Career Development Plan - Professional Late Beginners

by Claudia

Career Development Plan - Professional Late Beginners

I wanted to know if there has been any cases where an individual took up ballet in their teens to continue professionally...is it really that rare, like concert pianist starting after 8 years? Thankyou!

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Reply by Odette

To:- Career Development Plan - Professional Late Beginners

Hello Claudia,

Thank you for contacting me, it is great to hear from you.

Despite the emphasis on how young dancers have to start training in order to reach professional, there are many cases where an individual has started in their teens to continue professionally.

Misty Copeland is one perfect example, as Misty started ballet later at 13 and it was at this age when she made her decision to become a professional ballet dancer. Misty is now a top ballet dancer with the renowned ballet company, American Ballet Theatre.

There are many different stages to becoming a professional dancer and you can start training at a vocational school at the age of 11 or 12. However, even though vocational dance schools include academics too, many parents prefer for their children to committ to their academic studies before they live away from home to train in ballet.

Therefore, many dancers start training at the later of 15 or 16 to join a vocational dance school. In this case, these dancers have usually trained locally at their dance school and then made the transition to more intense training for the next few years.

It varies hugely at what age dancers take on ballet, and also what age they start to take it more seriously.

You ask a very interested question, which I hope other visitors will contribute their experiences too.

Best Wishes,

Odette

ps. To become the best dancer you can be, learn the Seven Secrets ..... go to my 'Seven Secrets of Ballet' page