Splitz

Got 'no' letter today Hardly surprising really, given the odds! I do wonder if mostly JAs that have got through..... Speaking of which, we also got the 'JA SWL is now closed' email - double whammy in one day ! Oh well, onwards and upwards.......

Anyone heard anything yet? Thought we'd have heard by now. Don't have high hopes but would be good to know either way

I'm not surprised they are only asking for boys. SO many little girls!! With only 8 girls' places up for grabs (out of around 300) the odds are pretty low. I'm not sure we would have spent the £25 audition fee plus £20 train fare though had we known so many were auditioning! Still, DD said she really enjoyed the class. (And we discovered a branch of our favourite bakery just round the corner where they do the world's best cinnamon buns )

Same here And it's not hideously early! (phew)

We applied too back in August and no not heard anything , only had receipt email from booking..! Might try and email them tomorrow ... Sounds like they've been inundated- 1 Oct date sold out and new date added ..

Yes I guess it might be a bit of a trek for some Elmhurst JAs! And I guess London-based RBS JAs will be busy with the RB Nutcracker? The BRB isn't asking for any specific ballet experience, so I guess it'll all be fairly basic which is why they're opening it out...

Thank you, this looks exciting! DD wants to sign up. (she is only just short enough!) I wonder why they are doing open auditions this way and not using Elmhurst students? Is it something they've done before? Just curious. I imagine the response will be HUGE...

Thanks. I spotted this already actually, but dd's ballet teacher knew nothing about it (or the teacher) so wasn't keen on her auditioning for it just yet. But interesting you have heard good things

Thanks for your replies. I'm familiar with TCYB but not Harlow or Cambridgeshire ones - anyone had any experience with either of them? I'm not aware of any in the Cambridge area. And that is a shame about the Norfolk Dance association. It does seem that the east of England is under-represented in ballet - the RBS JAs for example covers 8 corners of England and completely misses out East Anglia!

I know there are a zillion posts on associates and I've tried a search but... I'm on the lookout for associates programmes in the east of England - apart from Dance East in Ipswich (which I understand is not so ballet focused) I can't seem to find anything in our corner of the country - so many are based in London/southeast/midlands way. My dd is 10 (end of yr 5) and on swl for JAs, but assuming a place doesn't come up she would love to do some extra training over the coming year, and it would be great to find somewhere reasonably close to home! Thanks

Yes what lovely news (has given me hope, but trying not to get hopes up too much - who knows how many there are on these SWLs..!! I guess we'd have heard by now?!)

Thank you. In case you are all wondering - my dd does not have the ideal 'ballet feet' - so much so that her teacher didn't even put her forward for the RBS audition. But she really wanted to give it a go anyway - we umm'd and err'd and eventually I agreed to take her... Just goes to show, trust in your dc!

SWL for London/Birmingham. Better than I was expecting and very encouraging, as it shows there's hope yet for her feet!

Pixie it looks like you got a yes. Fantastic news - after all our discussions about feet!!

You are so right Mrs Moo about keeping things in perspective. At the moment, it's my 10-yr-old's 'dream' to be a dancer - that could all change of course, esp. with puberty (!) but up till that point, the way I see it is it's up to us as parents to facilitate the opportunities as much as possible, just as we would later on if she wanted to become a doctor (not likely!!) or whatever. But yes, fiercely competitive that's for sure. I'm trying to play it all down, to keep emphasising her love of dance and celebrating her achievements. It's hard though - am definitely more obsessed with it all than she is!! (I suppose it's a bit of escapism from the daily grind! ) Sorry Tiredtoes about the no. Great news sunrise81 about SWL. More waiting for us!