Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 10/10/2009

Question
Hi, I am 15 and have been dancing since for 10 years now. The studio that I dance at is in a little town and for my age group I have always been one of the best in my class. I didn't start getting really serious until last year. I have started taking an extra ballet classeson top of the 3 I already had. So, 6 and half hours a week. I feel like I'm not going anywhere, and like I'm trying to beat the clock. I guess I was wondering if you had any pionters on how to pursue ballet as a career. If you have any tips for a higher arabesque that would be great too. Thanks so much

Answer
Hi Kiersten. To pursue ballet as a career, you would need to get into classes at a professional school. There is no other way to train hard enough in order to compete for a job in the ballet world. I'm not saying that you are not at a good school, but most ballet schools are not set up to provide the intensity of training required to cover everything you need to be able to do in the classical ballet repertoire.

http://balletshoesandpointeshoes.blogspot.com/2008/02/ultimate-ballet-line-arabe...   is a link to an article about strengthening ballet positions, including arabesque. There are many more technical tips on that blog which you may enjoy reading.

Something you could consider is getting into a summer intensive next year. Often auditions for these start in January. Doing an intensive helps many students find out whether or not they really want to dance ballet all day everyday, and what that commitment feels like. Also you'll know how you compare to other students in that situation.

All the best, Dianne