Lifeafterballet

£500 entry fee 🫨

Then travel and accommodation in London 😢

So if you live in Cornwall then it’s a 2 hour plus drive to Bath for a ballet class 😅 I’ve done worse 🤣

1 hour ago, BalletRat said:

Looking for all and any advice/info/experience of those who’ve auditioned for upper schools at 17. Particularly elmhurst, central, rcs, enbs 

My Ds auditioned at 17 and started in 6:1. He did 3 As levels prior to joining at his non vocational school and then 2 A levels and the Level 6 Diploma in Professional Dance over the three years. 
There was a girl who was also 17 and a boy who was 18. 

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50 minutes ago, Pas de Quatre said:

So it appears the wrong children are being chosen and then they are not taught or inspired sufficiently!

I don’t think they are the wrong children, they are just too young for the schools to assess whether they have the natural facility for a career in classical ballet. It’s a rare thing and if you haven’t got it and try to force it you will hurt the child physically and mentally. We have personal experience of this. 
There are so many changes from 11 to 16, physically, mentally and emotionally that it doesn’t surprise me just how few continue to upper school. 
I am not going to be very popular here…. but maybe assessing out wasn’t a bad thing. It’s upsetting but if it’s in the best interest of the child then it’s necessary. 

Our daughter hurt herself physically and mentally to stay in her school and continue her ballet training. She knew exactly what she was doing, but not the long term implications of it.

Round peg, square hole. 
A [ short ] career in ballet is not worth that. 
 

9 minutes ago, MissEmily said:

Cheeky in the extreme that her three years at Elmhurst aren’t mentioned! 

Never is 🤣

8 hours ago, DD Driver said:

Our experience is that ballet training requires significantly more hours of strength training than can be found in most ballet school timetables.

I wish we had reduced ballet hours and increased time in the gym (weight bearing exercises) before an injury finally forced this change.

 

Sports training has changed dramatically over the last 2 decades but ballet is slow to embrace these learnings for young dancers.

Strength is critical for peak performance & injury prevention.

100% agree.

Strength and conditioning are essential to reduce the risk of injury and the ballet world has been slow to take this on board. The myth that weight training causes bulky muscles, something that dancers fear, must be dispelled. 
If my dancing children had the advice and knowledge that they have today then their fractures and injuries from weak muscles and over training would not have occurred 😢

3 hours ago, balletdreams410 said:

Sorry, would have helped if I was more specific 🤦‍♀️

DD9 - currently does RAD Grade 3, RBS ATAP, ISTD Grade 3 Modern and Unaffiliated Contemporary. Associate classes are fortnightly term time only.

Vocational at 11 would be amazing, but in my heart I just don’t think she’ll make the cut compared to others

My daughter did half an hour a week of ballet til she was 10. No other form of dance but lots of sport. Netball, cross country, rugby etc.
She did RBS JA and Elmhurst JA in year 6 and then went to vocational ballet school for year 7. 

She had the right facility and a love of ballet, that’s all. 50 hours of training a week wouldn’t have made her successful if she hadn’t got those things. 
I regret letting her go at 11. In my experience it’s too young and lower school training doesn’t guarantee passage to upper school or a career in ballet. We 100% should have waited and explored options at 16 if she still wanted to. There are lots of fantastic opportunities for 11 to 16 year olds that they miss out on if in vocational training. And a childhood is important too.

Just in our experience 😌

Just watching the news about the awful rioting in Nanterre. 
Dd and I visited the Paris Opera Ballet School twice with YAGP. It’s right in the middle of Nanterre in the business district. I recall it being a very quiet area. Especially at the weekends. 
Stay safe those of you travelling there at this time x

13 minutes ago, DingDongDancer said:

This is interesting - do you know of any examples i can look at? We aren't quite at this stage yet but my daughter loves dance and is also quite academic - this could be the perfect compromise for her xx

My daughter is at UWE, Bristol and they have a Dance society. It’s split into Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz and Hip Hop. They compete with other universities. 
You can follow them on Instagram. 
My daughter didn’t want to dance again after 8 years of vocational ballet training so she joined the Cheerleading Squad and has had a fantastic time. 
She has just won the award for the most dropped Flyer 🤣 It has been very helpful with overcoming the fear of injury that ballet creates.

We could have written this ourselves 😢

Love the ballet, hate the toxic culture.

