Imagine going to school for six hours and then going straight to dance for six hours afterward. Ava Buchanan and Natalie Bowers are two of the many students who do this on a day-to-day basis. Even though they barely have the time to do school work, somehow they succeed in both school and dance.
Buchanan spends every day of the week dancing, coming out to a total of 8-12 hours per week. This is a huge time commitment. Even though she spends all of her time outside of school dancing, she packs her schedule full by taking many AP and honors classes. Her top tip to balance school and after-school activities is to “get work done quickly and manage your time well.” By getting all her schoolwork done during school time, she is able to pursue dancing.
Currently, Ava is a part of the Nutcracker. She has rehearsals multiple times a week to prepare for the show times. After high school, she does not want to dance professionally but wants to continue it casually in her life.
Bowers says that she dances between 18 and 20 hours per week and has classes 5-6 days a week. During show times, she focuses on dance more than school. Usually, she has to take a few days off of school when the show date gets closer. She takes these days off due to required rehearsals during the school day.
During a typical day in the life of Bowers, she goes to the studio right after school. She has two classes per day with both of them being about one and a half hours long. She is normally at the studio for four hours. On days during show times, her days are a lot more busy. Bowers noted that she has “at least three classes plus rehearsals. I typically spend four or five hours each day at the studio.” On Saturdays, she has practice from 11 am to 4 pm.
Bowers doesn’t want to continue dancing professionally but after she graduates, she is planning on majoring in marketing and minoring in dance. This will keep her involved in the dance and ballet world without having to spend all her time on it.
Although both Bowers and Buchanan spend every free hour outside of school dancing and barely have time to do school work, they are able to manage their time well. While it is no easy task and requires a lot of skill, they have perfected the balance in life and can succeed at whatever they want to.
