UN DEPORTE MÁS DISCIPLINADO Y ARTÍSTICO 

 

Marlen encuentra en el Ballet la oportunidad de mantenerse físicamente activa además de practicar algo que realmente le gusta, pues desde muy pequeña siempre se ha visto altamente interesada por este arte aunque ella lo ve mas como un hobby que le proporciona salud, ella se refiere a este como un deporte mas disciplinado.
 
El primer contacto que tuvo con el ballet fue a los 4 años, que sus padres la llevaron a ver a la bailarina rusa Makarova, quien tenia el papel principal en la obra “La muerte del cisne”, desde ese momento quedo encantada pues ella dice “me pareció mágico ver esa mujer transformarse en un cisne en el escenario por la estética en sus movimientos”.
Luego desde los 5 hasta los 10 años estuvo tomando clases en la academia de Raquel Ercole, pero dejó de ir porque su papá en ese entonces decía que las mujeres decentes no bailaban, pues las bailarinas tenían mala reputación.
 
En el colegio ella trato hacer parte del grupo de ballet pero ella sentía que el nivel que le proporcionaban era muy bajito y limitado y no estaba acorde con lo que ella buscaba, ser bailarina profesional, así que se alejo del ballet por un tiempo.
 
Tan pronto acaba el colegio ella insinúa en su casa que se dedicara de lleno al ballet pero su padre le dice que eso no es una profesión que necesita algo de que vivir que sea estable pues la vida profesional de bailarines clásicos es muy corta por el desgaste físico; termina decidiendo que quería estudiar medicina, donde ya no tenia tiempo para practicar ballet.
 
Vuelve a retomar el ballet hasta los 40 años, no lo hace como una forma de expresión artística sino por salud porque siente que el entrenamiento de este le proporciona coordinación, equilibrio, estiramiento, estimulación de la memoria y es un actividad física que puede realizar con mayor facilidad que otras por la fibromialgia que presenta desde hace un tiempo.
 
Hoy en día a sus 59 años sigue asistiendo a clase de ballet, reparte su tiempo entre las clases que dicta en la universidad, los talleres que dicta a diferente empresas sobre salud ocupacional, la elaboración de vitrales y clases de yoga y pilates para poder rendir en los entrenamientos de 6 a 8 horas semanales de ballet. En la academia donde toma las clases hacen presentaciones cada año, pero decidió que la del año pasado sería su última aparición.

 

 

 

MORE THAN A SPORT IT'S A LIFESTYLE 

 

In doing ballet, Marlene is able to find the opportunity to remain physically active while being involved in something that is truly delighting to her, given that from a young age, she has always seen herself highly interested in this art. Even though she perceives ballet as being a hobby, which helps her maintain her good health, she refers to it as being an extremely demanding sport.

 

At the age of four, Marlene had her first encounter with the art of ballet. Her parents took her to see the Russian ballet dancer Makarova, who played as the main character for the ballet production the “Dying Swan”. From that moment forward Marlene became passionate on ballet, which is clear when she explains “it was magical to observe a woman’s transformation into a sawn through the divine esthetics of her movements”.

Since she was five up to when she was 10 Marlene participated in ballet lessons at Raquel Ercole’s academy, but stopped attending due to her father believed that any respectable women could not under any circumstances become a dancer given that at the time society depicted ballet dancers as having a bad reputation.             

 

At school, Marlene always wanted to join the ballet group but she felt as if the level of intensity that was taught was inferior and quite limited compared to what she was looking for, as her dream was to eventually become a professional ballet dancer. Therefore she stepped down from her dream and passion for a while.

 

As soon as Marlene graduated high school, her instinct was to imply to her family her dream of becoming a full-time professional ballet dancer, however, her father remained skeptical towards the idea of ballet being a profession. According to her father, she needed to study and do something, which would eventually provide her with enough resources   to live a stable life. His supporting statement was that a dancer’s success is extremely short due to the physical exhaustion, such concept lead Marlene to radically change her dream and study medicine leaving her with little if no time to dedicate herself to ballet.

 

It was not until she was 40 that Marlene decided to embrace and dedicate her time to her only passion, ballet. At this point in time, she does not see or do ballet as a creative and artistic manner of expressing personality but rather as hobby and sport that provides her with coordination, balance, stretching of the muscles, and deep stimulation to her memory. To Marlene, ballet is a physical activity in which she can easily perform mainly due to the fibromyalgia that she has had for a while.

 

Now at 59, Marlene still attends ballet lessons. She has been able to manage and organize her time between being a teacher at university, giving out ted talks at various occupational health companies and multinationals, making stained glass windows as well as doing yoga and Pilates in order to effectively function in ballet training that can last up to six and eight hours weekly. The academy, which Marlene attends, does a performance every year, however Marlene decided that last year’s performance was her last appearance.