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Better late than never: six dancers who began training later in life talk about what it took to become pros.

Article Excerpt
Late bloomers are uncommon in the dance world, but they are not as rare as one might think. Martha Graham, Rudolf Nureyev, and Jose Limon all started training in their teens or later. Here on earth, American Ballet Theatre's Misty Copeland started training at 13, and modern dancer Holley Farmer began at 16. David Zurak, Gordon Peirce Schmidt, Keith Sabado, and Jennifer Macavinta, all in major companies, started late, too. * Often late starters excel in other physical forms like gymnastics or martial arts before they fall in love with dance. But not always. Sometimes the passion for dance seems to strike out of the blue. So what are the characteristics that enable adult beginners to succeed against all odds? Certainly, natural ability goes a long way. But you also need gobs of commitment, discipline, focus--and luck.

David Zurak, a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company, took his first dance class when he was 23. Before then, he was a self-proclaimed "bookworm." His degree in electrical engineering from McMaster University in Ontario was about as far removed from dance as one could get. In college, something happened that changed his life: He saw a dance performance by Peggy Baker--his first exposure to theater of any kind--and experienced something "very profound."

After graduation, Zurak took...

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