How old to start ballet lessons?

[beautybelle]

My daughter will be turning 3 in March 09 and that is when we "can" enroll her in ballet lessons. However, Im wondering if thats still too young. Right now she loves anything even remotely to do with ballet and to be honest I personally think she would enjoy it for a little while and then get tired of it. But on the other hand she might fool me and love it forever.
I guess what im trying to say is as much as she loves it right now I dont want her to get burned out.
Any moms out there with ballet experience please chime in with your tales. Im all ears.

 

[momto2girls]

My daughter started at 3 and absolutely loved it. She is now 5.5 and still loves it. Our ballet studio is a hard core studio, but the classes at age 3 aren't hard-core. The classes for 3 year olds and 4 year olds are very fun and very age appropriate. At our studio, it doesn't really start to get more serious until they are 5 (my daughter's current class).

I wouldn't worry about your daughter burning out if you have the right studio. My younger daughter is as enthused as she always was. She can't wait to go on pointe. My older DD, on the other hand, tried ballet at age 6 and didn't love it at all. It just wasn't her thing. She is an equestrian instead.

 

[Princessbaby]

MY Dd is 4.5 and she started ballet 7 months ago and loves it! Her class is 3-5 yr olds and she has a lot of 3yo in there. They tailor things to be age appropriate and do not "push" the girls at all. They dance to a lot of Disney Princess music and the girls get a kick out of it. Right now it is just to introduce dance. They are learning twirling and a few positions. What I did was start my DD in a 8 week course that was offered to see how she would do and she talked about it all the time and enjoyed going so I signed her up at a local dance studio where she goes once a week for 1/2 hour combo class. it is 15 minutes of tap and 15 minutes of ballet. I just followed her cues- like your DD, she talked about ballet and ballerinas and twirls around the house and wanted to do it. I would not have tried it otherwise until she was older. Actually, she tells me she loves tap more than ballet but she loves ballet second-her words!. So I think next fall, I am going to split it and put her in one tap class and one ballet class if she decides that is what she wants to do. I just want her to enjoy it!
Good Luck!! They're are so cute in their little outfits and ballet slippers!

 

[beautybelle]

Ive been really thinking about it and I guess I could give it a try and if she doesnt like it then we can stop and start back when she's a little older. Ive been reading some other dance moms responses on cafemom and a lot of them seem to be starting their girls at 3 so maybe thats not so young after all. Who knows. wish me luck. I think she will have a blast.....she's all girl.

 

[luvmy2sams]

My DD started ballet when she entered pre-k at age 4. At the time that was the youngest our studio allowed, but now they're offering a 3 year old class. DD had been asking since she was about 3 to start classes, and she really had a good time with it. The class was 30 minutes of ballet and 30 minutes of tap twice a week. During class, some of the girls followed the steps, but there were just as many who just wanted to dress in their ballet outfits and twirl. She's now in her 6th year of dance and is taking 5 classes a week plus 2 hours of company on the weekends.

I wouldn't worry about your daughter getting bored with it. If she does, then you can just bow out gracefully. I'd be more worried that she'll love it and then turn into a dancing monster like my DD.

 

[Princessbaby]

My DD started ballet when she entered pre-k at age 4. At the time that was the youngest our studio allowed, but now they're offering a 3 year old class. DD had been asking since she was about 3 to start classes, and she really had a good time with it. The class was 30 minutes of ballet and 30 minutes of tap twice a week. During class, some of the girls followed the steps, but there were just as many who just wanted to dress in their ballet outfits and twirl. She's now in her 6th year of dance and is taking 5 classes a week plus 2 hours of company on the weekends.

I wouldn't worry about your daughter getting bored with it. If she does, then you can just bow out gracefully. I'd be more worried that she'll love it and then turn into a dancing monster like my DD. :lmao:

LOL! That's what I 'm afraid of with my DD- she LOVES going to dance! We recently switched to Mon eves but before it was Tuesdays and I would always hear- "when will it be Tuesday?". I guess she likes to dance!

 

[Princessbaby]

Ive been really thinking about it and I guess I could give it a try and if she doesnt like it then we can stop and start back when she's a little older. Ive been reading some other dance moms responses on cafemom and a lot of them seem to be starting their girls at 3 so maybe thats not so young after all. Who knows. wish me luck. I think she will have a blast.....she's all girl.

