BalletcoForum Moderators

Hello forum members. We are sorry to have to communicate these words, but recent events impel us to do so. As most of you know, we moderators give our time and efforts to the forum on a voluntary basis, and have been doing so for the past 12 years of our lives. We try our best to navigate a complex world of social media, legal action, finances, etc. etc. As we have said many times, there is much more going on behind the scenes than you are aware of. So, things can get complicated or difficult both for us and our members. We do have be careful about all kinds of things, and we often have to curtail discussion or take down links even if we don't want to. We would also point out once more that if we get sued for any reason, the moderators are the ones who would have to deal with the legal and financial consequences. We do this as we all love our artform and want to give everybody the chance to share the love, exchange ideas and opinions, and learn from each other. So whilst we are happy to put in the time and effort required to run this forum, we are not willing to be insulted, either as a group or as individuals. We put up with enough without having that piled on top of everything else. We are always pleased to receive your constructive criticism, suggestions for improvements (which more often than not we act upon) and other comments. However, insults and personal denigration will no longer be tolerated, so please be aware that anyone being rude or insulting towards the moderators or anyone else may face an immediate ban, either permanent or temporary. We understand that everyone is human and may have an 'off' day, but that doesn't excuse consistent unpleasantness. We don't ban members lightly; when we do, we take into consideration what they have written, how they have written it, how many times in the past they have been reported by other members, and how many times in the past they have been deemed to have breached our AUP (a link to which is provided below). We are sorry to have to say this, but we will no longer host that kind of toxicity on this board. Of course, this applies to anyone being insulted, not just the moderators. We want the forum to be a place where people feel that they can have differing opinions, discussions and debates without fear of nasty comments or insults. The vast majority of our members adhere to this and make the forum the lively place that it is, but as ever it is always the few who can mar it for everyone else. We have had comments from quite a few members who no longer post up, or who would like to but are fearful of doing so, because they are scared of being insulted or swamped. This is not what we want people to feel: we want to encourage an ethos of lively debate and learning, as well as the exchange of reviews and views. From us to you, we thank you for your understanding and co-operation. As a reminder, here is the forum's AUP/Guidelines, to which every registered member agrees to abide when they sign up. https://www.balletcoforum.com/guidelines/

Hello forum members. We are sorry to have to communicate these words, but recent events impel us to do so. As most of you know, we moderators give our time and efforts to the forum on a voluntary basis, and have been doing so for the past 12 years of our lives. We try our best to navigate a complex world of social media, legal action, finances, etc. etc. As we have said many times, there is much more going on behind the scenes than you are aware of. So, things can get complicated or difficult both for us and our members. We do have be careful about all kinds of things, and we often have to curtail discussion or take down links even if we don't want to. We would also point out once more that if we get sued for any reason, the moderators are the ones who would have to deal with the legal and financial consequences. We do this as we all love our artform and want to give everybody the chance to share the love, exchange ideas and opinions, and learn from each other. So whilst we are happy to put in the time and effort required to run this forum, we are not willing to be insulted, either as a group or as individuals. We put up with enough without having that piled on top of everything else. We are always pleased to receive your constructive criticism, suggestions for improvements (which more often than not we act upon) and other comments. However, insults and personal denigration will no longer be tolerated, so please be aware that anyone being rude or insulting towards the moderators or anyone else may face an immediate ban, either permanent or temporary. We understand that everyone is human and may have an 'off' day, but that doesn't excuse consistent unpleasantness. We don't ban members lightly; when we do, we take into consideration what they have written, how they have written it, how many times in the past they have been reported by other members, and how many times in the past they have been deemed to have breached our AUP (a link to which is provided below). We are sorry to have to say this, but we will no longer host that kind of toxicity on this board. Of course, this applies to anyone being insulted, not just the moderators. We want the forum to be a place where people feel that they can have differing opinions, discussions and debates without fear of nasty comments or insults. The vast majority of our members adhere to this and make the forum the lively place that it is, but as ever it is always the few who can mar it for everyone else. We have had comments from quite a few members who no longer post up, or who would like to but are fearful of doing so, because they are scared of being insulted or swamped. This is not what we want people to feel: we want to encourage an ethos of lively debate and learning, as well as the exchange of reviews and views. From us to you, we thank you for your understanding and co-operation. As a reminder, here is the forum's AUP/Guidelines, to which every registered member agrees to abide when they sign up. https://www.balletcoforum.com/guidelines/

