The Ballet Bible
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Can I be a professional ballerina?Hi, I started ballet when I was either 3 or 4. I quit when I was 10 or 11. I am now almost 17 and deeply want to make it professional. Other than my age, I am also somewhere around 5′9″ not on pointe, and 145 lbs. There is also one other thing, I do not want to do contemporary dance, I am only interested in classical ballet. Is there just too many restrictions for me to make it professional??? December 26, 2006 | In Questions |22 Comments »RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment |
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Are you currently dancing? If so, how many hours a week? My understanding is that to get anywhere NEAR being professional, you’d need to be dancing at least an hour or two most days of the week.
If you quit at age 10 or 11, you may not have gone en pointe yet. If this is the case, I think you need to have been dancing a few years, at least a couple of hours/week before the teacher will be able to assess you for whether or not you’re ready for pointe. If you ONLY want to do classical ballet, and no contemporary, there’s probably a company out there that you could audition for, but you’d need to be able to go en pointe for them. I don’t think professional classic ballet dancers ever perform in ballet flats or bare feet. (At least not that I’ve seen!)
HTH
Jen
Comment by Jenerator — December 27, 2006 #
Quite honestly: you have missed the most important years of your training. Most 17 year olds who will make it as a professional are almost ready to be accepted into companies. In addition you will need to lose quite a bit of weight to even be considered as a serious contender. However, that is not to say if you have natural talent and buckle down extraordinarily hard and devote the next two years to intense training there is no hope. But you will have to work very very hard at an exceptionally good school and forget everything else. Good luck to you.
Comment by Zoe — December 27, 2006 #
Hi,
I started ballet when I was 7 and stopped when I was thirteen, Now I am seventeen and have been doing ballet again for a year I must say that it is very difficult doing it again. Everything is so much harder, your flexibility is harder to increase and it is very hard to get to an advanced level when all bad little habits pop up from the past. I have faith in you that you can become a professional dancer, just you have to have faith in yourself. You will deffintley get teachers who will not support your case but will eventually through time see your determination. I can only suggest that you train atleast 4-5 days per week, do some fulltime training and perhaps private classes and ofcourse practice continously at home. Your height can be an advantage and an a disadvantage. Depending on some professional studios they only take certain heights and weight where as other places it is not so restricted. Your advantage of being tall is that when you are professionally trained your long legs would look fantastic!
It is reccomended you do atleast one contemporary lesson per week as doing only ballet you cant vary your style. Contemporary is a great way to loosen up, relax and show your individuality in comparison to ballet which everything must be a certain way.
It is important to pick the correct training also. A wrong choice of dance studio can cause years of waste of time.
Hope that helps,
Martina
Comment by Martina — December 28, 2006 #
hmm when did you start back? no offense but you probably would need to lose weight(not tons of it but a bit)since most companies woln’t accept anything but real thin dancers(although we all hate that fact)and if your not en pointe yet,there probably is a very very small chance you would be able to catch up fast enough,but it is still possible,but alot of professional dancers have already started their career(like starting auditions for companies) at your age,with years of training en pointe.it also depends on if you would be trying to dance with a local company-theyre much easier to get in. or somewhere like ABT or NYCB,which you don’t have much of a chance of getting into since most people who studied all their lives with 30 hours a week when they were ready(about 10 years old) don’t have a very good chance(no one accually has a good chance with these companies) but hey if it’s your dream,go for it,work your hardest(harder than you’ve ever dreamed of)and go for it,enroll yourself in as many classes as your schedule will allow,hit the gym,and eat right.
Best wishes,
Avie’
Comment by Avie' — December 30, 2006 #
You can certainly start taking ballet class again, and eventually go en pointe, but the chances of you making it as a pro are a bit slim. 5′9″ is considered quite tall for a ballerina, and makes parterning difficult. The preferred height for a ballerina is 6′1″-6′6″ or even 6′7″. As you probably know, the ideal physique would be 85-110 lbs, with long legs and shoulders a bit wider than your hips. (Since you are tall, 145 lbs seems normal to me). I’d say find a reputable ballet school in your area (not one that does all areas of dance, because those are usually not as good in ballet as just ballet schools). Speak with the head of the school or a teacher there, and tell them your situation. They might be able to set you up with daily classes or maybe a private teacher. Ballet is certainly a beautiful art and I can see why you’d want to follow that path. Just a little warning (kind of): if you’re really determined to make it pro, you’re going to have to focus a lot of attention on dance and be ready to face challenging years ahead of you. You probably won’t make it as a pro in ABT or NYCB at 18, considering it takes about 2 years to go en pointe (when your ankles are ready as are your leg muscles). Hope this helps!
