Primaballerina1 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 My DD is 12 and loves ballet!! (She would like to be a profession ballerina in the Royal ballet) but I am a bit worried as she has had two NOs from LCBs productions and a no from RBS JA class. I am not sure whether her training is affecting this. She does 1 grade 4 ballet class (1 hour) 1 grade 5 ballet class (1 hour) 1 extra ballet class (1 hour) which her school call intermediate scholarship 1 non-syllabus jazz class 1 grade 4 modern class 1 grade 3 tap class. - all these classes are with the imperial ISTD syllabus This means she is only doing 3 ballet classes a week! Is this enough of she wants to go to RBS WL in year 9?? We are also auditioning for LJB associates however if we receive a NO from the audition she will have not received any YESs and will still be doing only three ballet lessons a week? I am not sure what to do as 3 hours of ballet a week for a twelve year old doesn't seem like much, does anybody have any advice?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleep123 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 We have struggled for many years to find a ballet school that would encourage my DD and meet her needs as her dancing friends moved off to vocational schools. She has 2 45 minute indifferent ballet classes a week but having said that it hasn't prevented her from being a RB JA and MA for the last 4 years. Yes it is increasingly harder for her to keep up with her friends dancing 6+ ballet hours per week but it can be done if determined enough. I am ever hopeful that we can find additional training for her but at the moment am content that she receives amazing training from 2 Associate programmes. I suppose what I was trying to say is don't get too carried away with dancing hours- yes of course in an ideal world it helps but you can only work with what is available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 This thread might be helpful: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/9842-how-much-ballet/?hl=hours#entry132248 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drdance Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 It is not necessarily QUANTITY of training that makes a difference, but the QUALITY. It is not impossible but students need a very good quality teacher, with a proven track record of having students gaining places at vocational schools or getting good marks in vocational examinations. It is not enough to be getting distinctions in graded examinations - these are not an indicator of success in a dance career in the same way vocational exams are. Have you spoken to your teacher about your daughters aspirations? Does your teacher have experience in this area? 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Can you get to London? Anna De Bioson has a fantastic reputation and a very honest one too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Since you are within travelling distance of London, there are a couple of other associate schemes that you could possibly look into. Central School of Ballet Preps and the Classical Ballet Academy at Tring Park School in Hertfordshire. Keep an eye out also, for workshops and things like that as the experience of dancing in different places with new teachers is really beneficial at this age and upwards. I suspect that if she is intending to audition for Y9 then many of the other auditionees will have already passed their Intermediate exams (just to give you an idea of the level the audition will be at, exams aren't a necessity). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJW Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 To be fair LCB and JA's are extremely competitive so I wouldn't worry too much that she hasn't been successful with those yet! I agree that the key is that you both feel that she is developing and being pushed by her current teacher and that she keeps pushing herself. But don't lose heart over "no"s from such sought-after schemes! It's all character building and will make her stronger in the long run! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 To be fair LCB and JA's are extremely competitive so I wouldn't worry too much that she hasn't been successful with those yet! I agree that the key is that you both feel that she is developing and being pushed by her current teacher and that she keeps pushing herself. But don't lose heart over "no"s from such sought-after schemes! It's all character building and will make her stronger in the long run! Yes I have told her all the no's make you stronger though she still feels like she is not progressing as she works so hard everyday(though I know she is progressing). She has definitely gotten better since her last audition so I have hopes that she may get a yes soon!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisiblecircus Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 The chances of getting into year 9 at WL are extremely slim for ANYONE. That is not to say it isn't possible, but you need to consider that firstly, there might not be any places available in the year you want to audition for or if there are, there might be just one or two with many applicants competing for them. Remember that new students in year 9 will be joining a class of pupils who have been in full time vocational training for two years already. Some candidates will be coming from other vocational schools, so that standard will be very high. Your daughter will need to be at a certain level, but as drdance wrote, the quality of her current training is extremely important. You could try auditioning for other associate schemes. Definitely speak to your DD's teacher about her ambitions and see what she advises. Are you thinking of auditioning for other schools besides WL? Competition for places is extremely tough in all of them, especially for year 9, but it might be that a different school is a better fit. Finally, how would your DD feel about dancing in a different company or a company overseas? