Bianca Juganaru, dance instructor and owner of Bianca Lily Ballet & Studio B, said she teaches Intro to Ballet for Absolute Beginner Adults at Maple Street Dance Studio. It is more than just an extracurricular dance class: The program started in 2013 and provides an opportunity for people who have had traumatic health conditions and injuries to build a healthier lifestyle, she said.
Along with her talent for ballet, Juganaru said she has a talent for knowing people’s limits and potential and recognizing their pain, and that is what makes the program so unique.
“There is so much happiness to be found in the place where your talents overlap someone else’s need,” she said. “There is nothing more rewarding than when you can help give back something a person fears they may have lost forever.”
The program focuses on the basics of posture, stance, alignment and how to engage core muscle groups, she said. People are able to recalibrate how they feel about their bodies, she said.
“In all ... cases, it is about having long-term goals and understanding that these folks might not be able to be in a perfect position today, but I can work them towards getting their bodies in that placement over months, maybe even just a millimeter or centimeter at a time,” Juganaru said.
Kate Wood is one example of how the program benefits overall health. Wood said she was a student in Juganaru’s ballet class for roughly three years because she had a heart condition that kept her from activities like running, biking and hiking.
Wood, who now lives in Northwestern Illinois, said she no longer practices ballet, but she is now able to perform different types of exercise, such as cycling, because of her participation in the program.
“Ballet gave me a way to start working with my body again in a way that I wasn’t able to before I started studying ballet,” Wood said.
Juganaru said Wood was bedridden before she began taking the classes, and when she came she had concerns about her performance. Juganaru said she assured Wood that if she needed to take a break, it would be fine.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“The combination of that assurance and support coupled with her diligent work ethic when she had the energy to pursue it was a recipe for success in her case and for many others,” Juganaru said.
Jennifer Demar, a ballet student who is recovering from a second brain surgery, said that before her injuries she was a runner, and afterward she wasn’t able to do so. She said she began to see results after joining the ballet program.
“I needed to do something active that wouldn’t hurt me, and ballet seemed like the perfect thing to try,” Demar said. She said she enjoys Juganaru’s teaching technique because it’s specific to helping adults who aren’t physically fit and haven’t practiced good posture.
“She has an excellent understanding of ballet, dance and kinetics,” she said. “You can tell she likes what she does because she has fun.”
Khadijah Jacobs is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
