Alvin Hill’s ballet career started with a suggestion from his uncle.
As the Maryland football defensive back recovered from a knee injury he suffered in 2014, he focused on flexibility training to maintain his fitness.
Last spring, Hill took a yoga course. Then, after a Terps coach sent him a video about NFL players’ dance training, his uncle confirmed its benefits. Hill learned his yoga teacher also offered a ballet class in the fall, so he signed up.
Tuesday, Hill took the practice field and “felt like [he] was floating.”
That morning, the first-year starting cornerback had finished a 50-minute ballet session. His instructor complimented Hill’s play against Florida International over the weekend, and his classmates continued to marvel at the 6-foot, 200-pound redshirt senior dressed in leggings, a Maryland t-shirt and dance shoes.
“They never seen a football guy walk in there, but I’ve got some balance, though,” Hill said. “So, it’s cool. I mean, I take it serious. You’ve got to respect that.”
Tuesdays are Hill’s toughest days. They’re often the Terps’ most demanding practice of the week, and that’s when Hill takes the two-credit ballet class at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The precision and movement in the dancing, he said, feels like an extra conditioning session.
The class started with learning first and second positions, techniques and positioning — skills Hill hopes translate into explosiveness, fluidity and injury prevention on game days when he laces up his cleats.
In class though, he wears a pair of shoes he bought at the beginning of the semester when he made a trip to a local dance boutique.
“I tried to make myself feel a little bit like I was masculine,” Hill said, sitting back in his chair and broadening his shoulders in demonstration of his entrance to the store. “But the more I walked in, like, I just felt deflated.”
He was fast to purchase the black slippers, and he’s worn them to each class. His freshmen classmates helped rebuild his self-esteem when they told him he was cool.
Hill is working toward a final performance at the end of the semester, and he expects some of his teammates will be in attendance to film the show and likely post it on social media.
After learning about Hill’s new activity, quarterback Perry Hills broke into a smile Wednesday afternoon and noted his interest in watching. After all, he and defensive lineman Roman Braglio took an interpretive dance class as sophomores.
“I was doing a bunch of weird stuff,” Hills said of his experience before acknowledging the benefits in Hill’s endeavor. “A lot of good NFL players have been in ballet classes, so, you know, hopefully he can find something in that and help him out.”
Hill said that’s his logic for adding the class to his schedule.
He pointed out former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann’s success through dance and said former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders was featured in the YouTube video he watched.
Hill’s looking for a way to elevate his play in his first year as a starting cornerback. He’s a veteran in a secondary, where several new players have rotated through the backfield during the Terps’ two blowout victories.
“When we do put younger guys in, we put an older guy with him,” defensive coordinator Andy Buh said. “Just to kind of balance out their knowledge, and kind of calm them down a little bit.”
That leadership doesn’t exclude Hill from some ribbing, however. He said his teammates already “clown me about everything.”
“Just putting ballet on that repertoire,” Hill said. “They don’t mind. They just clown me about that, too.”
His 19-year-old sister, who competes in track and field, was also skeptical, but his mom wasn’t surprised.
“She’s just like, ‘That’s my Alvin,'” Hill said. “She’s used to me doing things out of the ordinary to get somewhere.”
