We were lucky to catch up with Veronica Viccora recently and have shared our conversation below.
Veronica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
Hi! I’m Veronica Viccora. I document my journey of learning to dance as an adult to inspire others that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. I’ve created a small clothing line for my fellow “ballet misfits” and I’m also the founder of New York’s Adult Ballet Academy, a dance workshop series for adult beginners to learn ballet in a shame-free environment. It’s deeply meaningful to me on a personal level because as someone who was told I’d never be a ballerina, I never thought I’d be able to become a dancer at all. And on a broader scale, it’s deeply meaningful to be able to help so many others who felt lost and unwelcome in this space, follow their own dreams and build a community.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’ve wanted to be a dancer since I was a kid but the expensive and time consuming trainings were never accessible to me. Growing up in a small town on Long Island, there weren’t many dance studio options at all, and certainly none for adults when I got older. But when I was 17 and working 5 jobs, I tried to sign up at kid’s studio with my own money. However, the studio owner told me I was already too late. She said there was no point because I’d never have the right body and would never be a ballerina anyway.
At 27 I moved to NYC where I finally discovered classes for adults and was shocked to see people of all ages, body types and talent levels learning to dance, something I never thought was possible. I decided to finally pursue my dreams of learning ballet and share the journey publicly to help others see that it’s NEVER too late, no matter what anyone says. Since then, I’ve been passionate about creating spaces that feel shame-free for people like me who have the passion to dance but feel intimidated by the often unwelcoming culture.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My mission is to demystify ballet and rewrite the narrative behind learning new things as an adult. We should never feel too old or too silly to keep learning for the rest of our lives. It’s my sincerest hope that the work I do will inspire others to keep following their dreams no matter their age- dance or otherwise.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
There have been so many hard lessons I’ve learned along this journey, but perhaps the greatest of all being that my voice matters. For most of my life, I essentially took everyone else’s opinions as gospel. I didn’t think to question a teacher, a professional, telling me that I had no business learning to dance at the *decrepit* age of 17. I’ve always sort of assumed that everyone else knew better than I did about most everything. The beauty of coming to dance at a later stage in life however, is that you’re a little wiser, a little more self aware and can take other people’s “advice” with a grain of salt.
I understand now that just because people ACT like they know everything, doesn’t necessarily mean they do and that our unique lived experiences are sometimes the best teachers. Restoring my connection to myself has been the greatest gift pursuing dance has given me. And I will never again let the words of naysayers keep me from doing what I was born to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.veronicaviccora.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veronicaviccora/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY7Cn_9GEL1dXtAQiiISUZA
Image Credits
Keith Cornelius
Sydney K. Bradley