Career Development Plan - Perfect Body to Make it in Ballet

by fresca
(boston)

Career Development Plan - Perfect Body to Make it in Ballet

Dear Odette
I am really worried about my body, because I know I can't change it. I'm a good dancer I'm small for my age( I'm 15) but I'm a late developer. I have average length legs. I'm on the skinny side, overall I'm pretty well off. But my question is: Do you have to have a perfect body to make it in dance?Do you have to have wicked long legs?
Thank you

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Reply by Odette
To:- Career Development Plan - Perfect Body to Make it in Ballet

Hi Fresca,
Thank you for your message, I am glad you contacted me. Especially because this is a subject which many dancers worry about, whether young or older, it can always be a questioning matter for any dancer.

The truth is, there is a certain range in a dancer's body that allows it to fit with the physique expected in classical ballet. Not all ballet dancer's have to look exactly the same, because we all have different bodies and we are allowed to! Yet you will typically see most professional ballet dancers look similar with lean muscles, long limbs and athletic body types.

It isn't a co-incidence, because ballet training is what helps sculpt this certain body type into a similar build that goes hand in hand with the demands of the training. Can you imagine training in ballet for at least another four years and think about how your body might change?

Your body will not only naturally mature and develop, but also grow within the technique of dance too. Your muscles will strengthen, your core will get stronger and your posture will be even better. The ballet training you do will inevitably give an effect to how your body grows and how it will develop through the years.

Of course though, you have to be studying ballet enough to make a difference to your body. Ballet dancer's who have made it have spent continuous years training everyday and all day for mostly all of their life. Their body is trained into a work of art and a tool for dance.

You do not have to have a perfect body, but a good enough one that fits into this range for classical dance. There are many dancer's who have made with others having longer legs, or an even better body. Becoming successful in ballet is not purely on how perfect your body is. You have to think about how you can use the body you have been given and how you can work it into becoming a fine artist and dancer.

Best wishes,
Odette