Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 11/4/2007

Question
I'm 14 years old and i started ballet about 2 months ago and I LOVE IT! but i only practice 1 hour a week and was wondering where i could go to practice for more hours like 6-7 hrs a week... I live in Kissimmee, FL and most of the dance studios only have 1 hr classes what should i do?

Answer
Hi Jennifer. Would it work to go different schools, or take more than one class at the same school? Are you able to get around and do that? I would say take as many as your family can afford, and also if you can afford the time to do them.

Practising alone isn't as much fun, but you can. If you learn the technique well and have a place to work at home, you can practise basic exercises every day.

Do you get to see much ballet? It is amazing the ballets you can rent to watch. The more you see that is of an excellent quality, the more you train your eye for your own work. I recommend viewing professional ballet as much as you can.

I have some articles on http://www.theballetstore.com that you might find interesting. They are mostly about exercises and strengthening for pointe work, turn out and stretching.

Let me know if I can help you further.

All the best, Dianne

A brief follow up - I've recommended to almost everyone to read my articles and blog entries at http://www.theballetstore.com You have to create a user name to log in to see all the blog entries - your privacy is safe! I really apologize that I didn't tell you this - I'm not a technical person!