Exaggerating Festival Results on Facebook!

[Petalviolet]

If anything turns you into a cynic it's a festival!

[Pointe-less]

Staying with the theme of exaggeration, I wonder if anyone has noticed some dance schools exaggerating their own teaching ie dance teachers calling themselves experts, specialists, calling their classes master classes etc. Ive seen this a lot lately and with some of the teachers I don't know what their credentials are, but I am aware of a few and whilst I'm sure they are great teachers in their own right I do find them giving them selves titles like this very strange not to mention being very economical with the truth. In any other profession you have to have specific experience and credentials to call yourself a specialist but it seems in dance that anyone can claim this. Has anyone else noticed this or am I just a mean, cynical dance Mummy?

And here was me thinking I was the only one to notice the "masterclass" epidemic

[alison]

Sadly posts are being fuelled only by highly concentrated grapefruit squash.

 

Don't suppose it's sugar-containing, is it?  I've been looking everywhere for one.  The artificial sweeteners ruin the taste, as far as I'm concerned.

[Petalviolet]

No it's the Hi Juice zero sugar variety - it still bears the 'tang' of chemical substitution.

 

*have I managed to draw an actual mod down into the rabbit hole that is off-topic PV blathering? This is an achievement sweeter than any full fat sugar added grapefruit elixir. Fist pump.

[alison]

Apparently nothing comes close to the much-missed Sainsburys variety

[Petalviolet]

Let's take a moment to mourn Alison...

 

Then back on topic!

 

Nobody (me included) ever posts if it's a placing that's been shared with others though!

Me on FB for example...

 

"DD placed......x!!! #soblessed" etc etc..

 

What all by herself PV...? Not with...about eight other children? Some of who could have been five for all you could tell?

 

"Hummmmmm ffftttpppwwhh..mumble..."

 

What was that PV?

 

"Um..Would anyone care for a glass of squash?"

[alison]

I'm not dead yet, PV!

[Petalviolet]

Oh bluddy hell!

 

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

don't be cheeky to mod they will have their revenge grammatically.

[sarahw]

????????????????????????????????????. I've had a **** week and this has really cheered me up!!

[Petalviolet]

RIP Alison.

 

*flounces off.

[Lisa O`Brien]

. I've had a **** week and this has really cheered me up!!

Oh no. Sorry to hear you've had a bad week. [ Virtual hugs to you ].

[sarahw]

Thank you Lisa ????????

[Danceforfun]

I have been reading this thread with great amusement! Several months ago a person who will remain anonymous contacted my dd dance school and offered for his daughter who had appeared on Dance mums to come and deliver a specialist workshop! Bearing in my she is a child herself only 15 years old! No teaching qualifications and certainly no professional experience, Needless to say our dance teacher was horrified and promptly refused, however I have seen many of these workshops being delivered around the country what a joke!!

[sarahw]

WELL SAID DANCE FOR FUN! !!

 

That sort of stuff is ridiculous and dangerous. We have had such 'Masterclasses' locally and people pay to go....

[Pas de Quatre]

This also seems to be spilling over into Associate schemes. There are more and more advertised. Most are reputable with wonderful teachers, but it is worth reading about their qualifications & experience with a sharp eye.

[Harwel]

This also seems to be spilling over into Associate schemes. There are more and more advertised. Most are reputable with wonderful teachers, but it is worth reading about their qualifications & experience with a sharp eye.

I find this quite a concerning development. As you rightly say, there are some fantastic schemes which offer great additional training. There are some which are no more than a student poaching exercise in my opinion, preying on ill informed parents.

[taxi4ballet]

I have noticed a tendency for a few dance schools to be rather creative on their websites about their staff.

 

As in: 'Miss so-and-so trained at Big Name Ballet School.... etc etc' and they make a huge thing of it, but actually she was an associate there for a year or two and didn't actually train there full-time at all, but went to Small Town College on their dance Btec course.

[Legseleven]

That's a tendency throughout the performing arts I find, taxi4ballet. I have seen biographies in theatre programmers stating that a performer trained at RADA when I know that they had completed a short course there, having trained elsewhere, in a local concert programme stating that the soloist trained with the Royal Academy of Music when on being questioned (by my friend who simply couldn't believe that this was the result of Royal Academy training) it was stated that they had taken an Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music exam and several dance teachers I know of who have claimed to have trained at the Royal Ballet School when we know that they once attended a summer school or were a JA.

[sarahw]

Have they no shame??

[LinMM]

Someone giving a masterclass ...in my view...has to be a Master of the Art ( music or dance) with a wealth of performing experience and or years teaching and or coaching top professionals.

