Dance Classes

As you can imagine, intensive dance classes are required for a career as a professional ballet dancer. It takes several years of training and uncountable dance classes to become a professional ballet dancer.

Dancing Lessons and Dance Schools

Dancers are a unique breed of people, and they need to have passion, dedication, and an iron will. Anyone considering this career should have these characteristics to enable them to withstand training, rehearsals, and injuries. To be an accomplished professional who wants to earn good money, it's advisable to train at the best ballet school that money can buy. You can then begin auditioning for a professional program. The world's great ballet masters agree that the best age to start training is nine.

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Dance Education and Training

Presently, there are no professional ballet programs anywhere in the world that enroll children under nine years of age. But, some offer rhythmical movement classes for younger children. Also, there are small community dance schools that offer ballet training to children as young as two. While most dancers start as youngsters, there are many, particularly men, who don't start until later. It is not unusual for someone to start ballet classes at the age of 22 and go on to enjoy a successful career upon graduating from dance colleges.

If a dancer has professional dance training at one of the world's prominent ballet academies, he or she can expect to have as many as six or seven classes every day. This depends on academic schooling and the level of dance training. Attending such a program usually requires the student to move away from home. Dance programs offer training in areas like ballroom dancing lessons, hip hop dance lessons, salsa dance lessons, Latin dance classes, and ballet dance class.

Some ballet academies have residences so that students can live-in while training. In other cases, students have to find their own accommodation. Although attending ballet school is one of the most fun experiences in life, it can be also be one of the hardest. This is especially true for those who have left home.

Careers in Dance

The life of a professional ballet dancer, especially one who has just started a career, may be low in pay and unpredictable. A professional dancer works on a contract basis. He or she does a class with a particular ballet company with a view to getting a job. The class serves as an audition and, afterwards, the company's director will inform the dancer if he or she is successful, or not.

If successful, a contract will be offered. This will be for a pre-determined number of weeks at a specified rate of payment. During this period, dancers may take advantage of all the benefits associated with the company. For instance, assume a young woman is offered a 30-week contract, the company will cover all immigration arrangements if she is from another country. In the ballet world, this would be considered a very good contract. It is however key to continue to take dance classes in order to remain active and fit.

Expected Salary and Projected Career Growth

As a dancer progresses, he or she may be given a soloist role in a production and earn more money. The next step up the ladder is to become a principal dancer which means that he or she is given the lead role in a production. As mentioned, there is no set earning scale for those who have graduated from dance classes as professionals. Dancing is a seasonal career, especially ballet, so many dancers teach during the off-season periods to supplement their incomes. A professional who is contracted for a 26-week period by New York City Ballet can expect to earn around $1500 a week.

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