Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

Original poster

Confused! To go all out for dance or not!

28 replies

MaisyMoo123 · 21/07/2015 16:44

Hi all - my 9 year old dd loves to dance and has been taking ballet lessons for a few years, and took tap and modern up last year. She is relatively good at it - particularly ballet. She really enjoys all her lessons and lives and breaths it at the moment. I would be quite happy to potter on as we are with weekly lessons for each discipline and this is obviously an option. However, her teacher has contacted us to invite her to join the pre-vocational course that she runs alongside the regular classes. It basically provides a grounding in all disciplines and is aimed at children who have the potential to go on to dance school etc. Obviously we're proud that she's been picked out as good enough to follow this route but I am in two minds about it for a number of reasons - it would be a huge commitment (8.5 hours a week) which would mean she would have to give up every other hobby/interest and at the age of just 9 would not be in a position to realistically try anything else. I'm also not sure when she would do homework, play, be a kid. I obviously don't want to take the opportunity away from her but I equally don't want to narrow her opportunities so much that she misses out on all other things and spends all her time preparing for a career in dance that she's too young to even know if she wants. If anyone has any experience of a similar situation then I would love to hear your views! My head is spinning!

OP posts:
RaspberryLemonPavlova · 21/07/2015 21:09

Not ballet, but DS2 is a Chorister. He does between 6 - 13 hours a week, more when there are special services etc. At 9 he fitted in plenty of other activities (still does). Cubs, taekwondo, instruments (plus practice), after school activities .... plus homework and playing with friends. He has a friend who did similar amounts of tennis at that age and also managed plenty of other activities too.

dodobookends · 21/07/2015 20:43

Do you have other dc's and their activities to consider, and what about the commitment you also would have to make in getting her there, and does it involve costumes/competitions as well? Things like this can sometimes end up dominating the whole family!!

Having said all that, if she is talented and really wants to do it, then maybe give it a go - at least for a term maybe - and see how she gets on.

Or - if she is particularly good at ballet, it might be worth doing additional ballet classes instead and maybe an associate scheme or something like English Youth Ballet as well.

Lonecatwithkitten · 21/07/2015 19:32

I think you are pretty much at the stage where if she is good and wants to pursue it you have to go all in. Others will be found the same for activities like swimming etc.
My DD's thing is musical theatre so when you take those rehearsals, tap lessons, singing lessons and other music lessons it comes to over 8.5 hours a week she still has plenty of time to play with her friends, do homework and just hang out.
The only time it is really crazy is show week and I get homework dispensation from school which is backed by her performance licence. Show week is always term time at she has 6, 14 hour days yes she is tired, but talks about it for months afterwards.