Comment by Saida — January 4, 2007 #
You’re definitly not too old to have a shot at a pro career. I am also 5′9, and I didn’t start ballet until I was 14 (I am 18), and now I have been acepted (and gone to) some of the best schools in the country, danced many principal roles, and am getting ready to audition for pro companies starting at the end of this month (with high hopes and encouragement from my teachers). Also, remember that many great dancers didn’t start until their teens (Rudolf Nureyev, one of the best dancers of the twentieth century, didn’t start until he was 17) the idea you have to start at 6 is a myth. So, don’t be discouraged and remember there are plenty of late starters and tall girls (Semonova, Barker, Kowroski, Guillem, Makalina) out there in professional companies. You just have to never give up and work as hard as you can until it happens.
Comment by C — January 12, 2007 #
Good luck first of all, i believe you can do it. If there is not one bit of doubt in your mind that this is what you want to do, then you will succeed. Train hard and don’t lose sight of your goal
Comment by Ashley — January 15, 2007 #
Regularly, a pro ballerina must have:
Small, slightly long head
Pretty face (mostly aiming for bright, round eyes, small nose and mouth)
long neck
Slanted shoulders
Narrow body
Short waist
High waist
Long legs (around 10 cm. longer than body)
Medium sized feet that are flexible
Flexibility in all areas
Comment by Claire — January 17, 2007 #
Very rarely does a person have a perfect body for balllerina and different companies look for different things in a dancer. I am 18 and when i was younger I danced for a few years and quite and then started again when i was 17 and it was easy to get back into it even after all those years because my body just somehow remembered it and although it may not be the same case for you, it may be harder but you never know unless you try
Comment by Ashley — January 17, 2007 #
RE: Are you currently dancing? If so, how many hours a week? My understanding is that to get anywhere NEAR being professional, you’d need to be dancing at least an hour or two most days of the week.
Most Certainly required! Time is A big thing in dance. Like me… I dance for 30 1/2 hours every week.
It takes time, effort, and pacients
Comment by kp — January 22, 2007 #
You can hardly call Semonova, Barker, Kowroski, Guillem, or Makhalina late starters, while some of them may be tall. Makhalina is not especially tall (I am 5′2 and standing next to her, she was only a couple of inches taller than I am). Neither is Semonova (I assume you are thinking of Marina Semonova? She is tiny. If you mean Zakharova, yes, she is tall). Also Semonova, Guillem and Makhalina are are prima ballerina assolutas, and have trained from the very beginning in an extraordinarily rigorous and exacting school, with no time in and out. Nureyev started dancing much earlier than 17, he was simply admitted to the Vaganova School by audition, having trained with Udeltsova, and had to work unbelievably hard to catch up with the people who had been there from the beginning. That he surpassed them was simply because he had extraordinary will power and super-extraordinary talent and drive. Sorry, but it’s a little strange to have these these dancers mentioned in the same context as people who pop in and out of ballet.
Comment by Zoe — January 24, 2007 #
Zakharova is amazing. I have never seen such extension and grace in a long time. She stands over 5′8! I believe people want ballerinas over 5′6, personally. Move over shrimps, the tall gals are movin’ through! I don’t know how tall Gillian Murphy is, but she is also amazing. It is awesome how two completely different ballet bodies are both so fantastic!
Comment by Helen — February 11, 2007 #
look, the point is, we are all made to do something. if you have a passion for it and ballet is all you think about sleeping and waking, 24/7, if you have a purpose..then nothing can stop you! true, there are classic “ideals” to what a ballerina is, but America is not half as strict as Russia. so if your not planning on going there to dance, then dont worry about it at all. im 16 and ive only been dancing a year. i have never taken any previous training, im only 5′4, and i weigh about 113lbs. in just a year, ive gone from beginners to level 3 classes. im not letting anything stop me. i was put on this earth to do ballet and ill do it somewhere. if you want to accomplish major things in life and be more than a corps member, then just keep at it. where theres a will, theres a way. if you know what you want, than let noone talk you down. maybe a company like ABT would be harder to get into than Pittsburgh Ballet, but if you want to be professional, any company should make you happy. just because its not a famous place, doesnt mean its less important. you’ll have to give up friends, spare time, junk food, and many other things, but if its your hearts desire, you can have it. i know God didnt give me this passion for nothing, and He didnt give you the passion for nothing either. run with this and jump over any obstacle. you can do it!
