DancingWellies

Well this has turned into a bit of a Me Too moment, clearly these issues are even more endemic than I thought and we knew it was bad. For so many people to share these negative experiences it's clearly the norm not the exception. For those of you commenting who do not have direct experience of the schools maybe you should consider that your opinions don't carry quite as much weight as those of us who have. I don't see many parents posting positive experiences here. Yes we were naive, there was so much invested in getting the place not on what would happen afterwards. Maybe if people had spoken out more historically we'd have been more prepared.

Which considering how few actually go into a classical ballet company is another major issue they need to get to grips with. Unfortunately it looks like the program is focussing on the body image issue, easy one to sell to people outside the ballet world I suppose but the well being issues go well beyond body shaming.

This quote from the BBC article stood out for me and is the nub of the issue.

I'd rather not say as it would make her fairly identifiable I think. It's a small world and she's made loads of contacts across the dance world in the UK, suffice to say we have direct experience of 2 schools, she has friends across most of those others and they do talk not to mention meet up from time in auditions, summer schools etc. It is a small world. Anyway I'm incredibly proud of her, she's come out of a system that nearly broke her, as a very strong person, many others didn't. I'd rather she'd got to where she is now through example, support and motivational training rather than battling the odds and system. The really sad thing is I don't think the teachers even realise how they impact the kids which is why I'd welcome the lid being blown off the whole thing. You would have thought Ballet West might have been the turning point but it wasn't. Id like to think Panorama might be the trigger but I don't hold out much hope. We have such great potential dancers in this country and fantastic grass roots schools. Even the facilities available in the vocational schools are excellent, we just don't have the right teaching mentality. It still seems to be you have to be so grateful you got accepted into a vocational school instead of the school realising how lucky they are to work with such talented kids and how big a responsibility it is for the school to get the best out of each of them.

I asked the same question this evening and got told emphatically it still happens, DD was at Elmhurst. Also continued into upper school, different school.

I haven't posted here in a long time, mainly due to the trauma of lower school. Daughter graduated from a different institution this year and whilst had a much more positive experience in upper school it still left a lot to be desired. I hope Panorama blows the lid off the outdated and down right destructive teaching styles of many of the schools. I hope they don't get the right of reply, one of the key problems is they don't see the issues resulting from their teaching approaches. They need shocking into realising significant change is needed. The evidence is all there, the drop out rates between year 7 & 12, the number who fail to gain a place at upper school despite 5 years of training from the same institution. The number that quit dance completely post graduation. There's always going to be some who don't make it through but it's not a small number. If it was me I'd be asking why so few of the kids we'd trained weren't up to the standard we wanted for upper school, that shows a fundamental failure of the teaching (or initial student selection). They are supposed to be elite training establishments but it seems to be a one size fits all approach, they are supposed to be working with the best dancers of their generation, a more motivational and personalised approach is appropriate. If kids don't make it through in large numbers it's got to be the teaching, not the kids. I have a horrible feeling the Panorama program will concentrate on the stereo typical weight shaming issues which are important but really only a symptom of the much bigger changes needed to resolve the current failings where it's all down to the student and never the fault of the teacher. The annoying thing is there are examples of great motivational teaching out there, from personal experience NYB do a great job of building up the dancers rather than pounding them into the ground.

This current year 11 is also quite small so even if they were all offered places I'd expect another 5 or 6 to join the year. As said above though not everyone will be staying on, they do assess out and not everyone wants to stay, others schools may offer a better fit for current Elmhurst pupils, as you would expect it's quite focused on classical ballet which might not be the best training for someone who wants to move into the wider world of dance.

I've just asked my DD about this, she was there yesterday as well in the middle. She didn't think it made much difference as the exercises were relatively straight forward, maybe it depends on how quickly someone is able to pick up the steps? Either way good luck to your DD.

Not sure many other than Royal formally asses out at the end of year 9 anymore. Elmhurst doesn't. It is possible to get a place but competition is still fierce. I think many schools allow people will audition for year group except maybe 11. Whether there are funded places will depend on space for boarding, number leaving, quality of people auditioning. It will vary year to year for each school.

This is so true, getting a yes at some point is just the start of the roller coaster. There's plenty more hurdles to overcome. I do remember at WL Finals they did make a point of saying think very carefully if you get a Yes, the Dance life and training is not for everyone. Like junedaner said we've had good days and bad, at least DD is still keen to dance.

It's a good scheme, doing CAT for a year got our DD into vocational school. Big commitment though in terms of time from the rest of the family.

And the whims of the artistic director. If the candidate has sparkle (undefinable) they may have a chance. Don't forget students from other vocational schools often audition for the year 8 to 11 places, some of them get in lots don't. WL is not easy to get into.

It's the acceptance letters for place you can spot before opening, big fat A4 for a yes, slim folded A4 for no.

Yep the dance world is not fair, even the schools seem to have favourite students who whilst often good are not always the best, who get the opporrunities, the photo shoots, the official Instagram posts. In the long run though those who gave to fight for every opportunity and survive come out stronger. I do think some of the favourites must find life very difficult when they move on to the next stage.

Yes, dd is there now, started in year 9. 6 or 7 of the original year 7s are left. Lots of movement in and out over the years. I think most if not all have left of their own volition rather than being assessed out, some have moved to other schools, some have left for health reasons, some have left the dance world. It will be interesting to see how many go on to sixth form, are offered places and accept them.