2dancersmum

My DD1 attended the Hammond as a young 16 year old. She took 2 A levels alongside the diploma - there is limited choice of A levels but very small classes and you don't miss any of the dance classes to attend (or at least didn't when she was there). Year groups had a mix of ages in them - plenty do the diploma at 18 (or even older) as well all the 16 year olds. My DD absolutely thrived there, especially compared to secondary school. She graduated on her 19th birthday and has worked as a professional dancer ever since, with just some time out in 2020. She's mostly done cruise ships - likes the travel and the variety of the shows she has performed in, all styles of dance including jazz, musical theatre, classical and modern ballet (en pointe), contemporary. If she is interested in the Hammond, keep a look out for their taster days as they really give a feel of the place and the style of the auditions. To echo another poster, it is good to do a number of auditions. There were a few places my DD came out of and said she would not feel comfortable there

2 items for room 101 today twice weekly text reminders to book my flu jab - from the GP clinic who administered said jab several weeks ago student loans company - daughter graduated last year and was asked to send details of what she was doing now. It listed forms of ID to provide for her identity and address. She did as requested. They then send her a letter to say that since they were unsure if she was in the UK and could not prove it, she was being issued with a penalty fee to her student loan and they again send the list of acceptable forms of ID she can provide - same list as before that she has already provided. Took months for them to finally accept their mistake and remove the penalty fee (and charges) - because guess what - they had all the information they had requested all along

The harsh reality of auditioning for upper schools is that although some get offered places everywhere they audition, perhaps the majority will get more rejections than offers and some will get no offers at all. My own DD was not offered a place at Tring but got final auditions and offers elsewhere as well as getting rejected after the first audition. My DD's dream at that age was to pursue classical ballet, only changing her mind in her final year. She has been working as a professional dancer since she graduated in 2015.

Michelle, either method would help preserve the satin on the platform of your pointe shoes though I was under the impression that it was done more to make it less slippy for dancing. A glued-on suede patch would probably outlast your pointe shoes but you do need use a strong glue rather than a fabric glue. My DD has always preferred darned shoes, which I darned initially before she took over. For darning you either want embroidery thread (comes as 6 strands together and you want to use three) or you can use a pointe shoe darning thread like the one in the link https://www.dancewear.co.uk/product/darning-thread-for-pointe-shoe/

sorry for the delay, as Horsellian replies - yes you can be both employed and self employed at the same time. As I mentioned before, the unfortunate part of being self employed is the need to fill in a tax return every year - but in that you enter any self-employed earnings/expenses for the year and the PAYE earrnings will show on your account too so that the tax office gets an overall income for the year

I've no direct experience of the A1 form but it sounds to me like your daughter will need to be registered as self employed as it reads as if an A1 form is if you are already employed in the UK and being sent abroad on a temporary basis by employer or if you are self employed. If your daughter is self-employed, it means she herself is her business and on the tax return at the end of the year she will enter details of the company she worked for in France and pay etc and HMRC will ask her to pay NI contributions on those earnings. My daughter, registered self-employed, has done several contracts for a UK company but abroad and that is how it worked for her - though as I say a UK company and it was before Brexit

I do hope that the young girl and others are able to continue with their training and that this horrible situation in Ukraine soon improves. My DD dances on cruise ships and there have always been several of her cast members from Ukraine as well as quite a few crew from other departments. This time she has 3 male dancers from Kherson - 2 married, one with a young child. Its heartbreaking.

I know of one dancer there who has been there since 2016. Her mum used to be active in this forum prior to auditions for vocational upper schools as our DDs know each other a little (from associates/workshops/auditions prior to 2012) but I don't believe either mum or daughter use this forum any more. As far as I am aware, the dancer has been very happy there - right from the start she seemed to get quite a few pas de deux opportunities, some beautiful productions not just in Austria but also touring and especially Canada. I see quite a few posts on facebook from the mum whenever she visits her daughter

Auditions can be funny things. My DD attended 2 auditions also at one place, a year apart. First time - she made it through all the rounds to the final dozen girls but did not get the contract - they were only looking for 6 dancers - but got a positive rejection letter. A year later , having done another contract and gained more experience in the meantime, she felt quite positive going into the audition. It was exactly the same choreography as the year before - she was cut after two rounds.

