Career Length

[Guest balleticbooy5227]

Hey how long usually is a dance career for a male ballet dancer? And does it differ from a male modern dancer? Also what do many dancers do after they retire?

 

 

Thanks,

Curtis

[Mel Johnson]

Hi, Curtis, and welcome to the Men's Forum on Ballet Talk For Dancers.

 

Usually a male dancer these days can count on dancing into his later 30s. With performance medicine having become what it is, that's about ten years advantage over my generation. Modern dancers generally dance longer than ballet dancers, but then, their vocabulary changes as they age! Merce Cunningham no longer does what he did when he was dancing with the Martha Graham company.

 

And what with the modern Career Transitions for Dancers program offered by AGMA, a dancer's post-performing career can be just about anything. You'd be amazed at what can be stored in a dancer's brain once he stops filling it with new choreography!

[Guest balleticbooy5227]

oh ok cool!..thanks a lot!

[Mel Johnson]

Another thing to consider is that colleges and universities are hungry for "non-traditional" (over age 25) students. Time was when the attitude was, "What are YOU doing here?" projected toward the non-traditional students. Now, the admissions offices are beating the bushes, trying to find MORE non-traditional students in both undergraduate and advanced degree programs. Women reading this thread should take note of this phenomenon as well!

[Guest Jameth]

Another thing to consider is that colleges and universities are hungry for "non-traditional" (over age 25) students.  Time was when the attitude was, "What are YOU doing here?" projected toward the non-traditional students.  Now, the admissions offices are beating the bushes, trying to find MORE non-traditional students in both undergraduate and advanced degree programs.  Women reading this thread should take note of this phenomenon as well! 

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If possible. Could you embelish a bit on this? non-traditional?

I guess you'd say I am an ex-ballet dancer. I danced under the guidence of Hydee Gutierrez at Oregon ballet theatre and was well on my way to becoming professional...or so I was told. I quit dancing when I was 17 and am now 23. Being a little older now, I realize that quitting was probably one of the worst decision I could have made. I miss being on stage, I miss performing, I miss dancing? Is it hopeless for me? or is this a possible option for me?

 

I am open to explore other forms of dance, but ballet is my first love and would love to find my way back into a career if possible.

 

Thanks for any advice you could muster:)

 

-James

[Mel Johnson]

Colleges and universities consider "traditional" students to be roughly between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. Anything over 25 is called "non-traditional". Taking a college dance sequence could indeed be a route for you.

[Guest Jameth]

Colleges and universities consider "traditional" students to be roughly between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five.  Anything over 25 is called "non-traditional".  Taking a college dance sequence could indeed be a route for you.

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sweet!

 

Now to research colleges!

[Garyecht]

Just a follow-up to Mel’s comment about non-traditional students in colleges.

 

With but a very few exceptions, colleges work hard to achieve “diversity” in their student bodies. And by diversity, they don’t mean just ethnic diversity. Include sex and age in that too.

 

My last ballroom dance partner was shall we say exceedingly smart. She was able to get a full scholarship to Penn’s medical school (she turned down a similar offer from Yale). Yes, she was female and it didn’t hurt that she was Vietnamese either. And just to make it a triple play, she entered medical school at age 33.

[2 Left Feet]

Jameth:

 

I'm not entirely sure I would rule out a return to ballet in your instance. You've had prior training and, depending on your condition, you could get back in shape pretty quickly. I'm making a presumption here, but, presuming Portland is like most other cities, men are always needed. There could still be opportunities for you to work or perform locally. A lot depends on how fast you get back into condition. I've seen lots of examples of men starting ballet as beginners as late as 21 and still managing to have fairly good career. Since you've danced before, your chances could be pretty good.

[2 Left Feet]

Jameth:

 

I'd like to talk to you about your story and consider it for a documentary I'm producing about adult ballet dancers. I tried to PM you but your PM is not active yet.

 

If you're interested, you can learn more about the project at Everyday Dancers

 

You can contact me directly at isfilms@comcast.net

 

Ed

[Ed McPherson]

Jameth -

 

if you end up looking into colleges consider checking out Indiana U. There have been several older men in the last 10 years.

 

in the 90's a guy came from China to dance in the United States. The chinese government suspected he was coming to dance so before they would allow him to leave the country he had to stop dancing for 6 years. He spent a couple years at IU re-tooling before entering the work force.

 

Next year a 25 year old will be entering as a freshman

 

and we just had a 23 year old leave halfway through the year