Lifeafterballet

Having had two Dc graduate from a U.K. vocational school I, like yourself, can only share our experiences and those of my DC’s friends. The dance employment/graduation destination has been on a decline for the past few years, as in the numbers securing paid, that you can live on, contracts. Churning out all these young dancers into a world where they realistically haven’t got a cat in hells chance of employment is wrong 😔 and these schools and their associated companies need to find solutions and start supporting them. When we started this journey in 2012 we were incredibly naive as to the future and in hindsight should not have let our children invest so much of themselves physically, psychologically and emotionally into such a career. Or us, as a family, financially. I wish I had met me 9 years ago 😂. Just a Mum, who still really doesn’t have a clue about ballet but has been on a hell of a journey.

I had a brief look at post graduate placement/apprenticeships incase it was something that my dc would have considered. They aren’t cheap. Correct me if I’m wrong..... Northern Ballet was £3000 for the year, that’s what it was when Ds was offered it. ENBS was £8,000 please correct me if I’m wrong 😑 I read that somewhere. Ballet Cymru was £3000. Dutch National was €4000. None of these included accommodation etc. I am sure that scholarships are available at some but even to continue training post vocational school is a financial nightmare 😣

I totally agree Alison that it is extremely unfair to middle/lower income families and those who have already funded 8 years of ballet training, which even with an MDS/Dada is crippling. But this is the sad reality of where we are at. My Dc vocational school has a graduate placement program. Many similar schemes are popping up all over. Some you pay for, some you don’t. This one is free. As in the ex graduates are classed as members of staff and have roles to fulfil around the school in exchange for a ballet class and a base from which they can apply for jobs. The parents may have stopped paying for school fees but they are still paying for rent, bills, food etc and then auditions.... I wish it was more equal but when you have left the school funding support system it’s sadly not 🙁

Sadly, I think that vocational students/parents are led to believe that they will, after 8 years of training, get a paid ballet job. In my experience this is rarely the case. Dd and I knew that the best we could hope for would be a trainee/junior company position of some kind that we would have to financially support her in. And that’s exactly what she got. There are just too many extremely talented international dancers out there and in the British Ballet School bubble you can be swept along and convinced that all will be great and you will get a contract 😔 Very few do and the rest disappear quietly. The published graduate destinations hide the contract details, and as previously mentioned, that’s even if you manage to make it onto the list. As parents we naively believed that they secured paid contracts. Most we found out later didn’t. If Dd still wanted to dance, we would have paid a company to take her on as a trainee. That’s not because we can afford it but because that is the sad reality of a ballet career. I don’t think the situation hits home until you get to grad year and the rejections role in 😣 Its heartbreaking. My son and two of his graduate class mates did a question and answer session with the next years grads and parents, Dds year, and I will never forget the look on their faces when they shared their experiences of rejection, open/cattle market auditions and being cut at barre 😔 it was very honest and raw. British Ballet Schools and companies need to do better for its young people and maybe now is the time to start.

Yes Anna C, this is what I was referring too. I feel that all the British Ballet Companies should be following their lead and offering a similar opportunity to British trained graduates not just expecting them to seek employment abroad.

The US/EU have Studio Companies / Junior Companies attached to their main company. This was my Ds’s first contract. There were 12 dancers, male and female, with their own studio, ballet master/mistress, classes and rehearsals. They all worked with the main company and were casted but also did their own performances in the theatre choreographed by one of the principal dancers. It was a two year contract and he was paid enough to live on. Why don’t BRB or ENB have this ?

Similar. Northern is more of a school sort of set up, uniform and classroom teaching, not like being part of the main company. I think the grad program with Cymru is like that too. The apprentices in other no U.K. companies are a full member of the company, doing class and rehearsals, getting casted for performances etc It’s this set up that would be more appealing I feel to pre professionals and beneficial to companies who maybe short of cash to employ dancers.

Dd and I were just talking about the future of our British ballet school graduates and reflecting on what other companies around the world offer. The US and other countries offer apprenticeships / trainee positions that the dancers pays for so they can be part of the company. This gives them valuable company and performance experience for their CVS etc and also provides an income for struggling ballet companies. Ds’s company in Europe has apprentices that get paid per performance only and are then auditioned for a corps contract at the end of the season. It’s a development program of sorts. Ballet companies need to think quickly in these difficult times how to help this generation of graduates and support their companies futures. Parents are going to have to pay for further training etc anyway so why not pay into / invest in a company. It’s just a suggestion, anyone have any ideas 💡

I feel as parents on this ballet journey we find it easier to accept and support a change of heart and path in our children more than the schools do. Less disappointed I guess.

That is so so sad 😞

I think it’s about time that the British ballet companies started increasing company contracts / apprenticeships and opportunities to support British training and it’s graduates. BRB last year auditioned Elmhurst graduate students at the school for its annual apprenticeship, that is not paid for by the company, and then chose sadly not to honour it because of Covid 😢 But still went on to use two post graduate students in its live streamed company Nutcracker performance. Lovely experience for them, again, but no opportunities came from it 😢 These graduates don’t need a visa to work here in the U.K. so why aren’t there more opportunities ?

