any tips for a 14 year old boy starting Ballet?

[Guest DanceBallRev]

does anyone tips,tricks,stretches for a 14 year old boy starting Ballet? (Just started today)

[Mel Johnson]

The very first tip is: Don't look down. That's what the mirror is for.;)

[Guest Aleasha Barkova]

Wow! It's great that you're starting ballet at fourteen; not many people do that! My tip is perseverence: you must have perseverence to succeed in ballet. How did you like your first lesson?

[Guest dancingostrich]

There is a boy at my SI that is 16 and he started when he was 14. The sad thing is that he is in the level above me! So if you get down, don’t worry you’ll get it down. Always try your hardest and don’t listen to people is they call you stuff they just don’t understand the hard work that is involved in our art form/desire.

If this isn’t appropriate feel free to delete.

[Victoria Leigh]

Dancingostrich, the only thing inappropriate might be calling ballet a sport! :eek:

[Dolphingirl]

I want to welcome you, DanceBallRev, as another Chicagoan. I think it's great that you're starting ballet, because we have very few boys at my studio, and they are all under 8. We're trying to get some in for the summer, so we can do partnering, but it's hard. So I'm glad that there are boys starting ballet!

 

Dolphingirl

[Mel Johnson]

For any number of reasons, boys tend to start ballet later than girls, except in the large national academies in Europe. In the long run, it doesn't seem to do any harm.

[Guest Terin]

I started relatively late in dancing (11). When I first started I was in a class with a lot of people younger than me, but I also got pushed ahead faster than is normal. Of course, I don't know if it will be the same at your school. Just thought I would share my experience.

[balletstar811]

Yes, Mr. Johnson, I always find myself reading about this guy or that guy dancer that started ballet waaay late yet became a professional and enjoys success. There is a boy at my studio who started ballet just 3 years ago and he is in the professional division already.

[mom1]

I know a man who began ballet at 19 and is (hopefully) on his way to a professional career. He is now 21... no contract yet, but much encouragment from his SI this year, where he went of full scholarship. He will continue training hard this year, with a contract as his goal.

[BlackbirdBallerina]

Don't worry, DanceBallRev, Mr. Mel is exactly right. So many guys start late, and I know two that have both danced about two years. One's about 23, the other's about 18, and they are both going pro, as apprentices, but still, they're on their way up.

[PheonixTutu]

I don't want to sound offensive, but doesn't it seem like ballet is easier for men than women. I mean, sure, there are less of them, but it's just so different. Men can join later and be moved up levels in months. Girls have to work for years and years and if they start late, even if they are good, they have to stay at the level they actually are at. I know, yes, girls have to train earlier for pointe strength, but the difference is so great I just couldn't ignore it. The ballet world seems so much more challenging for women.

 

Please delete if this is too offensive.

[Mel Johnson]

I really don't think it's any easier, but the learning curve, once the boys catch on, is very steep! For some reason, not many little boys seem to catch on to the ballet vocabulary and way of moving, but once they do catch on, they have a tendency to advance rather rapidly. I don't know why. Now, in terms of employment, oh yes, things are much easier there, because there is less competition. Smaller numbers limit the choices for directors, but some courageous leaders in the field refuse to hire male dancers just because they need warm bodies! At least the world has progressed that far in my lifetime!

[Guest Aleasha Barkova]

There's the limiting body type issue too. I mean, guy and gal dancers generally are strong, fit and relatively thin, but girls have the whole foot/arch thing for pointe to deal with Now I'm just guessing here, but I'd imagine that there's a bit more lenience height -wise for boys than for girls, simply from the fact that there isn't so much need for uniformity in men. For example, if one swan in the corps de ballet is two inches taller than all the others it looks kind of strange, plus there are a lot more of us females to choose from.

[Mel Johnson]

Do you have a uniform female corps? Then there better be a uniform male corps to go with them.

 

Life is more than Swan Lake Act II - after all, there is Raymonda where practically everybody has a partner sooner or later!