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Sadielou

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  1. I have a class of just two Advanced 2 girls on Wednesdays @ 7.15 - 8.45pm in NW6 all details here https://www.ballettrain.com your daughter is welcome to come along and see us. Debra - Ballet Train
  2. Completely agree with all FionaE said. Thought Chloe and MacKenzie were en par until the Contemporary when Mackenzie Brown blew everybody out of the water. Totally amazing ! And what a fabulous piece. Daichi danced beautifully but as said above there was no competition. Loved the non competing boy from Stuttgart who also danced beautifully and came across as a warm and caring partner. Found the Canadian couple to be a strange choice especially as the competition was on their home turf, felt that they really struggled through their classical piece. Interesting that with the exception of Daichi, all competitors were American.
  3. I don't see anything new in what is being proposed by the RBS, as I would hope that any dance teacher worth their salt would already be spending some time during the term, on repertoire, music appreciation and self expression. As finding access to ballet performance videos, literature and music has never been easier, I am not really sure what the RBS is offering that isn't already available and way less expensive. To simply apply for this course the fee is £65 - no promise of getting a place. If you are accepted course fees are just shy of £6000 plus an ongoing £550 yearly membership, plus (not yet priced) a yearly 3 day mandatory CPD course. And apart from an initial 4 day face to face training period, it appears that all further training, assessments etc will be online, "to lessen the carbon footprint". Admittedly the exam/ set syllabus route can be restrictive but exams are still an important factor for many students. The majority of older students take exams to amass UCAS points or to add to the sport element of Duke of Edinburgh awards and younger students (11 plus age) need exams results to apply for dance / sport scholarships as a way into some the highly sought after private and state schools in our area. I would have loved this RBS affiliation to be something really new and innovative but sadly I don't see it as either and in my humble opinion it is not a viable option for many dance schools. I only see this working on an associate / cat scheme type blue print.
  4. It is now so expensive to hire even the cheapest performance space in London, so it is now very hard for small local dance schools to put on a professional end of year show. As a mother of 3, I completely understand how difficult it is for parents to find extra money for costumes production fees etc. So I have always kept all our show costumes adding a few extras year by year and then recycled the rest as best we could for each different production. For our last show parents were charged a flat rate of £30 per child which included 2 tickets to the show, it seemed the fairest way. Not sure when we will be able to perform again as our school has lost a lot of students over the past two years due to lockdowns, and there is currently no way of covering costs without asking parents for a ridiculous amount in contributions.
  5. My student took Advanced 2 at RAD headquarters this summer. On exam day due to sickness there was no pianist so accompaniment was by taped music.The day after the RAD emailed to apologize about the lack of a pianist and to ask if I would like to make a complaint directing me to the link to fill in a complaint form, which asked if there was any specific section of the exam that the student in question was disadvantaged. This student had attended an Advanced 2 exam intensive at Headquarters on the Monday through Friday before her scheduled Sunday exam. Throughout the course the students were accompanied by piano and had been told that the pianist would play to their tempo during the pointe work turn sections - specifically fouettés and turns round the room. As there was no pianist on exam day and the taped tempo was much faster than had been rehearsed, this section went particularly badly for the student in question. So as prompted this is what we put on the form. When the RAD came back to us we were told that because of the lack of pianist two special consideration marks would be awarded. However when we received the exam results this student was awarded 57 marks - generally a Merit - but not this time as result read “Standard not attained” . In both Advanced 1 and 2 the examinees now have to attain 4 out of 10 marks in each of the 10 sections of the exam to receive a Pass / Merit / Distinction regardless of the total mark. All lower RAD exams are passed on the total mark anything over 40. So hypothetically a student could pass Advanced 1 or 2 with 40 marks - gaining 4 marks in each section, but could fail Advanced 1 or 2 with 97 marks if all sections were perfect and one was marked as a three. Scrutinizing my students marks, seven sections were marked at 6 and two at 5. There was one section marked at 3 which was the very section we had pointed out on the complaint form. I contacted the RAD and asked why the Special consideration marks had not been added to the section that they were awarded for and was told that these marks can only be added to a total mark, which at Advanced level makes no difference at all to the outcome. They could have awarded 20 extra marks and the standard still would have not been attained. This makes the awarding of these marks totally nonsensical and purely virtue signaling of behalf of the RAD for something that was their fault. The student in question has loved her ballet throughout the years and this was her last exam before leaving for Uni. She is not a dancer and was doing this purely for her own satisfaction and would have been very happy to receive a pass in her last ballet exam. So failing by one mark through no fault of her own is extremely upsetting. I have made a complaint to the RAD but basically have been told that the computer says no. I would just like to know if anybody else out there teachers / parents/ students have had similar problems. I am now very angry about this and would like to take it further.
