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Elmhurst auditions Sept 2017 entry


Happymum

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Hi everyone- new to the forum. My DD auditioned for Elmhurst yr9 entry Sept yesterday. She had an amazing few hours and I was impressed by the new lady of academics, they seem to be up to speed with keeping them 'thinking dancers' should things not turn out the way your child had thought when first joining Elmhurst.The wait begins for results now- still didn't get an answer to how many yr9 places for September though!??

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Hi everyone- new to the forum. My DD auditioned for Elmhurst yr9 entry Sept yesterday. She had an amazing few hours and I was impressed by the new lady of academics, they seem to be up to speed with keeping them 'thinking dancers' should things not turn out the way your child had thought when first joining Elmhurst.The wait begins for results now- still didn't get an answer to how many yr9 places for September though!??

They don't have a specific number of places for each year group which is why they won't give you an answer. The boarding is flexible so they just take who they like regardless of current numbers. Who was the lady who spoke about the academic side of things?

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It is hard for them to predict how many places there will be available in year 9 next year.

I know of one girl leaving current year 8 soon. There might be more leaving or assest out later during the school year (or there might not).

Year 8 and 9 are in the same house so the number of available beds also depends on the numbers of girls in current year 7. Will there be any leaving or joining - hard to tell.

 

Good to hear that your DD enjoyed the audition, good luck to her!

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Thankyou- first audition for a residential dance school as she's been in CAT since year 7 but ready for a residential place now, struggling to fit in academic school plus 15hours outside school a week. Does anyone know if yes's and no's both look the same and just come in a small envelope? She's so excited for results, think I am more nervous for her!

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Sunshine girl, my DD auditioned for Elmhurst the last 2 years for Y7 & Y8. Both times she got finals and the letter came in a DL sized envelope. It seems to be the finals results that come in different size envelops - she sadly got a no both times but then was invited to join Y8 after all in October so is there now and loving it. Wishing your DD all the best and hope she gets the result she wants.

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Today's preliminary auditions were the same for boys and girls, very similar to how they were 2 years ago when my DD auditioned (if not exactly the same).

I think that the finals might be different as boys and girls have separate auditions, maybe they are looking for/checking different things in boys? But maybe not, I have no idea, sorry

 

Thank you Happy Mum. I have no idea what they are looking for with boys or girls!

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Sunshine girl, my DD auditioned for Elmhurst the last 2 years for Y7 & Y8. Both times she got finals and the letter came in a DL sized envelope. It seems to be the finals results that come in different size envelops - she sadly got a no both times but then was invited to join Y8 after all in October so is there now and loving it. Wishing your DD all the best and hope she gets the result she wants.

 

 

Dance fanatic - what a fabulous outcome for your DD, and good for her for persevering. Was she on the reserve list this year and called off that in October? Or did she get straight no after finals?

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She got a straight No both years so we were very surprised to get an email from the school in mid-September. What did help I think was the fact she did Summer school again this year and danced her heart out all three days. Mr Parker told us he could see the fire in her eyes and her determination whenever he watched her during summer school too. I left her at the school in August with the instructions to treat the entire time as an audition but to also enjoy the whole experience which she did. And she seems to have settled in really well which is a relief, particularly as we ended up with only 3 weeks to get organised!!

 

To moral is that anything is possible and not to get disheartened by a No as it often is simply a No not right now. I hope my DDs experience can help others as I know stories like this helped her enormously.

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That is a truly inspiring story, DanceFanatic! Your DD must have really impressed during the summer school. 

It is interesting, in some schools in America I think they audition for full time training by inviting auditionees to a summer school so they can see how they perform over a week or two, rather than in a one hour class. For some children I am sure they may not be as good at impressing in a brief audition, but over a few days can really show their potential. 

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That is a truly inspiring story, DanceFanatic! Your DD must have really impressed during the summer school. 

It is interesting, in some schools in America I think they audition for full time training by inviting auditionees to a summer school so they can see how they perform over a week or two, rather than in a one hour class. For some children I am sure they may not be as good at impressing in a brief audition, but over a few days can really show their potential. 

 

I totally agree. Here, in France, the auditions for Rosella Hightower (in Cannes)  and ENSD ( Marseille) involve a week long 'intensive' as does the Princess Grace Academy in Monaco. The POB, CNSMD Paris and Lyon involve 2 parts. 

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I auditioned for 6th form entry yesterday and thought Id just share a couple of things. The audition was pretty easy, no complicated steps or long exercises but nevertheless it was tiring, vocabulary of an Intermdiate standard. There was only 16 of us because it was an extra audition that day due to over subscription so we got through the class quickly - only an hour and twenty. No pointe work which I surprised about but also relieved as Id only taken one toe pad . Everyone was in very very simple leotards, I definately had the fanciest, turquoisey blue with a bit if of lace. Only thing I found odd was that the exercises started with the right hand on the barre and so I started the excersises facing a wall and my back to the panel?! Panel seemed quite friendly but did quite a lot of pointing and whispering. I found the flexability part hard just because I'm not that flexible and so for me, that part really let me down but the actual dancing was good! Very few of the girls actually used their faces very much, people were pretty nervous! Felt like it went pretty well but it's always difficult to tell! x

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There must be a very high number of applications for Elmhurst 6th form this year. We were told that 30th Nov was full several weeks before the closing date and were offered an alternative date. interesting that a 3rd (?) group was subsequently added to the day. Also there are auditions running in Australia.... just something to keep in mind for anyone who does not get the hoped for finals.

