How much is too much dance a week

[Boydancersmom]

My son started at 3 yrs old on his birthday in a kiddie tap /ballet class. After a year of running into the ballroom studio and sitting in the middle of the dance floor, a ballroom instructor gave him a lesson and he loved it. I was sad he did not take to ballet. He has trained since 3 in latin-ballroom. At 14 he starting training in ballet and was upset I did not make him stay in ballet. He said imagine how good I would be it you did not let me quit. On to the question after I hope a brief background history. He now loves ballet and wants to quit ballroom. He now has a great partner in ballroom, first time ever. When he is practicing with her, he is so into the dance. He dances 10 hours a week with his preprofessional company ballet/modern ,15 hours ballet/modern at his highschool, and 5 hours in ballroom. At 15 is 30 hours a week too much dance ?

[bluemountain]

I can so relate to you, boydancersmom! My DS, though two years younger, is sharing his passion between ballroom and ballet. I would love us to connect to share experiences, but I don't think you can PM other members yet (I think you have to have 50 posts to do that)...

[Boydancersmom]

Wow! Another ballroom /ballet boy! Which did your son start first? My son started ballroom first.

[Boydancersmom]

The most famous ballet/ballroom boy is Kiril Kullish. He won numerous awards in ballroom and ballet and took a break from both to star as one of the first "Billy Elliot" on broadway - 3 years away from ballet/ballroom dance. He has since come back and won in both again. But am probably telling you something you already know...

[bluemountain]

Yes, we are trying to follow every ballroom dancer who is serious about ballet as well At some point many people tried to warm me about negative impact of ballroom on ballet and the other way around, so I have been doing a lot of research since then. It's been all positive so far. But I do make sure that DS has plenty of time for rest and homework. This year we have twice more ballet than ballroom. It was hard to find a ballroom partner that has the same needs and abilities and whose parents don't want to rush things forward too much .

[Boydancersmom]

My son is fortunate that his ballet teacher is a retired world famous dancer who is now also learning ballroom dance. He has no problem with the two genres of dance. He knows exactly how to correct my son and keep the ballroom aside.

[bluemountain]

You are indeed very lucky! Well, we make it work too

[bluemountain]

Oh, sorry, I just noticed your question. DS started with ballroom first, when he was seven. I knew that he would like ballet, I tried to bring him to our local ballet pre-pro school when he was five, but he refused to go because he was the only boy there. So, we waited a little, moved a few times and finally decided to try with dancing again. He loved ballroom right away. Around the age of nine I convinced him to add a ballet class for his posture, feet, etc. Slowly he got warmed up to ballet to the degree that we have, as I said, twice more ballet a week than ballroom . He loves both and he attends a public school (not arts) full time, so it's always a challenge for us to fit everything into 24 hours .

[Boydancersmom]

My son is 15 - Is dancing 30 hours a week normal or too much? He dances most in ballet followed by modern and

least Ballroom.

[Victoria Leigh]

That depends on how he is doing with it. Is he thriving? Healthy? Happy? Keeping up his academic work? If so, fine. If not, then something might need to be cut back.

[ByTheLake]

My son is 15 - Is dancing 30 hours a week normal or too much? He dances most in ballet followed by modern and

least Ballroom.

Seems fine if he can handle it while maintaining health (no injuries) and school. When he goes through growth spurts he may hurt more and need to cut back more.