no money

[Guest ilive2danz]

I really want to go to one of the top dance schools in my state (not that theres many since i live in nebraska) but I can't because a money issue. Right now I go to an activity center where I only take class once a week for 2 hours and there are no summer classes there so for the whole summer I can't dance because I can't afford to go anywhere else. I don't think I'll be able to get any better if I don't go somewhere more strict and professional.

It really discourages me because this is something I really love doing and I dont think money should be a problem. If you have any ideas on what I could do let me know:(

[Victoria Leigh]

Hello ilive2danz, welcome to Ballet Alert! Online, and the Young Dancers' forum

 

I understand what you are saying in terms of the fairness of things, however, I'm afraid that professional people, who now teach ballet for a living, have put a lifetime of study and work into their art, and they cannot do it for free or they would not be able to earn a living. I'm sure most of us would love to be able to train everyone who has the love and desire and potential to dance professionally, but unfortunately we cannot do that. The student has to first arrive at a good school and take enough classes on a very regular basis to be able to show the exceptional potential for possibly receiving a scholarship in the future. This is not going to happen from ballet classes once a week at an activity center. One must get to a regular school, and a GOOD school, for training. If your parents are not willing or able to support your desires, there is very little that anyone here can do to help you. There is a lot of talent out there, and not a lot of money for scholarships.

 

I do not like being negative, but sometimes one just has to be realistic. Becoming a professional of any kind takes special training, and training takes money, at least in this country.

[Guest ilive2danz]

Thank you for the advice but I wasn't really suggesting that they give me classes for free. I guess I just have to find a way but I'm going to dance. The advice is a little disappointing :confused: but I guess I have to face reality. Thanks again!

[Victoria Leigh]

I'm really sorry to disappoint you, however I really don't quite know what you expected. I love the fact that you want to dance so badly, but I just have no answer for doing it without going to a good school, and no ideas for you to get financial aid without previous training which has brought you to a pre-professional level. How about your grandparents? A rich aunt or uncle? Anyone you know who would be willing to support your dream to dance? Without that, the only suggestion would be to show up at the best school you can find, and, if you seem to have as much potential as you do desire, then perhaps they will find a way to help you get training. It's worth a try. What have you got to lose?

[Guest ilive2danz]

Even if I found the money some way do you think going to a top school in Nebraska would do me any good, because it is Nebraska and it's not really known for great dance schools.

Thanks again for the advice:)

[Guest Medora]

Ilive2dance, maybe I can help because I sort of know what you're going through, well, kind of. I don't live in a area that's real big on ballet either, with the nearest big professional school being over 2 hours away from my home. By that I mean one with summer intensives and a good company that's well known. What you need to do is just find a school with some really good teachers who will be willing to help you, even if it's small. You should check out everything in your area and observe or take a class and see which is the most professional. I don't live near a big professional school, and with the money in my case it was that my parents wouldn't send me to a summer intensive, but luckily I have a very caring teacher who even offered to teach me alone in addition to my classes to help me. And, my teacher was once a struggling student herself who couldn't afford to pay tution and actually cleaned at a school before she was scholarshiped, so she does everything she can to help those at our school who have financical troubles. So, do what Ms. Leigh said and show up at the best school you can find. They might be able to help you, and if you've got the potential and show them how badly you want it, they'll probably try. I hope that helped a little!

[Guest ilive2danz]

Thanks Medora, yes that helped a lot. Just out of curiosity how did you manage to pay for your summer intensive? The top school that I've seen is about $495 for 5 weeks, does that sound like a reasonable price? Thats about how much my mom pays for a whole year for me so I don't even really want to ask her about it

[Victoria Leigh]

You have to realise that what you pay for a year is ONE class a week, and a Summer Intensive is several classes A DAY! The price you list for an SI is very low, actually.

[Guest Medora]

ilive2dance, sadly, I didn't manage. Unfortunately that's where what Ms. Leigh said about reality comes in, if your parents won't support you, then there just isn't much you can do. I just used that example to show that because I couldn't go to the summer intensive, my teacher at my home school offered to work with me. What you have to do is scrounge every possible resource you can possibly think of, every remote, dark, deserted corridor or your brain, every way under the sun until you come up with a solution. It may seem impossible, but if you get creative enough, I'll bet you can come up with something. You just have to do any and everything you can, and if some things don't work out, move on and keep on looking for new opportunities. And also, tell you mom everything you just told us about how you want to dance and explain to her your needs! It's hard, I know, especially if they aren't very understanding, but you must do it or you stand no chance! I would start with you parents. I hope I have helped, and Good luck!

