hfbrew

Watch out for the cake shops! And there are pandas at Vienna zoo..

But elderly people who don't qualify for for council funded care have to pay double on Bank Holidays, quite a struggle if you are only just over the threshold.

Well I used to live on Kingsland Road but they haven't got around to putting a Blue Plaque up yet to make it more interesting!  

I can't believe it!!!! Boys results are out! It's a yes for my DS!!!!!!!

Yay! You really are Happymum now!

It has been about 15 years since I've done a class with a live pianist. It's too expensive to hire somebody. When the time comes that I have to give up class, I intend to brush up on my piano (which i gave up when I was at uni and sadly haven't had the chance to return to) and play for class for free.

 

Battletaxi, on the CD that I mentioned above, one of the tracks was Blackadder and we all sang along to it.

Come and work for me! I hire pianists for my Ballet classes and I still profit although admittedly not as much as those who use recorded music. But the joy of dancing to live music can't be beaten!

Anna C I have only approached her dance teacher regarding payment for exams, asking how expensive they are and when she will be doing them, just so that i can put some money aside for them.  She immediately thought I was questioning her, I did explain that I wasn't.  I have 3 other children and need to budget money for dance fees, exams, etc as the other children also have activities.  She just said that it will be later in the year, i explained that i thought it was sooner as there were exams being taken by other children that when she said my dd would stay with her cohort.  I didn't feel I was being pushy just asking a question but obviously she thought I was.  I had spoken to her before about the children in her class being mean to my dd, calling her a show off etc ( all the girls in the class go to the same school and are the same year group) she was quite annoyed with me and said she'd spoken to the girls and she believed them when they said they hadn't been mean to my DD  (also said this to my DD that she believed the other girls!!)  She said that it was obvious that my dd wanted to dance with the older girls but that the older girls didn't want her to dance with them.  She was under the impression that she had made it up so she could go up to higher grade with the older girls.  I can understand the teachers do get annoyed if parents are constantly complaining. It would drive me mad.!!!

 

 

Hmm. I'd move if I were you.

No, it's not easier if you are a boy. You have still got to be good enough. In terms of numbers going for the few places available the odds are better but it's certainly not easier. If anything, knowing that the odds are slightly better makes it worse if one doesn't get a place.

 

Good luck Happymum ds. Please tell him that I know plenty of male dancers who for one reason or another didn't go into full time training at a young age but who ultimately became more successful than those who did.

Can we keep this strictly to the subject of the thread, please, or the thread will be closed.

Please folks, it would be nice if the moderators were heeded to this time! We have had far too many threads locked and valuable members leave recently due to topics off course.

Good luck to dancers of all Nationalities seeking work in this precarious profession and the companies who wish to be able to employ them.

You are right.And only two years later DS was dancing Siegfried professionally!

A few years ago my ds was a finalist in this competition.

 

The entry criteria then was that applicants had to have Advanced 1 Cecchetti to begin with. They were then selected from DVD application of one Ballet and one contemporary solo.

 

It just so happened that ds and one or two of the others from Tring who went with him had also won other Cecchetti awards but this wasn't part of the selection for the International competition then.

 

Obviously this was some time ago and things will have changed. But I am guessing that some successful candidates followed the same route that ds did as described above.

My DS level 6 diploma was instrumental in getting his current job even though said job has nothing to do with dance.

Thanks all. I've just had a lovely time buying lots of baby stuff! Lots of lovely little clothes with bunnies on!

 

And I've resisted the urge to send tiny ballet shoes. I've have just come across my son's first pair though from 23 years or so ago!

My niece by marriage, after many difficult years of trying finally had her first child yesterday, a daughter, at the grand age of 43!

After a difficult few months of illnesses and bereavements DH and I are over the moon.

 

Thing is is DS a second cousin to this child?

I feel for all you year 6 parents. It's a difficult time, even if you get your choice there is still the transition to year 7. But things do have a habit of working out for the best.I wish you all the very best.

 

13 years ago our letter from the local education authority didn't offer a single school! Ds was left with RBS or Tring as choices!

What a clever adorable dog!

There has indeed been lots of discussion on this. Those cleverer than I can point you to relevant threads which are now pages long so might be prudent to make yourself comfy with a drink and biscuits..

 

My ds was on waiting list for year 5, successfully reauditioned for year 6 and then got a place at White Lodge.

 

That's some years ago, he has since had a career and retired but I know it still happens.

 

You have to be in it to win it.

 

There again, be careful what you wish for!

I wouldn't worry about how the darning looks as just a few stitches improve the grippiness whereas stick on patches in my experience are not as good.

Can I just post as a mum of a current year 7 at WL to please ask for a little compassion when speculating about available places and to be sensitive to the families of current years who are just about to take appraisalsand who might be reading the forum .Yr 7 and 8 children can definitely be assessed out although unlikely and nobody takes it for granted that their child will make it through to year 9 .

Well said cupcake. Appraisal time at WL was easily the most stressful part of the whole process and I hate the whole "does anyone know how many places are available" debate knowing that some people may be about to have to change schools.

 

The fact is that if a child auditioning is super talented they will be found a space. I once had a student like this, I persuaded a director to look at her despite being told that there were no spaces.My student was offered a space on the spot. (Frustratingly the parents refused!)

 

It is also the case that available spaces will not be filled if an audition panel does not feel any candidate merits the place for whatever reason.

