Is ballet good for a young girls development?

Question:what are the good and bad points of ballet.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: what are the good and bad points of ballet.

Good:
-increased physical strength, flexibility and grace
-provides a base for future physical activities or good for cross-training
-instills a sense of artistry and pride in one's self early on
-instills an understanding of music and rhythm
-good posture
-increased confidence
-chance to make friends
-learn discipline at an early age

Bad:
-increased risk of physical injury (over doing nothing at all - you can say this about anything that requires moving, though)
-pointe work will lead to ugly feet
-possibility of catty dancers or stage mothers
-some places have an excessive emphasis on body image (or just too much emphasis on any sort of perfection)

That's just my experience. Just as a note: the last two of the bad category definitely exist in most ballet environments, so I'm including them, but they aren't necessarily a huge deal - some places have more than others, and that usually depends on the dance teacher. If said teacher pushes the girls too hard or allows stage moms to take over, bad things happen. Not all teachers are like that.

To answer the main question: I've dealt with all of the bad things on that list, and they weren't fun, but I'm still glad I took ballet.

Yes it is, all dance is good for you it's clean healthy exercise and you get to interact with other people : ). Ballet, especially classical ballet, puts great emphasis on the method and execution of movement. A distinctive feature of ballet is the outward rotation of the thighs from the hip. The foundation of the dance consists of five basic positions, all performed with the turnout. Young dancers receive a rigorous education in their school's method of dance, which begins when they are young and ends with graduation from high school. Students are required to learn the names, meanings, and precise technique of each movement they learn. Emphasis is put on building strength mostly in the lower body, particularly the legs, and the core (also called the center or the abdominals) as a strong core is necessary for many movements in ballet, especially turns, and on developing flexibility and strong feet for dancing en pointe. Also Ballet is the root of all dances so if you ever decide that ballet isn't your thing you will have excellent technique in what ever style you do.

The Cons "bad points" of taking ballet is it might be a little costly depending on where you live and maybe even your age group but other than that I don't see anything wrong with it : ).

its good and pretty like wh at the dude say above but it will give anyone ballet dancer UGLY feet.

We enrolled our 3-year-old in a summer intro-to-dance at a local ballet studio. While we don't think she's ready for the commitment to full-year lessons, I definitely think it's good for little girls (or boys). First, it encourages physical development and coordination as they learn about moving their bodies. Second, it involves discipline. They must listen to the teacher, follow directions, and do fairly difficult exercises. Third, as with any activity that takes practice and skill, mastery of it builds confidence and self-esteem.

Ballet is good for confidence as the other person said, self esteem, posture, discipline, etc. Also builds bone mass(prevents osteoporosis)and strong lean muscles. Also helps you stay thin(healthy ) too! So you look better, duh! Overall, it's awesome for development.

Not sure if most dancers consider this a bad point, but if you start pointe training, you get calluses(definitely!), occasional blisters and bruised toenails, etc.