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Question: Can I teach myself ballet up until pointe!?
I want to teach myself ballet up until pointe!. Can I do it!? How long will it take to learn!. And do you think professional dance teachers will accept it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I'm a professional dancer and soloist with the Miami City Ballet and I can tell the answer is:

ABSOLUTELY NOT!.

Ballet is extremely specific!. It is absolutely impossible to actually look like a ballet dancer if you teach yourself, especially up until pointe!.

You can watch videos and learn the positions as a pre-requisite, but it won't get you very far!. The most you'll be able to teach yourself is probably what you'll learn in what ballet lesson!. It's more than mimicking movements!. Someone needs to see you, and it would absolutely be not acceptable to any professional dancer teacher, school or company!.

You could of course attend a school after you have theoretically "self-trained" yourself, but you will then realize how much time you have "wasted" or "lost"!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

no, if you teach yourself, you will NEVER get to pointe, the teacher has to see your progress and determine whether you should go on pointe!. You have to take classes to get on pointe, because you aren't focusing on the right muscles that the teacher can point out, plus, you'll never know if you're doing it correctly, ballet is very precise and complicated, it's not just something that you can teach yourself!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

No!. You do not know what to look for on your body or how a step is supposed to look or feel when mastered!. When you have problems mastering a step, you will not know what to tell yourself to make it work!. You are not able to watch yourself from all angles while you are performing a combination!.

If you want to do ballet well, let alone become a professional, you need the guidance of a teacher who can draw from their own vast experience and knowledge!.

Once you become an advanced dancer, you can, in a sense, "teach yourself" (this is *not* to say that you no longer would need a teacher at this point), but only because you have already learned from your teacher what your body should be doing and you have already mastered all the foundational movements!. But the beginning years of ballet training are the hardest!. You need to build a solid foundation in order to build - it is the most important part of your training, and therefore the most imperative that you get good instruction!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yes, but not well, you need to learn all the techniques or you won't know if you're doing it wrong, it would be really hard!. Try learning 'Beats' without explanation!
also you need music really and it is NOT as easy as it looks! You have to have someone watching you to check your feet are turned out and your knees aren't bent as well as to demonstrate!. also, you should be able to do a group dance!.

It took me years to learn ballet with a teacher!.
It's not the kind of thing you can just skip through, you have to it in some order, learning each move and dance individually!. Years if you do it properly!

Most teachers won't except this, you'll find them reteaching you every move and it will get confusing, also, each teacher teaches different moves differently, you'll probably end up just getting put down or left behind!.

Just go to a school and learn properly! ;-)Www@QuestionHome@Com

it depends on what you want to do with ballet in the future!. if you have any hopes of going professional in any way, i highly advise lessons!. if you want to make it into an elite dance studio and you want to teach yourself up until then, that may be possible!. if you just want to recreationally dance, go for it!. just be warned that it is MUCH easier to learn ballet from an instructer that can watch what you're doing and critique you on what you're doing wrong

as far as how long, i've been dancing for 11 years and i still have a lot of room for improvement and new techniques to learn!. ballet is not easy, especially if you want it to look correct!. as for the basics, i would say at least a year or two minimum

and as to whether or not professional dance teachers would accept it, i think that would completely depend on your skill level and techniqueWww@QuestionHome@Com

no, u need a teacher who will look at you and even when the teacher tells you what ur doin wrong you may not be able to do it!. its when they come up to you and bend u in all sorts of painful shapes that you will learn!. its always good if it hurts :P xxWww@QuestionHome@Com

NO!. you need a teacher who has been trained in ballet!. Ballet is an art form and requires good technique!. A teacher is needed to teach you proper ballet methods and to correct you!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

In theory, maybe!. But ballet is so much about someone else being able to see how you are using your body and correcting any faults that you really need to attend classes to make it worthwhile!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

no no no no no no no!. and no!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

possibly, it is very hard to teach yourself!.
have you ever taken ballet before!?Www@QuestionHome@Com