Humble Beginnings: 2ballerinas began in 2007 over a cup of tea.
In the beginning..
Michelle and Rosetta were catching up, taking time out to reminisce and talk about the future. Michelle had returned from living in London and Rosetta had returned a few years before from Sydney.
Finding themselves in Brisbane again, they lamented how they had not done class for a long time and were missing feeling fit and physically focussed. There really were not any suitable classes available in Brisbane and something needed to be done about it.
They thought, “Why don’t we get our friends together, hire a hall, and make our own classes? It’ll be fun!”. After thinking about all those people they knew, whether they were active dance professionals or had danced when younger, they knew that it was worth exploring the idea of creating a business out of it – Dance and ballet classes for adults.
Within hours Rosetta and Michelle, working with Adrian Green, had come up a business name, a website and were ready to go. 2ballerinas was born.
They placed an article in the local newspaper and up to 100 people turned up on the first day.
Building it up
2ballerinas grew rapidly as interest from the Brisbane community increased. Rosetta and Michelle saw that there was an important need for the business.
2ballerinas was bringing together a dance community – from working professionals to the general public. They recognised they needed to provide classes at all levels from introduction to elite.
Over the years they have included many different class types in response to their students. Their Introduction to Ballet course is a permanent favourite, with many students continuing on to become very capable dancers. At the other end of the spectrum 2ballerinas started advanced Masterclasses led by ex-principal dancers.
Most new businesses falter and fail within the first few years. 2ballerinas has grown as a community supported business with no funding from tax paying dollars, no business grants and no loans.
It has grown because of the dedication of its students and the enormous support it has received from them, and will continue to evolve with that support.
I just wanted to thank you so much for bringing ballet into my life. It brings me so much joy and I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn ballet as an adult. Thank you to all at 2ballerinas.
A new business
Rosetta and Michelle knew that that working with each other would make running a new business both fun and successful. They had years of dance and theatre experience behind them and a drive to make a future in dance that both served their personal needs and the desire to return the enormous amount of knowledge and experience they had built up to the community.
Rosetta had, in Sydney, held classes at Sydney Dance Company studios for years, threading them into her busy schedule. Michelle had held classes in London, an idea born after catching up with the founder of the London City Ballet. 2ballerinas has been made possible by sharing the workload and past experiences in running classes. Sharing the knowledge in building and running a new business has turned out to be enjoyable and rewarding.
A Knowledge base
Since 2007 2ballerinas has cemented a previously unfulfilled business niche and has brought together a vast body of knowledge in dance. 2ballerinas now employs over 20 teachers – all of them ex-principals and senior soloists who have worked extensively in major companies both in Australia and overseas. Together they form a solid corpus of dance knowledge that is extensive and rich.
Building dance knowledge and folding it back into the community has always been part of the ideal that 2ballerinas began with. 2ballerinas looks forward to a strong future working with the community and dance professionals.
Your say
2ballerinas welcomes your testimonials, opinions, suggestions and ideas.
If you have any stories, testimonials, anecdotes or simply wish to say hello, you can contact 2ballerinas here.