hfbrew

Yes, Darcey initially had a very hard time at White Lodge and I am sure I remember an interview in which she spoke of a teacher who said she wouldn't make it. I know plenty of people who didn't get into vocational school at 16, including myself but were successful two years later. And I had a successful career performing professionally as well as teaching. Ok so I ended up in a contemporary group but I'm quite happy with that and I did get to do any classical roles that came up! I agree with what others have said that its about the journey and if you are not enjoying it (and I mean really not enjoying it ANY of the time, afterall sometimes its downright hateful!) then do something different! Otherwise follow your dream and have the satisfaction of having had the chance to follow it. Even if you don't end up being a professional ballet dancer that doesn't have to stop you enjoying this wonderful art form and of course these days there are other avenues to consider such as physiotherapy for dancers, promoting dance, research etc. One of my students became editor of a well known dance magazine.

Don't forget the kleenex!!!

Tring offer just about every subject including maths and the sciences. It was a big factor in my ds decision to finish his training there as he wasn't sure what direction to go in. Quickly decided he wasn't that academic after all and is now a professional ballet dancer!

If that was your dds instinct then its absolutely the right path , afterall Trings strength lies in its vast choice of A levels but in doing these then it means that mornings are tied up doing academics - fine for my DS at the time but not if you really don't want to do A levels so it sounds like a very sensible decision by your dd!!

Strongly recommend the RAD boys only class on Saturdays, also th kick start programme for boys at Tring. Louise Sheaves School of Dance have boys only classes in Harpenden. Please feel free to pm me!!

Thankyou so much for taking the trouble to look into this Aurora as Id missed that bit of info completely! I don't agree with the ruling but my guess is that a lot of exam candidates were turning up with these shoes anyway and the rule was probably difficult to enforce - no organiser wants to turn away a student from an exam if they haven't the correct shoes, especially if the student was told by their teacher that they were ok.

They were awful things weren't they? Think my DS "lost" tem!

Well done Julie, you beat me to it!! As an RAD teacher I'm pretty hot on keeping up to date with latest information and certainly didn't remember any changes of rules concerning shoes!! However will add that men can wear split soles, DS did for Adv 2.

At WL y DS had to wear hard soled shoes for a tie to strengthen feet. Split soles were definately no no but he wears them now he is dancing professionally.

Trains do run on Sunday but busses don't, well not the one DS has to use anyway! Its a goodly walk from the train station so would suggest booking a taxi in advance, I am sure Tring would provide you with telephone numbers.

Prepare for a long ride!!! No denying its been tough at times but as a family its also given many good times. My ds was well looked after and was allowed to be himself. And Id like to reassure you that he was never actually told" you are not good enough" and although comparisons with other pupils are inevitable we did try hard to celebrate his own personal journey and tried to avoid as much as possible comparing marks of appraisals etc. And for us the alternative schooling option really doesn't bear thinking about... I do think it must be much harder for those who have excellent local schooling!

I remember nutrition talks way back in my days at Hammond. In my experience vocational ballet schools do take it very seriously and my DS has been weighed regularly as well as girls. One of my friends DD was barred from dancing my the medical staff at Tring until she was a safe weight.

Well I always shaved!!! Don't think its an issue at the moment with my son as I think his costumes pretty much cover him! However I did joke that perhaps he didn't need his wolf mask if he kept forgetting to shave !

Good luck. Might I suggest another option is to audition for year 10? Wonder if that would be a good compromise if she keeps up her standard. It would allow her to mature at home and be really sure she wants to dance without shutting the door completely. And you will save three yeard of expense....

Follow your heart everytime. For what its worth my DS put Elmhurst well above ENB when making his choice!

The dancers that returned to Tring last year were actually apprentices- Tring very generously allowed them to go and get this wonderful experience whilst still training. They then, like everyone else had to formally audition for full contracts and those successful have been extremely busy since September and have probably spent at best two weeks in total back at school -and then largely to fulfil commitments made prior to accepting the contract. My DS successfully auditioned in February and is already talking about the future productions lined up- he really has been very fortunate. Whats wonderful is that Tring are very happy for "their" dancers to continue class with them when not touring thus helping keep up fitness. Yes the contracts are short term but this is actually allowing flexibility to look for other work or persue other interests such as teaching which suits my DS down to the ground. But excellent points all the same pas de quatre - in todays world young students still training need to understand that most jobs will not be for longer than 1 year and terms and conditions will vary from company to company. As Julie has already said , it makes the achievement of so many graduates so far from all the British institutes that much more impressive.

We really do need to stick to the thread but I'd like to point out that some of BTUKs dancer have been in the company from the start and many are on their second or third season.

