My daughter did not start formal dance lessons until she was almost a junior in high school. She started with ballet and then added tap and Jazz. She was in a class with 10-14 year olds. She didn’t care because she knew at that point she would need that dance if she decided to go the MT route. Was it hard for her to fit dance in? Absolutely. She was very active in swimming, theatre, choir, all that good stuff. She made it work. Her teachers were incredibly understanding and took her as much as she could get there. Fast forward to today and she was just cast in her first university show as a DANCER. Is she a natural dancer? No. She has worked her butt off getting to this point. I’ve had many phone calls with her upset at her crappy ankles and turn in from years of swimming, yet she is finally getting somewhere ;). She will always be an actor first, but the gap is closing with both voice and dance! Bottom line is that if you want MT, don’t worry about being in a class of little kids. You’re there to learn the same as they are!
@mom4bwayboy, what that casting director told you is more widespread than Broadway! My daughter was called back after Strawhat auditions by a prestigious summer stock theater this year. Mind you, my daughter has danced all her life and is a strong dancer, but since she doesn’t have a typical dancer’s body, she considers singing her strength. Anyway, she went to the combo equity/non-equity CB in NYC. To her disappointment, when when she got there the room was filled with tall, lithe dance majors flexing and stretching all over the place, and they had them dance first! From the dancers they chose (not my daughter, who had never been to a NYC callback before and felt duly intimidated), they THEN had them come back and sing. So know that there are BFA dance majors out there also struggling and looking for jobs, and if they can sing at all, they will be competing with our kids for these theater jobs. 
And if you are a boy or have a boy wanting to learn dance, mom4bwayboy has it right, get thee to a dance school and talk to them. Many dance schools are so desperate for boys that they will do almost anything to accommodate them. You may get free classes!
I agree @Calliene. My niece is a BFA dance major graduating this year who can sing. She went to an audition in NYC which had the dance call first then you were called back to sing. They also had them dance in character shoes.
Dance kicking (literally) into high gear for my Soprano daughter this summer after reading this! She has done dance on and off since she was little, but performing in shows has gotten in the way of continuity. She is tall and has dancer’s body to be sure, but the skill level is still lacking. Thankfully she picks up choreography quickly and I think if she really sticks to some consistent classes during her junior and senior year she will really do well. She just has to make the commitment. I’m going to make her read this!! I do remember once reading that tall sopranos who can dance well are pretty desirable as ensemble because they can support the dance line and hit the high notes in the harmonies. Don’t know if that’s true, but if it helps her get work along the way that’s a plus.
We’ve heard the same for “dancing baritones” - they’re great for filling out the dance line and filling in the lower end of the harmonies. Double plus if you can lift a girl over your head - with one hand - while singing. Safely.
Get all the dance you can but also be realistic. My D is a tall, lean soprano who belts and she picks-up chore very quickly but she will never, ever “catch-up” to those girls that have been dancing all their lives, it just is not possible no matter how much dance she squeezes in. They have to become the best dancers they can but they can really only judge against their own progress.
^^^ YES. @evilqueen is so right. My D started dancing at age 7, and danced on and off (mostly off) until she was 13, and then took intensive dance from age 13 until auditions…tap, modern, jazz, contemporary, MT, show choir, and ballet…and she is VERY good at picking up choreo…and there is NO WAY she was competitive with the kids who had been dancing steadily all their lives. She did fine at college auditions, was even cast in her college dance show, but there is no way on earth she would be competitive in the Equity theater market as a dancer. She danced 27 hours/week this semester at school. But she will never be competitive with those dancers. And this is NOT a reflection of her skills. it is a reflection of the fact that she has not danced continuously and seriously since she was a toddler. So, just a friendly warning…when the professional theater world is looking for dancers, they are not looking for someone who danced his or her last two years of high school, no matter how well they pick up choreo, no matter what their voice type is, and no matter what their looks are.
