Is 10 years old too late

[Newballetmum2020]

Hi everyone 

Hoping that I can get some much appreciated advice on this dance world. My daughter is 10 and shes been dancing for less than a year, with year. She had her first solo with her stage school at their xmas show and she completely blew me away. Her stage school has asked her to join the show group for 2020.She struggles abit a school but dance seems to be her thing. She currently has about 6 lessons a week consisting of a private, show group, acrobatics, ballet technique, contemporary jazz and shes starting grade 1 ballet because I would love for her to work towards something. Shez in year 6 I've read about vocational schools but seems maybe she wouldnt be ready for the year 7 intake. I wondered if they do intake in other years? Is 10 years old too late to start pursuing dance. If vocational school isnt option does anyone have suggestions on her to get dance career.

 

Any advice would be appreciated

[Jan McNulty]

Hello Newballetmum2020 and welcome to the Forum!

[Newballetmum2020]

Morning Jan thsnk you and happy new year x

[taxi4ballet]

A lot of auditions for Y7 entry are taking place now and in the next few weeks so it is rather late to apply this year. You may be lucky though. Have you spoken to the dance teacher and asked their advice about this?

 

If Y7 entry is not an option, then depending on where you live, there are a number of associate programmes that she could apply for. Most of those have an annual intake and you can re-audition every year.  Many students don't go into full-time training until they reach 16-18 so there's plenty of time.

 

There are other opportunities too, such as English Youth Ballet, CAT schemes, and workshops and summer schools too.

[Anna C]

Welcome from me too.  ☺️ Ten is certainly not too late for an eventual career as a dancer, especially if the aim is general dance (or musical theatre) as opposed to dancing with a classical ballet company.  

 

As Taxi says, auditions for year 7 entry in September are now well underway.  For most full-time dance schools, ballet is a major part of the audition class so a little more experience before auditioning would be advisable - not necessarily taking more exams but studying the basics so that the steps at audition won’t go over your dd’s head.  

 

Did you have any schools in mind at this stage?  

[Canary]

Only you know your daughter, so my first question I’d ask myself is whether or not my daughter was a child that would thrive in boarding school. There is a lot of research available about the impact of boarding school on the childs life and the family so maybe have a read. 
If she is, then contact the schools of your choice if you have the finances in place they will audition her 

If you don’t have the finances then you are on a different journey 

 

If it’s ballet she desires then I suggest a private Lesson with a teacher who is very experienced and will give you an honest opinion 

The forum is a great place to find such a ballet expert, once they tell you your child has all the physical attributes and facility for ballet, again you are on a different journey to some. 
sorry didn’t mean to go on but there are so many factors that will influence your decision your location and financial situation I’m afraid play quite a big part

 

[Picturesinthefirelight]

It sounds like she may be heading in a more general dance/musical theatre direction than ballet. 

 

The issue will be funding. Funding for vocational schools aged 11-16 is based on their potential in classical ballet. My Dd who isn’t classical dancer attended Hammond on a bursary but we still had to find substantial fees. Their lower school dance course was great for her but it may be a better route for your daughter would be to attend a good local school working on ballet, modern/jazz technique etc then look at post 16 options. 

 

At 16 there is more funding available via DaDa for non classical dancers and lots enter at this stage. 

[Newballetmum2020]

4 hours ago, taxi4ballet said:

A lot of auditions for Y7 entry are taking place now and in the next few weeks so it is rather late to apply this year. You may be lucky though. Have you spoken to the dance teacher and asked their advice about this?

 

If Y7 entry is not an option, then depending on where you live, there are a number of associate programmes that she could apply for. Most of those have an annual intake and you can re-audition every year.  Many students don't go into full-time training until they reach 16-18 so there's plenty of time.

 

There are other opportunities too, such as English Youth Ballet, CAT schemes, and workshops and summer schools too.

Thank you so much for your reply!!! Honestly I havent done much research in regards to schools I think I'll leave the year 7 schooling out wouldn't want to put under pressure of a last minute audition. I'm happy to know full training usually doesnt start until 16_18. I'm going to definitely look into your suggestions x

[Newballetmum2020]

1 hour ago, Picturesinthefirelight said:

It sounds like she may be heading in a more general dance/musical theatre direction than ballet. 

 

The issue will be funding. Funding for vocational schools aged 11-16 is based on their potential in classical ballet. My Dd who isn’t classical dancer attended Hammond on a bursary but we still had to find substantial fees. Their lower school dance course was great for her but it may be a better route for your daughter would be to attend a good local school working on ballet, modern/jazz technique etc then look at post 16 options. 

 

At 16 there is more funding available via DaDa for non classical dancers and lots enter at this stage. 

Thank you so much for your reply

If she wasnt going to go down the route of ballet and stay with the general musical theatre route what would her options. Shes currently at local stage school now so It might be a good idea to look into post 16.  What is your dd trained in If you dont mind me asking 

[Newballetmum2020]

1 hour ago, Canary said:

Only you know your daughter, so my first question I’d ask myself is whether or not my daughter was a child that would thrive in boarding school. There is a lot of research available about the impact of boarding school on the childs life and the family so maybe have a read. 
If she is, then contact the schools of your choice if you have the finances in place they will audition her 

If you don’t have the finances then you are on a different journey 

 

If it’s ballet she desires then I suggest a private Lesson with a teacher who is very experienced and will give you an honest opinion 

The forum is a great place to find such a ballet expert, once they tell you your child has all the physical attributes and facility for ballet, again you are on a different journey to some. 
sorry didn’t mean to go on but there are so many factors that will influence your decision your location and financial situation I’m afraid play quite a big part

 

Thank you so much for your reply 

 

Yes I dont think boarding school would be a good fit for us. We've everyone advice i i think I'll keep her with her stage school she's now In the show group I'll look into full trainingwhen shes older x

[Ruby Foo]

It’s definitely not too late but taking a carefully thought out approach with excellent teachers who have a track record of student success, would be the way to go. That way, your Dd can determine if she is continuing to enjoy the training as she goes along, rather than making a quick decision now when she is really inexperienced and knows nothing of what lies ahead in a dance career.

