Welcome Back to A Ballet Education

A New Chapter, A Bigger Vision, and a Place for Everything Ballet

It feels a little surreal to write this.

For years, A Ballet Education has been my place to talk about ballet — the art form I love, the industry I have spent years learning, and the people who make this world so special.

What started as a gossip blog turned into this idea to make ballet education more accessible and from there it has grown into something much bigger than I could have imagined.

And now, I'm bringing the blog back. Not because ballet has changed completely, it really hasn’t changed that much at all, but because I have.

The ballet world has changed in some ways. The way we learn has changed. The way dancers build careers has changed. The way audiences experience performances has changed. And the possibilities for where ballet can go next are bigger than ever.

So, welcome back to A Ballet Education.

This is going to look a little different.

Where It All Started

When I created A Ballet Education in 2013, I was actually very drunk, something I am not proud of, but it is the truth. I was losing my dad to stage four cancer and he was on hospice, and I went on a bender.

While binging Gossip Girl, I started an annonymous blog, and started writing everything I knew about ballet and would cutely sign off, “xoxo - A Ballet Education.” What I didn’t realize is how fast it would catch on, and how the world was not ready to have someone as opinionated as myself enter into the arts scene. Nowadays, everyone is very opinionated, and everyone is publishing their thoughts and feelings— constantly.

I then got in trouble for sourcing images. Back then, copyright was not as linient as it now— and platforms had’t created their policies yet about reposting, sharing, stiching, etc. And that is why I ended up drawing all the dancers and companies I was talking about.

After my Dad passed, and after a very rough trip to Las Vegas, I started to think it was time to go public with who was behind the blog, apologize, and actually focus on education. I wanted to create the resource I wished existed when I was learning about ballet. I wanted to create a rsource I wished parents would read before signing their kids up for a ballet competition called YAGP. I wanted to create a resource for students to flourish, and gain momentum to help them pivot/match to a professional school. I wanted a place where dancers could learn about technique, terminology, history, training, auditions, careers, and the realities of being part of the ballet world.

But more importantly, I wanted ballet to feel accessible.

Ballet can sometimes feel like a world filled with secret rules, complicated terminology, traditions, and expectations. My goal has always been to help pull back the curtain and explain the things that aren't always taught inside the studio.

Over the years, A Ballet Education became a community, a resource, a creative platform, a magazine, a book series, a ballet school, consulting service, marketing services, a foundation and the foundation for several other projects.

And that brings us to where we are today.

More Than Just One Blog

Today, A Ballet Education is part of a much larger ecosystem of ballet education, resources, community, and creativity.I am incredibly proud to be the owner and founder behind:

A Ballet Education

The original platform — and the home of ballet education, articles, resources, inspiration, and conversations about the world of dance.

The Ballet Clinic

A place dedicated to helping dancers and dance students develop their technique, knowledge, confidence, and understanding of ballet.

The Ballet Dictionary

Because sometimes you just need to know what the heck épaulement means.

The Ballet Dictionary is designed to make ballet terminology easier to understand and give dancers a resource they can return to throughout their training.

The Ballet Directory

A growing resource designed to connect dancers, families, teachers, schools, companies, programs, and opportunities within the ballet community.

The Ballet Planner

A creative extension of the A Ballet Education universe designed to help dancers organize their training, goals, auditions, corrections, schedules, and dreams.

And now… A Ballet Company

Perhaps the most ambitious project yet.

A Ballet Company is built around a simple but very big idea:

What if we reimagined what a ballet company could be?

Rather than simply recreating the traditional model of a ballet company, I want to explore new ways of building audiences, creating revenue, supporting dancers, producing ballet, and bringing this art form into the future.

It is a massive undertaking.

And I'm excited about it.

So What Will You Find Here?

The short answer?

Ballet. Lots of it.

But I'm not interested in creating another blog that simply tells you what happened on Instagram yesterday.

I want this space to be a place for deeper conversations.

We'll talk about ballet technique and the details that make movement work.

We'll talk about ballet history, because understanding where we've been can help us understand where we're going.

We'll talk about training, including the habits, mindset, organization, and discipline that dancers need throughout their careers.

We'll talk about ballet companies and the industry — how they operate, how dancers build careers, auditions, contracts, artistic leadership, and the business behind the curtain.

We'll talk about dance education and what I believe can be done differently.

We'll talk about teachers, studio owners, parents, and the people who make dance education possible.

We'll talk about performances and productions.

We'll talk about the business of ballet.

We'll talk about technology and the future of dance.

And yes, we'll still talk about the things that make ballet magical.

Because despite all of the conversations surrounding the industry, at the heart of everything is still one thing:

We love ballet.

Ballet Is Changing

One of the reasons I wanted to bring this blog back is because I believe we are entering an incredibly interesting period for ballet.

The traditional ballet ecosystem isn't disappearing.

But it is evolving.

Dancers are building careers in new ways.

Teachers are creating businesses and educational platforms online.

Studios are finding new audiences.

Companies are experimenting with digital content.

Audiences are discovering ballet through social media.

Independent artists are creating their own opportunities.

And technology is opening doors that simply didn't exist when I first started A Ballet Education.

I don't think the future of ballet is about choosing between tradition and innovation.

I think it is about figuring out how the two can exist together.

There are things about ballet that should be protected.

There are things about ballet that should be questioned.

And there are things about ballet that haven't even been invented yet.

That's where things get interesting.

Why I'm Coming Back

I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I want A Ballet Education to be moving forward.

The answer keeps coming back to the same idea:

A place to learn. A place to think. A place to dream. Make it glamorous. Make it beautiful. Make it attractive.

I want this blog to be useful to the young dancer sitting in their bedroom researching ballet terminology.

I want it to be useful to the teacher looking for a new way to explain a concept.

I want it to be useful to the parent trying to understand what their dancer is experiencing.

I want it to be useful to the professional dancer navigating a career.

And I want it to be interesting to anyone who simply loves ballet.

We're Just Getting Started

There is a lot happening behind the scenes.

A Ballet Education is evolving.

The Ballet Clinic is growing.

The Ballet Dictionary and Ballet Directory are expanding.

The Ballet Planner continues to develop new ways to help dancers organize their lives and training.

And A Ballet Company is taking shape.

Each of these projects is different, but they all come from the same place:

I believe ballet matters.

I believe it deserves to be understood.

I believe dancers deserve better resources.

I believe teachers deserve support.

I believe audiences deserve to see incredible ballet.

And I believe there is an enormous opportunity to build a future for ballet that is both deeply connected to its history and completely unafraid to try something new.

Welcome Back

So if you've been here since the beginning — thank you.

If you've read one article, downloaded one resource, purchased a planner, taken a class, looked up a ballet term, discovered a school through the directory, or simply followed along on social media — thank you.

And if you've never heard of A Ballet Education before?

Welcome.

You're right on time.

This next chapter is going to be a little different.

There will be ballet.

There will be education.

There will be behind-the-scenes conversations.

There will be business, creativity, history, technique, and probably a healthy amount of opinions about things that happen in the ballet world.

But most importantly, there will be a continued belief that ballet can be better understood, better taught, better experienced, and — perhaps most importantly — better imagined.

I'm excited to start writing again.

I'm excited to share what I've learned.

And I'm even more excited to see where this next chapter takes us.

Welcome back to A Ballet Education.

Let's get started.

— David King

Founder, A Ballet Education

The Ballet Clinic • The Ballet Planner • The Ballet Directory • The Ballet Dictionary • A Ballet Company