Dream of becoming a dance professional out of reach?

by Louis
(United States )

Sorry if this question was answered before, or to some level.


First and foremost, thank you so much for creating this site. It has been really helpful so far, but I really need to ask for your help at this point. Currently, I am a sophomore in high school, age 16, and was wondering if my dreams of becoming professional were too far out of reach. I recently started taking contemporary dance classes a month ago, one class a week, and have been told I've improved a lot since then. I guess if you're really passionate about something, then you pick it up fast right? I'm what you would call someone who is ~crazy for dance. Anyways, my dream is to become a performer; joining a dance company to travel around the world, as I do love traveling, and when dancing becomes too hard, becoming a teacher/choreographer.
However, coming from an Asian family, work is one of the top priorities. I am absolutely blessed to be able to take dance once a week, only because a friend can drive me. I want to get into a good college for fine arts, preferably Julliard/Boston Conservatory, but I know that's next to impossible. I'm aiming for University of the Arts in Philadelphia, however, I only have two years to practice and believe it is also impossible. I want
to attend more classes, but like I said, my parents are so busy all the time! Sure, I can practice at home, but that can only take you so far. By now, people would quit since it seems impossible but the only motivation I have right now is from a recent video I viewed. A guy with two years of experience in ballet managed to make it into the Joffrey Ballet School, absolutely mind-blowing! Also, seeing other people breaking stereotypes, ex, obese/old people/men, able to do splits and stunning moves drives me to keep going. I've tried talking to my parents about my career, but they won't make any change in their schedule. My school offers a dance class but does not allow boys to take it. I'm currently talking to the dean of students/president to revert this rule, and have even considered making a petition. (You can tell I really want this). I'm trying to get all my practice in since I'm only taking one class a week, but two classes won't make a difference. At this point, I would do anything to attend at least 4 classes a week.

What do you think? Are my goals a fantasy, or achievable to some extent?

P.S. I'm writing this really late at night and sorry for any bad sentence structure/grammar errors.Thank you for your time, consideration, and opinion.

Comments for Dream of becoming a dance professional out of reach?

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Oct 31, 2017
You can still be a dance professional
by: Maria

Dear Louis,

You are still young enough to dream about this, but if you really want to become a professional of dance, you should begin serious dance studies as soon as possible. By ‘serious’, I mean studies that educate you as a professional performer, which means regular daily training. In time, you can search for studies to become a teacher or choreographer.

Predicting about your future possibilities is not possible for me. This is something that only you can evaluate, considering the totality of your circumstances. You need to know that being a professional artist means devoting yourself to a lot of hard work, and the payment is the experience only. Money is not usually our reward. However, artists find ways to arrange their lives, pay their bills and be happy.

This path may not be easy. You have to know that. But if you choose to become something else, just for the money, it is going to be frustrating. So, what will you prefer?

Or maybe you need to find an intermediate path. Life’s decisions are delicate. I love art, so I encourage everybody to go for it. But only you can know what the best for you is.

Take a look at our list of scholarships. You may find something that fits your circumstances there:

Dance scholarships

; )

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