dramascientist

Tagging gun?

Just had to Google it! I was born in the 60s in a dancing family and have never heard of these books, I feel cheated!

Hmm I have grudging respect from my tekkie DH because I am on this forum......he never thought I had it in me! Thank you Balletco for proving him wrong!

Thanks Anna C that is very comprehensive, I sent DD the link from Just Ballet, I am of course still waiting for her reply....she keeps telling me she is too busy to call!

Oh right I will ask her what she is doing but knowing her I am sure it will be the classical variation but thanks for pointing that out!

Phew this sounds better, I will look at the RAD one and the Just Ballet one, thanks everybody what would I do without this forum???

Hi everyone DD tells me that she needs a tutu for her advanced 1 ballet exam and others have them but the best ones cost £200! This seems very steep and there are some available from the RAD shop that cost about £50, are these no good? Advice please, which are the best ones to buy that will be good for the advanced 2 exam as well? Help! Dramascientist

Oh gosh Loopy I feel for your DD! Having inherited my grandmothers genes (32EE) when I was dancing ( pre children I mean) it was always a problem!! How I used to wish I was flat chested! I loved my ballet and dreamed of a little "ballet body" but it was never to be. I remember wearing a normal bra and a sports bra for my ISTD intermediate exam ( now advanced 1) and feeling I could hardly breathe. Luckily the uniform leotard was a high back with long sleeves. Its so unfair to effectively discriminate against girls who are " curvy" on the top when they can be just as talented as their flat chested friends. I have to admit praying to the powers that be that my DD would not have inherited my genes so she wouldn't suffer the same problems... luckily my prayers were answered but I feel for those with the same problem I had!

When my DDs local teacher found out she had auditioned at the national ballet school she called us in and basically to,d us that our DD would not get on well there. I pointed out at the time that she was struggling to cope with normal school and homework and several hours of ballet a day since it was so stressful. She told us that stress was good and thats what it was like in real life (DD was 10 at the time). She was really quite agressive and even if DD hadn't been offered a place at the national ballet school we would have gone elsewhere, being treated in a negative way is never good for anyone, even for us adults. It sound like your DD is talented Lou78 so maybe its hard for the teacher to lose her to a vocational school. Still its not very professional to stop correcting or praising her. Hope things get better, DRSC

Us too!

Due to living abroad my DD only did grade 3 & 4 RAD (at 10) and then did her intermediate RAD at 16, it made no difference to getting into vocational school in the UK, she was offered places at everywhere she auditioned so it really does not matter.

I agree P d Q I remember taking photos for RBS SS on film when DD was 9, we took 35 pictures and used 3! Luckily we lived in Thailand at the time and it didint cost too much for developing but it was so stressful and not knowing if anyof them were any good was awful! It is a doddle in comparison now!

Hi Sam, we also live abroad and my DD auditioned at Tring Park for year 11and was offered a place. Unfortunately because living abroad she did not qualify for MDS she could not take it up, she applied a year later because she did qualify for DADAs and was again offered a place, so it is possible. Hope this helps DRSC

Mine definitely did.

Wow what an opportunity for someone!

Congratulations to your DD and you and your DH Katymac! You have certainly raised a young lady who is or should be an example to many others both in the dance world and elsewhere, she shows what can be achieved in the face of adversity with hard work and determination.....and of course a good spread sheet! Well done and good luck to her, keep us posted! Dramascientist

My experience of Oxbridge is that there is a " type". After many years of teaching I can recognise the ones that will get offers and those that won't. They are few and far between. In 25 years of teaching I have had 4 students get accepted and go. Its like RBS almost but just like RBS they are not for everyone or the be all and end all, and there are many paths to success!

I agree with DrDance don't drink just water you need salts too. Yes Gatorade is a drink that contains salts too off the shelf but I bet they have lots of these types of drinks in the US. I had a friend that collapsed after drinking just water in a very hot, humid environment (don't worry she drank a lot!) but if you are sweating a lot you are losing more than just water and these need to be replaced too.

I think it depends on how good a skier they are. There is more danger of damaging knees etc. if its your first time. If they are careful and don't take silly risks I don't think a week's skiing is goiing to build huge thigh muscles or anything. My DD has been whilst at vocational school and its never been a problem, though she gas been skiing since she was 3 ( we lived en Suisse!) DRSC

How come?

Hi Swanprincess how was your trip up to Ballet West? What did you think of the place and are you still excited to go? Sorry just being nosey! DRSC

Lema my DD did grade 3 after about 10 months after attending a new school. She did 3 hrs a week of classes since she was studying grade 2 as well. I really wantedher to do the grade 2 exam because time had been so short but the teacher wantedto push her. Unfortunately my instinct was correct because she scored merit ( IMHO if we had waited and done it the next year she would have scored higher) though they did have a very strict examiner. I would say 18 months is a reasonable time to spend on the RAD syllabus if she is only doing once a week. At my sisters school this is the average time spent on each grade, with probably 2 years on vocational exams. Don't worry their exam level is not important if your DD wants to go to vocational school, my DD didn't do RAD exams or any other external exams for 5 years at her Vaganova school and still got offers from all the upper schools she auditioned at. DRSC

.....and seeing her dance next year at the Nutcracker

I agree my DD loved it, particularly having to step out of her ballet comfort zone and do Jazz !