Most auditions at 11 yrs are around Gr 3 standard  and ballet focused, so I would advise cutting back on some of her other classes such as acrobatics and focus on the ballet technique for the time being. Feeling confident in an audition is so important to showing herself off to her best. Starting with a couple of good associate classes per week will lead the way to vocational training ( in any discipline) should she wish. 
Most vocational schools take a few pupils in each year although 11 and 16 are the main routes. Yr 10 is also popular before GCSE’s start.

Obviously, there are the physical aspects to consider too. Associates are looking for wide ranging physiques depending on where you apply but all with the promise of coping with the physical demands of Dance training.

[taxi4ballet]

A gentle word of caution (and I hope you don't mind!) - please be careful what you wish for, and go into this with your eyes open.

 

Natural talent and a trainable physique plays a large part, but it isn't the whole picture. This has to be something she really wants and is completely obsessed with and has a single-minded determination to succeed in. She will also need to be able to cope with inevitable setbacks, rejections and disappointments and take them in her stride. The dance world is an extremely tough one - both physically and mentally - and the desire to persevere has to come from her. 

[Newballetmum2020]

Of course I'm here to hear everyones opinion. But yes I 100% agree with you, shes always wanted to dance she has self taught her self so much stuff but due to Finance reasons I haven't been able to pursue dance lessons. But hard times dont last for ever and I'm in fantastic position where I can actually consistently pay for her to go multiple times in a week. Will be a year in may since she started. My daughter is quite shy and dancing has really bought her out of her shell. I just wanted to do my part and just try give her the best chance. I've spoken to her stage school now shes been picked for the show group this year just going to work on her getting more experience so definitely a vocational school is not a option for us right now. Thank you for everyones advice xxx

[Pups_mum]

It's  lovely to hear how much your daughter is enjoying her dancing and that that you are now able to send her to regular classes. You are obviously a very loving mum who wants the very best for her daughter.

10 is definitely not to late - in fact there are some very well known dancers who were late starters - but there are undeniable challenges to starting late. She will be technically behind her peers, and whilst the fact that she has been teaching herself does demonstrate that she has real drive and passion for dance, which is a very positive thing, there is a very real possibility that she has taught herself some things which are not quite right and need to be unlearned.

She sounds to be doing  several different styles of dance, some of which have rather different techniques. A 10 year old who has been dancing since they were 3 or 4 and has a good grasp of basic technique might manage a range of different genres quite comfortably, but given that your daughter has only been having lessons for 9 months or so, I think that number and range of classes sounds quite a lot. I don't want to sound too negative, or to dampen her (and your) enthusiasm, but I do wonder if there is a risk of her trying to run before she can walk?

It is natural to want to do a lot when she has had to wait for the opportunity, but sometimes less is more. I would second Valentina's suggestion that you consider cutting back on some of the other classes and focus on ballet to start with.  Whatever shape her dancing life eventually takes, it needs solid foundations.  Ballet is that foundation, providing a platform for most other dance genres. A building based on shaky foundations may be ok til it reaches a certain height but then it can be built no further or it will fall - dancing is much the same. Time spent on the fundamentals of ballet is never wasted and will enable her to progress into a stronger dancer in due course. Just be a little wary of doing too much too soon.

Edited January 12, 2020 by Pups_mum
Typos

[Rose20]

I’ve been lurking in the shadows but thought I could add my experience to this question.

My Dd also started ballet several years ago at age 10, although she had done a small amount of non graded jazz type of dance for fun before this..

She was placed in a grade 3 RAD class that had just moved up from grade 2 so that the other girls were closer in age to her and this seemed to work well, although I’m sure it must have been hard work for the teacher to start with. I’m not saying this is the right way to start, just what happened at this dance school and it seemed to work for us.

She also started modern and tap.

She absolutely loves ballet but it would have been hard work to catch up with the girls who were already going down the vocational route. These girls had been dancing for several years and did intermediate foundation and extra private lessons. She did however catch up with the girls in her group. 

My advice would be that with a really good teacher and a dance school that provides the right opportunities it is possible, but keep an open mind. My daughter realised she’s not going to be the level to make a career out of it, but there has been lots of fantastic opportunities and personal qualities gained from the training she has had. She’s a good dancer and hopefully will continue to dance even though she is not going to make a career out of it.

I wish your Dd good luck and hope she continues to enjoy dancing!

Edited January 12, 2020 by Rose20

[Coffeemum]

I don't think 10 is too late if she's determined, has the right physique and a fabulous teacher. My daughter started taking it seriously at the age of 12, having done one class a week for 3 years prior to that. She gained a place at vocational ballet school at 14. Good luck to your daughter! 

[ArucariaBallerina]

Wanted to pop in and say that I started dancing very late - age 12 - and am now in full-time classical training. 

I would say to make sure she can get as much quality technical training as she can (i.e ballet classes), especially as she gets older , for example associate programmes, EYB, summer schools and workshops. And also writing down my corrections and the corrections for the whole class was a game changer, and doing daily stretching and conditioning exercises (set by dance teachers).

 

Most importantly to keep on loving dancing! ❤️ Good luck, I feel like my life truly began when I started dancing