So not THAT Many can truely claim this.

It happens in the adult amateur world of ballet too with people who may have been very good dancers at one point with maybe even a couple of years experience in a Company somewhere but are really just teachers not Master teachers.

 

Ironically one of the best teachers I've ever had and who really could call himself a Master teacher by all criterior never calls himself this.

[Guest]

Have they no shame??

No, none at all.

[alison]

Wouldn't these schools be covered by the Trades Descriptions Act?  Surely it's up to the schools to do due diligence in hiring staff and making sure their credentials match up with their claims?

[Jan McNulty]

That's a tendency throughout the performing arts I find, taxi4ballet. I have seen biographies in theatre programmers stating that a performer trained at RADA when I know that they had completed a short course there, having trained elsewhere, in a local concert programme stating that the soloist trained with the Royal Academy of Music when on being questioned (by my friend who simply couldn't believe that this was the result of Royal Academy training) it was stated that they had taken an Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music exam and several dance teachers I know of who have claimed to have trained at the Royal Ballet School when we know that they once attended a summer school or were a JA.

 

 

Wouldn't these schools be covered by the Trades Descriptions Act?  Surely it's up to the schools to do due diligence in hiring staff and making sure their credentials match up with their claims?

 

 

 

I suspect they get away with it because if they did a one week summer school at a prestigious school then they did do some of their training there...

[Fiz]

Cheryl Cole the pop "star" implied that she had attended the RBS. It turned out to be a summer school there. I suspect she was embarrassed by the revelation because she then went on to attack the other children who had been there and by implication the Royal Ballet School.

[Lisa O`Brien]

There are two dancing schools where I am. One of them just teach Hip Hop and the likes and have lots of trampoline classes and line dancing for adults. They mainly teach Irish dancing for children. The other dance school teach tap ballet modern as well as other things. In their Facebook page they have a video of a wee girl doing a Grand Jete. The caption says "practising split runs". Split Runs?? 

Edited February 21, 2017 by Lisa O`Brien

[Lisa O`Brien]

Cheryl Cole the pop "star" implied that she had attended the RBS. It turned out to be a summer school there. I suspect she was embarrassed by the revelation because she then went on to attack the other children who had been there and by implication the Royal Ballet School.

I just Googled that article. Do people in this day and age really still believe the Royal Ballet School,  or even just its Summer School is for middle or upper class kids only? Oh, and that she was somehow singled out because she was working class and possibly had a strong Northern accent ? So this put her off wanting to become a ballet dancer. Says a lot about her and her attitude to others of a different class to herself I think.

Edited February 21, 2017 by Lisa O`Brien

[joyofdance]

I have no idea what she said and I doubt very much that she was singled out for having a northern accent however the issue around fee paying schools, vocational schools is not so much about class but I do feel is certainly affected by money. Generally a child that lives in a more affluent family situation gets an advantage from the get go, which then does give them greater advantages later on. A struggling family is less likey to be able to afford to send their children to dance classes. Children from more affluent back grounds  are more likely to get "good quality" dance training on a more regular basis so regardless of any natural ability will have more opportunity to have the training needed to achieve a higher standard than their less well off peers, less well off families are not as likely to encourage their children to audition at vocational school because of the cost as well as because this may not be something that they feel, rightly or wrongly, is open to them. The dance school my DD attends is very good but you pay higher rates than other dance schools. Private lessons are incredibly expensive regardless of how excellent the teaching is. Since my daughter has been dancing Ive watched several children go down the vocational route, not one of them came from a low income family, all of them had several scheduled ballet lessons a week and in some cases two or three hours of private lessons. I know there are exceptions to this and occasionally you will get a child that has amazing natural ability and will be offered bursary's etc but this is not the majority experience. I dont agree with Cherly (even though I havent actually read what she has said verbatim) and  i know there are always  exceptions to the rule but I do think that much of the arts, ballet especially, is an elitist activity and by definition excludes certain groups in society. Take for example the recent EYB Cindarella dreams, the advert said, "open to children of all abilitys from around the midlands" or something like that, the reality was, it was open to all children from around the midlands who's parents could afford the £500 plus fee. To me that clearly says that on the whole ballet is more of a middle class vocation. Anyway, sorry for going off topic and I might sound like it but Im not ranting I  would be really interested in your views on this as I do sometimes think (not necessarily on this forum) but as a topic this can sometimes be a bit of an Elephant in the corner.

[taxi4ballet]

I just Googled that article. Do people in this day and age really still believe the Royal Ballet School,  or even just its Summer School is for middle or upper class kids only? Oh, and that she was somehow singled out because she was working class and possibly had a strong Northern accent ? So this put her off wanting to become a ballet dancer. Says a lot about her and her attitude to others of a different class to herself I think.

