Sort of new to ballet

[Balletbee123]

Hi! So I’m an 13 soon to turn 14 in September, and I started ballet last September. I had previously been doing two years of other dance. In October however I broke my foot, causing me to be out of ballet for 4 or 5 months, I started up again in the spring after many sessions of physical therapy and started to move back up, I did two weeks of intensive at my school and now have been working hard at home. In august I’m moving to England and want to audition for the royal ballet school. I have really good balance, extension, turnout, and understanding, but I’m worried I’m too old to start and because I’m not en pointe I won’t be excepted. I will be starting at a smaller school, in grade/level 4-5 and hope to get en pointe and then consult the teacher about auditions 

 

[Jan McNulty]

Hello @Balletbee123 and welcome to the Forum!

 

Can I ask if your parents/guardians are aware you have joined the Forum as we usually recommend people get their permission if they are under 16.

[Balletbee123]

Oh I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware, but yes they know now, and I just really care about ballet and need this question answered and peoples opinions and then I will leave

[Jan McNulty]

1 hour ago, Balletbee123 said:

Oh I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware, but yes they know now, and I just really care about ballet and need this question answered and peoples opinions and then I will leave

 

 

You don't have to leave.  I am sure you will find lots to read and to contribute to the Forum!

[EverHopeful]

Welcome @Balletbee123 

wishing you lots of happiness and success in your ballet journey 

[Balletbee123]

Does anyone have any suggestions? Do u think it’s too late to start?

[DancingtoDance]

It's never too late to start ballet! 

 

As for becoming a professional dancer in ballet, I am not an expert but from what I've read it might be too late to become professional ballet dancer and most professional ballet dancers started younger than your age, but it may not be impossible if you have great aptitude and are able to get quality and quantity training at the pre-vocational or vocational level right away. A career in other forms of dance might be more realistic than ballet for late starters. Getting into professional dance training is also no guarantee of getting a job as a dancer. 

 

I also suggest that if you, your parents and teacher all agree it is a good idea to audition for a vocational ballet school, that you audition for more schools than just The Royal Ballet School to increase your chances of getting in a school. It might be a good idea to also look into and audition for associate ballet programs and if you decide to continue training over the summer, selective summer intensives to get an idea of how realistic your chances of getting into vocational ballet training may be, where you stand among your peers and if you get in a chance to improve your ballet technique even more. To be honest, the chances are likely that you have a lot of catching up in terms of technique to do starting so late, but there have been at least a few people starting at around 13 who have became professional ballet and other dancers, or who have gotten into dance universities. Personally I think having done other forms of dance might help you in learning ballet (I don’t know about in becoming professional), but I am not an expert.  

 

I think it is important to let your teacher know about your goals as soon as you can, so that they are able to prepare you properly and to get an idea of whether they think your ambitions are realistic. And as you say, to get their help regarding the audition process! And if you haven't already discuss them with your parents because you can't do this without them :). 

 

Even if you don't become a professional ballet dancer, there still might be other careers where you can incorporate your passion for ballet. For example, becoming a dance teacher if you have a desire to teach, ballet costume designer, dance nutritionist, dance therapist, dance critic etc (I'm not saying that these jobs are necessarily easy to get either, but they could be a possible source of more options).

 

I also suggest that other than perhaps home stretching if your teacher agrees that is a good idea, that you stop any home ballet practice especially if you are seriously considering a career in dance, because as a beginner in ballet, it is easy to build bad habits without a teacher's eyes which could lead to you having spend longer to unlearn bad technique than to learn proper ballet technique. Also, it could become easier to get injured at home if you are dancing with improper technique and without the proper equipment and flooring. 

Edited July 20 by DancingtoDance

[trog]

In the early days of the internet, Usenet was precursor to forums. The wonderful Tom Parsons curated the ballet faq, which upon his sad death was archived with Gaynor Minden's site. From the faq

 

3.3. I'm in my early twenties; it it too late for me to start a professional career in ballet?

It's not impossible--it has been done before--but the odds are against it. Leigh Witchel offers more details: The average age of a woman starting ballet is between eight and eleven, of a man, often in his teens. Later is not unheard of; Melissa Hayden began at 15, Igor Youskevitch at 22. A word of warning, however: As you grow older, developing flexibility is infinitely more difficult. If you do not have a natural facility, you will be fighting an uphill battle the whole way and may find the pain too great to be worth it.

 

Also, for a woman, developing the ankle strength and articulation of the feet necessary for pointe work takes around five years, which adds another handicap. Moreover, at the onset of training, you can really only take so many classes a week without risking injury. So the roads of an amateur and professional do not diverge until at least a little way into training. At that point, take a good look at what you are doing, your progress in relation to others, and how happy it is making you. Are you ready to play a game of catch-up that may be sisyphean?