I have no affiliation with this whatsoever but came across this notice for male ballet dancers and thought I would share. Copied and pasted from another website for performers. Edinburgh Festival Ballet is looking for professional level male ballet dancers with strong classical technique for Peter Schaufuss' production of Nutcracker with performances touring in Denmark & Edinburgh. £400-£600 per week dependant on experience. Rehearsals in Edinburgh with accommodation provided while on tour in Denmark. Dates : 20 Nov 2021 - 18 Dec 2021 To apply email johan@edinburghfestivalballet.com with show reel, CV and for additional details.

I mentioned RAD, ISTD and IDTA as they are the ones I have experience with but they are not the only ones that offer dance training. I just do not know the levels or grading systems of other organisations. The main thing is the minimum of 'intermediate level' to enter dance teacher training - this is the level which is the vocational equivalent to A levels and thus qualifies for UCS points. I'm sure UKA will have their own grade/assessment system and equivalent teacher training courses to those Anna C highlighted for RAD and ISTD. I think many of us on the forum are just more familiar with organisations like RAD for classical ballet as a lot of posters on her have children aiming for vocational ballet schools and I think UKA covers a much wider range of styles.

Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), ISTD and IDTA are all training methods and exam assessors to teach ballet and other dance genres. Grades go from pre-primary, primary , then grades 1,2,3,4 etc. For RAD ballet grades 6-8 are level 3 qualifications (vocational equivalent of A level). Alongside these standard grades are vocational grades inter-foundation (optional) intermediate, advanced foundation (optional), advanced 1, advanced 2, solo seal. Intermediate is the level 3 qualification of these vocational grades and often an entry requirement- certainly for ballet, tap and modern. I'm not sure of the situation for contemporary, acro and street - they seem to be optional extra genres (not sure there are any grades)- certainly contemporary usually needs a solid basis in ballet first. My DD1 is a professional dancer and she only started contemporary properly at 16 so was only assessed as part of her diploma in professional dance

hello and welcome If your daughter is interested in becoming a dance teacher rather than performing herself, I would echo the advice that associates are probably not necessary. Generally speaking your DD will need to have taken intermediate exams in dance genres she wishes to train as a teacher in - where applicable - ballet, tap, modern - not all genres offer exams. So based on this, concentrating on getting a good solid grounding is probably most important with extra lessons, workshops, summer schools, associates an optional extra if you can afford it but not essential. I would suggest that you have a look at the websites of Royal Academy of Dance, ISTD, IDTA for their courses in teacher training (dance) and colleges like Preston so you can see what would be studied, entry requirements etc and then work backwards for how to help your DD get to that stage

I feel for you. Its a tough situation you find yourself in. Its especially not easy when your DD has lied to you as it is a double whammy of hurt. I would ask you if she respects your wishes and does not smoke when she is home from school. If it just at school then hopefully she is just being a sheep as you put it, smoking with the others to fit in/be one of them. If that is the case, then hopefully it will be a passing term-time only phase. My DD never smoked but knows several who did start during their 3 years upper school training (or who already smoked) and very few of them continued after graduation as they went out into the real world. You have made your feelings about smoking crystal clear to your DD. The dilemma you now have is if you follow through the threat of stopping the funding. To be honest, this is where you have to consider your feelings more so than perhaps your DDs. How would this make you feel, what would the consequences be for you and your family relationships as it will obviously affect more than just you and your DD. Take your time before making any decisions, not just for your own peace of mind but also for it to register and really sink in with your DD just how much she has upset you - not just with the smoking and consequences for her health/not giving 100% but also for the deceit. Good luck

I cannot offer any personal advice for your son but congratulations on his place at ENBS. There are various threads on ENBS currently and previously in the 'Doing Dance' section of balletcoforum - you can use the search facility to help you find the threads. I know accommodation is a topic that often crops up. I suspect actually that your post will be moved to Doing Dance by the admin team as you will probably get more replies there. LYH - my son spent a year's work placement at Holland House quite a few years ago now and there were ENBS students there - but I think it is 18+ - though worth checking directly with them. good luck