My daugther is just in love with ballet.
Somehow I can't see sendign her to college for a dance degree. If she makes it as a dancer, great (only 2% of dancers can find a dance job when they done being trained.)
Then again AFTER her dance career maybe, she can get a different degree. I just don't know.
Any Freeper's with some experience in the dance world?
(Propably a strecth, but I thought I try)
>>Any Freeper's with some experience in the dance world?
I don't, but I know aerobics instructors who pull down pretty good money teaching to rich housewives in their homes. And gigs at the local exercise facilities also help supplement. Obviously not something you can do forever, but she should take some business classes and maybe turn it into her own business.
I think that the dance/college question will solve itself because if your daughter isn't dancing professionally by age 18, she never will. The road into that field is through the professional children's school of a major dance company (I think that New York's American Ballet Theater has one, and I know the Houston Ballet has one-- most other major companies do as well, I believe.) If that isn't an avenue available to your daughter, for whatever reason, then her chances of making it professionally are almost non-existent. The good thing, though, is that she'll know it early enough that she can find another career field.
Of course, just because someone can't dance professionally doesn't mean that she can't make a living in the field-- she could start her own local dance school, work for a major company in a non-dance job, etc.. But like any performing field, there will be very, very few stars, a few more minor performers (chorus for a few years), and a LOT of people who wanted it but just didn't have what it took. For ballet, you know, a big part of that is just the right body style-- if someone has that, I think the next big requirement is a passionate desire.
Good luck to her!
Well, some. My mother has been a professional dancer for 50 years, but on the contemporary dance side, not ballet. So you need to take this with the understanding that conditions may be different on the ballet side (there's probably more money for salaries, for one thing - which ain't saying much. Dance is not for folks who want to make a killing, or even a good living. Mom always relied on the fact that my dad worked too to put food on the table, or we probably would have all starved!)
Dance is very, very hard to break into. Your daughter has to be old enough to realize what a life-changing decision this is, and she has to really have the fire in the belly to put up with the dull scut work of being low man on the totem pole for YEARS, with very little pay and extremely stressful working conditions. There's also the problem of her health - anorexia and on the job injuries could not only end her career, they could trouble her for the rest of her life.
You don't say how old she is, or where you live, but here's what I would do. If she is studying with a teacher connected with a dance company, I would meet with her teacher and the director of the company and get a brutally realistic assessment of her talent, body type (this is crucial in ballet, less so in CD), work ethic, and her chances of "making it" as a professional dancer in a regional or local company. If her instructor is not affiliated with a company, I would make an appointment with the director or ballet master of a local company and ask for an evaluation/consultation. Offer to pay a consultation fee.
If the signs are right and she is really determined to make a go of it, you should look into apprenticeships/scholarships offered by local or regional companies. There's no point in looking at the national companies unless she has a really incredible talent - and I assume she doesn't because she would already be being recruited in that case. Most companies have periodic auditions for apprenticeship spots.
The important things are to have a heart-to-heart with her teacher and to research the positions that might be available to her.
If she isn't willing to go to the wall for dance, there are plenty of alternatives. Plenty of good colleges offer a dance program that you can participate in while you're working towards a degree in something a little more practical.
I took that route myself. I am physically not cut out to be a dancer - short and stocky with a long torso and short legs, the exact opposite of what you need (I took after my dad, but my daughter is leggy and willowy like my mom. My son is short and stocky like my dad and me. So relieved it didn't turn out the other way!) So I took courses in dance at my college and graduated with an Honors degree in History (went on to law school) and a Certificate in Theatre and Dance. I enjoyed myself and kept up my dance, and I have continued to dance socially (in Scottish Country Dancing, which is a blast, and you can keep it up into your old age.)
FWIW, a friend's daughter was very into ballet in high school (to the point that she was dancing star roles in a regional company) but she decided to go to business school. She may eventually get into the dance business, but not on the performance end.
I was in love with ballet way back when, and studied at a school which sent a significant number of students on to professional careers with major companies. If she doesn't have a full scholarship to a school affiliated with a professional company by the time she's 16, with the company's directors telling you that she has a serious chance of getting into the company, she should forget about it, and just enjoy ballet as a healthy hobby. Let her find this out the hard way, if she has to. But don't waste a penny on any college program related to dance. I've never heard of a professional ballet dancer who had even briefly pursued such a degree, much less actually obtained one. Save the money for when your daughter has done her own reality check, and wants to go to college to learn something that will actually get her a job.
Even if she is one of tiny number who gets a position in a professional company, making a salary that she can get by on, that will only be for a few years. Then it will be time for college and preparation for a serious long term career. It's much better to go to college in your 30s and do it seriously, than to do it at the usual age and just waste a lot of time and money with nothing to show for it.
No personal experience, but my four year old daughter is taking a dance class (she's a ballerina!) and here's an observation. Her class has 10 or so other munchkins in it and is affiliated with the YMCA. Class costs $120 for 8 weeks, and meets once a week. She also teaches 7 other classes of differing experience levels, each of which meets for an hour a week, same number of students. So, for a total of 8 hours of actual instruction per week, 6 class cycles per year, she pulls in close to $60K. Not bad for doing what you love. Oh and she sells the shoes and tutus too, so she gets a commission on the sales.
One of my best friends has made a fortune teaching dance, ballet, tap, jazz, etc. She opened her own dance studio. She loves it!