Sadielou

I didn’t say anything about Xenephobia didn’t even enter my mind. It was you that brought it into the conversation. The thread was about the difficulty of Uk passport holding dancers finding jobs here and abroad and the fact that it was now more difficult as many EU companies are stipulating only EU auditionees. It was then pointed out that 14 RBS students had recently secured contracts overseas. All I said was that 11 of them had probably found it a little easier (not taking away from their talent or that they didn’t deserve these postings) as they were either EU or USA passport holders. This is when for some reason Xenophobia was brought into the mix. After which , I mused that if many (not all) companies abroad were no longer accepting non EU dancers - does that make them Xenephobic. As it seems that if the same (only UK passport holders) were to happen in the UK or is even discussed It would be and is slammed as such. Isn’t this double standards ? I have nothing left to say on the subject and am signing out.

The point was that of the 14 RBS students gaining postings abroad. Most of those going to EU companies held EU passports and those gaining contracts in the USA were already American passport holders. No visas needed. More and more EU companies are stipulating only EU passport holders, the same in the states. Perhaps it is these companies that are xenophobic ?

Good point forget that one !

At the risk of being shouted down I thought I would share a few of my insights, thoughts on the current work / audition situation for our young dancers. As some have mentioned previously there are now far too many schools, just counted 12 in the UK, (and they are just the well know ones), and far too few jobs to accommodate the amount of Graduates filing out of them every year. The ratios involved are never going to add up. So why oh why are “Dancers” on the Gov UK jobs available list ??? Another petition needed I think. Due to the lack of jobs, many vocational colleges have ramped up their training to include an extra Graduate year, and now another new trend has emerged the “Trainee course” and my personal hate “The Junior Company” These courses are only serving to prolong the fate of dancers that are unable to find viable jobs. Yes I hear you scream, but isn’t it better that students are keeping in shape, doing class and gaining valuable experience. No, in my humble opinion it is fleecing parents of money and prolonging the inevitable. Many European Companies have a glut of older dancers, dancers that are entrenched until retirement (who can blame them) so there are very few new contracts up for grabs. Employing new dancers on full time contracts, runs the risk (after two years employment) of having that dancer fill that spot till the bitter end. So Companies having got wise to this have invented “The Junior Company” or “Trainees" to fill their empty Corps spots. Because on these Junior contracts, young dancers can easily be replaced yearly, with no worry of having them wait out their time till retirement. New blood every year for the company for way less money, win win. Having had a Son working for a European Junior Company. I know first hand, that these kids get paid less (some not at all) Yet do the same amount of work and in most cases more than the full time Corps Company members. My other Son after graduation had a “Trainee” contract in a different European Co. He was paid 500 Euros a month, which didn’t even cover his rent. The contract stated that the trainees would be training alongside the full time company dancers and helped into work at the end of the contract. Of course this didn’t happen. On day one the Director gave an introductory speech, his first statement being that ‘There will be no contracts at the end of this season” A very depressing reality on your first day. There was no “Training” per se and all trainees were thrown into all performances alongside the full company members, even, as in my Sons case doing featured roles. At the end of the contract, there was, as promised no contracts and no help with auditioning elsewhere. Not even a thank you for all your hard work. All that was offered was another trainee year. We nearly capitulated and signed a second contract, but in the end had to come to the sensible decision, that it was simply unaffordable, and delaying the inevitable. We found out later that the Government paid this Company 3000 Euros per month for each trainee of which there were 6. As the trainees themselves only received 500 per month.this meant that 15000 euros monthly went into the company coffers curtsy of these young dancers. What a rip off ! I thought that since my dancing days things would have improved, but actually think they have got much worse. At least in my day students were paid to perform with the major companies. I am fed up with hearing of young dancers being expected to work as extras for little or no payment, propping up the major companies who couldn't do the classics without them. Year after year ENB use young dancers as extra’s. ENB have pared down their contracted dancers to such a degree that they simply cannot do any of their classics without an influx of extras. These dancers are treated like second class citizens, not given company dressing rooms, (literally put in a bathroom) unable to use the company Gym or Physio suite and on top of that ENB has the audacity to pay them £100 a week less than the corps company members who are doing the same and in some cases less work. But year after year ENB know dancers will apply as extra’s hoping to gain that illusive full contract. A contract that never materialises as more often than not the Director has already employed a dancer scouted from one or other of the big competitions, or, as I see this year already, a Canadian, Dutch trained dancer scouted at the Grands Audition. Why don't they take from their feeder school, or from the many extra's who already know their productions. These students / extras must be good enough as they are already performing for paying audiences under the ENB banner. RB & BRB are even worse as they don't even bother to pay their students. Once again poor parents, are unwittingly subsidising these productions, by providing a free workforce and on top of that paying outrageous ticket prices, to see their kids on stage. Please remember parents that the Directors of these companies are all being paid extremely well and that none of these big productions could be staged without this poorly paid /free work force. I think this is a scandal that badly needs addressing. In the UK we have all been lead to believe that training at a well known and respected vocational school is the way to launch our children on the job ladder. However from all the replies, & comments on this thread this is obviously not the case. As Parents we are now expected, to finance private coaching, extra graduate /trainee years, professional photo’s, videos, competition fees / audition fees (Grands audition, YAGP Job fair, and several small companies charge a fee) costumes, travel and accommodation. Along with subsidising the big companies by providing living & travel expenses for a child working for free or very little. An impossibility for many families. Ballet has sadly once again become a career only the well off can afford. If your child is not at a top feeder school and one of the very few on the fast track to the adjoined company. It seems that private tuition and the chance to perform on the competition circuit is the only way to bag a good contract. I can think of several boys and girls that are now in top jobs whom on paper do not conform to the stipulations on their current companies audition notices. I am not saying that these kids do not deserve their contracts just that if they hadn’t had the opportunity and finances to perform on the competition circuit, they may not have even have been invited to an in person audition. The cost of competitions has already been discussed on this thread. There was an article in Pointe magazine totting up the costs, See link https://pointemagazine.com/ballet-competitions-101/ This article was written in 2018, so imagine the costs now, eye watering ! Although we as a family are very lucky to have both kids working, the pain and angst involved on the audition circuit has at times been over whelming. What is the answer, is there one ? What can we as parents do to change this toxic audition / work culture ? As parents we all want our kids to achieve their dreams, but sometimes to quote the old cliche you have to be cruel to be kind, and know when enough is enough. Sadly in most cases it turns out the rewards at the end of the Ballet Rainbow are way too few to counteract the, hard work, expense and inevitable disappointments. Would I do it all again ? On reflection, honestly no.

