Lifeafterballet

I’m trying to follow this thread but when it started on about equity etc I got lost 🤣 All graduating students have dreams and aspirations but the reality is that they need a job, any job. We aimed for our Ds and Dd just to get their foot on the first rung of the ladder. Nothing too prestigious, just somewhere that they could dance in and be happy, a better environment that the school had provided. This would prove to them and us that maybe the pain had been worth it in the end. One found their happy dancing place and the other found greater happiness in stopping. Covid and Brexit has destroyed the careers of two generations of graduates before they even started and countless others who have lost contracts 😢 I feel that the British ballet companies could have done more. And that doesn’t mean increasing the use of students in their productions free of charge. Both mine were used multiple times in productions, pre and post graduation, but weren’t good enough to be paid.

Still available 😊

Still available 😊

Still available 😊

https://www.dancemagazine.com/simone-biles-mental-health-2654372644.html

I feel that it was a farewell 😔

Houston Ballet 2 charges $8000 fees per year to join. It’s actually part of the academy. My daughter had a short term visit there but there was no way we could have afforded it. Can’t really class it as a second company.

I’m feeling so so proud of the current elite athletes who are prioritising their mental health over their sports demands and expectations. Also, the very brave challenge of sexualisation in sport. Im shocked to read the clothing rules for some sport’s 😮 Simone Biles for one, leading the way 💪 She alone is not USA Gymnastics. It’s a team !! Ballet is a team event too. There is a lot to learn and a long way to go.

Dss first year post graduation was in the US. He was paid but it still cost us a fortune to get him out there and set him up. Then the US contracts are only 9 months, August to May if you are lucky. Then you come back to the U.K. with no income for three months and the whole thing starts again 😩 Europe has been better. Cheaper to get him set up and they pay all year round 😊 And thats classed as a success 😅 Dd trained for 8 years and a term and had a contract but couldn’t get there so decided to stop. She took her pointe shoes off after her live Nutcracker performance with BRB and never put them on again. It made us feel sad at first but now we are all so much happier. Ballet isn’t the be all and end all. There is a lot of life after. I know a lot of girls who have made the same decision. Sometimes you just have to draw a line, physically, mentally or financially, whether that’s the child or the parents, enough is enough x

I think you may see this replicated around the US/EU as well. And not just in schools. Ds’s company have given a lot of contracts to its feeder school this year 🎉 It’s only in the U.K. that companies haven’t increased their employment from U.K. schools 😏

Huge congratulations to your Ds 🎉 What a wonderful opportunity and company to be part of. I’ve heard a previous school mate may be playing a lead role too 😊 so would be good to watch them both dance again x

That’s really funny 😆 as my husband messaged Dr Jill Biden through Twitter about visas for Dd and Ds. She never replied 😏

When we were seeking an appointment the only two choices were London or Belfast. I was visiting a European country last November and stayed opposite the US Embassy that was accepting appointments for US visas. I spoke with them to see if they would see Dd and they informed me that she had to go to her own countries US embassy. So no luck there 😢 To add I have just looked at the US Consulate in Edinburgh and they say they do not issue visas and you have to go to the London US Embassy x

Isabella Boylston trained there and Meelis Pakri is faculty x

Have a look at The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida. My Dd attended their summer intensive and had a fantastic time. We hadn’t heard of it til she won a scholarship to go from YAGP. She flew on her own from the U.K. to Fort Lauderdale and they collected her from the airport. Accommodation is onsite and houseparented. She had a fantastic time. Tough Vaganova classes mixed with some fun trips and activities. She made some wonderful friends and was offered a full time place at the end. She chose to remain in the U.K. due to academics etc.

Sold 😃

That was my fear with RBS US. I had heard of students not progressing to the graduate year 😢 I then met two who danced with my son in the US and could see no reason why they hadn’t been able to graduate.

Just to share….. Dd attended Paris YAGP twice and New York finals and took more classes in front of the RBS director than at any British audition. At one scholarship class the director of YAGP pointed out dd to the RBS AD and he said loudly that he didn’t like her feet 🤣 That was the most feedback we were ever going to get !! She was offered RBS summer school from that class. Dd declined and attended a US intensive instead 😃

This was the YAGP 2021 scholarship winners offered places at RBS at the Japan finals. There were six year round places given out at this competition alone. Congratulations to the winners 🥳 Who said that RBS wasn’t attending YAGP anymore ? 🤔

We have a bank account which covers my husband and I for travel insurance. Because Dd was under 18, a dependent and in full time education it covered her for her 5 week US Intensive too 😀

When Dd started her training in 2012 a majority of graduates from her school gained contracts with ballet companies. This has deteriorated over the past few years with less and less opportunities available 😢

I’m not saying it’s easy 😀 We are Cornwall based and travelled to London and Birmingham for male associates. But it’s another way , apart from leaving home at 11, which we experienced with Dd. As you said, it’s what works for your child and family.

From our experience I strongly believe that a good associate scheme and training is just as good for accessing 16+ vocational training as attending a full time lower school. For boys especially 😀 and cheaper too 🤣

Try having two at vocational school 🤣🤯 It doesn’t even end when they graduate sadly £££

Just to be aware, Ds’s petition/application was paid for by his company and DD’s cost us just under $1000. Then the US embassy charge for the face to face 😞