Lifeafterballet

OMG 😦 they take 5 year olds for an 8 day course. Is it only me that is shocked by this?

€280 to enter before you have paid for flights, hotel, transport and food 😏 7 ADs, 2 from the U.K. who will hold their own separate auditions too. Neither of my children attended events like this as I don’t believe them to be as selective as they make out ££££. I would personally feel uncomfortable in my child taking a contract with a company in a country that they had never visited. I think you have to get a feel for a place. We flew to one company that looked fantastic on the website and Instagram account but was a hell hole and even if it was the only offer my child got they would say no. on the other hand I hear Split is very nice 😊

My son started ballet at 12. Danced locally and did a weekly associate program til he went to vocational ballet school at 17. Survived the 3 years of that 😅 and has been a professional ballet dancer for the past 5 years. In our experience, boys can start training later than girls. Schools seem to see potential in the older ones and want to invest. He was also very lucky that his senior school friends were very supportive of his dancing so didn’t experience the bullying as your son sadly did.

Wonder where he is off too 🤔

My son’s European Ballet company to my knowledge haven’t held auditions since pre pandemic. They advertise, for men only, and invite to take company class. The AD watches and then has a meeting after the class to discuss whether they are going to be made an offer. If successful it is later confirmed by email. This was how my son got his contract. The corps and apprentice female dancers are mainly employed from the school apart from one or two that I can think of. There are very few boys in the school. I quite like the fact that they employ their locally trained students and wish that U.K. companies could give U.K. trained students more opportunities.

I’m sorry I can’t give you exact numbers but the studio was full. A lot of the dancers had been at the Hungarian National audition a couple of weeks before too. That one was heaving. Ds felt a bit overwhelmed as that was his first ever audition and he got swallowed up in the masses. At Dutch National he made a plan to push himself to the front and he got asked to stay back. Confidence is key. You will find that you get to see the same people at all the auditions until they get what they want and stop attending. My Ds was the only one from his school invited to the Dutch National audition, apart from 2 girls who were invited via YAGP. There were lots from ENBS doing the rounds. Not many from RBS, I recall, perhaps they get to audition privately 🤔 In our experience that happens a lot, so how many is in the room isn’t really a good indicator of what you are up against. Well done to your Dd. Hope she enjoys the class and gets some free time to explore Amsterdam. Both my Ds and Dd enjoyed visiting the different countries even if the outcome wasn’t what they would have hoped for 😊

He verbally accepted but as I recall they sent the offer by email afterwards with more details about funding and accommodation etc. I remember the ones who were helpful and courteous as a-lot aren’t. He was in the US for less than a year. Returned home early due to the pandemic and then secured a contract with a European ballet company where he has been for the past 4 seasons. He has been very lucky to have had the opportunity to dance professionally. Sadly, many graduates never get that 😢

My son attended this audition in 2019 and they invited certain dancers to stay behind at the end. They were called in one at a time with the AD and offers made. My son was offered a year of training at the Academy, after which he would be reconsidered for the Junior Company. He happily accepted but was later offered a ballet contract in the US. When he emailed the AD he received a very kind reply wishing him well in his career.

Happy New Year 🥳

She says she believes the industry "wants functioning anorexics who don't complain" I’m lost for words with this statement 😢 I must admit that I do sometimes find ballet painful to watch and look forward to the day my children will be out of the industry and I never have to go again.

"The pastoral care staff shut me in a room in the medical centre and left me crying and screaming hysterically for hours," she says. She developed anorexia in her second year at the school - the same year she won an award for most promising dancer. "[It] felt like validation for what I was doing," she says. But then her anorexia worsened and led to interventions by the school - although one of those stopped her from attending ballet class, which she says, only made her condition worse. "It felt like I was being punished for being ill," she says. On one occasion, she says she was humiliated after being weighed in front of other students, berated for having an eating disorder and told she would not be allowed to dance. "Ballet was everything I knew, and when they stopped me from doing it, I would get hysterical. They weren't nurturing - it was the opposite of that." "Eating disorders are one of the most prevalent issues at ballet schools, and Elmhurst is supposed to be one of the best in the world - but they didn't seem to have any idea how to deal with mine," she says. Sian’s experience is so so close to that of my daughters that it’s scary 😟 The medical centre staff, at that time, didn’t have the expertise or knowledge in how to help her and until yesterday I thought that she was the only one who had been locked in a room crying and alone. They were very reluctant to refer to CAMHs and get professional help, preferring to keep it in house. We felt isolated, alone and very frightened. It was like her disordered eating and mental health issues were a shameful secret 😞 These 4 young people are so brave to share their experiences and represent others who have yet reached that point that they are able to do so publicly.

