My DS is 16 and begining his 2nd year at a year aroung program. He is about in the middle of his peer group so I don't think he lost anything by training at a local studio until he was 15. It has been valuable for him to attend a different SI each summer so I'm glad he was not lock into a program at one school. He is a very good dancer now and a lot of programs are intersted in him. If your son is talented enough now to be admited into the pre-professional program I believe they will still be interested in him in a few years. If his current program is strong, I don't think he will fall behind his peer very much in the next couple years.
Invitation to full-time program-need advice!
Started by
ballerinomom
, Jul 21 2012 04:52 PM
34 replies to this topic
#31
Alan
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Connection to/Interest in Ballet:parent of a dancer
Posted 16 August 2012 - 07:48 PM
#32
ballerinomom
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Connection to/Interest in Ballet:Parent of 11 year old male dancer
Posted 16 August 2012 - 08:15 PM
Alan - thank you for sharing this -- do you mind giving me an estimate of the hours per week of classical ballet and hours per week of other dance forms your DS has taken the past few years leading up to his entry in the full-time program?
#33
Alan
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Connection to/Interest in Ballet:parent of a dancer
Posted 16 August 2012 - 09:10 PM
He took 8 hours of classical ballet and 2 hours of jazz/contemporary plus a few hours of rehersal each week. He danced 6 days a week plus a few Sunday rehersals during Nutcracker production. He dances about twice that at the full-time program.
#34
ballerinomom
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Connection to/Interest in Ballet:Parent of 11 year old male dancer
Posted 16 August 2012 - 10:23 PM
Thank you - this kind of information is very helpful to me. My DS will be taking fewer hours than that next year, but I will certainly try to ramp it up if he seems to be falling behind.
#35
Moxie
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Connection to/Interest in Ballet:Mom of boy dancers
Posted 20 August 2012 - 06:09 PM
I feel like it's on the job training being the mom of a ballet danseur. I just sent my 15 yr old off to a residential ballet program. He was accepted to all he applied for. The consensus was that it was what he needed at this point (he's been asking for 2 yrs).
His home studio is good and owned by former principals from well known compainies. However, it's just not enough hours and he needs to be in an environment that matches his life goals. It also makes balancing the academics a little bit easier. They've said they should be in ballet class 6 days a week by age 13.
I do think some can start late. We have a friend who started at 16 but also most are athletic and their bodies are well suited.
My 12 yr old son also dances and he was being courted by the SI artistic director (it's a different residential program). He's 2 yrs away from high school.
It is a stressful process to make sure you are doing the right thing for your children. I pray I've raised him well up to this point so he makes good decisions while he's away!
His home studio is good and owned by former principals from well known compainies. However, it's just not enough hours and he needs to be in an environment that matches his life goals. It also makes balancing the academics a little bit easier. They've said they should be in ballet class 6 days a week by age 13.
I do think some can start late. We have a friend who started at 16 but also most are athletic and their bodies are well suited.
My 12 yr old son also dances and he was being courted by the SI artistic director (it's a different residential program). He's 2 yrs away from high school.
It is a stressful process to make sure you are doing the right thing for your children. I pray I've raised him well up to this point so he makes good decisions while he's away!