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 Invisiblecircus- yes v v slim chance of DD getting in. We are also thinking about Elmhurst, YDA and Tring though she may not get into any its all experience and will make her work even harder!! As I said Royal ballet is her big ambition though she would also like ENB and Dutch royal ballet or places in America but this is a long time away, so as long as she gets the correct training, we can think about different companies later on I guess! Thanks for your help!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 My DD is twelve and is taking her grade 3 ballet ISTD exam in Christmas as she was supposed to take it last year but she was unfortunately ill.???? She does grade 3 every other week, grade 4, grade five and an extra non-syllabus class. (All ISTD) - she also does modern tap and jazz! To me only 3-4 hours of ballet each week doesn't sound like much for. 12 year old girl who aspires to be a ballerina! Her teacher isn't too keen on private classes (not sure why) to help DD progress more. She is auditioning for LJB and if she does not get a yes she will audition for LCB but if she gets rejected for both I am worried about lack of classes. Is 3-4 hours of ballet enough for a 12 year old?? Does anyone have any ideas on what else we could do to help her progress more?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I think three to four hours of quality ballet training is enough. That coupled with an associate scheme would be plenty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 I think three to four hours of quality ballet training is enough. That coupled with an associate scheme would be plenty.Thanks for the reply! If DD was to not get into LJB this year should we try again next year or is that a waste of time and money?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Keep trying it's all good audition experience ☺️ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thanks tulip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Primaballerina1, this thread is very similar to your thread from yesterday, so I have merged the two threads. This helps keep all the information in one place, and prevents people from having to repeat themselves in multiple threads. Kind regards, Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thank you Anna C - and yes I did feel like I was repeating myself a bit! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 My DD is twelve and is taking her grade 3 ballet ISTD exam in Christmas as she was supposed to take it last year but she was unfortunately ill. She does grade 3 every other week, grade 4, grade five and an extra non-syllabus class. (All ISTD) - she also does modern tap and jazz! To me only 3-4 hours of ballet each week doesn't sound like much for. 12 year old girl who aspires to be a ballerina! One thing that strikes me is that she doesn't seem to be doing any vocational grade work as yet. Is there a class available at her school for that? The other thing is that unless she is in love with tap, then that might be a class worth giving up and replacing with another ballet class (or possibly even contemporary). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Taxi4ballet They don't offer contemporary at her school and sometimes she does acro but this only happens once a month. The only problem on starting another ballet class instead of tap is DDs school only really offers the classes for DDs standard which she does. G4, G5, "scholarship" ballet and occaisonaly a G3 class. Do you have any suggestions?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Taxi4ballet I also forgot to say that after Xmas DD will probably be doing a class to learn things for a ballet competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Taxi4ballet They don't offer contemporary at her school and sometimes she does acro but this only happens once a month. The only problem on starting another ballet class instead of tap is DDs school only really offers the classes for DDs standard which she does. G4, G5, "scholarship" ballet and occaisonaly a G3 class. Do you have any suggestions?? Er... find another school? Seriously though, if she is really keen on becoming a ballet dancer, she will need the very best training at the highest level and if the school doesn't offer classes at vocational level then you may eventually have to look elsewhere. Maybe you really need to have a long chat with her current teacher and ask them what they think her realistic prospects are ballet-wise, and what classes they can offer in order to give her the right training. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thanks taxi4ballet for your input. We don't have many dance schools round our area that are any better and our current teacher does do so much for us eg. Free lessons! So we may look at joining another school in addition to the current classes or audition for more associate classes as I know YDA have a school in addition to their JAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drdance Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Does your teacher have history of students at vocational schools? High marks in vocational examinations? Students at associate schemes? Year 9 students would be expected to be working at at least Intermediate level if not higher, so I would strongly advise you that if your DD wants a career in dance, to get to vocational classes and/or higher grades classes asap. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessandtheFrog Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Uh oh! I'm starting year 9 in September and only just did my Grade 4 exams a few weeks ago. I'm so behind! Luckily one of my teachers is letting me stay after my normal class for the intermediate class. