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British training at Lower and Upper Schools


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On ‎19‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 19:43, junedancer said:

 

This must be disheartening for those at WL, but hopefully the WL training puts them on a good place to audition successfully elsewhere.

 

I wonder why this is more of an issue for the girls than the boys other than generally there will be more girls in training than boys.

 

We suppose we also need to remember that there are a number who leave of their own volition for all manner of reasons.

 

It would be nice to see places being offered to those who have trained elsewhere in the UK.  Any news on other offers?

 

To answer my own question, just heard of a girl from Tring with an offer for RBS US.

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On 21/03/2019 at 11:43, FredF said:

So based on (unconfirmed and maths not my greatest subject) is this a fair comment?

 

In the girls if there are approx 18 students and from that about 4-5 have made it to Upper School that's about a 27% chance of making the cut. From these 4-5 I think only 2 have been there since Y7 which makes only 11% chance of your DC making the cut.

 

I wonder how this compares to the other schools which have Upper Schools?

If you are a new parent entering y7 with this information would you still send you DC to this school knowing the limited progression rate or would you opt for a school that you know your DC would have a better chance of going through the school years? 

 

Our DD will be off to WL in September and we’re behind her the whole way! As a family, we’ve discussed the pros and cons of each school and absolutely, some feel like a much “safer” option where she’d nearly certainly avoid the heartbreak of being assessed out. However, she has her heart set on it and I don’t blame her! She probably doesn’t fully comprehend the gravity of what is ahead at the ripe old age of 10, but we’ve come to the conclusion that to stop her because we’re scared of the possibility of rejection would be a self fulfilling prophecy. 

I’m certain that the worry will be constant for us at home but we’re going to have a crack at keeping that to ourselves and being as positive as possible for DDs sake! 

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DD hasn't/isn't auditioning for lower schools as that is not what she wants to do, we're starting to think about/look at upper schools, but she'd rather wait till 18plus to further her training as she is looking at musical theatre rather than classical ballet and I am already scared of what the future may or may not hold for her. But as you say ... you just have to support and encourage them to follow their dreams. ( whilst holding a happy smile on your face! )

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On 15/03/2018 at 17:57, atacrossroads said:

I'm hearing more and more stories like this.  The trend seems to be moving away from UK vocational training as a route to a career in ballet.

When you consider that the rumour is that only 2  WL girls who came in year 7 have made RBS US for September, only 5 WL girls have made it into RBS US at all and that the rest of the US intake are internationals, including international competition winners, it makes you wonder whether even the top vocational schools can either provide the required training, or even spot the correct candidates to train from year 7....

I don't know what it is like at other vocational schools, but our son started in year 5 at the State Ballet School of Berlin (they start there form year 5), together with about 26 other pupils (two classes) and today he is in year, auditioning shortly for Upper School, and he is the only boy left from that year along with four girls (three German, one Japanese). Over the years others have come into to the process, all from abroad. At the moment they are 15 alltogether, with only 4 from Germany. And it is unfortunately already clear that not all will make it into Upper School. So perhaps it is not necessarily a UK-only phenomenon.

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On ‎26‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 10:02, Mariska said:

perhaps it is not necessarily a UK-only phenomenon.

 

It's definitely not. The comments that the training at WL is not of a high enough standard are unfounded because 5 girls and a number of boys have been accepted to upper school. I imagine that WL is the most represented lower school at RB upper school. Any school which trains students from age 11 or younger will have a high attrition rate, including all the schools the talented foreign students being accepted by RBS are coming from.

 

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On 17/03/2019 at 09:52, Sophoife said:

 

From the memoirs of people who were at Sadler's Wells in the 50s, there were certainly foreigners in both the Junior and Senior Schools in Colet Gardens; I wonder when the British-only policy was enacted? Was it when the Wells became the Royal company?

I am wracking my brain to uncover memories from well over 50 years ago.  I was in the Upper School in the 60s.  There were definitely separate classes for non UK or Commonwealth students, when I was there.  I also know that there were also some during the 50s, because I know of someone who trained at RBS then.  She was put in to one of these classes, decided that the level was too low for her and so, she told me, she demanded an interview with Sir Arnold Haskell in order to get him to transfer her to a regular class, which he did!  It's possible that others were moved too, if the staff saw that they were promising.  Britain joined the Common Market in 1973 - but I don't know if that made them drop the classes or if it happened earlier.  Even if countries accepted other nationalities in their ballet companies, at that time priority was still given to their own nationals.  I lost a contract for the Zurich State Opera Ballet company because they had two Swiss nationals to whom they had to give priority.  I wonder if Brexit will mean reverting to that situation?

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Not sure if this is in the right place:

Does anyone have any first hand experience of living accommodation for boys  (aged 16} for Central or ENBS please? If so, please PM me. Where do students plan to move to when the schools move, will the accommodation stay the same? Thank you, we are in a bit of a quandary.

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What a lovely quandry to have!  Congratualtions !!

 

On a nearly relevant point - if anyone is giving up privately rented accommodation when Central move could they PM me?  My musical DD and a couple of friends are looking for accommodation  in roughly that  area for the next academic year.

 

 

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