Ofsted should interview pupils and parents who have left a school.

My Dd represented the U.K. in 2017 in Florence 😊

The Dada gets financially assessed for and given prior to starting 6:1 and then lasts for the whole 3 years. It can’t be issued to another student or transferred to another school. That was our understanding. Those that start in 6:2 or just do a graduate year pay cash or receive an internal bursary in my experience.

Someone please correct me if I’m wrong but I believe that the DaDa funding goes along with the Trinity Diploma which is run over 3 years. I’ve know students leave after 2 years with a level 5 qualification but not get a DaDa for years 6:2 and 6:3.

https://news.sky.com/story/ballet-teacher-jonathan-barton-acquitted-of-sexual-assaults-on-teenage-pupils-13024217

In our experience American and Japanese dancers for example, don’t seem to be deterred from getting a contract and a visa for European companies so why is it so difficult for the British ? My son has been in a European Ballet company for 3 years now and it was a relatively easy process to get a visa. The company guided him on what he needed to do.

This happened at most of the pre selected auditions that my children attended ☹️ As you mentioned, you spend so so much on travel and accommodation and then to get asked to leave before the first exercise is heartbreaking 💔 They never did an open one, but I imagine that to be a nightmare.

My daughters height varied from 160 to 163cm during her auditions 🤣 My son went to an invitation only European audition where he was truthfully the minimum height and half the boys there were shorter than him 🤣

When you look at the experiences that were shared by ballet students and now drama students my feeling is that the schools are doing to the pupils what was done to them and they justify this abuse by saying that they are preparing them for the real work place. Sadly I think they are right. Life in a ballet company in our experience is no different to that in the schools. Body shaming, poor injury management etc With the ‘me too’ movement exposing more and more awful ‘casting couch’ experiences I fear the film and television world may be no different 😢

Moving on to Drama Schools ……. The stories of abuse are so awful 😞 https://news.sky.com/story/i-was-forced-to-smell-soiled-underwear-inside-the-culture-of-abuse-at-the-uks-top-drama-schools-13003497

Hit the ground running in the September of 6:3. Photos and footage straight away as some companies advertise early. I’ve had a son and daughter both graduate from their ballet school and secure contracts. The school didn’t help much, things might have changed now. We did the research and worked it out by ourselves. We found that the students and parents all start to play their cards close to their chest and not share information about opportunities. Apply for everything, cast your net as wide as you can. The percentage of auditions from applications is very small. And never expect to get a reply. My children had a list of companies from Wikipedia 🤣 and they just worked their way through them. Spend the summer preparing and if you are thinking of an intensive then, look at the ones with companies attached. My sons ballet company in Europe is currently advertising for boys for an immediate start. This happens occasionally and can be an opportunity if you don’t mind leaving school early. I know of some that have and it paid off. Finding a friend in the year above is useful, they will share information as they aren’t in direct competition. It’s hard work 😓 Be unique with your CV. You need him to stand out. Don’t start your footage with barre ……. I could waffle on 🤣 I’m happy to answer any questions too 😊 I remember how tough it was x

BSc Sport Rehabilitation I know of lots of ex vocational students who have gone on to study a variety of subjects at University with funding.

My daughter graduated with a Level 6 Trinity Diploma and 2 A levels and had DaDa funding. She is now in her 3rd year of her University Degree with funding for tuition fees and a maintenance. So the answer is yes. Good luck 😊

Dar Danse, Wellsaway. I believe that Francesca Filpi moved her teaching to Cadiz in Spain. Not sure if it’s still running. Dar Danse in Morocco was amazing 🤩