Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 10/8/2011

Question
My 11 year old daughter has a full scholarship to a residential classical ballet school. She has been told by the AD that her strength is her personality and the fact that  people like to watch her dance.   Will it make up for the fact she is not the most technical dancer? While she has a very good  ballet body at this stage, it is not perfect.
My question is: what may he mean by personality in terms of dance when everyone is doing the same steps and should all presumably look the same. Is dance quality something that endures? Is it something that other children can learn or develop?

Answer
Hi Eva. It sounds like your daughter has a wonderful quality to her dancing that is unique to her. Anyone with the right physique can learn ballet, but what your daughter has puts her apart from many of the other dancers. Many dancers spend years in the corp de ballet because they are excellent dancers, but they just don't have an extra spark or magnetism that draws people's attention to them. I hope your daughter never eyes the perfect ballet bodies that do show up in professional ballet schools and feels lesser-than in some way.

Dancers who later in their training take some acting lessons will blossom in a way that their teachers may not have expected them to. And some become more noticeable just because they grow up and develop confidence. It seems from the AD's comments however that your daughter has something special.

I wish you both all the best! Dianne.