3.26. I'm 5'7" (or whatever) high. Am I too tall for ballet?
Description
This article is from the Ballet and Modern Dance FAQ, by Tom Parsons twp@panix.com with numerous contributions by others.
3.26. I'm 5'7" (or whatever) high. Am I too tall for ballet?
This question comes up regularly. For anybody who simply wants to take
ballet for health and recreation, the answer is No: there's no height
limit. If you hope to dance professionally, I'm afraid there isn't any
satisfactory answer. There have been reports on the group that women
dancers are getting higher and other reports that they are getting shorter;
in both cases it depends a good deal on the time frame the writer has in
mind. Gretchen Warren's book, "Classical Ballet Technique", gives the
following figures for the ideal female dancer: height 5'2" to 5'8" (157 to
174 cm), weight 85 to 115 lbs (38 to 52 kg). But PNB's principal dancer
Ariana Lallone is reportedly 5'11" (180 cm) tall, so there is no hard and
fast rule. In practice, what's acceptable depends on the company and on
the director (some companies reportedly go in for tall dancers in general)
--and on whether and how badly they want you.
(P.S.: Warren's figures for the ideal male: height 5'9" to 6'2" (175 to 188
cm), weight 135 to 165 lbs (61 to 75 kg). Remember, again, that these are
*ideal* figures.)
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