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I have to do a ballet presentation.

I am completely screwed in ballet?

  • Okay, so I started taking ballet in February 2011. Only one class a week. In the summer, I went to visit family in Poland. And in August 2011, I auditioned for the Polish State Professional Ballet School pretty much just expecting it to be an experience and I got accepted. I decided to try the school and if I didn't like it, I would just go back to Canada. I really didn't like it there. The ballet training was amazing but I was very bad at the language and I was also 4000 miles away from my parents. It just wasn't working out. So in October 2011 I flew back to Canada. When I got back, I started taking ballet class at a very good studio. I now take 5 classes per week there and I have been since October. In October, I also auditioned for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and I didn't get in. I auditioned for Canada's National Ballet School in November and I also didn't get in. In January, I auditioned for Quinte Ballet School of Canada and I also didn't get in. My ballet teacher, who used to be a dancer in a professional company, told me that I have the right body and facility but my technique wasn't really strong enough yet. And then she told me that if I continue working really hard I will probably get in next year. The thing that really is ruining my chances right now is my scoliosis. I was diagnosed in June with a 40 degree twist. In September 2011, I went to a surgeon/scoliosis professional and he gave me special exercises to do daily to help the twist or at least keep it from getting worse. I am ashamed to say that I only did them daily for about 2 months and then I stopped. I just got really busy and forgot about them. In October I had an x ray and the twist was about 40 degrees again. Then just today, I came back to get another x ray and I am 52 degrees! The doctor told me that I will probably need surgery since I am still growing and it is probably going to get worse. The thing is, if I get surgery then I am out of ballet for AT LEAST 6 months! Everything was going so well, I was getting very good and I thought my twist was getting smaller and everything just got ruined today! What do I do? My ballet career had very little chance as it was and now it pretty much has no chance. The doctor said that I can put off the surgery for 2 years at the most. So would it be a good idea if I don't get the surgery immediately and do the ballet auditions for the professional schools in the fall and then get the surgery right after auditions so I am back in ballet for the summer intensive? (if I get accepted) Would that be a good plan? I am 13 by the way and I'm in grade 8. Please help. My life is just upside down right now. Ballet is my life right now.

  • Answer:

    I think you did make a big mistake by not doing your exercises. What I suggest is to talk to ballet dancer Wendy Whelan as she too has scoliosis. I cannot give out her personal email, however you can contact her through a site that is a Q & A she has set up to answer questions. She is a sweet and generous woman and I am sure she will give you good advice about what to do. http://vyou.com/wendywhelan

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My daughter had scoliosis surgery about a year ago in 8th grade. She had a curve of 60 degrees. She was very active before in cheer and tumbling and was very worried about what she would be able to do after with limited flexibility. Her curve got worse quickly (from 29 degrees to 60 degrees in 1 1/2 years) so we could not put the surgery off any longer and wait for her to stop growing. I will say, the longer you wait to have the surgery the worse the curve will get. And that means the more extensive the surgery will be, meaning they will have to fuse more vertebrae and your flexibility will be even more limited. My advice would be to have it done now. We did a lot of research and talked to a lot of doctors and we decided that it was better to have it done sooner than later. She was bummed because that meant not being able to try out for cheer her first year of high school, but I'm happy to say she just tried out for next year (she will be a sophmore) and she made it! The surgeon fused 5 vertebrae and she has two titanium rods in her back. Her curve was more towards the top, so she is still able to bend at the bottom and thus tumble again, which allowed her to make cheer. Because ballet is similar to cheer/tumbling in that you have to be flexible, I would recommend you do the surgery now and thus hopefully limit the size of the fusion. Good luck to you. Feel free to email me with questions.

Susan

Wow that's so amazing that you're 13 and so accomplished, I'm 17 and just starting with dance. I think that if it isn't going to Hirt your health and it doesn't hurt you, put off surgery for a bit and then maybe when your in you can get off for a few months on medical leave, just my opinion

dancingqueen

Sort yourself out medically. And, honestly, you need to stop butterflying around. You got into a ballet school and from audition to giving up and going home was a maximum of 2 months, which also included the period where you were seeing specialists about your back (not in Poland on your own, surely). You don't seem to do _anything_ for more than a couple of weeks before you're onto the next one. That's not going to make you a pro dancer.

cathrl69

You should definitely have your surgery as soon as possible so you can get back to ballet quickly. It's only six months. Sure, you will have a lot to make up, but most of it will come back to you if not all of it. Your health is more important and like the others have said, you are only thirteen, you have so much time to get where you want to be in ballet and six months won't hold you back very long if you truly love it.

Jessicadancer

Get it done now. Coming from a dancer, who happens to be 14, there was a girl who had the same problem. She got it done later....but it stopped her from dancing because she waited a bit too long. If you get it done now, it will be better in the long run. Since your only 13, you have got YEARS ahead of you. So if you get it done now, there will be nothing stopping you later when your in high school and even BETTER than you are now. But, it is up to you. (: Thats just what i would do.. i dance 20 hours a week......and would hate for that to happen.....but i would rather take off six months now, rather than later when you are even more busy and older. (ps, I'm in eighth grade too:P)

Natalie

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