nynydancer Posted July 31, 2017 Report Share Posted July 31, 2017 Hello - would appreciate advice for a small 14 year old boy. We are putting off going to the big prepro for one year and will use this year to prepare for that. His present studio has three 14 year old boys. 1 of these boys is pure recreational. The other 2, including my boy, are very seriously pursuing a ballet career. The only other boys are young beginners. All of the technique classes are with girls. Here is the schedule, which doesn't include rehearsals. I don't expect him to be well cast or have many parts for nutcracker so he likely won't have much Monday 45 mins Pilates session for boys 45 mins of strength training for boys Tuesday 1 hour 45 mins hours technique 45 mins boys class (and possibly pas de deux) - with a male teacher 45 mins pilates mat class Wednesday 1 hour of private coaching for yagp (with female coach) 1 hour 45 mins technique Thursday 1 hour 15 mins contemporary 1 hour 45 mins technique Friday 1 hour 45 mins technique 30 mins boys class Saturday 1 hour 45 mins technique - with a male teacher 45 mins boys class -with a male teacher Sunday Possible 1-2 hour private with male teacher (may be able to move this to another day) In addition, I am really really nervous that my kid will be going to a school of the arts high school "dance" program. The dance program is low quality and I am just worried about extra wear and tear on his body. He wants to try it because of course he wants more dance and not having to do PE, and he is looking forward to being friends with other boy dancers. He will try to build in another evening at the gym with a friend. Interested on your take if this is not enough, too much, or just right for a career bound student. It seems to match the guidelines that are pinned on this forum, but it's far less than the residential programs. Does the high school dance program seem like a bad idea? Or am I being silly. Thank you! Quote Link to comment
slhogan Posted August 1, 2017 Report Share Posted August 1, 2017 Hello! My son is 18. He trained at a local school through 9th grade then transferred to a large company-affiliated training program in 10th grade. A few thoughts... 1. Don't worry about him being small right now. Once the growth spurt kicks in, they grow rapidly and gain a lot of strength. He'll probably grow a ton this year, so you he'll have to take good care of his body and be on alert for stress injuries that can occur during rapid growth spurts. 2. 15 is a great age for a boy to transfer to a big pre-pro. In part, because they have mostly completed their growth spurt and have a nearly-grown man's body. It's difficult to really master the essential men's skills until you have a man's body. 3. Daily technique 5 days a week is great. As long as he's getting really good training in clean technique nearly every day, he doesn't need a ton of hours. 4. Does he do any other dance forms like jazz, modern, or contemporary? Most major pre-pro programs will include some training in these genres. 5. I have mixed feelings about the high school arts program. On the one hand, I can totally understand his wanting to make more guy dance friends. On the other hand, I would worry about his learning poor technique with an emphasis on tricks. There's no easy answer there! Quote Link to comment
5uptown Posted August 2, 2017 Report Share Posted August 2, 2017 I don't know details about your high school of the arts situation, but my son has just finished a first year at a performing arts middle school, and I think he learned a lot from the classes and we considered it "cross training". He had jazz dance 90 minutes, acting twice a week for 90 minutes each time, singing for 90 minutes and "ballet" (which was easy and technically a little sloppy) for 90 minutes. The ballet was a littl silly for him, but I told him to just spend that period thinking about the corrections he gets at his regular school and focusing on really perfecting the details. There was no emphasis on tricks. Quote Link to comment
nynydancer Posted August 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2017 Both, thanks so much for the reassurnace and advice! Im happy to hear that it makes sense to move at 15. I was kinda doubting myself. I just spoke to him and had him read thr feedback. He said he wants to try the dance program in high school and it's not good, he will drop it. He does have one contemporary class a week and will also prepare a yagp contemporary piece. Perhaps the high school thing will cover other kinds of dance. Quote Link to comment
5uptown Posted August 4, 2017 Report Share Posted August 4, 2017 Assuming he has good training available at home, I think 15 might even be young for entering the "finishing" type schools. Where my son goes (and he is younger than this), I see the biggest influx of boys seems to be more around age 16 and older. While they certainly continue to grow and physically mature, they are already past the big growth spurt and have gained the strength and coordination that comes a little later for many boys. It makes sense to me that they are physically ready to learn the advanced male technique at that point, and not as vulnerable to the overuse injuries that kids get when they are growing rapidly. Older teens are also probably socially and emotionally more ready for the independence that is required to move away from home for ballet training. Quote Link to comment
nynydancer Posted August 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2017 Okay that's great and very reassuring! Sometimes I feel so dumb about this ballet stuff and afraid to make a mistake. I really appreciate your insights! Quote Link to comment
5uptown Posted August 6, 2017 Report Share Posted August 6, 2017 Me too nynydancer. My son is younger than yours, so I'm not yet at the point you are. His schedule looks very reasonable to me, and it sounds like he's willing to be flexible and give things a try. Good luck! Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.