Ballet: what is the best age to start?

[Popparoo]

I am thinking of waiting until my daughter is four years old before starting ballet classes. Many parents I know have started their children at two or three: is four a bit late to start? I know that sounds a bit crazy, but I have been told that if dd starts at four she will be left behind all the other four year olds who started earlier, and that it will be hopeless...Does anyone have an opinion on/experience of this one?

[shellby512]

Thanks for that BUT one problem there isnt much space to add net as when i made the tutu last year the net wasn't very strong so added more layers than required when i made it to hold it up. And i haven't got time to make another one for her as i am currently making other girls costumes for the same show. Thanks anyway

[choosyfloosy]

i was a bit intrigued by this so googled 'stiffen tutu' - wasn't sure what i'd get! - but it turned up the following advice:

sagging tutu's can be revamped,
by simply adding new layers between the existing net layers,
using same or even a different colour net to brighten it up.
only two to three layers in the right place need to be added
[under top, middle & bottom layers]
bob's your uncle a brand new looking tutu.
have done it numerous times and works every time.

from www.forums.dazzlem.co.uk

hth

[shellby512]

my daughter's tutu is for a show she in but i had too wash the tutu as it was filthy now it's all limp. my daughter is at grade 4 RAD and now has a solo part in the schools ballet show this christmas, she has worked hard to get this part and she want's to look her best.

[fortyplus]

Start a new thread - this one is ancient!

[sykes]

What? What stage is she at? It's just about hair in a proper bun and shoes that are tied properly - with hair spray to make them stick - ie the ribbons and hair.

[shellby512]

can anyone out there help me i'm in a fix? i need to stiffen my daughters ballet tutu, hair spray and starch these days isn't stiff enough. My mum used to use sugar and water on mine but she cannot remember the ratio of how much sugar to water can anyone help?

[suzi2]

4 isn't too late at all. I started at age 4 but quit within a year as I was scared of the teacher. I then started again at age 10. Although starting late probably prevented me from being Darcy Bussell, I still got on well and almost went to dance school at 17 - had a horrible injury which prevented it!

Anyhow, I used to teach some classes during my teens from age 3 to age 9. The 3/4 yr olds classes are just kind of structured mucking about really. But some things are for building the basics such as "good toes, bad toes" etc. I think it's a great thing for kids to do and I will be sending my DS to dancing when he is older.

[mummyhill]

They don't like you to stay because they think it distracts the children. I wouldn't want to be in the room cause I would be itching to go and put dd right when I can see her not payng attention etc. because I want to see her suceed in everything she tries sad mummy aren't I.

[lucykate]

my dd's classes are £2.25 for a 1/2hr session once a week, kit was £40 altogether (leotard, wrap, skirt & pumps), she's been going since sept this year and is 4 at beg jan. seems to like it but i can see what some people mean with the little ones, it being more like babysitting for the teacher. although i would be happy to stay for the lesson, most ballet classes seem not to like the parents to watch.

[twinsetandpearls]

Dd school is a serious dance college where full time students attend and extra classes are put on in the evening for children. So no shows, just lessons and exams.

She laso does attend an informal church hall type dancing class which costs £1.50 for about 40 minutes or dance and they do two shows a year. They take tots from 3 all the way to a few brave mums. I found it was an excellent way to see if dd liked dancing rather than starting with formal lessons.

[twinsetandpearls]

dd started ballet at three and a half, she was four in september and about to take her grade one. She has been doing dance since her third birthday but only really got it at aroun d 3 and a half which is when she started proper lessons.

We pay five pound a week for half an hour ballet and half an hour tap.

[Passionflowerinapeartree]

Oooops just read the whole thread, costs £62.50 per term. Lessons 45 mins long. Plus kit. Is a serious school (Imperial ballet) though rather that church hall job.

[Passionflowerinapeartree]

I think 4 is the best age to start. DD1 started at four and she isn't behind the girls who started 3.5 (the earliest her ballet school will take). In fact a lot of the girls who started at 3.5 have given up as they got bored. If you start too early they don't see that they are progressing and get fed up. If you start when they start school they are soon into the grades and concerts.

I have kept DD2 from starting until she starts school even though DD1 goes and she want's to be like her sister. I think until school age she gets more from her soft play/gym sessions and swimming.

