Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 12/2/2009

Question
Hi!
I'm really willing to be a professional dancer, but I don't know where to start it. I'm Brazilian, I dance for the Royal method, and the only really big company here is Sao Paulo Cia de Dança (which is not that big, but there are some great dancers there). I'm 13, I take classes every day, but sometimes I can't balance ballet with school.
How can I enter in a professional ballet company? How old do I have to be? What about the Royal Ballet, ABT, Paris Opera and others... do brazilian people have a chance? How much dop professional dancers earn?

Hope you can understand my awful english :D
please answer. Bye!

Answer
Hi Carol - you're English is quite good!

You are beginning a huge project here - but what an adventure....

You can web search all the companies you mentioned above - look at their audition tours and see if any of them come to Brazil. Obviously you can also attend their auditions, and they will start in January, or at least early in 2010.

The sooner you start professional training the better. If your only choice is Sao Paulo Cia de Danca, go for it.

Can you home school in Brazil - or get a an independent education program? Here in Los Angeles children can home school - they register in a local private school for home schoolers, and get a curriculum put together that fulfills the grade requirements. They document their attendance (legal requirement is 3 hrs per day)and the parents who have registered the school supply computerized transcripts of their grades every year.

This allows the student to attend other training (such as ballet school) on the required schedule. Also, the other training would fulfill a quota of the home schooling daily requirements - such as physical education, field trips (ballet, art galleries, etc.,). There are very large home schooling communities so students do not exist in isolation.

Also some students here can get in an Independent program through their public school, where they study at home and check in with their academic advisor once or twice a month, and do the usual school exams at school. This system allows for both disabled and gifted students to arrange their own schooling circumstances.

Look into all of this. If your school semesters start again in January, or early in the year, perhaps you can arrange a switch to another system of schooling which would fulfill the requirements you would need as a professional dancer, (art, language, for instance), as well as general education.

Also new here in California is a system for students to do ALL their schooling on line. They co-ordinate with a public school advisor to stay on track, yet there is a freedom of schedule for both the parents and students.

So check all your options, you have 4-5 years left to qualify for auditioning in a professional company. Try to get some feedback from the ballet company there - do they have a school? Can you get some advice as to your chances for becoming professional?

A lot of success in this world comes from having the nerve to approach people, present yourself, and make contacts. While ballet has specific requirements, often the bravest reach the top when the most talented do not. Just a tip!

I wish you all the best with this Carol! Dianne