Kemang Dance Center in South Jakarta came to life as night fell. At a barre class, 10 aspiring ballerinas in leotards were perfecting their intricate plie and arabesque positions.

What was striking about the women was that none of them were youngsters as you might imagine ballet students would be. They were all adults. Some of them had dropped by from the office to learn an art that’s generally associated with the upper class.

Most of them took up the ballet class as a leisure activity or part of their regular exercise to sustain their physical flexibility and gracefulness they are losing with age rather than for competition, let alone profession.

Spirit is high. The adult class is scheduled for an hour but it often extends by another half hour because the instructor is gladly willing to help the students if they are in the mood to practice longer.

The students swear by the physical and emotional benefits they enjoy from ballet, and the classes have been attracting more adults who see the dance as an alternative when Zumba sounds too loud and yoga looks rather dull.

Kemang Dance Center has seen an increasing appetite for ballet among adults. Back in 2015, it had only two or three students for each class but now there are 12 of them. They come from a variety of professions, from radio announcer, teacher to office worker.

“We’ve got four new students so far this year [2019],” said Maria Magdalena, who teaches the adult class at Kemang Dance Center. “Maybe it’s because of the New Year and people want to start doing different things.”

But it seems it’s not just the New Year spirit, as the trend has been growing in Jakarta in recent years. More ballet schools have opened adult classes, while the forerunners have added more classes.

For over 10 years, Namarina Dance Academy offered adult ballet classes twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

“About three years ago, we started a Sunday morning class,” said Dinar Karina, a ballet instructor at Namarina Dance Academy. “That’s because many people have tight schedules on weekdays and only have time for ballet on weekends.”

Monthly tuition starts from Rp 400,000 for one class a week. Some dance schools, like Kemang Dance Center, offer an easier option — students pay only when they are present.

Some schools also have classes for men. Ballet Sumber Cipta, for instance, holds a men-only class every Monday night.

As schools increasingly reach the masses, they are doing everything to shed the common perception that ballet is a dance exclusively for tall and lean young girls.

The picture of the ideal ballerina body can be daunting for the average person wanting to take up ballet.

Andwini Putriningtyas, a 29-year-old student of Kemang Dance Center, doesn’t buy such stereotyping. She knows the art has accepted more diverse body types.

“I think the recent trend shows that ballet is becoming more inclusive,” Andwini said “It’s okay to perform ballet even if you aren’t a really slim figure.”

Maria also insisted that body types were not the only factor that defined ballet skills.

Fly away: Terin Tanadi (front), a ballet instructor at the Kemang Dance Center, leads the adult dance class. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)

“If you have good motor skills, perhaps you’ve danced or done sports a lot when you were younger, you can easily acquire ballet skills.”

Many adult students studied basic ballet during their school years but they had to stop due to their intense academic activities. Now, they go back to ballet and rekindle their old love.

For some other students, however, adulthood is their first experience with the dance.

Nevi Suyitno, 51, would always ignore her mother’s advice to take ballet as a child. “I only took up traditional dances when I was younger,” she said. As she grew up, she found herself enamored with the elegance of ballet, but was too hesitant to join a class.

One day, on her way home from work, she listened to a radio talk show in which a woman shared a story about why she took up ballet as an adult.

“The woman was older than me when she started ballet,” Nevi said “Her children said they were proud of their mother learning ballet. And that was when I decided to take up ballet too.”

Nevi, who works with the Indonesian Petroleum Association, was 48 when she enrolled in Kemang Dance Center. She enjoys her new community there, befriending people from various backgrounds.

Luki Ariani, a student of Namarina Dance Academy, took ballet class when she was 50 after she managed to overcome a lack of confidence.

“I came here not to compete with other people, but to compete with myself, to become a better self,” she says.

Luki, now 59, sent all of her three daughters to ballet school during their school years.

“I know ballet teaches so many positive lessons. In ballet, you cannot cheat for good grades. An achievement comes only from yourself. I want to teach my children that you’re never too old to learn something new.”

Adult students are self-motivated and they show great dedication to the art. Luki, for instance, takes ballet classes from four different schools each week across the city.

“For me, ballet is like sport,” she said “Just like doing fitness, I need to take as many ballet classes as possible to keep my body and mind fit.”

Andwini acknowledged she didn’t read much and instead did ballet to stave off mental issues such as Alzheimer’s disease as she aged. She is captivated with ballet’s grace and the music.

She used to dance hip-hop as a student and later taught it in international preschool Bambino in South Jakarta. But she no longer feels comfortable to dance hip-hop.

“As I grow old, I think I need to move on to a more graceful and mature dance.”