principal dancer !!?

Question

My daughter is 11 and has just started ballet how can she become a principal dancer ?? or is it too late honest and real answers only please.

Answer 1

It is certainly not too late for your daughter to start preparing for a professional career as a dancer. However, it is too early for you, as her mother, to be asking this particular question, given that she has just started training and has no idea what she is in for.

The dance profession might seem glamorous, but let me tell you, only sadistic or totally ignorant parents would ever deliberately steer their child towards being a dancer when the child isn't the one begging to fill every free hour with dance classes year after year. (You can't get any more "honest and real" than that.) The pursuit of dance to the most advanced levels is full of all kinds of pain - from physical (tendonitis, bleeding blisters, toe nails falling off, and being dropped in a lift) to emotional (competition and rejections, organizational politics, having to keep dancing even when you're bone tired, to the constant threat of injury and terrible job security).

Parents of DETERMINED young dancers must walk a very fine line. Part of your job is to see whether your child will consider pursuing any other interest area (meaning, THEIR interest area), so be as eager to sign them up for music lessons or programs about animals as you are to enroll them in dance class. Those other pursuits will help your child be well-rounded. But if your child keeps talking about being a professional dancer, then your job is also to find the best training available by attempting to stay one step ahead of your child. Find teachers who have danced professionally. And if your child is topping out at a particular studio, find another program with more advanced classes. If your home studio does not offer classes in the summer for students over 12 years old, then your daughter will need to start attending "summer intensives." However, if your daughter ever expresses the feeling that she'd like to do less with dance - perhaps only do it for fun - then please, support that desire whole-heartedly.

I highly recommend that you become a part of the "Ballet Talk for Dancers" message board:
http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php?
That's where Everything You Wanted To Know About Becoming A Ballet Dancer for Fun or Meager Wages can be found.

P.S. Juilliard (spelled with 2 i's) only has a COLLEGE dance program, which sponsors a summer intensive for high school-aged students. Their female graduates mostly pursue modern dance, not ballet, as the surest route to becoming a professional ballet dancer is through the best pre-professional (company-affiliated) dance schools (i.e., not colleges).

P.P.S. Only about 1% of all advanced female ballet students will find paid positions in a ballet company. So they are lucky if they make it as a CORPS dancer, much less a principal. And only about 20 ballet companies in the U.S. pay a living wage with health benefits. Most professional dancers need second jobs to make ends meet.

Answer 2

Becoming a principle dancer or a professional dancer at any level, is a combination of talent and training. It takes quite a bit of natural talent to begin with....you need the right body shape and size and natural flow and energy that companies look for. Then you must have the disciplined training to go along with it. Dedication on the students part is a must. Taking class one day a week will not produce a professional dancer, several hours a week must be devoted to disciplined training. 11 is not necessarily too young if you have those 2 components. If you both are truly serious about it (and I say both because the parents have to put out some effort and money also!) then I would seek out a professional ballet company, many cities have them, and start in their ballet school. Large professional companies will have ballet schools that they will pull talent from. It's just a better place to be training if you really want to go pro. Extremely dedicated dancers will seek out some of the top schools in New York like Julliard and ABT, and audition for their programs. Many young dancers with talent will get into schools like Julliard and ABT by the time they are 13 or 14 yrs old, I know several families who have move to NYC just for their daughters to have the chance to get into those programs. So you have to think seriously about your dedication to it in order to give her the best chance to succeed.
Here are a couple of programs to look at:

http://www.abt.org/education/jko_school.asp

http://www.juilliard.edu/admissions/generalap.html

Answer 3

11 is not too old. Honestly, the only way to really do it is hard work and dedication. There's also the problem of talent. I was very focused on the dream of being a dancer for most of my childhood, but at a certain point I had to come to terms with the fact that my body is not really built for ballet, and just wouldn't do the things I needed it to do. No matter how much I applied myself, I would never have been a star.

Answer 4

As a dancer, I would reccomend looking at Bebe Neuwirths web sight. She is currently in the musical Chicago and if you live the NY area I would say get tickets and go to the show Bebe Neuwirth is the best dancer ever. She also attended Julliard. She would be a great rolemodel for your daughter. Bebe Neuwirth has been dancing since she was 5 and was my rolemodel growing up and even now.

Answer 5

Its not too late,but she will need to realise the work and commitment that is put into a career like this.There are going to be times when she will wonder why she is doing this and ,not feel like training and would rather hang out with her friends,feel tired and may feel like giving up.As long as she puts in 100% and keeps everything she has leaned close to her ,she will no doubt do well.I would also encourage her to maybe,when she is older,think about taking a teachers certificate,so that she has something to fall back on,if she decides that she may not want to actually be in the limelight,and would prefer to take a back seat but still in the same profession.

Answer 6

as above