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Well maybe but it is still sad for UK girls who desperately want a school with a pure classical focus but for whatever reason - perhaps just that they are exhausted with GCSEs and controlled assessments- don't quite have what it takes to compete internationally at 15 or 16.

 

Fraid I'm also not convinced by the "it's hugely competitive and international so may as well get used to that sooner rather than later" argument when you also sometimes read articles bemoaning the dearth of really good female dancers and esp lack of UK talent. Perhaps there is a gap in the market for a pure classical school at 16 which is not quite so competitive. There are other schools besides RBS ENBS and Elmhurst but how many are really solidly classical training?

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Well maybe but it is still sad for UK girls who desperately want a school with a pure classical focus but for whatever reason - perhaps just that they are exhausted with GCSEs and controlled assessments- don't quite have what it takes to compete internationally at 15 or 16.

 

Fraid I'm also not convinced by the "it's hugely competitive and international so may as well get used to that sooner rather than later" argument when you also sometimes read articles bemoaning the dearth of really good female dancers and esp lack of UK talent. Perhaps there is a gap in the market for a pure classical school at 16 which is not quite so competitive. There are other schools besides RBS ENBS and Elmhurst but how many are really solidly classical training?

Well, you have to look further ahead at the job market really - there aren't all that many purely 'classical' jobs out there so that is why the schools tend to teach contemporary and jazz as well as ballet. They want to be able to provide the training necessary for people to have the best chance of getting a job at the end of it.

 

When it comes to the perceived lack of UK talent, maybe that is because not enough UK students are given the opportunity to access training at the highest level in order to nurture their talent? Perhaps an increase in the number of MDS places might go some way to redressing the balance, and produce more students capable of competing at an international level for places at upper school. We have world-class schools here in the UK, and we should be turning out far more world-class dancers.

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Well maybe but it is still sad for UK girls who desperately want a school with a pure classical focus but for whatever reason - perhaps just that they are exhausted with GCSEs and controlled assessments- don't quite have what it takes to compete internationally at 15 or 16.

 

Fraid I'm also not convinced by the "it's hugely competitive and international so may as well get used to that sooner rather than later" argument when you also sometimes read articles bemoaning the dearth of really good female dancers and esp lack of UK talent. Perhaps there is a gap in the market for a pure classical school at 16 which is not quite so competitive. There are other schools besides RBS ENBS and Elmhurst but how many are really solidly classical training?

 

I do think you have a good point here Flora. It has often been noted in sport that British talent tends to develop a little later because in this country we encourage strong academics alongside training, as opposed to other countries which select talented young children and then train them at the expense of any form of plan B. Perhaps the same could be said for classical ballet. There may indeed be many British dancers who can’t compete internationally at age 15 because they have not focussed so exclusively on dance, but they may well be ‘up there’ at age 21 given the chance. As for the ‘gap in the market’, I was hoping that BalletWest was filling that to some extent, but that’s just a semi-informed hopeful guess really!

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I do think you have a good point here Flora. It has often been noted in sport that British talent tends to develop a little later because in this country we encourage strong academics alongside training, as opposed to other countries which select talented young children and then train them at the expense of any form of plan B. Perhaps the same could be said for classical ballet. There may indeed be many British dancers who can’t compete internationally at age 15 because they have not focussed so exclusively on dance, but they may well be ‘up there’ at age 21 given the chance. As for the ‘gap in the market’, I was hoping that BalletWest was filling that to some extent, but that’s just a semi-informed hopeful guess really!

I think you have nailed it BlueLou.  

I was fortunate to watch an international dance comp this summer for all genres. MT genre was nailed by Team England across all age groups, however when it came to Classical Ballet no one could touch Team Portugal for the under 12's incl the boys. Outstanding and mesmerizing the standard at such a young age, however in the top age group I believe (if my memory serves me correctly) the winner of the Ballet solo was a delightful dancer from Team Wales.  :wub:

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I auditioned for 6th form entry yesterday and thought Id just share a couple of things. The audition was pretty easy, no complicated steps or long exercises but nevertheless it was tiring, vocabulary of an Intermdiate standard. There was only 16 of us because it was an extra audition that day due to over subscription so we got through the class quickly - only an hour and twenty. No pointe work which I surprised about but also relieved as Id only taken one toe pad . Everyone was in very very simple leotards, I definately had the fanciest, turquoisey blue with a bit if of lace. Only thing I found odd was that the exercises started with the right hand on the barre and so I started the excersises facing a wall and my back to the panel?! Panel seemed quite friendly but did quite a lot of pointing and whispering. I found the flexability part hard just because I'm not that flexible and so for me, that part really let me down but the actual dancing was good! Very few of the girls actually used their faces very much, people were pretty nervous! Felt like it went pretty well but it's always difficult to tell! x

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My daughter auditioned on 30th to for 6th form but we was in the morning audition , there was abound 25 in her class .Like you didn't find anything to complicated and it was set at an intermediate level the excersises., she enjoyed the audition experience despite the nerves .As a parent was nice to see the last 10mins of the audition . Not received our letter as yet of outcome , but good luck X

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