I'm 17 and starting Lyrical Dance in September for the first time. What can I do to prepare?

Question

I'm 17 & I'm going to start taking lyrical dance in September. I have never taken a ballet or lyrical class in my life. I know its extremely late to be starting lyrical at 17... but I really love the dance so much that I'll do whatever it takes to learn it.

My whole life I've just been in the audience watching dance shows because I was always afraid that I could not do it myself. But now I realize that if you really want something you just have to go do it no matter what anyone thinks.

If you have any suggestions about stretching excercises I could do over the summer to prepare, I would really appreciate the feedback!

Answer 1

17!? oh thats nothing! many adults can start ballet and move on to pointe. You get out of it what you put in to it.

I've been dancing ballet for almost a year now and i love it. I've taken a few classes of Lyrical though.

well, i guess you would want to learn the 5 positions of ballet.. even though it's lyrical knowing the basics of ballet will help. Try to look up basic steps on youtube. you will want to work on you splits because the flexibility willl aid you in other steps you'll learn. make sure your posture is good and work on your turnout.

I don't know whats type of shoes your studio suggest to wear.. most likely foot undies but make sure the fit!! very important. and most importantly make sure you smile : )

if you smile it will come to you.

i hope this helped.

= ]

-  alex

Answer 2

17 isnt bad at all! And know what I love about it? Lyrical is supposed to convey stories, emotions, and experience...and at 17 you HAVE those feelings! I'm so glad you decided to try dance, and I'm really partial to lyrical!

To prepare, definately stretch a lot, see if you can pick up some basic ballet technique, just so you have a startig pointe. You'll have so much fun, and the workout is so good for you!