Good luck! Your right- you can always try back later if it doesn't work!

 

[raysnkaysmom]

I would think 3 is too young, but seems not...lol
I would personally wait til 5 or so... but each child is different...and those who go far with it probably did start that young....

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

I started taking dance classes when I was 3. I am now in my 26th year of classes at the same studio and I am not yet ready to stop!

 

[Sleepy]

Anything before age 6 is creative dance. The REAL ballet does not start until around age 8. This is the age when you can start counting years of experience on a resume (in the event of professional aims). When they really begin manipulating the body. The little ones don't know they are not doing ballet, so any age is fine for having fun and learning social skills.

 

[disneyholic family]

if your child loves something and wants to try it, you shouldn't hold them back...

DD loved music when she was very very small....she would sit and bang on the piano from the time she could sit, and sing with herself...

so as soon as she was old enough, i took her to mother/toddler music...when she turned 2 years old (actually a little before 2 since her birthday is in october and the classes began in september)..

there were 3 different places, so i took her 3 times a week from the age of 2...

it basically was sitting around in a circle and singing together or banging on instruments and singing together or dancing around and singing together...

she LOVED it and couldn't get enough of it...had there been a class every day she would have wanted to go..

and where is she today? she's 24 and a singer / song writer...

not to say that your daughter will end up at the new york city ballet company, but if someone is moved by something, they're not going to burn out...
and if they do lose interest, it wasn't meant to be..

in DD's case, she stopped her music for a few years, and then at some point in middle school she started up again....i don't even know when, because she started again on her own.....

and then she was driven....driven with a vengeance.....it's what she lives for...

so ya never know....it was not my intent that she go into music....but clearly it was something that was inside her....it probably would have gotten out without those mother /toddler classes....but they made her so very happy back then, you can't imagine....

 

[Sleepy]

not to say that your daughter will end up at the new york city ballet company, but if someone is moved by something, they're not going to burn out...
and if they do lose interest, it wasn't meant to be..

I agree with you on the lose interest part, but I disagree with the part about not burning out if it is something they love.

My son has been doing ballet for the last 8 years. He is on the pre-professional track. I know in the ballet world, training is gruesome (for a lack of better terms). The hours they put in only get worse. The sacrifices made are tremendous. You most definitely CAN get burnt out and it happens everyday to talented dancers across the world. Their bodies just give out. My son dances 6 days a week several hours a day and then comes home to do a weight lifting workout as required. There are days when he is just so tired. There are days when he has wondered if it would be better to just quit. He has asked me of it is possible to just take a year off and pick up later. The answer is unfortunately NO, because competition is fierce. There is no "take a break" with ballet. You either endure it and hopefully be one of the FEW lucky ones to succeed with a professional career or you take that break and fall so far behind you can never catch up. I have seen many burnt out dancers over the years. Mentally, they never stop wanting. Physically, they just can't do it anymore.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

My DD started dance 1 month before her 2nd birthday.

She started in a mommy and me class, which combined tap, ballet and gymnastics.

Then did a pre-school class for 2 years which was the same combined class, but by herself, no parents.

She just turned 5 and is in her 4th year. She is now taking gymnastics and jazz. She loves all aspects of dance. She is constantly practicing, showing the family what she learned, and just dancing in general.

Tonight is her dance night and she'll ask through the week, how long until Monday?

Depends on the child, she plays soccer and loves that too.

 

[beautybelle]

These are some great stories and I am now looking forward to taking my daughter to her dance classes. I really hope that she enjoys them like some of your daughters do. Even if it is just creative dance to begin with she will have a blast im sure. She cant get enough of Barbie in Swan Lake, the 12 Dancing Princesses and anything else that has ballet in it. She watches and dances herself. It is beyond cute. I grab her hands and we dance together and she has the biggest smile on her face. It literally radiates. (mom speaking here. LOL) We even have a little ballet storybook with a little girl doing ballet with her big sister and in the end of the book it shows some ballet moves and I've shown her how to do them (the best that I can and thats really hillarious as im like 5ft and 150 lbs.) but anyway she doesnt know that im not built for ballet and she doesnt laugh. LOL

 

[froglady]

Anything before age 6 is creative dance. The REAL ballet does not start until around age 8. This is the age when you can start counting years of experience on a resume (in the event of professional aims). When they really begin manipulating the body. The little ones don't know they are not doing ballet, so any age is fine for having fun and learning social skills.