I just want to share Dds and my first European audition experience 😂 I have never been to such a dead place, this was pre Covid, but it was like it had been in lockdown for years 😂 So flat and grey. The company never show their studios on their Instagram account and we soon discovered why 😂 Dds local dance school in a church hall has better flooring. 100 plus auditionees crammed into a small theatre space. Dd did one double pirouette but feared for her ankles to do any more on an ice rink quality flooring 🥶 She actually came out relieved that she didn’t make it through to the solo round 😅 She said that if this was the last place on earth she couldn’t live there 😂 So we then went to try and do a bit of retail therapy 🤑 To discover the height of fashion was C&A 😂 I even took a picture for my mum 😂 We discovered what our bottom line was that trip. It was a pretty bleak start but it picked up a bit after that 😊

I totally agree. Those who choose a different path are not openly congratulated and are made to feel even more of a failure and disappointment than they already feel 😢

I think we were very naive as to what happens in grad year until we experienced it. Sadly there was very little guidance. Both Ds and Dd had to work it out on their own. They had a mentor allocated to them and he was was helpful. We had a deal with our Dc, you get the auditions and we will get you there. I’m a wizz at international travel now 😂 Be prepared that the whole job hunting is going to cost you a fortune and then some. As soon as Ds got his US offer he pulled out of his European auditions to save us money. He actually cancelled the audition with the company he is with now, that was a mistake in hindsight. His US audition cost us £800. He did 4 in Europe prior to this.Then to get him there, including US Embassy appointment, flight, rent deposit and month up front, health insurance, furniture and kitchen equipment ( still in storage 🙁) and the odd Publix food delivery and Ubers it was the best part of £3000. I am not sharing this to scare anyone, it’s the reality. He shared an apartment with two other dancers too but it still wasn’t cheap. Dd would have lived in North Miami Beach 🏝. She had a junior contract which would have covered her bills, living costs etc but not her rent. She made a friend in the company to share with but the cheapest apartment, close to the company, as there is no way you would want her out and about in Miami on her own, was going to cost us $1000 a month. It was a lovely company, she took class with them for her audition and had a really positive feeling about it. But the cost makes pre professional training programs look more attractive 😂 In the past two graduate years from their school I can count on one hand how many girls are making a living out of ballet. The boys are fairing better but that is still a struggle. I just wish that there was more honesty and transparency in upper school especially as to the reality of gaining employment. And there needs to be a lot more support for these young adults with a plan b when they don’t get the dream job, and sadly a majority of them won’t 😢 We aren’t bitter at all, it’s been a hell of a ride 😅

The nationality of the 23 dancers were written on the petition, there were 8 dancers in Dds petition, so you could see they came from all over the world. I don’t believe that any had trained at US dance schools. Ds and Dd were both U.K. graduates who had flown over for the audition in the February. The contract/visa was for a year and the dancers were interviewed by the AD the following February and told if they were staying another season and the visa petition application started again. It was a P1 visa. From mid August to mid May. The dancers then had to leave the US. It’s not a settled life, very short season then having to come home with no income for 3 months. If you want to stay in the US then it is easy to fly around and audition at other companies but getting back to Europe for work is a long way and very expensive. But for a majority even if they manage to secure a contract it is a very short lived career 🙁

In our experience an average is over 100 applications, 10 auditions and 1/2 offers, and we aren’t talking paid contracts. This is pre Covid 😢 My heart goes out to those seeking dance employment. I personally would be looking to another graduate years training and hoping things improve next year x

Ds/Dd went on Wikipedia and searched for companies by country. They are listed and some have websites and email addresses listed 😊

My Ds’s US company applied and paid for his visa petition and my Dd’s company arranged the petition but we had to pay the $1000 for it. This took about 4 months to come through. Then is the face to face appointment at the US embassy in London. That, due to Covid, closed in March 2020 and is scheduled to reopen in August 2021. With out the face to face you can’t get the visa so enter the US. So neither of my Dc went 😓 Ds’s visa the year before was fairly straightforward. I think it depends on the company. There were 23 international dancers in that petition and all were given entry.

Just had a thought ! Some EU countries are starting to announce their entry requirements this summer, as in Cyprus want a person to have had both Covid vaccines for entry and to avoid a quarantine period following arrival. I get a strong feeling that France and others will follow suit. So the child might be able to travel unvaccinated but not the parent escorting them. And then there are the rules regarding returning to the U.K. if the travel corridors don’t restart. I don’t think that I would be parting with a thousand pound etc unless it was a sure thing 🤔

Totally agree !! They aren’t allowed til April 12th, RAD wise, so how can RBS hold a residential, makes no sense.

Didn't know where to share this very brave young lady sharing her journey x

Dd was offered a place at Paris Opera Ballet Summer School, from YAGP, but it would have meant missing the last two weeks of the summer term, including the summer shows, so permission was refused. We declined the place and she didn’t go. Two years later she was offered a scholarship to attend a 5 week US Summer Intensive which she did attend, missing the end of term show etc. Permission was always given for intensives that didn’t involve missing school time but not for those that did.

Thank you for sharing this x I just had a quick read of some of the posts 😔 The experiences are all too familiar. But the saddest thing is the anonymity 😢 Why aren’t we brave or feel supported enough to speak out ? If it wasn’t for Athlete A / Maggie Nichols, those other brave USA Gymnasts would not have come forward and shared their horrible experiences and put away their abusers.This in turn has lead to today’s news about British Gymnastics 😢 It appears that there is a lack of child protection / safeguarding when it comes to elite training. The strive for success at what cost, and sadly as parents we can get swept along with it and accept certain practices and behaviours as normal as we don’t know any different at the time. Our ballet fog is clearing ☺️

I listened to this podcast 😢 Substitute the word ‘football’ for ‘ballet’ it really touches a nerve 😔 https://news.sky.com/story/football-academies-are-innocent-dreams-being-exploited-12227028?fbclid=IwAR3UqQBX5Qiy3RZuk4-QZN8BomEuuy6XwpWhlHQ8HAl6IUvxppNPPzeBPZg

We had a plan for every stage of Ds/Dds training. It is essential to discuss the possibilities and choices available to them during their ballet journey. Remember, ballet is not the be all and end all and it is not all they are or ever will be.