Dance, like any physically demanding activity, requires a lot of time.

For students thinking of taking their dance from the class to the stage, balancing practice, work and class can be daunting. Hanna Cooper, freshman in art and design, is one of those students.

Last year, she decided to begin ballet classes and has since started to take it seriously. She had been involved in modern dance and tap since she was nine, and now the ballet studio is her second home. She takes ballet classes every day — 25 hours a week — to improve her technique and strengthen her muscles.

“I feel that ballet is much harder than any other forms,” she says. “In many dance styles, everything comes from the strong stomach — especially in ballet, where on top of strong stomach we have to train every muscle in our bodies.”

Cooper is taking 15 credits this semester, and, on top of that, she is involved with church and has a job as a baby sitter. Because of her packed schedule, she says, she hardly finds time for a social life and manages to sleep, on average, only five hours each night.

“It is very frustrating that sometimes I only sleep three hours because my design classes take a lot of time to complete,” Cooper says.

Cooper may have a proper body for dance, but no one is born a dancer. In order to become a professional, a student must take consistent classes throughout eight to 10 years of intensive training. Great strength, flexibility and muscular control are necessary for a dancer to perform the steps with seeming ease.

Amy Martin, lecturer of health and human performance, is a professional modern dancer. She says she believes in order to become a professional dancer, a student must be involved in a daily class to improve technique and rehearse to hone that technique.

“Rehearsing on your own to perfect what you learned in class or rehearsal that day is important,” she says. “Other physical exercises, such as yoga, Pilates, weightlifting, swimming, walking and running should also be done daily to maintain strength, flexibility and endurance.

Also, lots of dancers go to chiropractors or massage therapists weekly, physical therapy, nutritionists — anyone who can help them to maintain their physical well-being.”

In addition to remaining healthy, a dancer has to be enrolled in a studio class to learn the proper technique. For Cooper, taking studio classes is an added difficulty because her studio, the Capital City Dance Center, is in Urbandale.

Emery Uyehara has danced professionally for many seasons and is now the owner of the Capital City Dance Center. Uyehara says he believes there are certain factors that play a huge role in becoming a dancer.

“Good mind, good body, good spirit, good training … and good luck. ‘Good luck’ I define as preparation meeting opportunity,” he says.

“Pick the best teachers and best parents you can … and listen to both.”

Leigh Cumpston, sophomore in chemical engineering, has danced since she was three. She has already danced professionally with the Tulsa Ballet before coming to Iowa State.

Cumpston says she believes becoming a professional dancer requires total dedication, excellent training from the first dance class, parental support, family sacrifice and a good body for the type of dance pursued.

“To succeed in dance, you have to be tough. There is a great deal of jealousy, competition and rejection. You can’t let things get you down, but use adversity as motivation. Physically, like any sport, you have to push yourself and develop discipline. When performing, you may need to “smile through the pain;” there are good skills to learn for life in general,” Cumpston says.

Martin says ideal dancers have certain mental characteristics. They have a feeling for rhythm and an understanding of music. They are aware of the relationships between objects in space so they can move exactly in any direction on stage.

“Professional dancers have to take two classes a day, six days a week … rest on the seventh day,” Uyehara says. “One slow class, one fast class. One challenges the mind, the other challenges the body. To become a professional-level dancer, movement must become innate. Good habits come from proper repetition. It takes time to become a professional dancer … but you cannot waste time.”

Uyehara says the dancing world is different from the everyday world in which people live both mentally and physically.

“Dancers as performing artists experience higher highs … and lower lows than most people.,” he says. “But even the worst day as a dancer is better than most people’s absolute best days. And the very best day as a dancer … is beyond words to describe.”

Professional dancers are trained in many different fields, Martin says — they know how to choreograph, hear music and count it and teach and explain movement.

They become actors in order to play different roles and become historians and art critics so they know the significance of each ballet they perform. They know how to finance a company and work with groups of people.

“Professional dancers are some of the most intelligent people I know,” Martin says. “Dancing requires more physical and mental energy than most jobs, other than maybe pro athletes. It also requires extreme commitment. Dancing professionally is a lifestyle, not just a job. It’s done out of passion and love for the art form. Your body is your most important asset — it’s a tool for the art form.”

In addition to the time commitment, ballet is a form that can demand a lot of patience, but Cooper says the struggle is well worth the final result.

“Ballet is so graceful and so beautiful that in order to work toward such a dance level, it takes a lot of time, effort, love, dedication and strong will, since it’s so painful at times, and, if I can’t do a movement, it can be very frustrating,” she says.

Photo gallery