a note from the interviewer, Prisha:
there surprisingly aren’t that many dance holidays that are mainstream outside of the dance community, so i was VERY excited to feature Noelle for World Ballet Day! i’ve done hip hop pretty much my whole life and only did ballet for maybe a year, but after hearing Noelle’s perspective, i genuinely wish i had stuck with it as a five-year-old . . .
whether you’re deep in ballet training, want to get into ballet, or honestly just find ballet kind of boring, i think there’s something for you in this episode.
i’m excited to hear what you guys think, so leave your thoughts on the episode or ballet in general in the comments. :)
Ballet Is One of Dance’s Most Misunderstood Styles
Noelle sees ballet as “probably the most misunderstood style of dance.” The common picture is simple: dancing on your toes, jumping around, or “just, like, flailing your body around.” But ballet asks for much more attention than that.
Technique is at the center of Noelle’s argument. Dancers do not have to make ballet their favorite style to learn from it, but they do need to recognize what it can teach them. Noelle wishes more dancers would take time to think about their technique because it can help them grow “not only in ballet but in other styles as well.”
That is the part of ballet that can be easy to miss when you only see the finished performance. The movement may look effortless, but the training behind it is deliberate. Ballet teaches dancers to pay attention to how they move—not just whether they can complete a step.
How Ballet Technique Shows Up in Hip Hop and Jazz
Ballet can seem far away from hip hop, especially when you compare the music, textures, and performance styles. Noelle, however, sees a direct connection. Ballet is “the foundation for all styles of dance,” and even hip hop can involve ballet in an unexpected way.
“You have to know the things in ballet in order to break them.”
That idea is one of the conversation’s most interesting observations. Understanding structure can make it possible to challenge, reshape, or break that structure with intention. Noelle admits the connection feels surprising—“so weird that it's so correlated to ballet”—but says it becomes clear when you look across different styles.
Jazz routines can contain movements that remind Noelle of ballet class. The styles are not identical, but they are not isolated from one another either. As Noelle puts it, “it's all very correlated, and it's all together.”
Ballet Changes the Way You Watch Dance
Learning ballet does not only change the way a dancer trains. It can change the way they watch other people dance.
Noelle says that when watching tap or hip hop, they may suddenly recognize signs that a performer has studied ballet before. It is not necessarily about seeing a full ballet step. Instead, the training can show up in the way someone moves.
“They've done ballet before,” Noelle says, “'cause you can tell through their movement.”
That kind of recognition adds another layer to watching a performance. A viewer begins to notice the choices underneath the choreography—the placement, control, or quality of movement that may connect back to ballet training.
How Dancers From Other Styles Can Get Started With Ballet
For dancers who are new to ballet, Noelle recommends beginning with a simple question: What do you want ballet to do for you?
Some dancers may want to dive deeper into ballet as its own style. Others may want to use ballet to improve the style they already train in. Both are valid starting points. The important thing is understanding the reason you are stepping into the studio.
Noelle also encourages beginners to recognize that ballet takes patience. That patience is not a side effect of training; it is part of what the training builds. Over time, dancers can develop discipline that helps them across all of their dance styles.
You do not have to arrive already knowing exactly what you want your ballet journey to become. You can start by being curious, paying attention to technique, and letting the training show you where it can help.
The Lessons That Stay With You Beyond Dance
When asked what ballet has taught them outside of dance, Noelle comes back to patience and discipline. Those are the main lessons they have taken from training, and they are lessons that can matter in everything else a person does.
But ballet has also changed how Noelle understands other people. Dancers come from different backgrounds, and ballet can bring them into the same space. Because people practice the art form in many parts of the world, movement can become a way to communicate across differences.
“We all speak to each other through our movements.”
That is a bigger idea than technique. Ballet is not only about executing steps correctly; it can also create a shared language. Two people may not come from the same place, but they can still understand something through the way they move together.
The Future of Ballet: Keep the Art Form Alive
When imagining ballet’s future, Noelle hopes it remains as important as it is now. She wants people to keep watching performances, and she wants dancers to continue doing ballet so they can share the art form with others.
There is a sense of passing something forward in that hope. A dancer’s love of ballet can give another person the chance to discover that same love. The art form stays alive not only because performances continue, but because dancers keep choosing to learn it, perform it, and invite other people into it.
What should change?
Noelle hopes people stop failing to take ballet seriously. In their view, treating ballet casually can also mean missing the patience it asks for and the patience it can teach. She hopes people become better at giving the process the seriousness and time it deserves.
What should never change?
Noelle hopes the dancers who are already doing ballet continue. They do not want people to stop “for no reason.” Instead, she hopes dancers keep growing, keep performing, and keep allowing their relationship with ballet to develop.
Where to Find Ballet Inspiration
Noelle points to two accessible ways to see more ballet: social media and theaters.
Online, dancers can find videos that help them improve and videos they simply want to watch. Social media can make ballet easier to encounter, whether someone is actively training or just beginning to look for inspiration.
Live performances offer something different. Going to a theater can help people experience ballet as a complete art form rather than as a collection of exercises. A performance can show the movement, costumes, and storytelling working together—and it may inspire someone to want to do that one day.
Why The Nutcracker Can Change the Way You See Dance
The conversation also includes a story from someone who does not even train in ballet. At around age eight, Prisha saw a local theater perform The Nutcracker. The experience made a lasting impression.
“It completely changed my life, I swear.”
What stood out was not one isolated ballet technique. It was the whole world of the performance: “the storytelling, the costumes, the movement.” The experience made Prisha think, “Oh my gosh, like, this is dance.”
That is why Prisha believes everyone—dancers and non-dancers alike—should see The Nutcracker at least once, along with other major ballet performances. Seeing those shows can deepen appreciation and reveal how much storytelling movement can carry.
“Wow, that really, that is what dancing is.”
But for Noelle, ballet’s power is not only in how difficult it is. It is in how clearly it can communicate feeling, character, and a love of the art form.