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Three things, young dancer, must be at the forefront of your mind if you want to make it as a professional. What follows is my ethos as a dancer, and of course as with all advice you take of it what you find helpful, but for what it's worth this is how I did it. My ascent into the world of professional dance was always self-assembled into three criteria which I believe you must respect and be able to achieve regularly if you're going to succeed in what truly is a cut-throat business and art.

Firstly: Want It. This is crucial. You're going to put yourself through huge physical and emotional strains not just in training but throughout the length of your career by embarking upon this journey. I am not trying to dramatise, it's just the plain truth. Do you want it enough?

I had a teacher who used to love presenting her students with the scenario of a young dancer who stands in front of two doors.

One door is marked "please enter, dear" and the other with the word "push".

At this point she'd pause for dramatic effect, finishing with

Only dancers who choose to go through the second door have a hope of success.'

She was right though, my teacher. You have to want it enough to push for it, both physically and mentally.

To decide if you really want it enough, let me recount a few of the highs and the pitfalls of it' from my experience. First off, you will not become rich as a dancer. Even in the upper echelons of performance hierarchy, a dancer's wage is meagre. You can live on it, but you won't have much left over for cars, mortgages, holidays or other luxuries.

Contrary to some articles I've read however, there can indeed be glamour. I am currently performing in the UK Tour of a very well-known musical and although I sleep in poorly heated attic-room digs I am regularly asked for my autograph. There are press nights with free drinks (and as the name suggests, your mug could end up in the local paper) and I am also given makeup, free haircuts through my employer and occasional gifts from fans/agents.

One of the best things about being a dancer is the fact that someone is going to pay you to do what you love doing. Think of all the people working in retail or in offices who have absolutely no passion for what they do. And you could get paid to dance, something that hopefully you do now because you adore the way dancing makes you feel. I'd do it for free! But at some point one needs money to live. Remember this fact, because I'll discuss it further in a minute; somebody is going

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