12 year old wanting to start ballet

[oneinamillieon]

she's autistic if that makes any impact, i'm autistic myself and always found it hard to stick to activities growing up, would we be better off starting with online classes?

I think in person classes would be best unless she is adverse to the company of other people. The teacher will be better able to correct/guide in person and unless you are in a large home she will have the space she needs for leaps etc in a studio.

I definitely don’t think the possibility of eventually giving up an activity is a good reason for a child never to start said activity. It’s in the nature of childhood to experiment with things.

And surely anyone would be more likely to abandon ballet if they’re doing it alone, at home, with only online tuition?

Let her try proper face to face classes. There’ll be so much more to it than just learning positions. New journey, new kit, new people, new ways of thinking, new fun. Obviously you’ll be anxious about how she’ll cope - but you won’t know until she tries.

thanks for the help! anything i might need to buy her? shoes, tights and leotards obviously, but what else

The dance school will tell you what you'll need to buy. When I was a child we had to have socks/ tights, specific leotard, skirt depending on age/grade, there were rules on how we had our hair.

When my DC did dance classes more recently they were much less strict. Tights, leotard of choice and shoes seemed to be the standard.

Agree that you shouldn't worry about starting something just because they might give it up.
I think actual classes would be better if you can find one that takes 12 year olds.

If she does give up that's fine too
If she wants to try something else after that, that is also fine

Once you have found a dance school, speak to the teacher and ask if she can have a trial lesson. All she would need for that would be leggings, a well-fitting top and to have her hair tied back. She could do the class either in socks or bare feet depending on the dance floor, and the teacher can tell you that. If you want to buy her some ballet shoes, go to a local dancewear shop, and find out from the teacher whether they prefer leather or satin shoes. Most usually have a preference for one or the other. They need to be professionally fitted, as the sizing is way off normal school shoe sizes, and they need to be the right width and fit snugly.

If she decides she likes it, then the teacher will advise which colour and style of leotard she needs, and whether she needs tights or socks. Tights are more usual for that age group.

If you want to find out how to do a ballet bun, then you need bun nets and hair pins (the long ones, not hair grips), and there are loads of tutorials online. English Youth Ballet has a bun tutorial on their website.

A few girls have joined my DDs class this year. There are 10 girls in total. Some know nothing, some lots. I actually think of all dance classes classical ballet may be most suited to neurodiversity. Lots of rules. No talking. Just the piano and the teacher.

I hope you've found somewhere and she loves it! Ballet can be for life!

Def in person classes. Worth phoning / visiting a few as there are lots of different styles and ways of teaching and some might suit her better than others, so don't be put off if the first isn't a good match. Most places will let you have a trial lesson without all the kit so I wouldn't buy anything just yet.

haven't logged in here for quite a while, but dd started back in january and loves it.