as well as my personal life.
On a hot August day this past summer we went to register for class. I was so excited for Olivia but I was careful not to push my excitement on her. On the car ride to the studio I talked to Olivia about how special it was for me that she was going to study with Miss Paulette. I didn’t expect her to understand being only five, but she did. I walked into the studio and a flood of memories came rushing back to me. There was Paulette at the registration table with her flowing platinum hair and her beautiful blue eyes. It was like I never left.
It is Saturday morning 9:00 a.m. and I’m watching my daughter at the barre along with the rest of her class. This is one of the classes that I used to help teach and it was always my favorite. I give my daughter a reassuring wink and thumbs up from the glass window and she smiles back. Today’s lesson: Pique. Olivia watches in amazement as her teachers effortlessly perform pique turns across the length of the studio. I remember being her age and feeling that sense of wonderment. Suddenly I’m overwhelmed. My baby is doing a pique! Two months ago she didn’t know first position and now she’s learning how to pique. I see her looking at herself in the mirror and I see self confidence staring back.
Class ends and I greet her in the waiting area. Olivia asks if we can watch the next class for a few minutes. How can I refuse? I think she loves it!