Jazzpaws

This is a very personal topic to address and I feel so sorry for those young people and their families. Just talking about classical ballet, from what I’ve observed, most principal dancers are slight of build and generally not very tall. Practical reasons for this as some roles require lifting and often male dancers are not much over 6 foot. The ballet companies seem to take ladies that are slight if build and not over tall. The teachers in vocational school are not monsters, they have been in that place and want their students to get selected. I feel it totally right to address this and feel more should be done at vocational school audition to try and determine growth patterns and height. It is possible to be a very strong, fit, dancer if that is the dancer’s natural build. If this is achieved by over exercise and starvation, physical and mental problems will result. So at audition it should be made clear if some dancers will never be right for a principal role, but eligible for character roles, contemporary roles etc - this makes the achievement more realistic After that all students should be monitored with regards to fitness and dietary requirements. Very graduates achieve permanent contracts and it does make me wonder if filling the numbers is financial gain for the school. Reslity needs to hit before vocational school is started !

Yes, it does. I just have to round up paperwork again, but have spoken to them and think it's sorted now x

Thanks Jane It seems to be the case, but still at the application stage which isn't always straightforward I do appreciate that student finance is available to those who otherwise would not be able to support their children through higher education (in my ancient past it was never a loan) Talented young people like your DD should not be expected to work for nothing, a sad state of affairs

Thankyou - must say as a mother I feel this journey will lead to good things - we worry on, don't we x

This is a tough one and a great worry to parents who are supporting DC's on a wonderful journey but without any secure prospects. Permanent contracts are few and far between (I am so pleased for those who have them). DD grew very late and has turned out to be a beautiful young lady, just over 5'10" This really hasn't helped in securing a long term contract, which is very hard to cope with and so disappointing after all those years of hard work and dedication. However, she graduated with a 2:1 from the wonderful Central School of Ballet last year and has secured a place on the Royal Academy of Dance PGCE (11-19) programme with NQT status starting in August ! It was a late choice, but she is so excited about this new venture and can't wait to start! As a parent, I am very proud (as always) and also pleased to see her hard work and those results pay off - and also would like to credit Central School of Ballet staff with excellent training ! I do feel the RAD is the best place to pursue the PGCE (my opinion) The only annoyance is Student Finance 'Here we go again' Just felt I had to share, as the journey goes on and the destination is never set in stone. Saying that, our dancers have resilience of huge rocks. Also, as parents on here, it is so inspiring to see what others have achieved with their journeys even if those journeys have arrived at completely different destinations ! Wishing well to all and please post your journeys. Mary x

Does anyone know where it is this year ?

She was outstanding !! xx

Five dancers have been selected for each category - the Ballet West students are 2 of the 5 from the ballet category. In the Grand Final there will be the winner from each category plus up to 2 wild cards - last year there were 2 and one of them, Connor Scott from Dance City CAT (now at Rambert) won the competition. I watched the ballet and contemporary semi finals this week at Dance East and had a lovely time. I would have loved to watch the South Asian category as I really enjoyed that last year on the TV, but was a fair distance to travel (think I'll avoid the Street dance, not my thing). Best of luck to them all !

DD did a few festivals before managing time became an issue and enjoyed some more than others. I think she enjoyed it most when she was entered in groups - everyone had such a nice time and supported each other- lots of fun and not so much pressure .

Didn'tmean to be misleading - i was referring to the company audition held back in April - huge response, just shows how tough it is x

How lovely that New Adventures has given these two talented students a wonderful opportunity to be apprentices and experience working with the company - I am so pleased for them. Other schools are able to give their students the experience of dancing with their related company in small roles (RB, BRB, ENB, Rambert and BTUK), as has already been mentioned. There was a huge open company audition for The Red Shoes ( I believe well over a thousand applied ), so huge congratulations to the successful applicants - Seren, the Central graduate, one of the successful ones, is a beautiful, expressive performer, which is a huge tribute to her and the school where she trained. Bring on more success for our lovely, british trained dancers

Wonderful achievement for Central Graduate Seren Williams - so lovely to hear such good news ! http://new-adventures.net/company/latest-news/red-shoes-cast-announced

Same thing happened to us - we ended up running to HQ with the aid of DD's iphone ! A nightmare as she had to follow the other girls upstairs - all went well in the end , but such stress. The next couple of times we were ready to jump off the bus after it crossed the bridge if it deviated at all !

I think students currently in vocational training should be guided by their school, before they apply.

I'm sure your DD's teacher knows best. However I have heard of some teachers that are not keen on RBS associates as they think it will not work with their teaching. This is not the case as RBS actively encourages teachers to be involved and watch classes, as it's a scheme designed to compliment existing dance schools. DD was RBS Senior Associate and only applied because of encouragement from her ballet teacher. But, getting back to Norfolk Scholars, during the Ruby rehearsals, a girl was spotted by RBS, and successfully applied to White Lodge, joining in Year 9 !