Every once in a while, young people learning dance write me and ask how to become a professional dancer, and if I think they have a chance. While nearly impossible to answer, there are a couple general facts about how to become a dancer, and I thought ‘d give some general advise here:

You’ve got to want it!
 And when I say want it, I mean really bad!! It’s not easy being a dancer. Apart from physical demands, like technique, shape, weight and so on, there’s a huge mental pressure involved too. It’s hard to find stable jobs, you have to relate to (sometimes difficult) people, choreographers, bosses and other dancers all the time. Usually, a rehearsal-schedule lasts for a week. That gives you an idea of how your day will look for a week ahead, no more. I hardly know how my next weeks will look like, not to mention months or years. And then there’s contracts. Usually short ones. A lot of dancers, at least for periods of their career, are almost constantly looking for jobs – if not for now, then for when your engagement with your current theatre ends. It’s tiring living like this. Read my post on a typical day in my life to get to know a bit more on that…

Of course, there are good sides to it, too! Every once in a while, dancing is the most awarding thing on the planet for a dancer. I wish I could say it’s like this every day, but truth is, those are moments. A great performance, an achievement in the studio – there are different things that “set’s us off”, but we all have those moments where the pieces fall together, moments of joy! But behind each of these moments there is lots of hard work (and often lots of frustration, too). To become a dancer, these moments got to be worth all the work that goes in them. The juice just has to be worth the squeeze, so to speak. Because if it doesn’t, there’s just no reason for doing it – I wish I could say you get rich, famous and attracted as a dancer, but truth is rather the contrary..

Daria Klimentova, English National Ballet principle.

You’ve got to work!
 Although a good teacher will help you a lot, learning to dance is a lot about repetition. We practice basic steps until they are boring, and then some. Throughout a whole career, dancers starts the day with the same movements they did the first day in a ballet-studio. If I had a dime, no, a cent for every time I’ve done a tendu, I wouldn’t have had to work again for the rest of my life!

Also, strength is important. To become a dancer, you need to do lots of strengthening exercises. Different to a lot of sports, the strengthening training done by dancers are not really about resistance or special techniques, but again, it’s in the repetitions. Do port de bras ’til you want to puke, and they will be better next time you’re in class. Do that every day, then we’re talking – but pay attention to the technique! Random movements won’t help you! Relevés, core strengthening and point/flex exercises are other things a dancer (or someone that want to become one) just can’t do too many of. Check out my post on gym routines for male dancers if you want to read more

Then, there is class, the most important time of your training! Get the most out of every class. Come prepared, warmed up and ready to work, and try to make every second in there be about you developing as a dancer! If you did your exercises, you’ll be strong enough not to think about strength, but focus entirely on the technique and the corrections from the teacher. It won’t happen over night, but slowly, with effort, your skills will improve. Then it’s really just up to you how far you want to take it!

In the end, there is no easy answer to a question like “do you think I can become a ballet dancer?”. Everyone is different, and I don’t want to lie – ballet is not for everyone. But if dancing is something you enjoy, I say give it a go! There’s nothing wrong with trying and failing! The people I respect the most, are those who really try, regardless of the results. And think about this: Today, people change jobs all the time. Adults go to school, learn new things, and might have several careers during their life. To work as a professional dancer, and especially a ballet-dancer, is something you can do only when young. Isn’t it better to know you have tried, and maybe found out you want to do something different, than to do something different, and regret you didn’t try?

Go for it, and let me know how you are doing!
Ta-ta

H

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