Expert: Jennifer - 4/29/2007

Question
Hi, I know that you get these kind of questions all the time, so sorry about asking you again!  I'm 18 years old and I really want to take ballet classes.  I don't have any previous experience but I did take gymnastics when I was younger.  I think I might want to dance professionally, but I'm not sure if I'm starting out too late in life.  Also, I'm 5'9" and a size 6, so I don't know if I'm too big for ballet.  Thank you so much!

Answer
Hello! I do get questions like this fairly frequently, so you may want to go through previously answered questions to get more information if you still have questions... might help!

One thing that you have to understand if you are looking to attempt to pursue a professional career as a goal is the odds that you are up against. The vast majority of professional dancers started studying dance seriously by the time they were 10 years old and entered a professional company at around 18 or so. That alone means that you are at least 8 years behind others your age, and all things being equal, you wont be entering the professional world until your mid to late 20s, a point at which some dancers' careers are already winding down. In addition, acceptance into dance companies is highly competitive. The biggest companies in the US, like NYCB and ABT, rarely even hire dancers that did not attend their own company's pre-professional schools, and even many of the students who were talented enough to be accepted to and graduate from their school do not make the cut. Dancers have a better chance at smaller, regional companies, but even then only 3-4 new dancers are accepted per year at the most.

My goal here isn't to discourage you, but to make sure that you know what you're taking on here. You have a lot of time to make up, and not a lot of time to make it up in. You're going to have to make a lot of sacrifices both of time and money to get the necessary amount of training (2 or 3 classes a week isn't going to cut it here). You're going to have to be talented and physically gifted. You're going to have to be lucky enough or persistent enough to find excellent teachers who will help you towards your goal. If your weight is a problem (and I really can't tell not seeing you, I'm just going from the fact that you think it might be a problem) you're going to either have to work to change your body or accept the fact that you have limited choices for professional companies you will be able to work with.

If you're willing to take all of this on, you need to know, accept, and be okay with the idea that even if you do everything just right, you may not make it to the professional world... but that doesn't mean that what you learn in the process won't be worthwhile. You could apply that knowledge to work as a teacher, or even move into the business side of ballet working in company administration.

I believe it can be done, but it's going to take the right kind of person... who has the body, the talent, the drive, and the patience to make it happen.

I hope this helps you... please let me know if you have any other questions!