theballetblog:

Professional dancers spend an extraordinary amount of time and childhood focusing on their chosen profession. Though they do have lives outside of dance, the day to day life of someone working toward a professional dance career revolves around dancing. If you want to dance at a professional level, you need to pursue it at a professional level.

What does it mean to pursue dance at a professional level?

It can mean a lot of things but this covers it in a general way:

• Rigorous, daily practice and attention dedicated to your art form.
• Continual training and sometimes cross-training to keep you in top physical form.
• Constant assessment of where you are in relationship to where you want to be.
• Focused seeking of experiences that will extend and improve what you have to offer as a dancer.
• Regular quenching of the thirst to see and understand the field and how others approach their art form.

A dose of reality

I am a firm believer that people DO have the power to achieve what they set their mind to.

Setting the mind to something is more than just thinking on it, though! And in dance, more than the mind is involved. The body plays a pretty big role and requires frequent tending to remain equipped for high-level dancing. I believe in dreaming big but your dreams will stay dreams without real action propelling them.

The field of dance is highly competitive. Be realistic.

It does not matter what kind of dance you are pursuing, either. But ballet holds some of the more stringent expectations of dancers but in every situation. Starting ballet at even age 10 and becomming a professional is considered an amazing feat! Like it or not, your dreams won’t happen without getting serious and setting some serious goals. There are no exceptions to this rule, no way around it, no shortcuts.

“‘Just do it’ can be excellent advice. If you wonder whether you could write a book or run a marathon, don’t waste a minute calculating your chances. Instead, spend an hour a day on your dream.”

Every moment you waste calculating your chances, asking, or even wondering if it’s possible to have a career or live your dance dream is a moment not spent on making it happen. JUST DO IT.

And remember, nothing should ever stop you from just dancing just for fun and exercise! People at any age can start ballet or any other form of dance for its many joys and health benefits. Source