I am a dancer how can I improve?

Question:I just started dancing Ballet (its kind of Lyrical we use Lyrical sandals), Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, and a Modern "fun" class. I am a little overweight (by about 10-20 pounds,) so its a little hard for me to be like the sticks in my class.

Even thouhg I just started in September, I want to go to ADTC (American Dance Training Camp) and Camp Med-o-Lark, which has a huge dance program. I want to go to a dance boarding school like the School of American Ballet, but thats for perfessionals. Is there any other boarding schools like SAB?

So how can I improve?

Thank you!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I just started dancing Ballet (its kind of Lyrical we use Lyrical sandals), Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, and a Modern "fun" class. I am a little overweight (by about 10-20 pounds,) so its a little hard for me to be like the sticks in my class.

Even thouhg I just started in September, I want to go to ADTC (American Dance Training Camp) and Camp Med-o-Lark, which has a huge dance program. I want to go to a dance boarding school like the School of American Ballet, but thats for perfessionals. Is there any other boarding schools like SAB?

So how can I improve?

Thank you!

I'm also a teenage dancer. The only things that you can really do to improve are stretching and practicing. Stretch three well before you start dancing. Practice things like sashays, leaps, pirouettes, etc. across the floors and practice dances that you've learned in class. You might even want to make up some of your own dances and put it to your own music because then you will learn a little about choreographing and will also learn more dance creativity. Just make sure that you practice dancing for at least an hour every day. By doing these things, you will become more flexible, strong, creative, and an overall good dancer. I hope this helps!

You need to talk to your school's director....and prepare for some inconvenient truths....In the mean time keep dancing and lose some weight 10-20 lbs.

The way that schools like SAB work is that when you feel you have strong technique and are advanced for your age, you audition for their summer program. Auditions can be very scary (think women with clipboards and emotionless faces inspecting your body) and extremely competetive. If you are accepted to the summer program, which will be 4-5 weeks depending on the company, there is a SMALL chance they will invite you to stay for their year-round program, in which case you would have about 3 weeks to find housing and a regular school and move there. After a few years in the year-round program, you have an even SMALLER chance at getting into the corps, then soloist (even smaller chance that you will get this far), then principal (what we all dream of).

So that's professional ballet in a nutshell. Good luck!

I answered your question about dance boarding schools a month ago:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

I realize now that I accidently left off the Kirov Academy of Ballet.

All of the boarding schools dedicated to dance, including SAB, are for PRE-professional dancers, and are pretty tough to get into. Therefore, it might be a good idea to check out the link that Dana S, another person who answered you, gave you. She referred you to "The Association of Boarding Schools" website:
http://schools.com/

If you click on "Advanced Search," then scroll way down on the next page where you see "Courses Offered," pull down the "Performing Arts" menu for ballet. The results give you 68 schools that claim to offer ballet. And since all but four of them aren't known for their stellar ballet instruction by the ballet community, your dancing skills should be fine to get you in. They may still have other rigorous admission requirements (such as tests and grades) to get in, however.

But, then again, you're only in 6th grade and I think this is a form of fantasy play for you. This question, where you pretend you're over 30 years old and ask about how to establish your own boarding school is why I think this:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

It might help you to go see your middle school counselor for advice about school, life, whatever.

relax when you dance and just listen to the beat