Why fexibility is so important in ballet?

Question:Someone told me that if someone wanna have a professional career in ballet, they have to start very early - like 8- 12 years old. When I asked why, they said that if they begin the training a bit later they will lose their flexibility. Now what I want to know is why being flexible/ flexibility is so important in ballet? What does flexibility able to result in ballet?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Someone told me that if someone wanna have a professional career in ballet, they have to start very early - like 8- 12 years old. When I asked why, they said that if they begin the training a bit later they will lose their flexibility. Now what I want to know is why being flexible/ flexibility is so important in ballet? What does flexibility able to result in ballet?

Flexibility is SUPER important in ballet. You need it to be able to most of the steps. You need have flexible hips to turn out (one of the most basic rules of ballet). You must be able to do very high jumps either in a split, oversplit, or for guys, almost a split. You must be able to lift your leg very high in front, side, and back (much higher for girls). Those are only some of the things that flexibility is important for, as well as injury prevention. Watch some videos on YouTube like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHCUpEEqP...

flexibility helps you achieve poses and stances more gracefully in ballet. ballet requires good balance, stretchy poses, and smoothness of movement. starting early would prepare your body faster on getting used to being stretched into "not normal" poses and most likely keeping it for life. when your a kid, your body is still growing, so the changes you make then would stay more permanetly when your an adult and you stop growing.
plus, getting stretched early gives you more time to do advanced stuff when your older.

First off, felxibility is extremely important in ballet, because many companies look at flexibility. Flexibility makes it easier to move in ballet, and it also gives you higher kicks, and a lot of strength. Flexibility gives you many things, but honestly for guys it counts a lot, especially in the splits.

flexibility makes you a better and more gracefull dancer and it is put into dances to sum it up. :)

Well, for one, ballet looks like crap if you're not flexible. Imagine a dancer, you see them develop their leg up slowly, with it going all the way up to their head. It's lovely, right? Now, imagine that their leg doesn't even go up to waist height. Not so pretty. The flexibility is inhuman, which makes ballet seem so much more ethereal and beautiful. And flexibility is impressive. Think about a jete (or a split leap, if you don't dance). Wouldn't it be ugly if they weren't in the splits?