Lifeafterballet

Zoe now sold ☺️

https://ibb.co/CbyZmN4 Dd in it ☺️

Yes it is x

Our Ds and Dd both suffered injuries in grad year which were poorly managed. Ds was one of very few boys on dance at the time of the grad shows so his rehearsal schedule was gruelling. He sustained a spinal stress fracture which took him off dance for 3 months. His mental health suffered too 😢 There was no sports psychologist or provision for support with this. The physical rehab was good, when you could get it, as there were so many injured students that they were overwhelmed. Dd was accidentally dropped onto a pointed foot and continued to rehearse and perform on a very obvious fracture. The priority was the shows. She was taught how to strap it so she could get a pointe shoe on and she ate a lot of Brufen. There was a culture that injuries were an inconvenience and Dd was made to feel guilty if she didn’t perform. She plucked up courage and asked to be replaced for one performance as she was in so much pain and was reduced to tears by the teacher 😢 She felt weak and worthless. Others just hid their pain 😣 We did a lot of research ourselves and Ds and Dd became very good at self managing. Dd sustained a foot injury whilst performing with a U.K. company and was excellently managed by them. This stimulated her interest in sports injury rehabilitation and is what now she is off to University to study. She learned a lot from her and her brother’s experiences. Both have been far more happier and healthier since leaving and taking charge of themselves ☺️

Now sold ☺️

Yumiko Anna Leotard, size small, nylon and velvet, antique, Misty rose, orient trim. Fabulous condition £50 including delivery. Yumiko Zoe leotard, size small, nylon, silver, antique rose, antique trim. Fabulous condition £50 including delivery. Yumiko Pat georgette skirt, medium length, antique. Fabulous condition £40 including delivery. Bullet pointe XS skirts. Black and white available. Excellent condition. £20 each including delivery. Ballet Skirt by Lucinda, size 6, grey Excellent condition £15 including delivery. https://ibb.co/THNSSmN https://ibb.co/JH2zXdW https://ibb.co/PTP40JV https://ibb.co/pRhCDT0 https://ibb.co/PYmg8py https://ibb.co/0YHzCnQ https://ibb.co/yRFzHMJ https://ibb.co/WF83mMs

Blue foot stretcher. Excellent condition. £50 includes delivery. Pink turn board. Well used 🤣 £15 includes delivery. https://ibb.co/wLHhBVJ https://ibb.co/RPSW79Y

Black Wear Mois still available x

Still available ☺️

Still available ☺️

This is still available ☺️

These are still available and open to offers x And a brand new set of Bloch Zenith pink canvas split soled, size 5c x

All of our lives came to revolve around ballet. We spent most of our time and an awful lot of money on ballet. Do we have regrets ? Yes we do, a lot of them 😞 The main one was allowing our children to be physically, psychologically and emotionally damaged by the vocational system and not to admit it to ourselves that was what was happening. For watching Dd spiral into an obsessive compulsive decline that earned her praise, recognition and success, without intervening. Knowing deep down that the bullying and unkindness was wrong but never having the guts to address it. Pausing and thinking of the consequences of action allowed opportunities to intervene slip by. Watching her passion, personality and happiness be destroyed class after class. Being made to feel not good enough and worthless. If a young person has to hurt themselves to achieve success then there is something very wrong. We regret ever entering the ballet world, we were naive and unprepared. No one guides you, supports you, is honest with you. We regret not pulling dd out in year 9 when it all started to feel wrong. It took until the final year for her to speak openly and honestly and to admit to us and herself that she was a square peg trying to fit into a round hole and she just couldn’t do it anymore. If she had to go on living like that for much longer then the damage may have been irreversible. It was a genuine relief when she stopped ballet and turned down her contract. We feel so very guilty 😢 for supporting her self harm for as long as we did. For letting the demons in and not protecting her. We all got swept up in the ballet world and lost sight of what was right and what was wrong. There are so so many parents out there now doing exactly what we did and my heart goes out to them. When you are on that rollercoaster it is just so difficult to get off. I realise that my posts recently have been mainly doom and gloom and I sincerely apologise for that. I am genuinely a happy, positive person ☺️ But I just want to reach out to those who read this forum and are experiencing what we went through and know that they aren’t alone. That lots of others share the dark side of ballet and although you think that everyone who is successful is happy, they more than likely have the same struggles that you do but are just afraid to admit it and talk about it.

