do it with passion, or not at all.

This is your random reminder to DRINK WATER!

Ballroom dancing is the way to go

Yes, I totally agree with you. Dance is such an expensive pursuit and many families that aren’t wealthy are unable to afford the “best” training. And this isn’t just for the competition dance world, although to be honest the competition dance world lacks so much economic diversity because of all the $$$ involved. I would love for there to be some type to dance scholarship program for dance-related training but at the end of the day the majority of studios/competitions are businesses who want to make a profit.

Yes, exactly! Another issue I see is that conventions tend to give out scholarships to the best dancers. That’s incredibly ironic considering most of their families are wealthy enough to afford very expensive day to day training, as well as conventions pretty frequently. It just seems backwards to me because dancers with technique that may not be as good and come from small studios tend to have a difficult time paying for these things!

That’s why I love dancers like Misty Copeland even more. To come from nothing and to rise through the ranks purely on talent is very rare. It’s especially harder on dancers who don’t have parents who understand the world of dance. To working parents it seems ridiculous to pay the amount of money it costs to go to a simple two week intensive, because it’s hard to understand why and the benefits. When I was first starting ballet it was impossible for me to convince my dad to let me go attend intensives. Why couldn’t I just train at my small local studio? Isn’t that enough? I didn’t qualify for scholarships because my dad’s annual salary was too high. But as a single parent with a two daughters, one of whom has special needs, there were more important things to spend money like that on. Even if it weren’t the best training or best intensive at the best school it’s still an arm and a leg to pay for. It’s definitely not an equal playing field.