Comment by angelita ballerina — December 31, 2007 #
Tight Pussy Teen Lips…
Tight Pussy Teen Lips…
Trackback by Anonymous — March 24, 2008 #
I Want To Become A Proffessional Dancer When Im Older But It Seems As If The Only Way Is To Join The Royal Ballet But I Dont Think I Would Get In If I Auditioned… Or Alternatively I Want To Be A Princpal For EYB (English Youth Ballet) Or NYB (National Youth Ballet) But The Current Principals Have Done So Many Ballets And Worked In So Many Schools And I Really Dont Know What To Do. Im 13 And Have Been Dancing For 9 Years. I Know It Seems A Bit Early To Be Thinking About What I Want As A Career But My Dad Said I Should Start Thinking. And Theyre The Only Two Things I Would Really Like To Do.. Could You Suggest Something That Would Help Me Achieve This ? Thaknks xx
Comment by Lauren — August 3, 2008 #
- i think you’ve got a pretty good shot, especialy if your alredy thinking about what you want to do. JUST GO FOR IT!
you’ll never know if you’d get in unless you try.
i’m 14 and have only been dancing for a year, i cant aford train anywhere special (not that their are any places like that where i live) but i really want to become profecional, i’m dancing as much as i can a week (not alot) but i’m not sure thats enough..any tips?
p.s. reading some of the earlier coments i’m only 5 ft, probly done growing, and have tiny feet. but i dont care…
Comment by Tommy — September 29, 2008 #
i started dance at like 3/4 years old, i have quit a couple times and am now 17. i still dance about 4/5 hours a week outside of college and i am taking alevel dance, i desperately want to be a proffesional but i kind of only recently realised your ability is predetermined at birth…i used to be amazing at ballet and i would love to get their again..
im 6ft 1, size 11/12 feet haha
i will be dancing as much as i can in the near future and hope i make it..but is it too late? im not as flexible as i used to be and i cant get the spins like i used to be able to do…:/
afgaghsadglSGH
HEHE
Comment by james — October 26, 2008 #
Its never to late to start again. But getting into a company is going to be difficult unless you are extremely talented and have something to offer them. Most ballerinas usually start in corps and they get noticed overtime, through auditions, or class. 5′9 is too tall for some companies…but, some pas de deux roles are acceptable if you are still shorter then your male partner on pointe.
Comment by petiteallegro — May 17, 2009 #
I am a strong and flexable 10 year old. Today we got our coming year dance classes. I was quite happy with Modern 3 And Jazz 1 but not with ballet 2. I have done ballet 2 for 2 years and is an intermediate class. I would like to move up to the advanced classes and do not know how to let my teacher know i am good enough and would like to be with my friends! Thanks, Josie
Comment by Josie — August 8, 2009 #
Вообще, на мой взгляд, самое лучшее в личном блоге, так это самопознание.
Comment by podarki — August 23, 2009 #
MAKE SURE TO READ THIS!!!!!!!!! Ok, now that I have your attention, I am the same age as you and we are probably at about the same level. i do multiple dance classes but I really focus on ballet because ballet is the beginning of a great ballerina. Anyway, maybe you should start something like jazz, tap, musical theater dance, creative movement, lyrical. But not too many. I suggest about three or four classes a week for your age…I think that if you try hard in ballet then it doesnt matter if you do tap or whatever but still it might just help a smidge and i know I am always looking for ways to get better. So, I think if you want to be a ballerina then you just need to be a ballet person. (DUH! LOL) I hope this helped!
Comment by girl-you-dont-know — October 3, 2009 #
Fat ass!!! Lose weight!! And you probably suck so don’t even try to become a professional!!! And you probably suck!!!!
Comment by Claire — August 8, 2010 #