i desperately want to be an awesome dancer.

like a stage performer and be all graceful and stuff.
i'm kind of clumsy though, my brother says like kramer from seinfeld. i think i've got a good rhythm though

i'm a male, and i'm about 18 years old. but i'm about 6'4 1/2 ft tall, and i'm really thin. and so not very flexible either.

so is there no hope?

i started doing a bunch of stretches to get started, but i don't really know what i'm doing. i just get in a bunch of weird positions where it hurts and hold it for a while. just some stuff that i remember from when i took physical education in school.

so even if i learn it will i still look stupid because of my physicalities?

and i don't really know what kind of dancing i want to do yet.
but on bravo there is this show with stage performers i think it's called "cirque du soleil: solstrom" and it's just amazing and they do all sorts of amazing stuff

Hello Sardonicpillow, welcome to CD. Just a quickie to answer your question if you will look silly dancing at 6'4 1/2". NO! Charles Askagard is that height I think and very graceful. I hope you will check out the students forum we have a nice group of male dancer/posters down there.

Hi, I'm moving this to the Students forum. Follow me there.

Hello, I am 6'2" and had a wonderful career that started rather late. There is always room for tall folks to dance. The problem is you have to work twice as hard as the shorter guys, things just come faster to people that dont have that much length to control with there center. I had the great fortune to dance with Charles in Chicago with Larry Long's Nutcracker. That man was amazing, he is a giant! But he could do everything, I mean everything. It was amazing to see how fast he moved into positions. Double tour in passe to fourth, turns anything he was just so precise. It was amazing and truely inspiration, especially at the level I was at at the time. And that level was the "tall guys dont do that", level in my training. Boy was I wrong.

Hi SARDONICPILLOW. I'm glad that Lucy and AC have dealt with the height issue.

Turning to the prospects for late starters, a couple of years ago, we consulted with a long-standing dance administrator in the UK who was also the AD of a small company. She came up with this advice:

- dance is a very competitive career option at any age

- the chances of professional employment, in ballet especially, reduce if you're starting from your late teens onwards, particularly for girls

- having an excellent teacher and great determination are essential for success

- without knowing your personal circumstances and abilities it is impossible for us or anyone else on the Internet to assess whether you will be one of the few to succeed.

- do consult regularly with someone whose knowledge you trust about the job market for dancers as well as your own porgress and prospects.