[NutcrackingXmas]

Dd1 first went to a ballet class at age 2.6 but she just wasn't interested enough, and I was really paying for her to just stand there and watch.

When she was about 4 she joined another one which was ballet, and tap. She enjoyed it but after a while they wanted to move her up to the next group which was 2 hours long. I thought it was too much so pulled her out.

Since then she has gone to a classical ballet class on a saturday morning and she loves it. She has done a pre primary and a primary exam and is now doing grade 1. Her teacher is fantastic, very strict but a great sense of humour too.

TBH I think it depends more on wether you like the class than the childs age.

[mummyhill]

DD will be 4 in Feb and has just started to go to a small school after nursery on a tuesday. She goes for half an hour and they do 15mins tap and 15mins ballet and it only costs me £2 a week. TBH they don't seem to listen to the teacher much but she seems to be enjoying herself. My cousin didn't start dancing till she was 5 and she was the junior tap champion of england and wales for 3 years on the trot. So I think what I am trying to say id that it doesn't matter what age they start at as long as they enjoy themselves.

[zebratwizzler]

LOL tamum.

[tamum]

Can I just point out that the child in the OP must be at least 6 by now?

[bsg]

My dd started when she was three. She had no real interest and ran anround the room like an aeroplane. All the other girls copied her and I got a very stern look from the teacher. She then decided to take the ballet cardigan off then on then off then on etc to which all the other girls copied and another look from the teacher. After 4 weeks she came out half way through and said I would much rather be at the park. End of classes. She was too young and is far too active for ballet.I think the teacher was over the moon aswell!!!!

[KBearthePolarBear]

My dd started at 4.5 and she's now almost 7. She LOVES it. She's taken one RAD exam and will be taking another next year. I said she doesn't have to but she was like "Mum, please let me". I don't want to be pushy but she's so keen and enjoys it so much.

She also performed in her ballet's school's show last weekend - 130 girls took part from 3 to 16.

In fact she is in bed now going to sleep to the strains of The Nutcracker by Tchaikowsky!

[wavingordrowning]

dd didn't start till she was 4 - most of her friends in the class had already being doing ballet for a year. A year later, she is moving up a class without her friends and is in with 6 year olds. (Before you think I'm having a good boast (which I am of course ), I'd like to make it clear that it's most definitely not 'cos she's a prodigy, it's just her sheer enthusiasm and ability to follow instructions! One advantage of being a very bossy mother and of her starting ballet that bit later) As with all these things - it depends on the child. If you are happier waiting then wait! Surely the main thing is that she enjoys it?

[NannyL]

My little charge started ballet at 2 3/4, she loves it (now 3 1/2!)
(tho she had done ballet with the same ballet teacher at school since she was 2 1/2!)

[expatinscotland]

I started at 4. I studied at Houston Ballet Academy from the ages of 8-17. NO WAY will she be 'left behind'. MOST professional ballerinas start around 4-5 and some (female) even as late as 8.

Whilst Baryshnikov started training as a gymnast at 5, he didn't begin to study ballet until he was 11!

2 and 3 - they don't really 'get it'. It's more like just play time than learning dance.

One thing you do NOT want to do is start a girl en pointe too early. Be VERY wary of schools that want to put them in pointe shoes at 9 - their feet will be TRASHED. Kirov and Bolshoi don't put their girls en pointe until at least 14; more often 15.

[chezdec]

i am looking for dance class in the leeds area for my daughter if any one out there nos of any please let me no smile

[suedonim]

My younger dd started at about 3.5yrs, I think, while my older dd started at 13 and, no, it wasn't too late. She went on to take jazz and modern dancing too. Dance is a fabulous form of exercise if, like dd1, your child isn't sporty. She became astonishingly supple and muscular. Classes varied upwards in price from about 3.5gbp per session and there was no need to purchase outfits until you were sure your child would stick at it.

Ds2 also did dance classes, many moons ago, and there are a couple of boys at the school my dd's attended.

[aloha]

My mum (a dancer by passion and vocation) would be probably be mildly offended by people thinking ballet was only meant to be fun She's imaginative and creative and great with children but she does think of her class as the same as formal piano lessons - proper study of a serious art form with an aim in mind. I think if the class demands proper clothes etc it is probably a school where they take it pretty seriously and isn't right for everyone. There are more informal classes.