I want to dance

[Lucas808]

I hang out with alot of dancers and i have fallen in love with ballet. ballet only not hip hop or jazz but i am a 19yr old college male. should i start dancing or is there no use for me to start? I heard that the older you get the less chances of being a professional.

[Hans]

Hi Lucas808, and welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancers!

 

It is never too late to start ballet lessons for fulfillment. Becoming a professional ballet dancer usually requires about ten years of daily study, and it is very hard work, so it is true that a professional career is not likely at this point. However, many people take ballet class simply because they enjoy it. Even if you do not become a professional, you may still have opportunities to perform. I recommend looking through both the Men's Forum and the Adult Ballet Students Forum as there is a lot of information here, and we have quite a few adult ballet students of both sexes.

 

Please feel free to ask questions, share experiences, etc. We have one or two other members who have recently started ballet classes as well.

[davidg]

I know a lot of men who dance with professional companies, who started in college. There are also choreographers who did that as well. If you're crazy enough to stick with it, you'll probably find something --- realistically far before 10 years is up. Just don't expect to land any union contracts.

 

Most important is you get into a situation as a student with a quality school, in which you are making good, steady progress.

 

It's also important to keep things in perspective. One benefit of dance training (if you call it a benefit) is the opportunity to get a difficult job that takes all your time and pays almost nothing. But dance training also is of benefit to the dancer's personal development in the here and now. Training works best if you're in a situation that you can sustain over a period of years (time and money) and if you're so happy with the benefits of dance training that you'd still consider it worthwhile, whether or not you ever get a professional job. In that case, you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain by going for it, and then you can see where it takes you.

[tantalus]

I started jazz when I was 38, modern when I was 48, & ballet when I was 58.

Also, do don't necessarily have to make a career out of it.

[Lucas808]

Thank you all for the encouragement.

 

I am gonna go for it. I kinda have some dance experience in high school. I was a main dancer in all the productions such as Aladdin and Oklanhoma, my senior year and i loved dancing and all i want to do is dance.