Career Development Plan - Argentina Ballet Dancers

by cande
(Buenos Aires)

Career Development Plan - Argentina Ballet Dancers

What to do?

Hi odette, well i am a young dancer from argentina and i have been feeling lost and with some anguish, since in my country it is difficult to success in the world of ballet. Yet, my dance teacher is really supportive as well as my family and that it is why i am willing to leave Argentina and go to another country so as to enter a ballet company.

Until now, everything seems right, yet, i don't really know where can i go, i don't know which country to choose, neither which company to try to enter... i have been feeling really confused and sad for a while and i don't know with whom to talk about it. I would really appreciate if you could help me in my situation, just to give me a little bit of advise.

I would like to tell you that I LOVE BALLET, every time i enter a ballet class i forget about everything, i am in another world, where i can feel free and happy.

Something i would also like to tell you is that i have been taking ballet classes since i was a little child, meaning 5 years old, now a day i am 16. ( i thought it was important for you to know)

My future decision will involve a classical ballet company, since although i like modern dance my passion is the classical ballet.

Thanks you in advance for everything, writing to you has really help me.

With love, Cande


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Reply by Odette

To:- Career Development Plan - Argentina Ballet Dancers

Hi there Cande,

Thank you very much for writing so openly to me, I feel so pleased I can be here to guide young, aspiring ballet dancers like you. I would be more than happy to help you in your situation.

You have made the right move by discussing your worries, as we should never keep those feelings tangled up inside. I understand you must be feeling confused or frustrated as our future decisions are a big deal. I expect you must mostly feel overwhelmed with the possibilities of the future, as it seems there so many options, it is hard to know which one will be right for you.

It is great your dance teacher and family are supportive. This is a huge help with following our passion as we always need someone that is willing to support us through our dreams.

It is not uncommon for ballet dancers to have to leave their countries in order to pursue their ballet dreams, so that is a very responsible choice you have realized. You are 16, so there are still a few more years of ballet training left until you can enter any professional dance company. Therefore, you need to look into various vocational ballet schools which will provide a solid training course to support your future decision in ballet.

It is a great thing that you are realizing your career dreams and finding your passion. What we can do now is take one step at a time. Listen to this quote:

“To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping”

This is especially true in the ballet world. We may all have that one future goal, and one passion, but to make it happen we can only take one step at a time.

First, you need to find a vocational ballet school to provide you with your next few years of training. Let your dance teacher help with choosing different places and organizing auditions. There is a lot of tough competition with current ballet dancers, so the more places you audition, the better. If you can make this first step happen, you can then move onto which dance companies you should try to enter - take one step at a time.

This may well mean going to another country to get the training you need. I know countries like England have a high standard of training and commonly accept international students. There are places such as, The Royal Ballet School, Elmhurst School for Dance, English National Ballet School and Northern Ballet School.

Do not forget the great ballerina, Marianela Núñez. She is now a highly successful principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, London. She also came from Argentina and was born in San Martín, Buenos Aires. Let her be your inspiration!

You clearly have a very special passion and I am truly inspired by your love of ballet. Always remember that wonderful feeling you get when you dance, this is a rare gift. Keep believing and follow your dream.

So it is time to Take Action and make your dream a reality. Remember, it is absolutely crucial to be mentally prepared for a professional ballet career. It highly depends on your self-motivation to how you succeed in becoming a professional ballet dancer. The Seven Secrets, on the 'Seven Secrets of Ballet' page, will give you the key answers of how to thrive in the ballet world.

Please keep in touch, I am here to help you along the way.

All the best,

Odette

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Career Development Plan - Argentina Ballet Dancers
by: Cande

Dearest Odette,

I do really appreciate your answer, it has really help me to remove a lot of the weight i was carrying, since now i know that i am not alone in this, i have you (:

Your answer has really help me to organize my mind, yet, i have a problem, with your solution. Although it seems it is the best one, my ballet teacher prefers me to stay in the country under her classes, rather than preparing myself for entering a vocational school. She believes that she is preparing myself in a professional way, due to the fact that i am taking ballet classes 6 day a week, each one of two hours and a half. Besides i am also taking biomecanic, jazz, stretching ( since flexibility is my flaw), and a little bit of contemporary dance. Moreover i have been studying pointe work for 6 years.

I don't know if my ballet teacher is in the right way, meaning, i don't know if it is better for myself to try to enter a vocational school or directly in some few years trying in a ballet company. What's your opinion?

Changing a little bit of topic, i do really love Marianela Ñunez! she is kind of a ballet fairy to me! Paloma Herrera is also a ballerina i love, let me tell you that i got the pleasure of meeting her personally! and not just one, like three times! in fact i have a pair of her ballet pointe shoes, which were used in Don Quijote. This is because she is kind of a friend of my ballet teacher because both of them had studied with Olga Ferri.

Concluding, after reading your lovely answer, i believe i understood that you recommend myself to focus my mind on England for my future, don't you? It is a nice country, with a really good ballet.

