Lisa O`Brien

I would happily pay a subscription,either monthly or annually,to see the forum kept up and running. I used to follow the old forum,although never posted. Have plucked up a bit more courage with this new forum, and have posted comments a few times. I see so many familiar names on an almost daily basis on Doing Dance, that i would be lost without it now. I live in Ireland, and my I.T. skills are minimal anyway. But as i said, if i can help from a financial point of view, i will be happy to do so.

Just to add my own opinion,i would happily pay a subscription to see this site kept up and running. I only really look at the Doing Dance section;there is something real and exciting about it i think. There are familiar names who regularly contribute who i almost feel as if i know by now, and it`s fascinating following both them and their children on their journeys.I would be very sad if that communication with them all was lost.

Hello,when i auditioned 20 odd yrs ago for voc school at 16 i hadn`t danced for 18 mths. Was nowhere near as technically good as most of the other girls,but at the interview later[we were told on the day whether we had been accepted or not],the Principal and Deputy BOTH told me i had a beautiful face. In fact they kept going on about it.!!They practically told me this is the reason i had got in,because of the way i looked.!!! Obviously,today it is far more competitive,but could it be that if there are 2 girls standing next to each other at the audition,both equally as good as each other,it may come down to which one is physically more attractive? Let`s face it, you don`t see many plain ballet dancers on stage.!

I meant, of course,stardancer.Senior moment, big time.!!!

Sorry, I meant stardancer.!!

A message to Stardust. I am horrified at what i read your child is subjected to by her dance teachers. This is emotional abuse and should be reported.Would you tolerate a teacher at her ordinary school speaking to her like this? I hate to say it,but by doing nothing, you are enabling the teacher`s behaviour. If you do nothing, what is to say,this behaviour might then continue on to a younger, even more vulnerable child than your daughter.? Get her the hell away from this school. What will your daughter think of you in years to come if you allowed her to continue training there, knowing what you do? And after she has left the school, report her. Sorry if this sounds like i`m having a go at you. But in honesty, i think you, as her parent, need a bit of a kick up the backside. This should have been dealt with straight away, and you should have removed her from this environment,regardless of whether it`s the only school around or not. No excuse, i`m afraid.!

I`m going to have a moan here,as i have done on several other sites ,including the ROH Facebook page, and to the ROH themselves. I saw the Royal Ballet at the Palace Theatre, Manchester in 1982. Merle Park in Isadora, followed a few days later by Leslie Collier in Sleeping Beauty. And that,my friends,was that. Not everyone lives near London, so is able to go to the ROH. If the Royal Ballet,as a journalist from the Independent recently said,can tour Japan and the States,can they not manage a trip up the M1 once every couple of years? They are supposed to be our NATIONAL ballet company. I know they are trying to make themselves, and that includes the Royal Opera, more accessible,by showing live performances in cinemas,but it is hardly the substitute for a live performance. And while i`m on the subject of accessibility; they are forever asking for donations for their pointe shoe fund. Well why not allow the public to buy a signed pair of pointe shoes worn by their favourite dancer, like some American companies do? I was recently on the Oregon Ballet Theatre website, and bought a signed pair from a Corps De Ballet dancer with accompanying thankyou card, and the lovliest inscription and thank you message from the Artistic Director. He seemed to be proper chuffed that someone from outside the US was interested in his company, sending me emails to let me know the dancer whose shoes i had chosen would be signing her shoes within the next few days, then emailing me again,telling me they had been posted out to me. [ They were beautifully well wrapped as well]. The Royal Ballet could make a nice little income from selling on their used shoes. Seems to me they are being just a little bit elitist,when they can ill afford to be. What do others think?

Anyone`s DD or DS plan on auditioning for either Lower,Upper School or Associates in the coming year? Good luck to all who do.