It’s never too late to learn some new tricks.

Winterguide 2020

By Sofia Voltin

Remember the days of piano lessons, gymnastics, ballet, and karate classes? Childhood wasn’t your only opportunity to learn and try new things. Try something different. Learn a new skill to further your career. Or check off a life-long dream from your bucket list. There are unique and exciting classes for adults offered almost everywhere—if only you look.

Mind & Body

“I break down barriers with yoga classes that are different or silly,” says instructor Ashley Flowers. “Standup Paddleboard Yoga is one of the most relaxing and rejuvenating ways to do yoga. I bring a bit of summer into the winter with SUP Yoga in the pool. People get comfortable on a board without worrying about wind and waves. It helps build the confidence and skills to later get out and explore the practice on the ocean and lakes.”
Riverton Community Pool, 1600 Forest Avenue, Portland. ashleyflowersyoga.com. Five-week session $100 for Portland residents. Drop-in if space allows for $26.

Let’s run away. Fast. The Sellam Circus School will get you ready. Co-founder Amity Stoddard says. “People of mixed abilities join our classes. Our oldest student is 71, and she takes the Aerial Trapeze class. We base most of the classes on building skills to improve coordination, strength, and flexibility.”
Whether you’re looking for something more fun than a gym, or considering a circus career, “there’s room here to take it as far as you want. One of our students just joined Cirque du Soleil’s R.U.N. in
Las Vegas.”
40 Main Street, Biddeford. 502-2589, thesellamcircus.com. Monthly Memberships start at $95 per month. $195 for 8-week sessions. Drop-in options available.

Boxing, wrestling, Aikido, judo, and karate come together at Krav Maga Maine. The Israeli military self-defense and fighting system is known for its focus on real-world situations. Like all martial arts, Krav Maga teaches students to avoid physical confrontation. But, if you’re trapped, it will teach you to finish a fight as quickly—and aggressively —as possible.
34 Rainmaker Drive, Portland. 664-4639, kravmagamaine.com. $100 per month for access to all classes. $20 drop-in on Sundays and $10 for Tuesdays and Thursdays.

New Year’s resolution: Quit stumbling through life! Danza Latina teaches Bachata, Salsa, Merengue, Cha Cha Cha, and Kizomba. “We have a separate instructor in every class for beginners,” says instructor Anna Golenduthina. “People come to learn the dance, but they also come to make new friends. It’s a time to forget the stress of work, traffic, or chores, and to have fun. There’s a great salsa community in Portland, and we do a monthly social dance.”
108 High Street, Portland. 400-2217, danzalatina2015.com. $10 for first class, or $60 punch card for six classes. $12 drop-in rate.

Create

One glass-blowing class with David Jacobson and you walk away a one-of-a-kind creation. “It’s intimidating, but it’s so much fun,” Jacobson says. “Guests take the molten glass on the pipe and roll it in the colors of their choice. It’s like rolling sprinkles on an ice-cream cone. They blow into the pipe, swing it, and shape it. You can’t stop mid-project. You have to be in the moment.” No better way to take your mind off social media than handling molten glass.
210 Choate Road, Montville. 387-0659, davidjacobsonglass.com. Day and night appointments available, $150 per person. Contact for group pricing.

Taste

Shouldn’t all classes come with a tasty delicacy and a glass of bubbly? Maine Oyster Company teaches guests how to shuck fresh oysters at their restaurant in Portland. The class provides a dozen oysters for shucking (and eating), a glass of Prosecco, a take-home insulated oyster cooler, and a lifelong skill.
38 Portland Street, Portland. 650-5383, themaineoystercompany.com. Thursdays and Saturdays, $50.

Enroll

The Language Exchange teaches classes in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish.
“I’ve seen people using apps like DuoLingo but still can’t form a sentence,” says founder Valérie Guillet. “If you want to communicate, you need a real person in front of you. We hold social events to use the language outside the classroom, like our weekly French breakfasts. Our abroad programs are one to two weeks. Students speak nothing but the foreign language. It’s a sink or swim approach.”
75 Market Street, Portland. 772-0405, immersionprograms.com. language@maine.rr.com.

Where’s the trail, again?’ It’s about time to learn some wilderness survival skills. Maine Primitive Skills School offers workshops, apprenticeships, and immersion programs covering survival skills, outdoor education, and wild bushcraft. After taking one or two workshops covering winter survival essentials, fire making, wild foraging, shelter building, identifying and using forest medicinals and edibles, tracking and identifying prints, you probably won’t end up lost in the woods and eaten by a bear.
716 Church Hill Road, Augusta, 623-7298, primitiveskills.com. Prices vary on average
between $35–$120.