balletglitter Posted May 9, 2013 Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 Hi, I am nearly fifteen years old and I want to move forward with my training. My dance school is pretty recreational. The only dancers that are considered serious are the performing company, which I am a part of. We don't compete, and we all take ballet, modern, and jazz. The company focus is modern dance. However, my true passion lies in ballet, and I am told that I have potential even for a late starter (I started when I was 4, but I didn't decide to pursue ballet until earlier this year). There are two teachers that have been willing to help me in particular to push me up to standard this year. I dance a base of 6 ballet technique classes plus rehearsals, privates, pointe, and modern + jazz, for a total of approximately 18 hours/week. Next year I want to put much more time into ballet-only training and leave my studio but I am not sure exactly where I am going to go. There are local ballet schools and a nearby top professional company school, but I have to further investigate each before making a choice. I want to be proactive with my training and I desperately want more opportunities to train, perform, and be seen. I would seriously consider competing, but I have no clue where to start. My studio doesn't do any kind of competitions and I don't know if I will be technically good enough for ballet comps like YAGP, Prix de Lausanne, smaller ballet comps, etc. Could/should/how do I compete independently? Does anybody have any advice? Would competing be right for me? Who I should talk to? What the process is like? Quote Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted May 9, 2013 Administrators Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 Balletglitter, first things first! The best possible training, in both quality and quantity is essential. Competing is definitely not essential. And doing it independently is absolutely not a good idea. First check out the pre-pro school. That should really be your only valid consideration. You are a late starter, and there has to be a whole lot of catching up happening technically, no matter how great a facility you have. Are you going to a Summer Intensive this summer? If not, can you go to the pre-pro school during the summer and see if that would be a good fit for you? Quote Link to comment
balletglitter Posted May 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 (edited) Thank you for replying! Of course the nearby pre-pro school would be my top goal hands-down, but it one of the top 3 ballet schools in the US (maybe you can guess which ones!) so it's extremely competitive and I have no idea if I can get in. Edited May 10, 2013 by balletglitter Quote Link to comment
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