I have to do a ballet presentation.

Should i stop doing so much ballet and give up on the hope of making it into a career?

• im 16 years old and i dance every day. my ballet school is incredibly intensive, the training is great but it takes almost an hour to get there every day on public transport. i am so stressed out cos i dont know whether i should keep going to try and make it into my career like my ballet school want me to, or to just go somewhere else and do it recreationally. i feel like i am sacrificing so much! my school grades are dropping because i never have time for hw, i have loads of friends but fitting in time to see them means i get no sleep and often become ill because i overwork my body going straight from ballet to see them and go out drinking etc. i dont know if i want to quit however and then get really fat. but i dont even know if i could make it in ballet because my ballet school always say to lose weight to me and i just dont think i have the 'ballet body'. however, ballet is what i love, its my passion, and i couldnt stop dancing! i have tried other types of dance but ballet is what makes me, its part of me. but its tearing me apart from all the other things i want to do in life, i know that ballet dancers careers are short, badly paid and full of dissapointment. i am always crying as i just dont know what to do!!! somene please help. i dont want to be regretting giving up for the sake of a social life and thinking 'what if i could have made it', to be doing something i love every day. but on the other hand i dont want to regret 2 years later after my a levels having done not as well as i would have hoped and maybe getting into a company but at what cost?? also in general my ballet school are making me unhappy, its so rigorous and they expect so much out of me and to put in loads of time, but i never get much good roles in shows, only corps. but they have told me i could be amazing if i work, but its so hard!! i would miss my friends at ballet incredibly but i just dont know....................i want to quit but somehow there is something niggling in the back of my head which is saying 'you love it' i am also kinda a perfectionist and i will push myself so hard, thinking i can do everything, see everyone and fit everything in so i can please everyone around me....until i crack and breakdown..... maybe i have some sort of mental issues...i keep getting really depressed when i think people dont like me.... does anyone have any advice?? please

• Answer:

  You shouldn't stop doing ballet, you should continue dancing ballet for fun. Even if you don't get a career in ballet, you can still have fun dancing the art of ballet. Good Luck!