[Guest ilive2danz]

Yes, I think your right I should talk to my parents even though I don't think they'll understand. See, I know this isn't the place to vent your feelings but my parents just bought a 24,000 dollar car but when I asked my mom if I could take summer lessons she said no, that just makes me mad. But like Ms. Leigh said, I can always ask my grandparents and other relatives. Sorry you didn't get to take a SI, I wish you could. I hate seeing money come in the way of someones dreams. But I'm also very glad that you found ways around it and did everything you could for something you love. Thanks for all the advice i greatly appreciate it.

Keep dancing!

[Guest MissMelly]

ilive2danz, I kept thinking about your post, because it made me sad that a person with such passion for ballet wasn't given much opportunity to dance. So I tried to think of a few things that might help. During the summer maybe you could rent some dance and workout videos. The public library is free (as long as you have a library card) and most of ours in my area have videos like the new york city ballet workout. So if you wanted, conditioning and ballet videos are sometimes helpful. Also make sure there aren't any ballet schools you are missing in your area. If you know other girls or boys who take ballet, maybe you could ask them what ballet studio they go to, and look into some of them.

This may kind of be a long stretch, but I just wanted to let you know that there are a few summer intensives that are audition free, and Ballet Magnificent! gives away scholarships. Since there's not a audition their scholarships are based on finanical needs. You need to have to have four years of ballet and one year beggining pointe, but I'm not sure if you're on pointe considering that you are only able to take at an activity center. They give away scholarships to the four week intensive only. Although even if you qualified you would still have to fly down.

I hope I didn't discourage you, remember that no matter what ballet school you go to you can still love ballet.

[Guest ilive2danz]

I've been thinking about going to the library and checking out books but I never thought about checking out videos. At the activity center I take ballet, tap, jazz, and pointe. I was wondering though, for the scholorship would it be ok if I took dance ever since I was 6 but stopped when I was 11 and then went back at 14. So I've been dancing for five years but not all at the same time. But what you wrote wasn't discouraging, it was very helpful. I'm really grateful that people were nice enough to respond. So thanks everyone! Thanks Miss Melly.

 

P.S what do you think the average cost of a SI is?

[Victoria Leigh]

The cost of an SI depends on how many weeks. Some are 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks, and Joffrey is 8 weeks! The costs also depend on how far you have to travel, and the costs of housing for the amount of time you are there. So, there is no way to give you an "average" cost.

 

I really think that the first thing that you need to be concerned with is getting good ballet training. You said you are taking once a week, for 2 hours, and you have all of those forms of dance! That is not ballet training. And one should NOT be dancing on pointe without Ballet Training. Lots of it. Three days a week minimum, with 1.5 hours of technique, and pointe classes separate after the most beginning levels of pointe.

[Guest ilive2danz]

Yes I see what your saying but I couldn't really help it then but now that I know more information I'll make better decisions. So, do you think I should just focus on ballet and pointe and not take my other classes? It's just that where I was going it was a package of ballet, tap, and jazz, no technique classes or anything. Just recently last year I just started getting really serious about dance. Before I did it because I loved to and it was fun but now I'm taking more seriously. I'm definitley going to try my hardest to get into a top school even if I have to beg my parents. Do you think theres still hope for me even though I havn't had the proper training?

Thanks for all the advice and for being so honest with me!

[Victoria Leigh]

There is no way for us to tell if there is still hope for you, in terms of a professional career in ballet, without seeing you. But there certainly will be no hope if you don't get to a good school and begin training. You have not had enough training to even own pointe shoes, and my guess is that if you go to a really good school the first thing they will do is take away the pointe shoes. If you do not understand this, please read the Sticky entitled Facts of Life about Pointe Work, which is on this forum and also on Pointe Shoe Topics forum.

 

For right now, yes, forget everything else and get your ballet technique training. Find the best school that you can, and take as many classes as you can. Start now. Yesterday!