  6. Several of my students have become bored and fed up with RBS JA/MA classes. And lockdown zoom classes certainly haven't enhanced the experience. Although the kudos of gaining a place on one of these courses is wonderful and in a few cases aids entrance into vocational schools, in general the classes are long, boring and very simple. Many JA students are at least Grade 4 level on the outside and are then treated as, and given work akin to Primary level students. I tell my students that associate classes are wonderful building blocks, giving them the opportunity to work slowly on their strength, flexibility and technique. However these children are very young and find it hard to see past the slog to the bigger picture. In the past associate teachers were all part of the RB family, ex dancers, RB trained teachers, ex RB students turned teachers. However if you look at the teachers now employed by the associate courses very few have been trained by the RB and many have no more qualifications than local ballet school teachers. My own child left half way through the first year of MA's, the classes were boring and uninspiring. The decision was never regretted.
  7. Defeatist seems about right. Granted this is a ridiculous situation but as everybody else seems to be marching and demonstrating these days - can't all the dance companies get together and tell it how it is. Dancers careers are being shut down for a virus with a 99 per cent survival rate - CRAZY - I don't know why we are accepting this ? I know there will be people telling me that this is a selfish attitude. But quite frankly if you don't want to go back to work or go to the theatre - stay at home that is your decision. But those of us that want to get back to normality should be allowed to do so. Before it is too late. Come on Dancers / Directors lets make a stand !
  8. Honestly who are the ethnic minorities that are upset about "the firedance" ? I would love to speak to them. It seem to me that is a certain group of white people getting upset on their behalf finding problems where there are none. Bayadere and virtually every classical ballet of this time era are basically fairy stories who on earth can be so offended ?. Should indigenous English people be upset when an oriental or Bame dancer portrays Elgar and his friends in Enigma variations ? This is all totally ridiculous there must be more to worry about - like when are the dancers ever going to get back on stage !
  9. I find this syllabus very badly thought through. The fact that both the male and female preparation exercises are set to the same music, although entirely different steps says it all. It is case of "what can we fit to this music" rather than what is actually helpful. I am working with a student on level 4 - all sections and we find that the preparation exercises in many cases hinder rather than help - Being on different feet, different timings and in some case entirely different steps. For instance the "gargouillades" in the Sugar Plum variation are something students come across quite rarely and therefore you would think that the preparation exercise would take this into account. But no - the prep step is plain pas de chats ? Not helpful. Some of the preparation steps are almost impossible for anyone less than a professional to do on pointe and other exercises with multiple releves are very heavy going on demi pointe. The fact that on the video demo for the Odette solo - prep steps are done on flat and the solo on pointe says it all. I initially thought the Rep syllabus was a great idea for those students who would not be technically strong enough to get through Inter and Advanced but still wanted to do "proper ballet" however the class section is too easy and doesn't marry up with the solos which in most cases are too hard for the level. As others have said maybe better to mix and match, but exam wise I am not sure what that achieves - All way too complicated. Must be a nightmare for the examiners, with some examinees on pointe others on flat, how do you mark fairly and with an open mind ? - We will not be doing this syllabus next year - back to struggling through the vocational grades !
  10. So sorry to hear your news. Have you thought about going to Europe ? Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Zurich etc. Maybe worth a look.
  11. RBS Boys training is no different to the girls. It is purely that there are fewer boys coming in from abroad and therefore the Director has more boys places to give.
