Chasing My Ballet Passion

Evgenia restarted ballet as an adult, training relentlessly while juggling family life and her business. She shares how pursuing her passion recharged her energy and at the same time set a good example for her son. 

By Evgenia Budrina

My name is Evgenia, currently 35 years old. I am a mother of a 5-year-old boy, an entrepreneur, and I do ballet. I am not a professional ballerina, but I practice it seriously, with training 4-5 times a week. 

Here is my story.

When I was 5, my parents brought me to a local ballet studio, the only one in our small town in the North of Russia. I went to classes 3 times a week and just hated it, but my mom insisted, "every girl should have some dancing skills". After several ‘torturous’ years, I quit and was very happy to forget about it. I was 100% sure that I'd never ever come back to ballet in my life. And I was very wrong. 

When I was 31, one and a half years after my son was born, I was trying to get back in shape. I tried the gym and running, but I didn’t like them. I forced myself to do all sorts of exercises but they didn’t last long, I just hated them. I didn’t know why but it was exactly like what I thought about ballet when I was a child. 

Suddenly I found myself Googling for "Moscow ballet for adults." I clicked on the first link and found myself in my first ballet class 2 days later. And... I simply loved it. Who would have thought it, right? 

Since then, I've been doing ballet for 4 years already, albeit with a 6-7 months break when we moved from Moscow to Bangkok. Now I go to classes 3 times a week and train at home twice a week. My body seems to be always ready for an Arabesque or Pirouette pose. I have watched all the possible movies and documentaries about ballet, read all ballet-related articles and subscribed to all ballet bloggers out there. I try to know everything about Diana Vishneva, the Prima Ballerina. I am totally obsessed with ballet. ⠀

Why am I doing all this, even though I'm pretty sure that I will never become a professional ballerina? The answer is very simple. Dancing makes me who I really am. 

Who am I? I'm a mother. I'm a translator by profession and have been an event manager in the past. I'm launching my own business right now and I'm a wife. Ironically, all of these things do not define me as well as my passion for ballet does.

Ballet is more than my hobby, it represents who I am. With a professional career and a kid, it is not easy to pursue a passion seriously. I often struggle to find time and good teachers here in Bangkok. I signed up to 3 different dance schools and have 3 classes per week, and often these are not the most convenient timings for me. One of the classes that I attend usually finishes at 9pm by which time I become so tired that I can hardly walk. I also face a lack of seriousness from the teachers for the adult amateur ballet classes. 

But I never thought about stopping. Because after each training, the next morning I wake up with lots of positive energy. Ballet doesn't consume my energy, on the contrary, it actually gives it in double or triple amounts. With this renewed energy, I use it productively for my kid and my everyday life. I feel very inspired. Sometimes I feel I have wings to fly, almost literally.

What's really important for me is that my son can see his mom genuinely following her own passion. I think a real example educates and inspires a child to follow their interests more than forcing them. It allows them to pursue their real passion despite all the obstacles. 

Images courtesy of the author.

About the Author

Evgenia Budrina is a Russian who currently lives in Bangkok. She blogs at A.Dancer (https://www.instagram.com/_a.dancer_/) - a project for adult ballet geeks; she writes about dancing as an adult: starting out, keeping up and motivating yourself. She shares her personal stories including failures and life hacks. 

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