Ballerinas of Los Angeles Let’s Talk!
March 1st 2020
Andi Adams MA LMFT
Session 1: 10-11:30am (Ages 14-17)
Session 2: 12:30-2pm (Ages 18 and up)
3201 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 209 Santa Monica, Ca 90403
As ballet dancers, in particular, we can all agree that its beauty can come at a great price. There are stressors that are unique to dancers. Ballerinas of Los Angeles wants to support each dancer in every way we can, and one way is through mental health. We are offering the opportunity to talk together. For this event on March 1’st, we are hosting two free small group sessions with dancers up to 8 people per session. The first will be from 10-11:30 and the second will be from 12:30-2pm.
BLA’s “Let’s Talk!” Event will be facilitated by retired professional dancer and current licensed marriage and family therapist, Andi Adams.
Andi began her training in dance here in LA and at age 16 was awarded a full scholarship as a trainee with the Joffrey Ballet in New York City. While there she was consistently told to lose weight in order to be considered for the company. This was extremely disheartening, and she decided it wasn’t the path for her. Following her departure, she went on to dance in Nice, France for a year, and upon returning to Los Angeles, continued her career in musical theatre, commercial dance, and acting. Andi performed in a variety of shows such as A Chorus Line, Evita, the film version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the Golden Globes and the Dolly Parton Show. Post her performing career she became a therapist in her 40’s and has been on that career track ever since. At age 60 she decided to go back to her roots and return to ballet which was always her first love! Andi’s desire is to help young dancers be emotionally equipped to handle the rigors of what can often be a tough industry.
The founder of Ballerinas of Los Angeles Michelle Lebowski believes that mental health is one of the most crucial aspects to a healthy dancer. She claims that if she had therapy for dancers while studying and dancing across the country, she might have had better success in landing roles, auditions, motivation, mental strength, and creating friendships. Mental health is very important to her and she would love this new event of Ballerinas of Los Angeles to be an ongoing monthly event to help dancers within our community.