Education · 1 of 4

The path

This is the one career on this site where the training normally starts in elementary school.

1. 1

   Studio training as a child

   Ages 5 to 14

   Ballet technique underneath whatever style you love. Several classes a week by age 12.

2. 2

   Pre-professional training

   Ages 12 to 18

   A residential or intensive program such as Canada's National Ballet School in Toronto, which combines full-time ballet training with academics and takes students by audition.

3. 3

   Audition for companies

   Ages 17 to 22

   Company auditions and apprenticeships, often in several cities and countries. A university dance degree, such as the Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance at Toronto Metropolitan University, is the other route in.

4. 4

   Perform

   10 to 20 years

   Apprentice, then corps, then soloist if you get there. Contemporary dancers work project to project instead.

5. 5

   Plan the second career

   From your late 20s

   Teaching, choreography, physiotherapy, arts administration, something else entirely. Start before your body decides for you.