 

It may be worth the struggle.

[Kate_N]

It's never too late to start. And at 14, you have the opportunity to really lean and enjoy ballet and other forms of dance. Sadly, no-one has a crystal ball, so we can't tell you whether you'll be able to turn your love of dance into a way to earn your living.

 

Remember there are lots of ways to work in dance, other than at the Royal Ballet. And there are many other ballet schools in Britain than just the Royal Ballet School. 

[Colman]

It’s also impossible to become a professional for almost all those kids who started at 4, so I wouldn’t worry about that part, it’s pure survival bias. 
 

All you can do is settle down, get a good teacher and do the work as guided by them for a couple of years. Take the opportunities you can for further training and experience and see what happens. Do it because you love it and see where it goes - and don’t be intimidated by the younger kids who are far better than you.

[Ruby Foo]

It would depend on accessibility to really good teachers, how many lessons you can get to, whether you ( your parents) have the financial means to support your training plus all the extras including the occasional intensive ( flights, accommodation, shoes etc) your own physical potential and mental strength and ability.

Theres been some great advice on here already which I would also endorse. Find the best teachers you can, work hard, use your intelligence and love and enjoy your dancing.

When you start late you have to find ways of getting the experience you need which is not always straightforward. Some of the smaller training establishments ( make sure they are reputable) may give you more personal time and patience to help you grow and develop and catch up to the level you need to be. Don't be fooled by the prestige of certain establishments, they may not be the most helpful to you right now. 
I do know a student who started very late and was successful but she had everything I mentioned in the first paragraph and it was by no means easy. Keeping your love and joy of dancing for dancing's sake is the most rewarding part.

[Trumpeting Violinist]

I second all previous posters in that it's never too late to start ballet, but it's difficult for all to make it a career, irrespective of the age they started.

 

Another thing to consider is going through puberty and body changes (shifting centre of gravity etc). Joining a highly competitive school and coping with all these changes at the same time may not be ideal. It might be too much pressure, especially for someone who's not used to classical ballet drill from an early age. As Ruby Foo suggested before, maybe cast your net wider, and not just for the time being but in the long run too, especially as you are an international student. The UK is not the best place for a career in ballet as it's a small country with not so many ballet companies, and the pay rates in the arts sector generally are such that it's hard to make a living. There may be better options elsewhere if your parents do wider research. From the school my daughter goes to, the most serious pupils went to study abroad when they were 15-16, even after going to RBS for a few years, or just skipping RBS.

Good luck in your ballet journey!

[LinMM]

I think Balletbee123 you have set yourself very high standards to be aiming for the RBS as in reality because of your foot injury you have only been learning ballet for six months or even less!!! 
If you were only 10/11 this wouldn’t matter so much but at nearly 14 I think the school would expect more knowledge than you currently have. 

I  would suggest you get a good few years teaching under your belt however you choose to do this and wouldn’t consider auditioning for the Royal until you are 16 ….so for upper school if you are still keen to be at that  school by then. 
Otherwise the suggestions others have made here are best to follow. 

Good luck with it all!!! 
Let us know how you are getting on anyway. 

[Emeralds]

@Balletbee123, 13 isn't too old to start ballet - but there's a difference between weekly or casual classes and serious training with a teacher or coaches who know how to train a professional dancer. It's not even necessary to attend a full time or boarding school like Royal Ballet School White Lodge or Paris Opera Ballet's school - many principal dancers nowadays eg Sarah Lamb of RB, didn't train in one. 

 

The usual examples or advice you will hear of or read about is to start full time training at age 9 to 11, but there are acrually a number of examples of dancers who didn't eg Melissa Hamilton (RB), Misty Copeland (ABT), and the great Natalia Makarova. Hamilton had weekly lessons only till age 16, while  Copeland began ballet at 15, Makarova had not had any ballet lessons until she was 13. 

 

You will need good teachers who know how to train an adolescent at an accelerated pace safely and successfully, and who are willing to do it or have the space to do it. I think it's only fair to warn you that RBS might not agree - or they might. RBS have hundreds and hundreds of applicants who are the same young age and may not agree to the inconvenience of training a student who started late, no matter how physically gifted she is. I would advise you to apply to Elmhurst and Tring Park as well just in case. 

 

Nearly all successful ballerinas who started ballet late aged 13 to 15 had a gymnastics background and I would definitely recommend that you continue your gymnastics training as the flexibility/extension it gives you, strength in the ankles and core strength are very valuable in ballet. 

 

At age 13-15, the school or coach/teachers taking on your training for the next few years have a better idea of whether you are physically likely to be able to develop into a full time dancer- they will look at your physique (a dancer needs long limbs, a well proportioned body for dance, light frame, lean physique, good line, feet that point well), the strength of your joints,  and flexibility. They look for musicality and expression but are more likely to reject or select on the physical requirements rather than the latter two.