 

So really, asking how many spaces are available is irrelevant and also insensitive to people like Cupcake whose DCs are having to undergo the appraisal process. The fact is, there are always very few places for lots of applicants. But however high the odds, it's always worth a try.

Be yourself and focus on your Ballet. You have every right to be there.

 

Funny enough I am more likely to call my students boys by mistake. I address some classes as ladies and gentlemen. I've always been cross when teachers overlook male students, probably down to having a ds myself.

And there are many more in other companies. I regard this as success too.

thanks everyone, i've found this thread really interesting to read up on!! 

 

in terms of ballet being zumba-ised, have any of you heard of DDMIX? the dance exercise programme created by Darcey Bussell? i think that's probably as close as you can get to ballet zumba, they're very similar. 

 

my eventual plan is to become a professional dancer after completing my dance degree, then after that go into teaching properly when i have actual experience etc as some of you were talking about earlier. right now, i'm just looking to put on classes in the evenings or weekends to make myself some extra money. i have an exercise to music qualifcation so that's first port of call, however i thought with 15 years of dance training and studying it would be a possibility to put on a dance class as well. obviously i wouldn't be looking to train children for exams or competitions or anything like that, it would be purely recreational. but i do think i have enough basis of technique and good structured dance classes to set one up myself?

 

Seems to me that you are a serious student who has already taken steps to have some sort of qualification. It's not as if you are a recreational student who has just decided to run her own Ballet classes without an appreciation of how many years training it actually takes to have a full in depth knowledge and competency in Ballet. I'm still learning after over 30 years teaching#

 

So yes, go for it but do ensure that you have public liability insurance and you would need to be registered self employed if you are doing this for yourself or are being paid by someone else on a self employed basis. I also strongly urge that you do a first aid course and be aware of the need for risk assessments and safeguarding policies.

 

Long term, a teaching qualification with RAD or other board is a good idea. Knowing the syllabus is only a tiny part of it, indeed trainee students are strongly encouraged to include as much free work in their classes as possible to show that they understand the foundations of classical technique and what is appropriate for the students in front of them. Only teaching syllabus is a big no, no, after all a syllabus is just the selection of work that is required to be shown in an examination. A good teacher should be ensuring a much broader knowledge than this. (Surely this is the same for any subject?)

 

Good luck

I am very glad you enjoyed the performance, nottsballetlover, as I hope to attend the same show in Wakefield tomorrow evening.

I find the leaning and twisted tower of the parish church to be the most fascinating feature of Chesterfield. Its local authority has recently been in the news in this part of the world because it is the subject of litigation between Derbyshire County Council and the South Yorkshire metropolitan boroughs over whether it should be allowed to join a new combined authority for the Sheffield city region to which the government proposes to delegate substantial powers.  

I have seen several performances by Ballet Theatre UK - most recently Pinnochio in Rotherham in the spring which I reviewed in my blog - and admired their young dancers. However, I am aware that they have lost at three of those dancers and it is not clear whether they have replaced them because the "Dancers" page of their website is blank.

 

My only complaint about this company is that they never print cast lists,  In the past, Hfbrew has given me the names of the cast but I surmise that she will no longer be able to supply me with that information.   I met Christopher Moore at Move It last yer and begged him to spare a thought for the poor reviewer.   He assured me that he would distribute cast lists but I had to pin Mr Moore's father into a corner when the company visited Rotherham in order to learn the names of the dancers.

 

My review of the Wakefield performance of Romeo & Juliet will appear in Terpsichore on Sunday.

 

You are right,I sadly can't help with casts anymore now my son has moved on (of his own accord!) At least I can still see his photo on the website but it's not exactly helpful to anyone else!

 

So glad that Nottsballetlover enjoyed the performance of this fine company though. Shame you never saw my ds, he was rather good, although I would say that!

My ds used to love being able to tell his friends what all the ducks and other waterbirds actually were on Pen Ponds in Richmond Park.

 

He also used to say some of his academic lessons were disturbed by the parakeets outside the windows.

 

I remember standing and watching skylarks in Richmond Park and I also loved seeing the Green woodpeckers there too.

 

When I first joined Rspb 30 years ago I dreamed of seeing Red Kites. Now I see them from my garden frequently!

We spent many happy hours at London Wetland Centre whilst ds was at White Lodge!

 

I am personally pleased to see so many sparrows in our garden because they have declined rapidly and a couple of years ago there weren't any at all on our part of the estate.

Thank you so much for your reflections. I will let her audition as I do think she has the strength of character to stomach a disappointing outcome. She has by now taken part in a number of festivals and has had to cope with the reality that she can't always win a medal. It is harder still because two other of her friends from the same ballet school will also be auditioning at the same time and one of them may get in so that will be a constant reminder but there is nothing I can do about that...I have also looked up the information about the Classical Academy JAs programme at Tring Park and was going to also sign her up for that but her teacher has advised me against it. Apparently it isn't as good? Any views? Thank you!

You will find that the Tring CBA is also very competitive to get into. Obviously it "isn't as good" in terms of the fact that the Royal Ballet School has the pick of the bunch so to speak. But as the Royal is so difficult to get into its daft not to try others. I've been very happy with the training some of my students have received from CBA. Is it possible that your dd teacher is confused with Tring associates?

 

And if you are talented enough to get into Tring CBA, it is not as time consuming as other schemes because it takes place every other week.