State-Journal.com - Late bloomer finds her ballerina feet

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Mel Smither holds a ballet pose near the bar during class at the Frankfort School of Ballet. Mel takes tap, ballet and jazz. (State Journal/Kelly Mackey)

Mel practices tap dancing during a short lesson after ballet class. (State Journal/Kelly Mackey)

At age 40, Melva “Mel” Smither had what she describes as an epiphany.

“Suddenly I realized my life was half over, and I wasn’t happy with it.”

She’d always been a singer and actress - at least part-time - but dancing was something she’d never fully explored.

“I realized quickly what I liked was dance,” she said. “I wanted to dance, and I wanted to learn about the art of dance.”

Nine years later, Mel is one of six students in Frankfort School of Ballet’s adult class.

Mel - who lives in Shelby County but is active at Good Shepherd Church and in the Frankfort community - said she found the class after calling dance studios within a 50-mile radius.

She said she didn’t want to travel to Louisville or Lexington for lessons and FSB was the only school locally offering classes for adults.

“I think there’s a huge unmet need,” said Mel, regarding the lack of adult dance classes.

It wasn’t easy following her dancing dream. Nerves surfaced during her first lesson.

“I was scared. I move well, I’m coordinated, but I’m not a dancer.”

She said her teacher, Kathy Gale, was tiny but moved with such grace that it inspired her.

“I thought, ‘this is where I know I’m in the right place.”

She said what she likes about how owner Shannon Gale runs FSB is the way dancers nurture and encourage each other and how the school doesn’t focus on competitions.

“Competition doesn’t build you up. It tears you down.”

She said in the class - she’s been in it for nearly three years - bones creak, and there are some groans from the older women as they learn tap, ballet and jazz steps.

“My first thought was, ‘I’m too old,’” she said. “(But) you can teach your body to do something after you’re older.”

She said she had to get rid of discouraging voices inside her head. She credited the women in her class and her teacher for making the experience pleasurable.

“The women in my class are amazing, and we love one another,” she said.

The class has already performed for a live audience. The members danced at the Governor’s Derby Celebration breakfast in May.

“I think the audience loved it. We felt like as a class we had arrived,” she said.

Her class will also be performing a scene in the Nutcracker for FSB this winter.

Mel said dancing is the one form of exercise she doesn’t find boring. She said it’s improved her health, helping her get off arthritis medication.

“I know it’s the dance. Even if I’m not dancing, my posture is better. I’m thinking ‘alignment,’ and I notice that I feel relaxed in my body.”

“I’m beginning to think like a dancer.”

Mel usually dances in class two nights each week for three hours total. She tries to get in 20 minutes of dance each day.

She stretches daily, teaches performance arts two days each week and writes. One day a week is devoted to research for upcoming shows with her production group, “We 3 Girls.” The shows focus on women’s issues and history.

Mel said in her previous performances she was able to learn choreography or have someone else create the moves. She said the dance lessons have put her in total control.

“As an artist, it’s really fulfilling to know what you’re doing,” she said. “I knew I’d never be whole unless I had it all, and I knew I was lacking dance.

“I’ll never be a prima ballerina, but that’s not my goal,” she said.

She’s also hoping to apply her personal interests to performances and wants to do shows on women’s issues including spousal abuse.

Mel’s already finding ways to incorporate dance into her repertoire.

Recently, while driving, she heard the song “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles.

The song is about a woman who keeps returning to her abuser, and Mel said when she listened to the lyrics, she was able to picture the song interpreted in dance.

“When I heard this song, for the first time in my life, I saw it as a dance,” she said. “Now I feel like I finally understand what dance is.”

Mel worked as a social worker in Florida and Kentucky before returning to her love of theatrical productions and pursuing dance.

She now writes, produces and directs shows with “We 3 Girls,” featuring herself, Nancy Atcher and Helen Chadwick.

She has a studio in her home where she gives performance lessons to students from Henry, Shelby and Franklin counties.

Mel says she enjoys teaching children to love theater and how to put on their own productions from props to costumes to lighting.

Now she has time, energy and money to devote to her passions.

“I’m never going to stop dancing. I’ve found something I love that is meaningful to me,” she said. “Now that I’ve found it, I’m never going to stop.”