Finding a way to balance school requirements and the time needed at the ballet academy is frustrating for many young ballerinas and boys in ballet. Parents worry if grades drop and use dance classes as currency for academic improvement. What are the alternatives for getting a good education and still putting the time into classical dance training?
If you want to audition for a professional academic/ballet school, do a web search for their audition tours and see if any of them come to your area. Most auditions are held early in the year.
The sooner you can start professional training the better. Check all your choices!
Can you home school - or get a an independent education program? Here in Los Angeles children can home school - they register in a local private school for home schoolers, and get a curriculum put together that fulfills the grade requirements. They document their attendance (legal requirement is 3 hrs per day)and the parents who have registered the school supply computerized transcripts of their grades every year. There is no problem entering a private school or a college, later.
This allows ballet students to attend their dance classes on a more intense schedule. Also, the dance training would fulfill a quota of the home schooling daily requirements - such as physical education, field trips (ballet, art galleries, etc.,). There are very large home schooling communities so students do not exist in isolation.
You may be able to get into an Independent program through their public school, where you study at home and check in with an academic advisor once or twice a month, and do the usual school exams at school. This system allows for both disabled and gifted students to arrange their own schooling circumstances.
Look into all of this. If your school semesters start again in January, or early in the year, perhaps you can arrange a switch to another system of schooling which would fulfill the requirements you would need as a professional dancer, (art, language, for instance), as well as general education.
Also new here in California is a system for students to do ALL their schooling on line. They co-ordinate with a public school advisor to stay on track, yet there is a freedom of schedule for both the parents and students.
So check all your options, and make the best of the years left to qualify for auditioning in a professional company. Try to get some feedback from a local ballet company - audition at their school!
A lot of success in this world comes from having the nerve to approach people, present yourself, and make contacts. While ballet has specific requirements, often the bravest reach the top when the most talented do not.
Showing posts with label ballet academy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ballet academy. Show all posts
Parent Volunteers Can Help With Natural Stage Fright Before Ballet Recitals
Parent volunteers for ballet recitals are the support every ballet academy needs. Sewing tutus, dyeing pointe shoes, help in the dressing room with hair and makeup, are the many tasks that need to be done. The excitement of performing sometimes becomes fear - a natural stage fright that some children need help with.
If your young ballerina, tap dancer or hip-hop performer starts to express more anxiety than excitement there are ways to help.
Firstly, you may be hearing expressions of natural stage fright, which almost everyone feels when the reality of opening night strikes - even if just for a few moments.
If you have a child that worries, let her/his teacher know that he/she needs encouragement as well as corrections. Remind your child of compliments regarding their dancing you may have overheard from the studio or stage area.
Some dance teachers like to provide each student with the music of their dances, so that they can practice mentally. When they are resting with their sore feet up at home, they can visualize and feel themselves performing, applying their corrections over and over. The earlier they learn this the better. It is a method that actually helps develop neural pathways and better performance. This is a great way to increase confidence, without getting exhausted, or spraining and straining muscles.
Having a couple of soft ice packs handy at home eases aches and pains.
For older children, remind them about good nutrition. While a lot of sugar can be a tranquilizer, it also weakens the muscles. And for many children sugar is an irritant and increases nervousness.
Fruit is a wonderful source of the minerals that get lost in excessive perspiring....and that, along with good water, is something that students can have with them during long rehearsal days. Replacing minerals and staying hydrated (frequent sips, don't wait until your throat is dry) also helps prevent muscle spasms.
Backstage volunteers can help by remaining cheerful and calm no matter what happens. If a child freezes up in the wings, deep breathing can remedy it. Practicing deep breathing is a good idea during staging rehearsals, while kids are in the wings waiting for their entrances.
Speaking of waiting... modern theaters are often chilly with air conditioning. Your child will need leg warmers, even sweats, to keep their muscles warm during the staging rehearsals.
Having them ready with everything they will need in the dressing room, with some Band Aids, a sewing kit, extra hair pins and nets - anything that could be suddenly required - will reassure a worrier that all angles are covered. Aside from that, it is a good professional habit to ingrain in aspiring dancers.
Natural stage fright turns into exhaltation when the performances are done and well received - and hopefully that won't wear off for a while. And parent volunteers get to share that with the joy of seeing their child close a year of hard work at the barre by getting to dance for you!
Go here for professional books on nutrition for dancers, ballet wear and pointe shoes, and tons of technical advice.
If your young ballerina, tap dancer or hip-hop performer starts to express more anxiety than excitement there are ways to help.
Firstly, you may be hearing expressions of natural stage fright, which almost everyone feels when the reality of opening night strikes - even if just for a few moments.
If you have a child that worries, let her/his teacher know that he/she needs encouragement as well as corrections. Remind your child of compliments regarding their dancing you may have overheard from the studio or stage area.
Some dance teachers like to provide each student with the music of their dances, so that they can practice mentally. When they are resting with their sore feet up at home, they can visualize and feel themselves performing, applying their corrections over and over. The earlier they learn this the better. It is a method that actually helps develop neural pathways and better performance. This is a great way to increase confidence, without getting exhausted, or spraining and straining muscles.
Having a couple of soft ice packs handy at home eases aches and pains.
For older children, remind them about good nutrition. While a lot of sugar can be a tranquilizer, it also weakens the muscles. And for many children sugar is an irritant and increases nervousness.
Fruit is a wonderful source of the minerals that get lost in excessive perspiring....and that, along with good water, is something that students can have with them during long rehearsal days. Replacing minerals and staying hydrated (frequent sips, don't wait until your throat is dry) also helps prevent muscle spasms.
Backstage volunteers can help by remaining cheerful and calm no matter what happens. If a child freezes up in the wings, deep breathing can remedy it. Practicing deep breathing is a good idea during staging rehearsals, while kids are in the wings waiting for their entrances.
Speaking of waiting... modern theaters are often chilly with air conditioning. Your child will need leg warmers, even sweats, to keep their muscles warm during the staging rehearsals.
Having them ready with everything they will need in the dressing room, with some Band Aids, a sewing kit, extra hair pins and nets - anything that could be suddenly required - will reassure a worrier that all angles are covered. Aside from that, it is a good professional habit to ingrain in aspiring dancers.
Natural stage fright turns into exhaltation when the performances are done and well received - and hopefully that won't wear off for a while. And parent volunteers get to share that with the joy of seeing their child close a year of hard work at the barre by getting to dance for you!
Go here for professional books on nutrition for dancers, ballet wear and pointe shoes, and tons of technical advice.
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