My name is Heather Jean Wilson. I am a former professional ballerina, dance educator, choreographer, Professor of Ballet, curriculum creator, and lifelong storyteller. I have spent more than 35 years teaching dancers of all ages and abilities, and through all of those years, one thing has never changed…
I love ballet. And I want other people to love it, too.
Ballet is at an interesting crossroads. In many commercial dance studios, it has become the genre students are least excited to take, the class they feel they have to take rather than the class they want to take.
I want to change that.
When I walk into a studio, a convention, a university classroom, or a workshop, my goal is for students to leave loving ballet more than they did when they arrived. I want them to discover that ballet is exciting, challenging, expressive, intelligent, and deeply rewarding. I want to reignite that spark of curiosity and give dancers a reason to want to understand it, not simply execute it.
At the same time, I believe ballet belongs to everyone.
Ballet's history is evolving, and so is its future. It is no longer a dance form reserved for a particular age, body type, background, or skin color. There is room for every dancer in the ballet classroom, and I believe every student should feel; You belong here. You can be a ballet dancer.
I also believe that to truly love ballet, you have to understand it.
I love ballet history. I love terminology. I love the stories behind the steps and the people who created them. Terminology is not simply a collection of beautiful French words to memorize. It is a language that tells dancers how to move. Understanding that language gives dancers a deeper understanding of what they are being asked to do and why.
And then there is etiquette.
Not the rigid, outdated conformity that ballet has sometimes demanded, but the parts of ballet etiquette that can still serve us beautifully today: respect, attentiveness, punctuality, responsibility, awareness of others, care for our space, and pride in our work. Those lessons extend far beyond the dance studio. The way we conduct ourselves in a classroom helps shape the people we become.
So yes, I want to teach beautiful ballet. But I also want to teach dancers how to learn, how to listen, how to think, how to respect, and how to take ownership of their own artistry.
That philosophy has led me to create educational tools and experiences for dancers and teachers.
Through Baa Baa Ballet, my preschool curriculum, I combine classical ballet foundations with music, imagination, storytelling, rhythm, jazz, acro, and themed creative movement to give young children an early love of dance. And give educators a clear, purposeful curriculum they can confidently bring into their classrooms.
Through Grunt If You Understand, I explore a fourth method of ballet instruction that is often overlooked, Visualization. We teach through words. We teach through demonstration. We teach through hands-on corrections. But we can also teach dancers to see the correction in their own minds. When dancers can visualize what a movement should look and feel like, instruction becomes understanding, and understanding becomes ownership.
I bring these ideas into studios and schools through guest classes, workshops, faculty training, and curriculum resources in ballet, terminology, etiquette, character, visualization, and pedagogy.
I am a storyteller by nature. I love to write, and my blog is where I share the things I have learned, the things I am still figuring out, the moments that make me laugh, the challenges that make me think, and the experiences that remind me why I chose this life in the first place.
My hope is that when a teacher reads something I've written, they have an “Aha!” Or a “Yes! Me too.” Or maybe even a “I needed to hear that today.”
That is what this site is about.
A love of ballet.
A respect for its history.
A vision for its future.
Education that inspires understanding.
And stories that remind us why we dance.
Whether you are a dancer, teacher, studio owner, school, university, or organization, I hope you find something here that makes you think, makes you smile, makes you want to dance, or simply makes you love ballet a little more than you did before.
Resume/CV
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Performing Artist |
Teaching Artist |