Both my dc had ballet contracts in the US but we’re unable to go as the US Embassy in London has been closed since last March and isn’t scheduled to open for face to face interview til this August. There are no ESTA, holiday visas, allowed in at present and I doubt very much you could extend it for the whole season. Also, anyone currently entering the US from the U.K./EU has to quarantine for 2 weeks elsewhere prior to entry. A performing arts/work visa is a P1. The company should apply for this. Dds petition cost us nearly $1000 before we gave up 😞 It was just a bridge too far. Too many hurdles. That’s before Covid vaccines/passports start to play a role in entering too. Im happy to answer any questions x

Covid gave my Dd time away from full time ballet for the first time in 8 years. Ballet was her first thought/worry of the day and her last. Every action/meal etc was executed in the pursuit of ballet. Is there any wonder these children have an identity crisis when they believe that being a dancer is all that they are. When you eventually step away and look at it from outside the bubble you realise how crazy it all was and what you have sacrificed for a dream. The teachers we found are not only not experienced in guiding the dc onto other paths when they so choose, they are not very good at guiding them with a ballet career either 😒 In the 8 years of training and all the parent/student/teacher meetings we attended there was only one occasion that we felt there was honesty about Dd and the reality of a ballet career. I mentioned it yesterday and Dd had exactly the same moment in her memory too 😊 Dd knew deep down that she just wasn’t good enough, that she wasn’t the cream of the crop, not special enough as she put it and she needed someone to confirm this. This teacher was the only one that supported Dd in choosing another path. I totally agree that they will all find their path when the time is right. All we can do as parents is be there to pick up the pieces 🤗 and the bill 😂

I got the first two questions wrong and panicked 😂

Just did a trial question of a Morrisby test and failed miserably 😂 Fab suggestion so worth exploring 😃

You have hit the nail on the head. Dd talks about only ever identifying as a dancer and feeling that without that she is nothing. These children are so much more. They have skills and abilities beyond their years and just need to believe in themselves 💪 The very best of luck and a very happy Easter holiday of exploring all those amazing opportunities that await her xx

That’s so sad 😞 We searched for weeks for a university course that Dd would like. She wrote down what her passions, interests, strengths were and what kind of work she would like to do in the future. We toyed with physiotherapy for ages but she didn’t want to work with ‘sick’ people. My husband, oldest son and I are nurses, that’s enough to put anyone offer a healthcare/hospital career 🤣 Then at midnight one night I woke my husband and said “I’ve found it !” It ticked all of her boxes. She was ecstatic 🤩 And that’s what she is off to do. Deep down you’re Dd will have a passion that has been squashed by ballet. You just need to find it 😃

I would get her fingers into a lot of pies so she has choices. She can still try for contracts whilst she is looking at alternatives. And quite a lot of university courses let you defer for a year. My heart goes out to the graduates from last year and this 😢 We found Dds school to be very unhelpful with exploring alternative careers. Apart from one ballet teacher 😌 They just kept telling her she would get a contract. All she wanted was someone to listen and help her explore her options and not make her feel like changing paths was a failure 😞

As other members post audition results on other threads and begin their vocational ballet journey, tonight we are celebrating that, after an MDS and Dada, Dd has been granted funding for her University BSc course 🎉 She has chosen her accommodation and clubs already. There’s a lot of fun times and team sports to catch up on !! Must stop calling her Dd 🤣 There is plenty of life after ballet 💪🤣

So those awarded MDSs from RBS, Elmhurst and Tring shouldn’t share their happy news on here either ? Or is it just Hammond ? Knowing that the posters children may have also applied for the other schools the members may request that these are removed also. It’s sad because I quite like to hear parents and dc so happy at the beginning of their journey, remembering how it was for us in the early years ☺️

“the barre” home ballet barre. 2 metres long, adjustable height. Cream coloured. Very sturdy and in excellent condition. Only used during holidays, barely though 🤣, and during lockdown. £130. Too heavy to post so for collection only. Cornwall/Devon border. https://ibb.co/T1hpT4d https://ibb.co/zPDq2JM https://ibb.co/PCdyTYS

This was our experience too. The Dc know exactly who is on an MDS/Dada and who has extra funding/support etc. On anonymity, the ballet world is small and Instagram etc makes it smaller as Dc put themselves out there. Personally I feel that the beauty of posting on here is that, for that reason, people can be identified and that gives some form of protection from nasty and unpleasant comments that are so rife in the internet/ballet world. My concern with silencing of parents from sharing their happy news is that this is the start of the vocational ballet journey of isolation. Personally this is how we felt. Afraid to talk to the school about issues, afraid to talk to other parents about concerns or problems 😢 On reflection we felt isolated and sad 😞 The ballet bubble has left a huge knot in our chests that won’t go away. This sadly, in my experience, is many parents and dcs experience. So congratulations to the yess 🎉 Shout it from the rooftops if you want too !! And a sorry for the nos 🤗 but you may have just had a lucky escape 😅

If one school stops parents sharing their exciting news and helping/supporting other parents through the process then they will all follow suit. The audition season has just got a bit boring if there is no results 🤨