rachelv

My 10 year old DD now says she will drop jazz dance after I told her we can't do ballet on top of everything else she has going on.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have taken note of them and will follow up on them soon. Will also ask the ballet schools here if they have any other boys in their classes as my son doesn't like being the only boy either. Pilates is a good idea. I never thought of that. Will try looking around for any classes that might take her.

Just wanted to thank all of you who have responded so far. It certainly has given me lots to think about. As it is the Christmas/New Year period, schools are closed so I'd have to wait till January to make enquiries. There are a few ballet schools in my town when I Googled but I have no clue as to how good or reputable they are. I will try and look through the forum to find the helpful tips on what to look for in a ballet school. Previously in the other town we live in, I only picked the ballet school because a friend who was local told me that was *the* school to put my children in. So basically I just put my kids in based on 1 recommendation from a friend I trusted! I don't really have a clue to be honest. I am also interested in putting my son back in ballet again to try and turn his feet out. He is 8 and has always had inturned feet. I put him in ballet years ago in that school when he was 4 but he was a fussy, sensitive child and became really unhappy with the staff changes - didn't like the new teacher - and refused to go again so we left it at that. Incidentally my teen daughter who now has scoliosis has been adviced to take up some dancing or yoga to strengthen her core and she is saying she would like to try ballet again for this purpose. She quit 8 years ago as a Grade 1 and never really was very keen on dancing but her recent health issues have somehow changed her a bit. I don't suppose there is anything much for her though ballet wise is there, at this age, as a near beginner? I was wondering if adult ballet might be a possibility when she turns 16 soon?

*is NOT for the faint-hearted.

I have a 10 year old daughter who after seeing the Nutcracker ballet, has been asking for weeks to have ballet lessons again. She had done ballet, tap lessons when she was 5 and 6 years old and was in Pre Primary and Primary ballet. Then we moved away and she had not done ballet since. However she has been doing gymnastics, taekwondo, and violin the past 2 years. She is an avid cyclist as well. In the last year she started jazz dancing and the teacher moved her from beginner level to intermediate after about 2 months. Yes she is pretty sporty and all her previous and present dance teachers have thought she is a quick learner. She is also musical, loves music and shows promise (is a grade 4 now after 2 years but she says she prefers more physical activity to "sitting down stuff" like violin if she had to choose). She is precise with her actions. Also slim and still muscular in build. Only thing is she is small for her age. In her jazz dance class she is easily smallest in class and many girls are her age or older. She cannot do full splits yet though more due to not working at it than anything else. She can almost full split sideways and needs to stretch more to do a front split fully. She has high arches and banana feet. Etc. She wants to dance at ENB (probably still starstruck from the performance...) but I believe her height will stop her if she remains quite short and don't know if I should pander to her wish for ballet now as it is costly and will add yet another trip I have to juggle a week (I have 3 kids all involved in various afterschool music and sport).. however this is a child who has decided she wants to dance or do something athletic-related for a living when she grows older. If I do sign her up for classes, what should I look for? If they say she should start at Grade 1 (and this is something she is not keen at because she thinks she will be in a class full of 6 year olds), is that the better route than say going in at her age group which is maybe at grade 3 level? I think she might either need to be bumped up quickly or private lessons. Not sure she would like the idea of 1 grade a year as she now really regrets not doing ballet all the way. Or do I try to scrap the idea of ballet altogether and have her just focus on the things she already is doing? She refuses to quit any of the things she already does after school, and believe it or not, I wish she would quit but seeing her so happy after the classes and progressing well, I find it hard to say no. But I am open to all suggestion really. I was trained in ballet for 5 years as a child. I believe it was good for my body and core strength, but also seen enough to know it is particularly gruelling and had seen some really harsh teachers, so am under no illusion. I know that this industry is for the faint-hearted. Incidentally my husband's cousin was a professional ballerina. In his family they think very well of this. So my husband is particularly supportive on the other hand, about my daughter restarting ballet again. I'd like to hear some opinions and hopefully they'll help me better in deciding what is best for our situation.