Hello, Dear Students!

I am Natasha Connell, I studied ballet under Lidija and Gustavo Franklin at Escuela Ballet-Arte in Caracas, Venezuela, as well as with Julio Lamas And Graciela Diaz. More recently, I trained as an adult with Linda Kinlaw, Randall Marks, and Heidi Winton-Stahle, among others. I have been teaching ballet to adults for about 5 years. I came back to ballet about in 2013. I was going through some tough times and felt depression creeping in. At the time, I was an active duty service member in the US Army. I began a journey of personal growth, and one piece of advice kept constant across many teachings; find something that brings you joy, and practice it for that reason. I remembered how doing ballet when I was younger made me happy. Suddenly I yearned to feel that way again. I was terrified of going to a class, but I made myself go anyway. All my fears soon fell away, as I discovered a friendly and encouraging community. To my surprise, my body remembered, and I advanced pretty fast. Soon after, I met my now-husband, Chris Connell, my unicorn soul mate. I left the Army in 2014 and began graduate school. I also opened a fitness studio where I first did personal training, and later added beginner adult ballet. Due to my husband being still in the Army, we had to relocate, but I continued to teach ballet at our new city, Columbus Georgia, and I especially love teaching adults because they can reap life-changing benefits from the practice just as much as the kids, but they are a population that is under-served by most studios. I hope to share all things adult-ballet related with the community via this course, and the rest of my social media platforms. I hope my content can serve you in your own journey. As of August 2019, I am proud to be part of the faculty at Columbus State University, where I share my love for dance and fitness with the new generations of scholar-practitioners. Feel free to ask any questions!

If you feel like being social, introduce yourself in the comments area. It is also ok if you don't. The option is always there.

You can also find more of what I do on my YouTube Channel, Loft Ballerina Here is the link!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWrv5haVahq2bY_iZhmdbA

My Instagram handle is @transcendnormal Please follow my account for constant adult ballet inspiration! Ill make sure to follow you back!

Please check out the video!

PLEASE TURN UP THE VOLUME ON YOUR DEVICE!