(also known as “What’s happening to my body??!!!!”)

by Jan Dunn, MS

You’re a 12 year old dancer, on the path to a professional career, with daily classes / rehearsals / several performances a year.  If you’re a girl, you’re getting really good at knocking off double pirouettes on pointe (sometimes triple!), or if you’re a guy, doing a double (or triple) tour en l’air.  And then – you start growing fairly fast, and suddenly you can barely do a single turn – What’s going on??!!!

Well, what’s going on is that you’re starting your Adolescent Growth Spurt – AGS for short.  This is the age (usually between 11-14 for girls, a little later for boys) when your body is making very fast changes, and it can be challenging for both you as a dancer, and for your teacher as well.  But the good news is that it can be a lot less challenging if everyone knows what’s going on, what to expect –and that things will get better!  It’s a phase everyone has to go through, so being knowledgeable and prepared will go a long way towards feeling ok with the changes that are happening.

So here’s what’s going on:

The AGS usually lasts between 18-24 months – it’s very individual, so comparing yourself to your best friend who’s the same age won’t help!

I was given a powerful visual reminder of this at an IADMS conference, when Rachel Rist, head of Dance at Tring Park Arts Educational School in the UK (a very prestigious arts school – call it the Julliard of England!) gave a presentation on AGS, and had 5 of her dancers on stage standing next to each other.  Each girl was within a month of being exactly the same age (13), and every one of them looked SO different — one looked like a 10 year old, one like a 17 year old, and all stages in between.

Rachel did that presentation to show us how individual the AGS can be – and to remind teachers that dancers going through this period will vary greatly in what they can do / what their bodies need (in other words, one size does NOT fit all!).

So here are some AGS facts: [Read more…]