Hello forum members. We are sorry to have to communicate these words, but recent events impel us to do so. As most of you know, we moderators give our time and efforts to the forum on a voluntary basis, and have been doing so for the past 12 years of our lives. We try our best to navigate a complex world of social media, legal action, finances, etc. etc. As we have said many times, there is much more going on behind the scenes than you are aware of. So, things can get complicated or difficult both for us and our members. We do have be careful about all kinds of things, and we often have to curtail discussion or take down links even if we don't want to. We would also point out once more that if we get sued for any reason, the moderators are the ones who would have to deal with the legal and financial consequences. We do this as we all love our artform and want to give everybody the chance to share the love, exchange ideas and opinions, and learn from each other. So whilst we are happy to put in the time and effort required to run this forum, we are not willing to be insulted, either as a group or as individuals. We put up with enough without having that piled on top of everything else. We are always pleased to receive your constructive criticism, suggestions for improvements (which more often than not we act upon) and other comments. However, insults and personal denigration will no longer be tolerated, so please be aware that anyone being rude or insulting towards the moderators or anyone else may face an immediate ban, either permanent or temporary. We understand that everyone is human and may have an 'off' day, but that doesn't excuse consistent unpleasantness. We don't ban members lightly; when we do, we take into consideration what they have written, how they have written it, how many times in the past they have been reported by other members, and how many times in the past they have been deemed to have breached our AUP (a link to which is provided below). We are sorry to have to say this, but we will no longer host that kind of toxicity on this board. Of course, this applies to anyone being insulted, not just the moderators. We want the forum to be a place where people feel that they can have differing opinions, discussions and debates without fear of nasty comments or insults. The vast majority of our members adhere to this and make the forum the lively place that it is, but as ever it is always the few who can mar it for everyone else. We have had comments from quite a few members who no longer post up, or who would like to but are fearful of doing so, because they are scared of being insulted or swamped. This is not what we want people to feel: we want to encourage an ethos of lively debate and learning, as well as the exchange of reviews and views. From us to you, we thank you for your understanding and co-operation. As a reminder, here is the forum's AUP/Guidelines, to which every registered member agrees to abide when they sign up. https://www.balletcoforum.com/guidelines/

Certain posts on this thread are hidden pending review by the Moderators.

Several posts on this thread have been hidden while they are discussed by the Moderation team. The thread has been locked. It is a highly emotive subject and is now going around in circles.

This thread has been unlocked for now. More information can be found here:

Dear Doing Dance posters, Out of necessity, we are going to have to change the way in which we discuss full-time dance schools on the BalletcoForum. We hope that this change will be temporary, lasting only as long as BBC Panorama and Leigh Day Law, among others, are investigating multiple allegations of mistreatment and malpractice at several full-time ballet and dance schools in the UK, and during any litigation that may arise as a result of this investigation. We hope that by now, you are all aware of some schools that we do not discuss on this forum. The reason we have always given for taking the step to ban all discussions of these schools is that it is “in line with our legal obligations”, hoping that people would draw their own conclusions from that sentence. Some of you have done so, understanding what we meant by that statement, but others have not, so it seems that the time has come to be crystal clear about why we have the rules that we have, why we have to lock and/or hide some threads, and why we do not discuss some schools at all. Put simply, on more than one occasion, we - the Balletcoforum - have been threatened with legal action because of posts made by forum members. And by “we”, we don’t mean members, or individual posters, or even the Forum as a “business”; we mean the 7 individual members of the Moderating Committee. As has been mentioned on numerous occasions, we Mods are volunteers. We have jobs, lives, families outside of the forum, and we give our time and technical expertise for nothing in return. We are not paid. Reports come to our personal emails at all hours of the day and night, and we do our very best to deal with these as soon as possible, because it means that the forum can keep running. But because our names are listed as Committee Members, we are the people who receive complaints and threats of litigation against us. We all love ballet, and we are happy to give our time to run the forum, but believe me, we have neither the time, the resources, the energy, or the inclination to go to court or be sued for defamation. We have already had to lock and hide several threads, and we have given the explanation that the process of litigation is now beginning and, as such, further discussions about (at time of writing) three schools will have to cease for the time being. Now a thread about problems at a different school has been started, and we have already had to hide several posts that contravene our forum rules. All public (as opposed to Private/Direct messaging) posts on the Forum are precisely that - PUBLIC. They can be read and screenshots can be taken by anybody, anywhere, with internet access. We are now left with two choices: Ban all discussions of full-time vocational schools on this forum, or allow only news/announcements/updates about any of the schools being investigated or where allegations have been made. We do not want to have to take option 1. So we will trial the second option. We will unlock the BBC Panorama post transmission thread and keep it open for news/factual updates only, but please be aware that we will have to lock it at the first sign of a breach. We will also allow new threads about other schools not hitherto mentioned but which may be or come under investigation, but these threads must ONLY contain news or announcements, not discussions/opinions, anything else that breaks our forum rules, or puts us at risk of complaints about defamation. If you have experiences to share that relate to the allegations, we suggest you contact the Panorama team (mark.daly@bbc.co.uk), whichever journalist has written a news article, and/or Dino Nocivelli at Leigh Day Law (dnocivelli@leighday.co.uk). At present, these are the choices available. Abide by the rules, abide by the (hopefully temporary) embargo on discussion/opinions/arguments about the schools in question, or we will be unable to allow any discussion about any full-time school on the public forum. We thank you all for your understanding and cooperation. Kind regards, BalletcoForum Moderators

Your post breached the AUP by over quoting and has been hidden. "Quoting from newspapers and other websites The copyright situation of material on the internet is complicated, made more so by different national laws. As far as BalletcoForum is concerned we allow brief quotes of a sentence or two from other sites or material, with the source acknowledged, and backed up if relevant by a link. Anything more than this will be removed."

