Career of a ballerina.....

  

 Here I am finally!!!

     I wondered for a while what to write on my first blog and then one of those days I watched TV programme about Darcy Bussell. For most of you who live in UK she is probably old news, but to me as a huge fan of ballet in every its aspect, I was fascinated by her. As a person who almost never watches TV I considered myself very luck to come across it. In fact it was my little 7 months daughter who out of all toys will always choose for a remote control or a phone! Total opposite to mummy who is staying as far from technology as she can. As she kept banging the remote on the floor she put Darcy Bussell on!! Give me pirouettes, high legs, lines etc., I will be instantly hooked! So I was. Watching it made me want to be 19 again, when I just came out out of the National Ballet and had the whole dance world to explore. I think because career of the ballerina is so short and we are expected to retire around age of 35 or even younger, it feels like you have never done all you wanted, you never danced all you wanted, never gave all you wanted. It is such a shame that we have to leave stage at such a young age, when we still fully capable to have a very successful career. At age of 35 dancers are still very fit physically, most of us have a huge baggage of experience, which is only beneficial for our performance on stage, and there is absolutely no reason to retire just yet. Personally I always like to watch performing a bit "older" ballerinas than the ones who just came out of Academy. Older dancers live the role, rather than play it. I love technical dancers, adore clean, high level technique and those who don't worry about it any more and mastered it almost in every aspect. It just makes me very nervous watching a young ballerina preparing to turn those 3 pirouettes, and as you watch her, you can almost feel her fear…..will it work or not. That is why I prefer to watch experienced ballerinas, and experience comes with age. Shame it is such a short career. Lately I have been in my homeland (Poland) for 2 months and visited my old  National Ballet Academy where I graduated. Looking for materials for my final paper, browsing through books I got the chance to speak to few new ballet teachers too. They said that there is so little children these days coming to do audition for the Academy. Parents rather keep the ballet classes as a hobby after school, than actually making it their children’ profession. Parents are really concern about their children future if they would become professional dancers. I personally think that profession of a ballerina is the most beautiful one that any women could have, unfortunately reality is quite cruel towards it. It is a short career, mostly underpaid, many times in unhealthy environment full of competition and jealousy, and with very little perspective for the future. But who thinks about those things when every little girl wants to be a ballerina, put the pink tutu on and dance. But even myself as a mother of little baby girl, I probably will have huge concerns if she decides to follow mummy’s steps and become a ballerina. I do hope that profession of the dancer will be taken a bit more seriously by governments, here and also in other countries.  That profession of dancer will have much more perspectives for the future and hopefully more money. End of the day we also have bills to pay and life to live, which these days unfortunately is not cheap. Otherwise profession of ballerina or dancer, will become very exclusive and many young, talented people wont even think to enter this field. It would be such a massive loss for Art of Dance.