By Luo Wanxin.
After getting a slipped disc in her 30s, Esene Png’s doctor told her that she’d never dance again. But dance she did – slipping back into her shoes and going en pointe, or on her toes, with her senior “aunty ballet” friends around Singapore.
Though she’s now just two years from getting her silver PAssion card, the freelance adult ballet teacher still spends more than 30 hours a week shuffling around the country’s dance studios both teaching – and practicing – the art she loves.
It’s a retirement dream come true for Esene, but it didn’t come easy.
She first had to raise three children while battling health problems apart from a slipped disc, including endometriosis – a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, known to cause severe pain in the pelvis – and polycystic ovary syndrome, a common hormonal disorder which leads to a host of complications for women of reproductive age.
Any one of these issues would be daunting enough on their own. But for the now-58-year-old, she had to deal with them all at once.
To make matters worse, the back surgery she needed for her slipped disc left her with numbness in one of her legs – forcing her to give up an art form she’d been practicing since she was just 12 years old.
Advertisement
Dipping her toes into ballet
Now, most children pick it up at the age of seven, meaning that Esene was late to the game. However, she was so inspired after catching a ballet performance at her school that she didn’t mind the age gap.
Heedless of the fact that she was towering above her peers, the young woman persevered, working her way up the grades until she moved to New Zealand for her tertiary education.
Esene came back armed with an accountancy degree and a renewed drive for ballet – a drive strong enough to outlast the numerous health issues that lay in wait ahead.
She forded what she would later describe as “the worst time in her life”, before starting from scratch with a rigorous physical rehabilitation and conditioning regime. Before too long, and despite her doctor’s proclamation, she was back to ballet.
A dream come true
Despite it being one of her retirement dreams, Esene only really came into teaching ballet by chance.
One day, as she was nearing the age of 50, her ballet teacher friend went on long-term sick leave and asked her to fill in. The young senior gave it a try – and ended up loving it enough to go for a full teaching certification.
Esene now splits her time between teaching classes for adults and enjoying her time with her own “aunty ballet” friends from Singapore Ballet, a professional dance company.
She’s grateful for the company this community provides – not just in the appreciation of ballet, but also for its shared wisdom in handling the tweaks and aches that come with age, whether that be stretches, conditioning exercises or simply a place to get a good sports massage.
In her view, ageing gracefully with ballet is almost entirely good. The dance form improves posture, maintains flexibility, trains coordination and works the mind. More importantly for Esene, it keeps her socially and mentally connected to a wider community of dancers.
She has no concerns about arthritis in her toes from going en pointe – in any case, her body is well-conditioned to handle the stress, especially with the help of cushioned ballet shoes.
The silver keeps a catalogue of her “aunty ballet” dances on her Instagram account @balletsene, despite joking that she comes from “the dinosaur age” pre-dating digital cameras and smartphones.
Why? She figures she’ll eventually want to look back on her 50s and revisit the memories she’s made with her aunty ballet pals.
Senior Ballerina proving age is just a number
If you thought that was everything Esene does daily, you’d be wrong. The senior is also a deft hand at another sport: table tennis, which she plays at a community centre under an experienced coach once a week.
She even finds some time for gardening, baking sourdough and the usual “compulsory” housework.
The Singapore Physical Activity Guidelines by the Health Promotion Board and Sport Singapore recommend adults over 65 of age to engage in moderate-intensity activity exercises like brisk-walking, jogging and swimming for at least 150 to 300 minutes every week.
Esene, of course, clocks far more than that. While pains in her joints and muscles are inevitable and catching up with her, she hopes to continue doing this routine of hers for a long time.