  12. We are on the audition circuit at the moment and it is indeed very expensive, brutal and toxic. Most European companies will only audition students of specific heights, boys under 5'11 are generally not even seen regardless of talent, same goes for girls that are too small, seems that 5"5 is the desired height, but the poor girls get it at both ends as they can't be too tall either. It would appear from our recent experiences that height is now more important than talent ! If you get over the height hurdle and receive an invite to audition, it is in most cases a cattle market. With students (even those from the top schools) being routed out before the end of the classical class. Most companies are now asking for dance photos and videos of classical class and solos, as a pre assessment, presumably as not to waste the time of students that are an obvious non fit for their company. However from what we have witnessed over the past few weeks it would appear that most of these company's hadn't given these videos a second glance. It has been bad enough for us, residing in Europe, but others travelled from much further a field, only to be told goodbye and thank you after only half an hour of class. Three times one of my DC having survived to the end of a full days audition - classical class, pas de deux, repertoire, has been told that he is too classical as the company in question would only be doing Contemporary rep for the forseeable future. Surely this could have been stated on the audition notice, and in the case of my DC it should have been very obvious from his audition video that he is a very classical dancer. That is frustrating enough, but having survived to the end of auditions for two of the most prestigious German companies, one said that they hadn't decided wether they wanted, classical or contemporary dancers or those that could do both (why hold an audition until you know what you are auditioning for), and the other company's director didn't look up from his phone throughout the whole process, Both company's told those that made it to the end of the audition day - 4 cuts in all, that they would email with news good or bad, within two weeks - 6 weeks later we are still waiting, along with the others that my DC knew from those auditions. After 3 weeks my DC emailed both companies to ask for news and one of the company's as to wether it would be worth re auditioning (as this company had started advertising another batch of auditions) but never heard another word from either one. One of our UK companies told all auditionees as they walked into the studio on audition day, that they had no contracts but for grant purposes had to hold annual auditions - Disgusting behaviour ! Not one company audition notice states the terms of the contracts available so in the main auditionees are competing for a job with no knowledge of what they are actually auditioning for or if the job in question even pays. The elation of being offered a contract can soon wear thin when you find out that the only contracts available are for apprenticeships and the pay amounts to 300 euros a month ! This seems to be happening more and more. Even one of the better known junior companies only offers first year members 1100 euros a month, hardly enough to survive on in a major city, unless you have rich parents. Quite frankly it is little more than exploitation on behalf of these company's, a cheap and easy way to fill their ranks, None of the big European company's can perform the well known classical ballets without junior company / trainees and affiliated school students to swell their ranks. The school students (although of course gaining valuable experience) are usually paid zilch - this is the case at Het Nationale and the RB and no doubt many other companies. In my day the RBS students were paid by performance, even for walk on roles - So much for improvements ! It would just be nice if some of these companies could at least show a little bit of respect to the dancers that travel so far and work so hard and stop the exploitation of hard working students. I guess what I am trying to say, is that the worry surrounding schools, assessments and training is just the beginning, as the stress and the considerable financial strain seems to be never ending. It is definitely, definitely not for the faint hearted.
  13. As said in various posts above, many talented Uk dancers often with 5 years of vocational training under their belt are being totally squeezed out at the higher levels. The top vocational schools in this country have no qualms about advertising their world wide auditions on all social media outlets.To the uninitiated it would seem that there is a dire need to fill spaces in these schools, but as parents and teachers on this forum know the situation is the exact opposite. I have personally been through the horrible, gut wrenching experience of assessments with both my own children and my students. We too have listened to their teachers tell us that the chance of them getting places at the Upper level of training, would solely depend on the amount of places available after the Director had given places to foreign students (again before the schools own assessments). I can not help but wonder how these teachers can allow their students to be callously tossed aside year after year without questioning themselves and the training afforded to these students. My heart goes out to all parents and students currently going through this. The sad truth is that the training in our lower schools is not up to international standards and for many years several of our schools have simply got by on their brand names. Many parents of lower school students come to realise this quiet quickly but are caught in a catch 22 situation. If only enough parents could get together and protest, things could change, however as the ballet world is so small and parents are petrified to mess up any chance their child may have, this will never happen. I made a fuss towards the end of my child's training (we had nothing to lose as we had already made the decision to go elsewhere) but even with only one month of schooling left, I was hauled up in front of the Director like a naughty school child and literally told to get back into line if I wanted my child to graduate and perform at the end of the year. Still haven't gotten over this experience ! It is so sad that this same topic rears its ugly head year after year.
  14. Perhaps Mr Powney should take a look at the biographies of the international scholars on his own web page, all of whom have entered and won major prizes at "unethical competitions" performing age un appropriate pas de deux's and solo's on pointe. Perhaps this contradictory information should be removed from the web site in light of his recent statement.
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