I agree with all that Primrose has said here as in the past the system has seemed unfairly inflexible which is why so many students have quite rightly voiced their concerns- my DS being one of them. Hence extra ballet lessons (and that was a hard fought battle) and then an invitation to give feedback (believe me I did)- also the new initiative, long overdue to ask students their preferences. My Ds was quite perplexed that some didn't bother to reply and others ended up preferring the current situation. But this thread was about graduate destinations and many students are still getting jobs.... ok so not with "big" companies and maybe not always classical but in this day and age thats to be expected.

If your daughter wants only classical training then Tring will not be right for her. However purely classical jobs are very hard to come by so its not a bad idea to broaden ones horizons. But she may hate jazz and contemporary- my DS certainly did at first. I will reiterate that two FEMALE dancers have already secured classical contracts and they were certainly given opportunities over and above my DS at times last year- not that I minded as at the time he wanted to focus on A levels. But I would readily admit that the top dancers in the school do get dis proportionally more attention at times so you do have to be aware of this. The quality of teaching is very good but students do have to speak up for themselves and communicate openly or they can get lost in the system.

Having talked to my DS about recent posts on Tring he has named a few students who successfully moved to sets more suited to their preferences (ie jazz,ballet or contemporary.) He s also told me that recently students were given the opportunity to specify their preferred genres but the vast majority decided to stick to their more all round training. That said the ballet students successfully petitioned for an extra ballet class per day and got it...some days consisted of 2 ballet classes + classical pas de deux and either pointe work or virtuosity. I have found the standard of ballet teaching very high with plenty of opportunities to perform and do competitions.(In last years international Cecchetti competition Tring Park had more finalists than any other vocational school.) Of these, two have professional ballet contracts, so do two of the girls who didn't make the final. I will say though that before entering any school you must ask as many question as possible, if they are not answered to your satisfaction, don't go. If you are not interested in being a "triple threat" (ie competent at baller,jazz and contemporary) and are lucky enough to have a choice of schools then choose one of the ones that have a guaranteed classical bias such as Elmhurst. As Julie posted earlier their graduates have done very well! My DS has sometimes hankered after Elmhurst but says he doesn't regret his choice as he felt that he needed broaden his dance abilities for todays competitive job market. He also wanted to do A levels and learn to sing. Now he has a classical contract but feels confident enough to explore other avenues of performing work should the opportunity arise!

Phew! Thats a lot of travelling! Maybe thats what put her dad off? It certainly sounds to me that you would all certainly have far more useful family time if your DD was settled in one place. And theres school work to consider, secondary schools in my experience are not generally supportive when it comes to juggling academic work and ballet lessons. This is where the boarding schools come into their own. We certainly found that DS was actually covering a lot of work within lessons (small class sizes mean no excuse for lazing at the back) so he usually found it very easy to complete prep in the supervised hour allowed. His day was done and dusted by 7.30ish, a big contrast to my students still doing after school classes and the going home to hours of homework!

This year (2011-12) is the 1st year that 3rd year has been available so there won't be previous statistics altough I believe that there were a small handful around last year who were unofficial third years. I agree Tring should keep better records because the employment rate is actually not bad at all. Some of the students have already decided not to continue dancing but quite a few others have already got jobs, either commercially or with companies such as Cape Town or BTUK.

Well it was me in our family who strongly thought that you should not send a child away at 11 and not WL " over my dead body". And thats from someone in the business! But it was turned round by a headteacher collegue who pointed out that I was not sending DS away, because it was he who wanted to go. She also wisely pointed out what I would do if he turned around at 18 and ask why he wasn't given the chance. Furthermore my husband still gets very upset about the fact that he wasn't even allowed to try for a prestigious school (not ballet) when he was 11 despite being virtually guaranteed funding so he was not going to hold his own son back. Suggest you find out exactly why your DH has concerns and also just how much DD wants to go! If he hasn't already done so then I suggest he visits the schools and asks as many questions as possible. I did this and was even allowed to speak privately to the boarders. Remember you don't cease to be a parent if your child goes away to school, in some ways you become more of one because time with your offspring become more wisely spent (I know I would have nagged more had he been at home!). You are also allowing them to spread their wings safe in the knowledge that they can always come back if it doesn't work out. Good luck.

Oh I've been lurking for some time!!! And like Julie I've always knew that my DS may not actually become a ballet dancer still less make a living from it! And I was right about the making a living part but to see the joy in him as he prepares for his first professional performance is just brilliant - 8 years of hard training coming to fruition at last. And he is soooo happy, you can't put a price on it. Just wondering whether I can tentively step off the roller coaster now...