I’m happy to announce that I have a new essay up at Longreads:

Swan, Late: The unexpected joys of adult beginner ballet

It’s about the culture of perfection in ballet, how I fell in love with the art form despite myself, and the surprising benefits of doing something in which it is impossible to become excellent. I also interviewed a number of dance teachers, read a lot of ballet memoirs, and took quite a few dance classes, so it was probably the most fun to research of all of my essays.