A Day in the Life of a Professional Ballerina

People who have never done ballet before usually don’t know how difficult it is. Ballet is a very intense art form. Once a dancer reaches the professional level, by joining a ballet company, life doesn’t become any easier for him or her. Some young dancers think once they reach this point, ballet becomes easier. In order to give aspiring ballerinas some insight on what it is really like to be a professional ballerina, I contacted one of my old ballet instructors, Katya. Katya danced professionally with the Bolshoi Ballet in Russia.

Me: “What was your day typically like when you were in the Bolshoi Ballet?”

Katya: “Tiring.”

Me: “Can you tell me about your schedule?”

Katya: “I usually woke up at 5:45 A.M. every morning. I would eat breakfast, put my hair in a bun, and change into my leotard. I would be out of my apartment by 6:30 A.M. and get to the studio by 7:00 A.M. By 7:00 A. M. most of the company members were already there warming up and getting ready for class. We had company class from 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. usually. Then, I would go over to the board in the changing room and check my rehearsal schedule for the day. Rehearsals usually started right after company class. I rarely had a break before rehearsals. We rehearsed from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. Then, they gave us a lunch break. I would usually just have a coffee and some fruit for lunch. After lunch, we rehearsed from 2:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. If the company wasn’t performing a ballet that night, we would have dress rehearsal from 5:30 P.M to 8:30 P.M. From 5:00 P.M. to 5:30 P.M., I had to eat a quick dinner and put full stage makeup on. There was no time to rest. After finally taking my dress rehearsal costume off, I would leave the theater at 9:00 P.M. and get home for 9:30 P.M. By this time, I was exhausted so I would just go to bed.”

From Katya’s schedule, one can see that professional ballerinas have really long days. There is a lot more to ballet than just performing on stage. You still take class every day and rehearse for hours. You should definitely think about if this kind of schedule is something you would be able to withstand before pursuing a professional ballet career.

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