Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 4/29/2010

Question
QUESTION: hello :)i'm so happy that i found an expert to ask.....i'm 19 years old and started ballet this year(stopped because the final exams i have at school).
i have had ballet lessons when i was little and stopped because of an injury.i continued with other kinds of dancing such as ballroom,latin and rythmics gymnastics..all that by the time i was 12...
haven't done anything after that related to dancing until this year...although i dance allot at home by myself...:)
and i'm quite flexible:)
so my question is...can i be a professional?would any academies take me to learn?i live in greece by the way..and there is a second question that i have...economically how will i survive while beying at the academy..?
do you happen to know any similar cases?
thank you very much:)i'm waiting immpatiently for your answer :)

ANSWER: Hi Aleli. I can't see you dance, so I can't have an opinion about how much more you could do in ballet. I will say what any dance teacher will tell you, which is that your competition has been training full time for the past ten years, and is ready to audition for a ballet company now. Given that, it is up to you how practical it might be to strive to enter the world of ballet.

The way you can find out what your opportunity might be is to firstly, see if you can audition at a full time dance academy.

http://www.balletcompanies.com/Countries/Greece.shtml   take a look at these institutions - you may be familiar with them already.....

http://dancemasterclass.com/   is a summer intensive course in Italy. The advantage of a summer intensive is that you can see what your progress is at that intensity of training.

Ballet training is expensive, as you know, and scholarships are often available to the highly talented. If you are up for a big challenge, use the internet to find your nearest professional ballet training academies and their audition schedules.

Think carefully about why you love ballet. The connection to artistic feeling and growth may be fulfilled, for you, by another art form that is a more easily tackled challenge.

I hope my response helps you Aleli. All the best, Dianne.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you very much dianne :)
i know that ballet training is very expensive and that's why i founded a state ballet school with no fees..so is very good :):):)
so i called them and they said that the classes are until the afternoon.i do not mind the tirenes it's just that i would have to work ... do you know maybe any case of a girl that was/is in my situation?how they survive economicaly?i've thought of everything but nothing comes up :( so if you know or thought of something it would be very helpfull...
         thank so much :)
ps:i'm sorry for the many questions i ask you...

Answer
Aleli that's wonderful that you have found a school. You might ask the school if they have any work available with help in the administrative department, for example. I know it is tough. Myself and many friends of mine worked after ballet classes when we were training. It requires taking very good care of yourself, maybe some extra vitamins and always getting a good sleep every night.- all the things your mother would say, I'm sure I sound like that!

Regards, Dianne