"The process of becoming a professional dancer"

Posted for Sierra Smith

Dance in this day in age has so many conceptions. You could be a dancer for a
professional ballet company, back up in a music video or concert, entertainment in amusement
parks and many other things. Dance is being used more and more in social media without a huge
uproar. It’s becoming more and more popular helping people live there dreams of becoming a
professional dancer. (There used to be a time in the dance world where it was hard to earn a
living being a professional dancer.) With all the many jobs in the dance world, how do you
properly train to become one? Are there steps to take to get there? I guess the general question
would be what would someone have to do in order to become a professional dancer? If you were
wondering yourself, I’ll give you an idea.

When someone, or the child’s parents, decides they want to be a dancer, they usually start
at a very young age. Most dancers start taking dance classes at the age of three. Dancers would
go to a building that is referred to as the “dance studio” to take these classes. They may take up
to three classes a week varying in different genres. The dancers might go to class in the middle
of the day as a form of daycare or after daycare as an extra curricular activity. While the dancers
may take up to three classes a week the classes consist of basic steps such as hopping or
skipping, to introduce the child to movement in general. Along the hoping they will introduce
basic fundamental dance steps such as a plié’ or tendu’. The dancers end goal is to master the
skill that has been given to apply that to the next skill learned.

As the dancer grows in skill and age they will be introduced to harder skills to execute
and master. These skills are what is seen on TV today. In one the most popular dance show, “So
You Think You Can Dance,” many dancers do amazing things with their bodies. Some things
that are even seen as gravity defying. For example, when a dancer does a jump and or leap using the power from the skills they learned in their class room training they can look like they are
flying through the air. Dancers can also hold positions that would be uncomfortable and or
impossible for someone who doesn’t have the proper opinion. In my opinion, you have to be a
very determined and have a sense of self discipline to be a dancer. Dancers have to do a lot and
put a lot of dress on their bodies to be able to do the things they do. I give respect to anyone who
pushes themselves to the limit.