Mummy twinkle toes

Thank you. We keep looking for opportunities but for now at least she is able to earn a living at dancing. She can also pay for her own additional ballet classes in Paris so that is a bonus 🩰

It is tough and many company auditions want 3 years of professional experience. This is hard to gain when jobs are limited. Ballet dancers stay longer in companies too than years ago so this means less movement. Dd is currently working in Paris and dancing but not ballet. She was told by her grad programme directors to take it as there are so few jobs at the moment and she can add to her CV.

Most GPs will do them but not many will do for free. Our GP charges around £25 for these.

My Dd went to LSC and had a very good time. Very good teachers and a friendly school. Everyone has an individual timetable and because there are four strands students support and encourage each other. We know several that have gone onto classical companies, musicals and cruises. It provides good opportunities to branch out too as there are classes in jazz, tap, MT, contemporary and heels. Fees are higher but rent at Chester House is only 8-9K per year so a lot cheaper than other places. Chester House includes food too.

A CV and photos

Just wondered if anyone has heard back yet and what dates have been given for actual audition.

If he is a good performer and can pick up choreography quickly then Disney may be an option. They are looking for character performers, vocalists and dancers. Auditions regularly held in U.K. If he needs to train in MT first then LSC, Laines, Urdang are all great options. Good luck.

Tring and Hammond do a meet and greet session where they introduce the school. Elmhurst has a q and a with parents (or they used to. It has been a few years since we did lower school auditions). Good luck

LSC does 2 degree pathways- one at 18 which needs A levels and the other is for 16 yo- you do foundation degree for 2 years followed by top up. Dd did the latter from 16. My Dd did classical ballet but at LSC you can also choose to focus on contemporary, MT or jazz. Everyone at LSC has their own timetable.

The youth company train on a Sunday but ex members and pro dancers have joint in for the class part previously. That is on a Sunday. Yury is an excellent teacher and often coaches the professional Russian dancers when they perform at the Royal Opera.

If West End is an aim then look at where most performers train. London Studio, Arts Ed, Laines, Urdang all have excellent dance courses and their jazz/commercial are very strong. Their dance alumni are all over the West End. Most offer diploma courses at 16 and degrees at 18. You can watch clips from Move It to see their dancers.

Yes, LSC do accept older students and could be a good option.

Here is another useful page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/553625416324093/permalink/921453432874621/ . This one is for parents of aspiring professional dancers.

There are some good groups on Facebook. They are mainly US based but do sometimes discuss opportunities in Europe and U.K. Marcy North is a very knowledgeable member in this group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/parentsatthebarre/?ref=share She has a son who is a professional in the US. You can DM her for some useful information about auditions/companies. Her son runs his own platform called Ballet scout.

Posted at the same time 😉

For anyone who is doing the Trinity diploma, Italia Conti and Middlesex University are offering a 1 year top up degree. Funding available via Student Loans. It converts the diploma into a BA degree which Unis will accept if you want to go onto M level study: https://www.italiaconti.com/courses/ba-hons-professional-arts-practice/ https://www.mdx.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/professional-practice-arts Both are distance learning so no maintenance loan usually but fees paid via student finance.

The investigation was closed early by Westminster so not much.

For us one of the pianists was the issue. My Dd was always taught to thank the pianist too but he may have misinterpreted that. He started to wait around for her and kept trying to talk to her and sit with her at break. Luckily, one of the teachers became aware and he was moved to a different class.

They also offer a Saturday version which was good for us as we had to travel from Wales. We then did Balletboost on the Sunday. ABAS let my Dd continue the first year she was at LSC.

The term ‘school nurse’ can be deceiving as some schools employ unqualified people and give them that name. ‘Nurse’ unfortunately is not protected in law whereas registered nurse is. Elmhurst definitely advertised for Registered Mental Health nurses so yes they would need to be registered with the NMC. The pay was lower than NHS though so I did wonder who would apply.

I appreciate it is very difficult if you are just at the start of the journey. Keep your eyes open when looking at potential schools. All that glitters is not gold. My eldest was due to go to lower school but then dh made redundant so she didn’t go. Maybe a blessing in disguise. She had a very good Russian teacher at home as well as RAD. She was an associate with 3 schools and a’ member of Bristol Russian Youth co. The latter were amazing for technique, knowledge and performance skills. She attended several SIs at ‘elite’ schools. She had a very good time at LSC on their classical ballet course and now dances with dc that attended the schools discussed. It has not all been plain sailing but she feels lucky to have come out relatively unscathed. There was an incident at one where 2 other dancers were asked to stretch her as she is petite. I would say if you have options such as associates & youth companies then seriously consider. Several of her friends who went to the 2 lower schools discussed are no longer dancing.

Please try not to blame yourself. You are not to blame for other’s abusive practices. It is hard when your Dc begs you not to say anything in case it makes it worse. Hugs to you and your dc xx

I am sorry to hear that. If they are a registered nurse then they are accountable to the NMC.

Do not forget these institutions, Elmhurst in particular, have nurses who are accountable for their actions and omissions. Where were the nurses and doctors when these particular children were becoming ill? Teachers may not necessarily have the knowledge to manage but mental health nurses should.

How can they refute these stories? Several of the girls ended up hospitalised after comments from the teachers. You could argue the teacher didn’t intend the consequence but they should not have made derogatory comments in the first place. Then same teacher praising them for losing an excessive amount of weight so that teacher knew what was happening.