WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT DANCE STYLES TO LEARN IF YOU WANT TO SUCCEED AS A DANCER ?
It depends on what kind of dancer you intend to be. In the U.S., there are essentially three separate tracks towards becoming a professional dancer: 1) concert dance, 2) commercial dance, and 3) ballroom dance. To become a concert dancer, you must be heavily immersed in ballet, with most of your supplementary classes (pointe, partnering, character, repertoire, etc) being ballet-related. In addition, you would also need modern. Classes alone should add up to a minimum of 20 hours a week during the school year (not counting rehearsals). If you want to be a commercial dancer, the more well-rounded you are, the better. But, at the very least, you’d need ballet and jazz. Next up would probably be tap and hip hop. However, commercial dancers need to know what character type they are just as much as actors because body types are important in the entertainment industry. Thus if you’re African American, it helps to know Afro-Caribbean styles. If you’re short, thin and light, then acrobatic and
