Karis Scarlette is the founder and director of En Avant Ballet. At En Avant Ballet, they provide fun and inspirational beginner, intermediate and private ballet classes for adults in London. We spoke exclusively to Karis about her life as a professional dancer, as a teacher at En Avant Ballet and the potential benefits of massage for dancers.
When did you start ballet dancing?
I began ballet aged 2 and very quickly entered the Royal Ballet School system on training. From aged 6, I trained for 13 years under the direction of Royal Ballet dancers and teachers before an all too brief professional career, sadly cut short by injury.
Why did you start En Avant Ballet?
I graduated from the Royal Ballet School teacher training program and began teaching 8 years ago, eventually going on to set up En Avant Ballet with a mission to spread the joy and health benefits of classical ballet training, no matter what stage of life you’re at.
Who is En Avant Ballet targeted for?
I teach men and women of all ages, from early teens to those over 70 years old through a mixture of regular group and private ballet classes ranging from beginner to advanced, repertoire workshops, masterclasses and ballet retreats which has taken me to countries all over Europe and Asia including Ireland, France, Spain, Sri Lanka and even the Maldives.
I also teach many people who have suffered severe injury, illness or mental health issues and we use ballet training and classical music as a way of healing the body and mind. During my dancing career I was lucky enough to dance extensively with The Royal Ballet and other companies such as the Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Ballet.
What are the potential benefits of massage for dancers?
Most dancers do not get the TLC their bodies and minds require! The benefits of massage for dancers (whether they be professional or amateur) are huge and can be an integral part of our training.
When I teach my ballet classes, I place a lot of emphasis on correct alignment at all times, lengthening our movements to strengthen the muscles and we try to avoid adding tension to our already over-worked bodies through correcting bad postural habits and specific breathing techniques, which massage also helps to restore.
Dance, at whatever level you’re training at, is physically demanding and on top of that, we also have life’s everyday stresses; emotional stress, long working hours, travelling for extended periods of time (often in bad footwear!) and lack of sleep. Massage is an essential way of giving the body and mind the time it needs to recover so it can continue to work efficiently for you.
What philosophy do you follow at En Avant Ballet?
When I was a professional dancer I had to use massage virtually every day to keep those all-too-familiar repetitive strain and over-use injuries at bay. Now, as a ballet teacher, my philosophy is to give my dancers a place to come to escape their day-to-day lives and learn ballet in a safe, holistic environment with an emphasis on injury prevention and emotional wellbeing, as this is undoubtedly linked to performance. The more knowledge we have about the state of our bodies and what we can do to help ourselves means greater confidence and mastery of oneself!
You can find out more about En Avant Ballet and Karis’ classes at www.enavantballet.co.uk