 

The lack of pointe work at age 13 is not an issue. The lack of pointe work at age 15 plus to age 16 would be. 

 

My advice would be for you to continue your ballet and gymnastics training, do research on the dancers I mentioned above (Hamilton, Lamb, Copeland) and any others you know who started late, get in touch with RBS, Elmhurst and Tring early about your unusual circumstances. Students do audition from abroad nowadays with videos and photos being so easy to send digitally. They will need to see you in person too. Also, you should prepare yourself for the fact that the coaches/teachers willing to train a late beginner might not be in Britain or a standard residential ballet school but a private coach or in another country. 

 

Even when started at the "usual" age, a career in ballet is extremely difficult to attain- sometimes it is physical and you can't do anything about how the body develops due to your genes, and sometimes it is related to not being able to progress during training (whether due to the training or the student). It's very tough- a profession where basically only the best of the best will get a job in classical ballet. It's worth going for it if you love it and can't or don't wish to do another career, but there are lots of obstacles and challenges along the way. Good luck! 

Edited July 20 by Emeralds

[LinMM]

I don’t think Balletbee123 does have a history of gymnastics though …another dance style was mentioned but don’t know whether this dance style has contributed to any flexibility or strength that classical ballet requires. 
 

[DVDfan]

I'm sorry,  but "can't have a different career "? Everyone and anyone can have a career that's not classical ballet, surely?

[Raquelle]

Hello.

 

My dd has just turned 14 so is going into year 10 (the year above yourself). She is in a vocational school (not rbs). 

I think given your age you'd be going into year 9.

 

My dd got into her school in year 7 during covid....so not 100% sure on how auditions work here now...., but keep an eye out in sept/October as you often need to apply/go through pre screening sometimes then there is a few rounds of auditions. Not sure if you're international whether you're allowed to do video submission, but there are normally a few stages and I'm assuming you'd have to come to a final audition.

 

I wouldn't panick too much about pointe work. You will have to do some pointe work at that age, but I doubt you'd be asked to do anything too complicated so you have a few months to work on that. You'd have to work very hard if starting late, but as others have said, there are some who have made it....

 

As the other posters have suggested, it is very competitive to get into ballet schools....My dd applied in year 7 to royal ballet and got to finals - they only take around 14 girls each year....she didnt get in and there is no feedback as to why....in year 9 they all reaudition for their place in royal ballet, so if you audition you would be competing against current students and people from across the world. In my dd school (elmhurst) we were told you have around a 1 in 10 chance of succeeding in audition so other schools also competitive, but not quite as hard to get into as royal. 

 

I'd have a chat to teachers about whether you've got the potential for ballet and go from there. Summer schools etc are a great way to see where you are compared to other people your age.

 

Good luck with everything. 

[Balletbee123]

Thank you so much everyone and btw I do have a gymnastics history and I did ballet for three years when I was 3 to 6! I will look into those other schools mentioned!

[LinMM]

It’s just you didn’t mention your full history in your first post but thanks for updating now. 

[glowlight]

Welcome @Balletbee123. You've got loads of fantastic advice here. All I can add is to make sure your parents are aware of your goal and are supportive of it. It is likely to cost lots of money, and a big time commitment from them to get you to where you want to be.

 

When you move to the UK you will find there are lots of other opportunities for trainee dancers as well as the Royal Ballet School and it's worth exploring things like associate programmes and summer schools run by the major schools. You'll read lots about these on this forum.

 

But first things first. Make sure you get a good local ballet school to give you the grounding you need and to help you build your technique. Make sure your teacher knows from the start that you are serious about a career in dance. In terms of exams, whilst it certainly isn't essential to do exams or follow an exam syllabus to become a ballet dancer, if you are going to be taking exams see if your teacher can put you in for the vocational syllabus exams (eg intermediate foundation, intermediate etc)  instead of the graded syllabus exams (Grade 4, 5, 6 etc). The vocational syllabus includes pointe work. I don't think the graded syllabus does (but I'm prepared to be corrected on that).

 

Good luck with your move and with you new life in England

[LinMM]

Vocational exams don’t come in until Grade 6 I believe. As you can take intermediate foundation when you reach this level. 
Once in vocational grades pointework is compulsory whereas I’m pretty sure it isn’t in Grade 7 and 8 BBO and RAD. 
However when attending classes generally pointe work  is usually introduced around end of grade 5 year or when the teacher thinks you are ready after this so you can still learn pointework in grade classes but it isn’t compulsory. 
Unless things have changed in the last  seven years as I haven’t attended a graded class for that long now! 


 

[TYR]

"It’s also impossible to become a professional for almost all those kids who started at 4, so I wouldn’t worry about that part, it’s pure survival bias."

Very good point.