No Tutu Required to Join These Bad Ballerinas

If you're a woman looking for camaraderie and support as you try new things in life, the Bad Ballerinas invite you to join them.

Created by Manhattan Beach resident and Consumer Reports social media reporter Kathy Sena, the Bad Ballerina concept includes a blog, in-person social activities, a Facebook page, a LinkedIn group, an enewsletter and Twitter feeds. Membership is free.

Bad Ballerinas can guest post on the blog, read posts by fellow ballerinas, interact on the Facebook page, and attend social events that are "a combination of meeting old friends, making new friends, networking, and getting support and suggestions for the new things that you're doing," said Sena, freelance journalist, wife and mother of a 15-year-old Mira Costa High School student.

To date, the youngest woman at a local "Bad Ballerina Bash" has been in her late 20s; the oldest, an 82-year-old yoga practitioner who is a former college-level dance instructor, pilot and investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. The majority of members are in their 30s to 60s.

"It's a great place for younger women to come to network with sightly older women who have a lot to offer in terms of career and life experience and it's also a great place for anybody who's just moving into a completely new stage of their life," she said.

Bad Ballerinas include a woman who married for the first time at 52, a mom having her first baby at 40, a young woman who decided to move — alone — from New York City to China, and women who are facing an empty nest as their kids head off to college.

"There's no pressure at the social events," said Sena. "It's a chance to be supportive of other people, to say 'Here's what I've been doing,' to ask questions and get feedback and to enjoy a group of women who are a hoot and a half."

"You can talk to other women about something you’d like to try — whether it’s taking a photography class, learning to sail or starting a new business — and they'll say, 'Oh, you need to talk to my friend Susie,' or 'Oh, I've got the perfect website for you,' or 'Oh, my sister-in-law does that,'" said Sena.

The next local live event will be a Brainstorming Breakfast at Catalina Coffee Company in Redondo Beach on July 25. On July 30, an East Coast Bad Ballerina will host a breakfast in Washington, DC.

"Social media is a great way for people to meet and share and expand their horizons," said Sena, who hopes the concept goes international. So far, a U.S. military spouse living in Okinawa, Japan, a graduate student in Australia and a portrait artist in France are among a number of bad ballerinas who are helping to spread the word about this fast-growing group. 

Ken Turetzky of Acoustic Press handled the blog's design. BadBallet.com launched on April 12 and already has 427 Twitter followers, 242 Facebook fans and an e-newsletter mailing list of 700+.

The last gathering was held on Shade Hotel's Zinc Terrace on a beautiful June evening. The April launch party was held at Lido di Manhattan Ristorante & Bar, also in Manhattan Beach.

On June 28, Sena and local bad ballerinas leaped onto a new stage by taking a comedy improv class with Julie Martin, founder of the Jump Start Comedy Improv Troupe, through South Bay Adult School. 

"Just the encouragement you get, from other women, to try something new — even if it comes with a few butterflies in the stomach — is part of what Bad Ballet is all about," said Sena. “We’re having a blast!”