Exactly! And as an aside, there is no reason to go en pointe before age 12 or so. Not only are their bodies not ready, but as Balanchine said, "Yes, they can get up on pointe, but what can they DO?" It takes a few years to master technique to the point where they can actually do something up there, and that takes a few years of actual ballet training to the level of being able to master and remember dance steps and sequences. And some girls are never able to do it at all. This is the age when many, if not most, girls stop dancing, because all of the ingredients need to blend together if they want to continue at a higher level.

 

[Sleepy]

We even have a little ballet storybook with a little girl doing ballet with her big sister and in the end of the book it shows some ballet moves and I've shown her how to do them (the best that I can and thats really hillarious as im like 5ft and 150 lbs.)

I will only give a gentle warning . If some of these moves involve the ballet positions of the feet, PLEASE don't show her how to do these. They are designed to manipulate the hips with proper turnout. If done incorrectly, they can damage the knees. This is why real ballet is done at a much older age.

 

[justhat]

My daughter started at 3.5yo and still likes it now, a year later. It's fairly low key, they play a lot of games, read a story, act it out with costumes. She knows some basic techniques, but they're not intense about it at all yet.

 

[mjkacmom]

Anything before age 6 is creative dance. The REAL ballet does not start until around age 8. This is the age when you can start counting years of experience on a resume (in the event of professional aims). When they really begin manipulating the body. The little ones don't know they are not doing ballet, so any age is fine for having fun and learning social skills.

I agree - for a 3 year old, ballet is just like any type of physical activity. Most tend to drop it later. I started my dd in ballet at 3, only because her older sister was taking a voice class at the studio (I avoided it with my oldest, because of the whole recital $ scam that it is, but this studio didn't have a recital, and it was month to month). Unfortunately, it turns out that she has a natural gift for dance, has switched over to irish dance, and the $ recital is NOTHING compared to the dresses, wigs, and competitions of irish dance!

I have her enrolled in a modern dance class at yet another studio, hoping to get back to traditional dance! To stick with dance, the girls (and boys) have a real passion for it.

 

[suzimar57]

i started ballet when i was 6 (quite late, in hindsight, although back in '63 there were lots of us starting then) - enjoyed it, but didn't last - parents couldn't afford to continue lessons for me....

 

[disneyholic family]

I agree with you on the lose interest part, but I disagree with the part about not burning out if it is something they love.

My son has been doing ballet for the last 8 years. He is on the pre-professional track. I know in the ballet world, training is gruesome (for a lack of better terms). The hours they put in only get worse. The sacrifices made are tremendous. You most definitely CAN get burnt out and it happens everyday to talented dancers across the world. Their bodies just give out. My son dances 6 days a week several hours a day and then comes home to do a weight lifting workout as required. There are days when he is just so tired. There are days when he has wondered if it would be better to just quit. He has asked me of it is possible to just take a year off and pick up later. The answer is unfortunately NO, because competition is fierce. There is no "take a break" with ballet. You either endure it and hopefully be one of the FEW lucky ones to succeed with a professional career or you take that break and fall so far behind you can never catch up. I have seen many burnt out dancers over the years. Mentally, they never stop wanting. Physically, they just can't do it anymore.

yes, dance training is extraordinarily demanding on the body (and the soul)...
definitely.....demanding in the extreme...i could see how someone could burn out....
i don't know if my sister did or not......she loved ballet and was very good....she was in a company as one of the young corps, but didn't continue....i think she didn't want it enough to go through what it takes to get to the top (and who knows if she had that much talent to actually get to the top)

and you can't really dance for all that long, even if you go into it professionally...
and it's so incredibly competitive...
and in my daughter's experience, professional dancers can be cruel to each other...
at least the dancers she's been around....
she tells me that the dance auditions she's witnessed are a lot more brutal than the singing/music auditions...

for example, when she auditioned at WDW as a singer, she said that everyone auditioning was really nice and supportive of each other...
but the dancers seemed to be just the opposite...
she said they looked like they were ready to slit each others throats...
and seemed to be playing nasty psyche out games with each other...
whereas the singers were all jamming with each other and very appreciative of the others talents...

she said she's had similar experiences at other auditions....