Thank you for everything, i would be waiting for your reply.
Lots of love,
Cande
Career Development Plan - Argentina Ballet Dancers
by: Odette

Hi Cande,

Thank you for your reply, it is great we are continually communicating as I am able to get more familiar with your ideas and intentions.

Odette will always have many solutions! Now that I am getting more of an idea of your circumstances, I can begin to give more personal solutions to suit you.

You are clearly on a very committed training regime. Are there many other dancers in your classes? Or is it private tuition? Either way, it looks as though you are doing just as much as dancers who are in a vocational school. .

I have many good opinions on vocational ballet schools, probably because I trained at one myself. Firstly, a lot of them are associated with a ballet company which can be beneficial for the future career. As students often get chosen to work with the company in various performances, it gives you a real insight to what company life is like, and can also get you noticed with the company.

Also, I often found in the ballet world, it can be a lot about the 'name', such as which school you have trained from. For example, if students have trained somewhere like the Royal Ballet School, it can benefit them in finding a job, as directors will know the high standard on training that's pursued there.

I suppose my answer may have influenced towards England, but only because many internal ballet dancers have become successful over there such as Marianela Ñunez. What I would recommend you to focus on, however, is your training and mental approach. The process to become a professional ballet dancer is very extensive and I can not emphasize enough the importance of being self-motivated. Again, the answers are in my seven secrets to how you can obtain this inclusive drive.

Keep in mind, this is all only my opinion, and there are so many different thoughts on the topic of ballet. My opinion is, you seem to be under extremely good guidance under your ballet teacher, so I would perhaps continue under her direction. If she is willing to support you when you try for ballet companies, then this will very encouraging as your ballet teacher may have 'contacts' in the ballet world to get you noticed with various companies.

How spectacular you have met such aspiring ballerinas! This can all continue to give you inspiration and spur your determination to succeed!

All the best,

Odette
Career Development Plan - Argentina Ballet Dancers
by: Cande

Hi odette!

I am really happy of being able to have someone to trust on.

I am, taking classes with other girls. We are not much in my level, yet, on saturday mornings i usually go a to class below my level, but you know, just for training and as you say, to better my "basics" since i have learnt that that is a very important thing to take in mind. So do you believe i am in the right way? What would you do in my situation? Meaning, would you stay and do what your dance teacher says, or would you disobey her? Being really honest, i don't know if i have the confidence in myself or the valour to desobey her, because she is like, a mother to me, my second mother, my "mother of ballet" (:

Now, after having it talked with someone else, after knowing that you believe that it could be a the right choice to stay with my teacher, i believe my ballet teacher is right, Yet, you are also right in the fact that if a ballerina has attended a vocational ballet school, is not the same if she has not. So that makes me feel, i don't know, less? Or as if i would not be able to reach my dream.

I would love to read your seven secrets, yet, after asking for them by entering my mail, i was not able to open it in the correct format in my computer so i was not able to read them. As a consequence i have already asked for them again, but i didn't receive them. Should i ask for them again? What would happen if the format does not coincide with my computer, is there a way to change that?

Well, i hope i have mumbled for to long. again, THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUU,
lots of love,
cande
Career Development Plan - Argentina Ballet Dancers
by: Odette

Hi Cande,

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, it is always beneficial to often go back to the basics as these fundamental elements are the core of our technique.

It is somewhat hard to say what I would do in your situation, but what I would do at this stage, is have a real serious conversation with your ballet teacher and tell her your honest feelings. Explain your worries about whether to stay in Argentina, or try for a vocational dance school. Don't think that you are disobeying her, as this is your dream and your future career.

What is most important, is you do what you want and what you feel is right. This may be hard to know at first, but if you really concentrate your thoughts, you will give yourself a solution.

One thing that used to help me in making decisions, was to get a piece of paper and write the advantages and disadvantage to all my options. So, write the positive things about staying in Argentina, and write the things that are drawing you back. Then, write the positive things about going to a vocational dance school, and next write the downsides. See what the lists balance out to be like, and really reflect on all these thoughts.

We can not prepare ourselves for the unknown, so it is often difficult to know what choices will be best to reach our dreams. Imagine yourself in each situation and try to visualize which choices you see yourself making.

Regarding my seven secrets, I have emailed you another copy which will hopefully enable you to read it. Let me know if you are still having problems.

All the best,

Odette

Thanks... Again
by: cande

Dearest Odette, what to say? thanks, thanks, thanks, not other word can cross my mid right know. Although i was not able todo what to told me to, that thig about the advantages and disadvantages of each choise, i would do it as soon as i can and i would write to you (:
Know, actually, i was just writing to tell you that your seven secrets ARE GREAT! becuase although they are things i probably knew due to my life expirence at school, or with my family, or even at my ballet clases, I like, i have never tryed to put them on practice in my ballet world.
So as not to exten muy comment talking about how fantastics they are, because you already know that, lol, i just wanted to say THANK YOU. let me tell you that this words came directly from my heart to yours.
I really appreciate you,
Lots of love, XOXO
cande

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