starting ballet later

[kstrakna]

My daughter is in her first year of ballet study. She just turned thirteen. After reading a book with biographies of famous dancers, she became pretty upset, because almost all of the dancers featured in the book started ballet at very young ages. She is worried that she has started too late to have a chance at becoming a professional dancer. Can anyone offer advice/encouragement?

[Victoria Leigh]

It is very early to make any kind of determinations on that, kstrakna. It has been done, and, if all of the right elements are there, it is possible. You mentioned in your welcome post that she has good legs and feet, so that is a great start. There are a lot of things that go into the making of a dancer, and starting at this age, she would need to have the talent, facility, work ethic, passion, and of course exceptionally good training. So, encouragement is fine, but don't forget that there are a whole lot of plusses to the study of ballet, and the love of ballet, that can be very important and beneficial, whether it leads to a career or not.

[kstrakna]

Thank you, Victoria, for you wonderful words of wisdom. I have a feeling that I'll be referring to this post quite often!

[elbamash]

Hi, I am new on this site. But I wanted to tell you that my daughter also started at 13. She is 16 1/2 and is doing wonderfully. She worked her butt off to get to the level of the girls her age. She is now getting cast in lead roles. Her company is a serious pre-professional school. We are now looking at colleges for her to continue dancing.

I wish your dancer good luck!

[kstrakna]

elbamash- thank you for sharing your story. I'll be certain to show this reply to my daughter. Congratulations to your daughter for working hard and moving up so quickly! Best wishes for the future!