This was said a few years ago by David Nixon to all auditionees (of which my son was one) at the start of the audition. A few years later when another son attended the Northern Ballet audition, his friend who had travelled from abroad was kept till the end of an all day audition, only to be told by the new Director that he was too small. The boy was furious as height had been the first thing that had to be filled out on the audition form and he had spent a whole day travelling to be told something that would have been obvious from the form. This year a friend of my Son was kept to the end of the Northern audition and told that although they would like to give him a contract, there were currently none available. Directors / Companies should be transparent at audition time. Advertise auditions but make it clear if there are no contracts available and that the audition will essentially only to be an opportunity to be seen for future reference. Dancers can then decide if it is worth the money and time to attend. Canadian National Ballet were very fair in this respect, my son was invited to audition, but they made it clear that the company had no contracts available. Surely all companies, especially in this current financial climate should be as transparent.

I really wish Company directors would be honest. How hard would it have been to tell the kids that they were only looking for max 4 dancers. The general audition format now days is to fill in a form with all details send pics to show body proportions and a video with short class and two solos. If the director cannot tell from this quite detailed information who are the best candidates, then quite frankly why bother. If you are looking for 12 dancers (as was the original quota) why bring in 200. Surely the candidates could have been whittled down to maximum 25, or do directors and their assistants just not bother to look at the audition material they ask for. Know recently of kids travelling from abroad to attend invited auditions, having previously sent in all required details. Then after a long day of auditions being told that they are too tall / small. Why didn't the company read the audition form on which height is one of the first details required, thus saving these kids a great deal of money in time and travel expenses ? Northern ballet are great culprits of this, along with holding auditions " Because they are required to, to keep their grant" even when there are no jobs available. Transparency is urgently needed among those in charge.

It seems that the audition was just a marketing move. The same as using the LCB name. The blurb and the fact that the Co Director held, paid for pre audition classes at Pineapple with the carrot of being seen early and getting "pre audition feedback" definitely gave most the feeling that this would be a company of mainly new dancers. The Director even told the auditionees at the beginning of the final audition, that they were looking for 12 dancers. The whole audition culture has become toxic.

I get that there is no point in sending younger students to PDL as they already at the school of their choice. However those of graduating age are missing out on the job front. Students attending PDL get a platform to meet and network with Directors before Company audition season, students that may not even get to audition through the usual channels due to being too tall / too small (several of the boys mentioned above would be too small for most EU companies) / those that are not EU / USA citizens extra. YAGP is also being used by Directors looking for dancers. I have noticed that BRB and ENB have been bypassing their feeder schools and recruiting dancers through these channels. Although I dislike the competition culture it seems that it is now one of the only ways to bag a good job. RBS Graduating dancers that are not a shoo in to the RB company, should definitely be allowed the chance to network along with all the other talented students world wide looking for placements.

Most of the RBS 2023 graduates that went to companies outside of the UK, were not UK citizens.

As a privately funded company LCB can of course employ whomever they want. But as Pointytoes pointed out (no pun intended) Many dancers travelled from a far and spent a whole weekend auditioning, class on the Saturday and all day Sunday call backs. As Pointy toes daughter said a complete waste of time, money and energy when it is obvious that most of the new LCB dancers had been offered contracts well before the audition took place. According to dancers who attended the recall audition, it turned into a vanity project on behalf of the Director and panel who spent the entire day experimenting with their choreography whilst not affording the dancers any breaks for lunch or water throughout a very long day, 10am - 6pm. Once again young naive dancers being used as commodities. Whilst I am sure this new LCB group of dancers will be excellent, I don't think they will fill the gap left by the original LCB. I think it is wrong to pretend that this new company is carrying on the LCB legacy, a legacy which very much needs filling both for dancers and audiences alike. The Uk desperately needs a young vibrant touring company giving young UK based dancers an opportunity to get their foot on the professional ladder whilst performing quality work to audiences around the country. Having danced with the old LCB, and having had many friends that were part of the inaugural company whilst also having kids that were involved in this last LCB audition process, I think I am qualified to make these observations.

Newly formed London City Ballet, who held a two day audition for over 200 dancers last January, have just announced their company roster. Only 3 of 14 dancers are British. Of those employed only 4 attended the audition. 75% of the dancers appear to be quite mature and still employed by other companies. There is only one graduate who appears to be from Canada on the company list. What hope is there for British graduates in this country. The old London City Ballet although run by a South African, with a Prima Ballerina also from South Africa, was mainly made up of young British graduates. It was great opportunity for those who did not make it into the two main companies to garner experience and tour the Classics. This new company is London City Ballet in name only and not the Company that many were hoping would give young graduates new opportunities.

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

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.

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.

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.