This thread has been locked while the Moderation Team considers the hidden posts.

A number of posts on this thread have been hidden whilst the moderators determine whether they comply with our Acceptable Use Policy.

Conveying facts such as performances, shows, destinations of graduates, etc. is fine. Discussion and speculation are not, for the foreseeable future.

Dear Members, As most of you are probably aware by now, litigation against the Royal Ballet School, The Hammond School, and London Vocational School (formerly YDA), is being initiated. Therefore, in line with our legal obligations (and as we have done in the case of other institutions), we are suspending all further comments about the schools until legal action is completed. We would request you to please refrain from commenting on the lawsuits or anything else to do with the schools until further notice...this includes opening up new threads on any such subject. We do understand the amount of frustration this might cause, but as moderators we have to take a neutral approach and protect the forum and its members from any potential action or fallout. We thank you in advance for your understanding and co-operation in this matter. This thread has, for the above reasons, been locked. Kind regards, The Moderators

Dear Members, As most of you are probably aware by now, litigation against the Royal Ballet School, The Hammond School, and London Vocational School (formerly YDA), is being initiated. Therefore, in line with our legal obligations (and as we have done in the case of other institutions), we are suspending all further comments about the schools until legal action is completed. We would request you to please refrain from commenting on the lawsuits or anything else to do with the schools until further notice...this includes opening up new threads on any such subject. We do understand the amount of frustration this might cause, but as moderators we have to take a neutral approach and protect the forum and its members from any potential action or fallout. We thank you in advance for your understanding and co-operation in this matter. This thread is locked, for the above reasons, until further notice . Kind regards, The Moderators

Dear Members, As most of you are probably aware by now, litigation against the Royal Ballet School, The Hammond School, and London Vocational School (formerly YDA), is being initiated. Therefore, in line with our legal obligations (and as we have done in the case of other institutions), we are suspending all further comments about the schools until legal action is completed. We would request you to please refrain from commenting on the lawsuits or anything else to do with the schools until further notice...this includes opening up new threads on any such subject. We do understand the amount of frustration this might cause, but as moderators we have to take a neutral approach and protect the forum and its members from any potential action or fallout. We thank you in advance for your understanding and co-operation in this matter. This thread is locked, for the above reasons, until further notice . Kind regards, The Moderators

A number of posts (and responses relating to them) have been hidden on this thread while the Moderators consider if they breach AUP.

The Moderators are all volunteers who have lives outside of the Forum. Discussions can take some time.

The thread relating to the press release from the Royal Ballet School regarding Christopher Powney has been hidden whilst the moderators review a number of posts on it. Please do not start any new threads on this topic. Many thanks.

This thread has been locked whilst under discussion by the Moderators.

A post on this thread has been hidden for making an unsubstantiated statement. Two other posts referring to it have also been hidden. Can we respectfully remind members that evidence should be provided when making sweeping statements. It is also against the AUP to make highly critical statements using a pseudonym. Here is a link to the Acceptable Use Policy which all members sign up to when joining the Forum.

The hidden post, whilst stating it is personal opinion, contains allegations without evidence to back those allegations up. It is also a highly critical post written from a pseudonym username. It is, therefore, in breach of the Forum's Acceptable Use Policy and will stay hidden.

A post on this thread has been hidden while it is considered by moderators for possible breach of AUP. 2 other posts responding to it have also been hidden.

A post has been hidden by moderators whilst under consideration following a report.

A number of posts have been hidden as they do not comply with AUP. A reminder to members not to post pictures if they are not the copyright holder or have the permission of the copyright holder to share them.

Hello. We would like to remind forum members about the correct use of the 'Report' button. Please note that the reporting system is to be used to report any posts that breach the forum AUP: personal insults, excessive rudeness, advertising or being highly critical under cover of a pseudonym, baseless speculation, overtly political posts, breach of copyright, or information that is not in the public domain. It is NOT to be used just because you disagree with someone, or their opinion differs from yours. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, and as long as it is expressed politely there is no reason to report it. Each time the Mods receive a report, we have to look at it, discuss it, revert to the member who has reported, and contact the member who has been reported. This obviously takes up our time. We are happy to do this for a valid report (we discuss and then decide whether to uphold the report or not), but going forward we will be deleting frivolous posts without taking the usual action. So the message is: please think before you report someone. Thank you.

Hello. We would like to remind forum members about the correct use of the 'Report' button. Please note that the reporting system is to be used to report any posts that breach the forum AUP: personal insults, excessive rudeness, advertising or being highly critical under cover of a pseudonym, baseless speculation, overtly political posts, breach of copyright, or information that is not in the public domain. It is NOT to be used just because you disagree with someone, or their opinion differs from yours. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, and as long as it is expressed politely there is no reason to report it. Each time the Mods receive a report, we have to look at it, discuss it, revert to the member who has reported, and contact the member who has been reported. This obviously takes up our time. We are happy to do this for a valid report (we discuss and then decide whether to uphold the report or not), but going forward we will be deleting frivolous posts without taking the usual action. So the message is: please think before you report someone. Thank you.