My first name was after the bottle of red wine I was drinking the evening I signed up. Not very imaginative 🤣

I changed it recently as now my daughter has stopped ballet I don’t feel the need to drink as much 🍷 🤣

Just got back from the gym too 😅

12 minutes ago, glowlight said:

I think what I am about to write may be controversial,  but maybe we as parents of dancers need to instil in them a sense of self worth so that once they have completed their professional training they do not dance for nothing, they do not dance for 'exposure'. They realise that an unpaid 'job' is not a job it is exploitation.  This is tough, because for some it will mean they don't get the chance to perform, or they may have to re-align their expectations and take different types of work.  But every time a professional artist works for nothing, they are exacerbating the problem.  

 

That's not to say that they shouldn't perform on an amateur basis, or to support a charity or worthy cause.  But let's be honest about what it is.

I 100% agree with you about installing self worth in our children but sadly in our experience the vocational schools install the opposite.

I can’t count how many times I have looked at celebrated graduate destinations knowing that nearly all are unpaid 😢 hiding behind titles like Studio or Junior Company. 
I think it’s knowing when to call time on the paying out. 
My daughter stopping was the best decision she ever made. Even though she had a paid contract, it was never go to pay enough to be independent. 
And the physical and mental costs were worse than the financial. 

32 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

I appreciate the good news stories & congratulations to your DS's Tutu & Lifeafter!

 

I do see there are possibly at present more audition opportunities for male dancers as clearly they are in shorter supply than female...I do wonder if therefore they attract a premium & thus might be higher salaried? Less likely to be expected to self-fund also in pre-pro training possibly? All just questions not at all intended to be confrontational... Again - one hopes that a countries employment & discrimination laws do ensure things are equal....but....

Men and women are paid exactly the same in my sons company.

Not sure of what happens elsewhere.

In our experience there are more employment opportunities for male dancers. DS got offered all 3 EU contracts he auditioned for. And the vacancies were not advertised. He just liked the look of them and sent his CV and footage. 
Right place, right time plays a huge part I feel x

2 hours ago, tutugirl said:

Well I’d better post something positive!

My DS has worked in Czech for 6 years . He earns a comfortable salary and the cost of living is low .

His salary affords him a lovely flat , driving lessons , and enough left over from living costs to save some money every month .

It is a lovely company where everyone is treated fairly . Spoken language for class etc is English .Extra money may be earned by taking part in operas or musicals ( if so wished )

It appears he is very fortunate . It is very cheap to fly out to see him dance, which I do frequently .

I hope some people may feel encouraged by this . 

I can second this 😌

My DS dances with a European National Ballet company. He is paid enough to live on and earns extra with every performance, different amounts for different roles. The cost of living is one of the highest in Europe but he is financially independent. 
They work them hard but offer lots of opportunities. 
He is lucky 🍀 

A lot of dancers from his graduate class and later years were not in such a fortunate position.

He is definitely the exception and not the rule ☹️

Boosting 🤣

Open to offers 

1 hour ago, TwirlyWhirly said:, I'd recommend working on some life skills with them! E.g. changing sheets/ duvet; sorting laundry so your lovely, brightly coloured uniform tracksuit etc. doesn't go in with whites; sewing own elastics/ pointe shoes; money/ time management; how to take brief notes from classes (written or electronic).

It was some years ago but at Elmhurst there was no separation of white and coloured laundry, it all went in together 🤣 So avoid the white or paler colours of underwear etc. It just all comes back grey 😒

Earplugs. Or AirPods to listen to music etc for those nights when you can’t sleep. My Dd just couldn’t turn off and sleep when she started in year 7. Sensory overload 🤯

A burner phone.
My Dd never had one but a lot of children did. There are positives and negatives to restricting contact time with family and friends. 

A hanging shoe tidy. They have a lot of shoes 🤣

There is also formation and links to help with applying for work in all different countries on the Gov.uk website.

6 hours ago, Hanmah67 said:

Thank you. That’s really helpful. Which school did he end up at in the end? 

I feel that a really inspirational male teacher is key. His first year of training was awful. He just felt behind, rubbish and broke very quickly as the teacher didn’t have the patience to invest in a previously non vocational student. He very nearly quit and came home. Then he had Errol Pickford, a true legend who inspired and believed in all of his students. He saw potential and nurtured it. My son thinks of him often. Such a great loss to the ballet world. I adored watching him teach and watching the children’s faces 😊 They were the happiest times.