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Uh oh! I'm starting year 9 in September and only just did my Grade 4 exams a few weeks ago. I'm so behind! Luckily one of my teachers is letting me stay after my normal class for the intermediate class. Are you starting vocational school in September? If so,then you obviously have what they are looking for and the fact you are,in your words,behind,is of no concern to the School,or they wouldn`t have offered you a place.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessandtheFrog Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Are you starting vocational school in September? If so,then you obviously have what they are looking for and the fact you are,in your words,behind,is of no concern to the School,or they wouldn`t have offered you a place.! Oh I don't go to a vocational school, I just go to 2 local dance schools. I wish I was at a vocational school though! One can dream... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Does your teacher have history of students at vocational schools? High marks in vocational examinations? Students at associate schemes? Year 9 students would be expected to be working at at least Intermediate level if not higher, so I would strongly advise you that if your DD wants a career in dance, to get to vocational classes and/or higher grades classes asap.Yes she taught a girl (Anna O'Sullivan-think that was her name) who was accepted into LCB and then was accepted into WL, also a girl who is at London Russian ballet school and is starting at Vaganova Next Septemer! Sadly they don't do vocational exams at our dance school (is this a bad thing?) DD is going into y8 next year and is in G4 and G5- aka inter foundation. And sorry but are vocational classes the same as associate classes or not?? Edited July 22, 2015 by Primaballerina1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisiblecircus Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Vocational classes are grades such as intermediate, advanced 1 and advanced 2. They are usually offered at local dance schools if they have students of that level. Associate classes are non syllabus classes which some vocational schools and other organisations run for serious ballet students who are not yet in full time training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Vocational classes are grades such as intermediate, advanced 1 and advanced 2. They are usually offered at local dance schools if they have students of that level . Associate classes are non syllabus classes which some vocational schools and other organisations run for serious ballet students who are not yet in full time training. Thanks for letting me know!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Does your teacher have history of students at vocational schools? High marks in vocational examinations? Students at associate schemes? Year 9 students would be expected to be working at at least Intermediate level if not higher, so I would strongly advise you that if your DD wants a career in dance, to get to vocational classes and/or higher grades classes asap. DD does level 5 and we are going to talk to her teacher about joining grade 5 which is also inter foundation. Also are auditioning for LJB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I've been reading the various threads about your concerns regarding your dd, her current level and training and her hopes to get into vocational school in year 9. Is the hope for her to get a year 9 place in the academic year starting September 2016? If so the audition season for that will start this autumn not long after schools go back. Regardless of level achieved or hours of classes per week the schools at this age will be looking for a number of things including potential, performance, facility, musicality, physique. As others have said you need to discuss your dd aspirations with her teacher and be guided by her in the best path to follow. Auditions can be fun if treated as a chance to enjoy a class in a new environment with the opportunity to see the school. Realistically there may be one or two spaces and girls auditioning from across the globe. The chances of getting a place are minimal but of course someone will be just who the school are looking for, your dd might be that lucky one. At this stage don't get too hung up on the end result, give her opportunities with summer schools, associates and workshops and let her enjoy her dancing journey. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primaballerina1 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thank 4 the reply Jane it helped a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annaliesey Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Hi primaballerina1 I'm curious how long your dd has been dancing for? The reason I ask is that maybe there could be some other classes such as pointe/prep classes or something like stretch/pillates/yoga or as lyrical or contemporary. If your school doesn't offer these then maybe you could find another school that does without changing from where she is and just do them alongside one another. If she's not been dancing that long then possibly the strength classes or Freework classes could help alongside syllabus as some teachers will not want to challenge students too much by confusing terminology associated with syllabus and grades (I might not be explaining myself very well but I mean different classes rather than syllabus) The competition options I think are really good as students get 121 time and I would say people benefit quite a lot from this attention What about things such as EYB if it's within travelling distance Or what about CAT schemes maybe? Good luck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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