^^^ I don’t neccessarily agree. My son started dancing in 8th grade. The first year he took tap only; adding ballet, jazz, contemporary and MT. He has been professionally cast in MT dancer roles in some pretty high profile Equity summer stock companies. Is he an anomaly? Maybe. But he did start later than most and is competitive.
It is very hard to fit it all in. Our D was involved in theater from a fairly young age- it seemed every time she started a dance class she would end up in a show and have to drop the dance. She also loved soccer and was not willing to give it up. The only real dance she had was what she picked up in MT rehearsals along with a few lessons here and there. She finally quit soccer in high school and decided she needed more dance. Our local comm. college offered dance as part of their curriculum during the summer so she enrolled in classes there (our cc is free for HS students)- ballet, tap and jazz. She danced for 6 hours a day all summer. In the fall of her junior year she decided to try out for HS dance team. Most of the girls had been taking dance since they were very young. They had 4 days of learning routines before the actual try-out. I remember her coming home the first day in tears and saying how far behind she was. The second day, she decided to record all of the music and videotape the other girls. The rest of the week she worked for hours each day after she came home and in the end she made it - barely. While she was never showcased, she danced a lot the last 2 years of HS. She took classes at the cc the next summer also along with a few private lessons and when it came to MT auditions, she felt very comfortable and did well. She is still the singer who dances rather than the dancer who sings, but she has been cast in some roles with pretty intense dancing. She continues to take classes whenever possible and still occasionally asks (joking) why I didn’t make her take dance when she was little.
@lojosmo, I don’t think he is an anomaly, I’ve seen some amazing male dancers that started relatively late, and he obviously must be very talented. The difference here is that very, very few boys start (and continue) ballet at tender age of four. Tons of girls do. The number of amazing dancers you have to compete against is very different for boys and girls.
^^exactly right. And I would bet that 8th grade is not late for most boys.
I hope it’s not too late - my S is 13 just started ballet and tap. He needed a motivator to start, but all it took was one audition dance call to realize that some of his male peers were much better dancers than he was.
I think we need to start a thread called “Boys vs Girls.” As much as I love all you moms with sons, it’s simply NOT the same thing. Think about it…for every 1 boy auditioning, there are 3 to 4 girls. And of those boys, only a percentage are straight/can convincingly play straight. (This does affect casting - believe me…) Being a girl in this business is COMPLETELY different than being a boy. Boys have it easier. This isn’t an insult. It’s not a slam. It’s a fact. So, yeah, a boy starting dance at 13 is probably gonna be just fine. He probably won’t get cast in Newsies, but he’ll be fine. So, no worries @TXtheatreMom…kudos to your son for realizing he has to dance. He’s good to go if he keeps it up.
Yes @monkey13, we have this one thing easier…but the laundry is nastier. 
LOL, @jkellynh17! I’ll gladly give you that one!
I’m always surprised there aren’t more boys in ballet classes - the girls usually adore them. I’m sure there are worse ways to spend an afternoon :).
I’ve always thought that too, Apha. Dance classes are a great place for both gay and straight boys to meet someone!
Yes, girls do have a tougher “row to hoe” in dance over all, but think of the stigma many of our kids get against going into theater or MT (any Art really). Multiply that by ten and that’s what many boys face when it comes to pursuing dance. Some boys may KNOW they want to dance at a very young age, but there can be a lot of pressure not to. That said, yes boys can start later and still be successful. There are even highly successful professional male dancers who did not “discover” dance until college age. Hard to overcome, but possible. In general, guys can often dance until a later age than girls, too. Unfortunate, but true. Of course, boys are still in “puberty” until well into their twenties - or thirties - complete with nasty laundry. . .
Very true mom4bwayboy, all of it (well, cannot attest to the laundry issue, and am ok with that).
What do you all make of Carnegie Mellon dropping the dance call in the MT audition process due to “trends in the industry” as they state on the website? Does that support the notion that the industry will get dancers where they need dancers?! Curious how others interpret that?