Dancing—especially ballet—holds a kind of spell over people; it has an untouchable magic that pulls their attention. They see the mesmerizing way dancers move their bodies across the stage, they see the amount of strength and discipline it takes to dance, they hear about the constant pursuit of perfection. So many little girls have dreamed: I want to be a princess, I want to be a ballerina.
Have you ever had the desire to try something new, to test the limits of your skill and humility? I restarted ballet in eighth grade, when I was 13. The dancers you see are the ones who have trained since they could walk; they move their bodies in a way someone can only achieve from practicing something their whole life. But the dancers you hear about, the ones whose stories are told, are those who started later and pursued a dream they knew would take everything: every ounce of strength and will to accomplish.
Starting late for me means dancing with people younger than me, constantly comparing myself to those younger, smaller, stronger girls. It means having to work twice as hard to keep up and advance, it means feeling weak some days, almost giving up completely. But dance brings joy and expression to me, and the elegance and grace it teaches is something that I know will stick with me throughout my whole life.
Dancing professionally is something every dancer thinks about at least a little bit, even as some impossible destination they will never reach. According to the Superprof blog, it takes 8-10 years of highly disciplined practice to be able to pursue a professional career as a dancer. And on top of that, dancers’ careers are over by their early 40s, if not during their mid-30s, and this does not even take into account the high risk of injury among dancers of all ages and levels.
It is possible to start late and still become professional, but it is a lot harder and takes a lot of guts and bravery from the dancer. I applaud any dancer who chooses this tough path because I believe that all dreams, no matter how unlikely they may seem, are worth fighting for. And even if a person is thinking of starting and not being professional, there is no age that is too late. Ballet holds many health benefits and supports good physical health and an overall balanced and healthy lifestyle.
Dance is a form of art and movement that is important to people all over the world in its many different styles. Starting dance at any age should be normalized, as well as the challenges of starting at an older age. These challenges should be worked with to promote dancers to be fulfilled and happy with where they are at and where they are going.
I love to dance, and I don’t know if I will ever become a professional, but those words still hold so much magic for me, even at an older age. Sometimes I think, I want to be a ballerina.