Depends entirely on who wrote the article, their interpretation of what they were told, and whether there was an 'agenda' behind it.

[sarahw]

I totally agree joyofdance - on the whole it's expensive to get your child into a position to qualify for an MDS or bursary.

[PrancingMum]

I just Googled that article. Do people in this day and age really still believe the Royal Ballet School,  or even just its Summer School is for middle or upper class kids only? Oh, and that she was somehow singled out because she was working class and possibly had a strong Northern accent ? So this put her off wanting to become a ballet dancer. Says a lot about her and her attitude to others of a different class to herself I think.

 

 

According to the Mirror the year she applied there were 9,000 applicants!

 

"At nine she dreamed of being a ballerina and was one of a handful of girls picked from 9,000 hopefuls to take part in the Royal Ballet School's two-week summer school."

 

Says it all - must be an accurate piece of journalism.  

[joyofdance]

Ha ha Newdancermum. Nothing like a bit of exaggeration to wow the fans.

[Pointe-less]

I have no idea what she said and I doubt very much that she was singled out for having a northern accent however the issue around fee paying schools, vocational schools is not so much about class but I do feel is certainly affected by money. Generally a child that lives in a more affluent family situation gets an advantage from the get go, which then does give them greater advantages later on. A struggling family is less likey to be able to afford to send their children to dance classes. Children from more affluent back grounds are more likely to get "good quality" dance training on a more regular basis so regardless of any natural ability will have more opportunity to have the training needed to achieve a higher standard than their less well off peers, less well off families are not as likely to encourage their children to audition at vocational school because of the cost as well as because this may not be something that they feel, rightly or wrongly, is open to them. The dance school my DD attends is very good but you pay higher rates than other dance schools. Private lessons are incredibly expensive regardless of how excellent the teaching is. Since my daughter has been dancing Ive watched several children go down the vocational route, not one of them came from a low income family, all of them had several scheduled ballet lessons a week and in some cases two or three hours of private lessons. I know there are exceptions to this and occasionally you will get a child that has amazing natural ability and will be offered bursary's etc but this is not the majority experience. I dont agree with Cherly (even though I havent actually read what she has said verbatim) and i know there are always exceptions to the rule but I do think that much of the arts, ballet especially, is an elitist activity and by definition excludes certain groups in society. Take for example the recent EYB Cindarella dreams, the advert said, "open to children of all abilitys from around the midlands" or something like that, the reality was, it was open to all children from around the midlands who's parents could afford the £500 plus fee. To me that clearly says that on the whole ballet is more of a middle class vocation. Anyway, sorry for going off topic and I might sound like it but Im not ranting I would be really interested in your views on this as I do sometimes think (not necessarily on this forum) but as a topic this can sometimes be a bit of an Elephant in the corner.

Definitely the elephant in the room!! But I couldn't agree more!! I have posted on the forum before with regards to a friend of mine who's dd had made finals and even got offered an unfunded place but never managed to snag an mds, she is from a low income family and they really struggle to afford her dance lessons, she doesn't have privates, can't afford to take exams and paying for auditions with travel and overnight accommodations often leaves them short and my friend feels that it is their lack of income which has held her dd back. I believe I may have even wrote before that she once told me that the whole ballet system is still favourable to those with more money as you have to be pretty special to secure a mds so unless you are a naturally gifted dancer then in reality you need to be able to afford good quality lessons and as much training as possible to reach a level worthy of gaining funding which just isn't at all achievable on a low income, so instantly you are a disadvantage if your parents have low incomes. Obviously this isn't always the case but based on people we both know with mds places it also isn't too far from the truth either. And all that is not to say that children from low income families can't gain mds places and im sure they do, but she believes that low income families are at a disadvantage. Oh and another thing she mentioned was after dd being offered a place at Hammond she had to pay something like £150 deposit to accept her place at the funding audition, which she felt was totally unreasonable as she was applying for funding because she couldn't afford the fees and so to be expected to find £150 at such short notice was ridiculous, something else that might put low income families off auditioning in the first place!

[Guest]

According to the Mirror the year she applied there were 9,000 applicants!

 

"At nine she dreamed of being a ballerina and was one of a handful of girls picked from 9,000 hopefuls to take part in the Royal Ballet School's two-week summer school."

 

Says it all - must be an accurate piece of journalism.  

According to her wikipedia entry, dear Cheryl attended the Royal Ballet Summer School when she was 9 years old. She must have been amazingly precocious because the minimum age is 10 right?