audsjcanuck

Part of the confusion lies in the fact that it was the school NOT the company. This is a school with students from 10 years old and up. So it is the school's business. There are rules plain and simple.

YAY David Donelly! Met him at Canada's NBS 2 years ago (summer program) and thought he was the nicest kid. And he performed at this year's AI 13. Well done David!

When dd was 10, she attended the JA program in the city on weekends but we were too far away to attend weeknight classes so the school insisted on so many hours per week at the local school to maintain strength for beginning pointe work. Normally, local studio students would not do pointe until minimum 12yo but the studio owner was happy to let dd take extra ballet class as well as pointe as she knew my dd was 'going for it' and had all the elements. A parent overheard our registration day conversation and freaked on the studio owner as her 11 yo dd wanted pointe but at only one hour of ballet a week, was told she wasn't ready. I ducked and dodged parents for most of that year. Fast forward a few years and dd has been at vocational ballet school for 5 years now. We have maintained a wonderful relationship with studio owner and most if not all the dancers and parents of that era are excited and interested in my dd's accomplishments and have long forgotten the bad feelings from the past. Duck and Dodge!!!

Thanks all. I'm sure dd will want to wait as long as it takes! Didn't think about lugging the cam around but as an amateur photographer and tourist, I imagine I'll have it with me anyways. Having tea at Savoy before the ballet and must take pics there too

We will be attending a Bolshoi performance and my daughter wants to get an autograph from Smirnova (and we might come back for Svetlana autograph even though we can't attend that show). It's not common to do this at home. But at a Marinsky performance a few years ago there was a small crowd waiting for Lopatkina at stage door. What can we expect at the ROH?

Thank You ladies

I'm having an ever so slight panic attack as my 16yo dd will be travelling solo to YBSS (flight is through Manchester from Canada). Hoping for a contact or reference should it be needed.

Just throwing our experience in the mix... I too have a dd that was ostracized by her dancing peers when she was younger (around 9-10yo). It was caused by jealousy of one particular student who encouraged the other classmates to shun her. One day when the studio was cold and during break, the girls huddled around the heater and they told her to go away. OUCH! They did the whisper - look - giggle thing often. DD has pretty thick skin so although it bothered her it didn't kill her spirit. She wouldn't let me talk to the teacher as she thought it might make it worse so we came up with a plan.... kill em with kindness. She started with the other girls first... small compliments, enthusiastic greetings etc and it took time (months) but the 'shunning' ceased and the perpetrator stopped. Ironically, the only girl my dd is still friends with is the perpetrator (it is 6 years later). And she is a lovely young woman now and shows no signs of that horrible little brat from 6 years ago. I am not saying this is the ideal way to handle the situation. There are different levels of bullying and each needs to be dealt with accordingly. But girls seem to go through a phase where they can just be little you-know-whats. It's not easy to see our babies hurt. At the time I wanted to raise hell-fire and if my dd wasn't as strong as she is, I would have.

Ladies.... Mabel's Labels is the way to go. Personalized name tags that can be ironed on or stuck on. It's the way to go I swear. Every year I order a batch of each. I iron on what I can and send the sticky ones with my dd for the items she gets after. http://www.mabelslabels.com/

I am going to assume your dd is around 8 if working on grade 2 ballet? At this age shouldn't dance just be about enjoyment and experience? I say the more the better but not because it will have an impact on JA acceptance but because it's developing an interest, increases brain power, good exercise and fun. And that in itself will allow her to present better in auditions if it is important to her. I think we dance moms (myself included) look too far down the road sometimes and forget the here and now. What will make her the happiest now. When my dd was 8 she just wanted to dance ... all the time so she took all the classes she could locally. Tap wasn't her first love but she had soooo much fun in it and it really helpd with musicality and choreography. At the time, her studio also only offered one class per week per ballet grade so she took the higher class also but just for learning. She entered a full-time vocational school at 11 years old and now 5 years later, is still friends with those girls she danced with when little and still visits the old studio and teachers a few times a year. To me, those relationships are golden. I guess what I am trying to say is find something that your dd can be a part of for a full balanced enjoying experience. Good luck which ever road you take.

I too am frustrated with the bad rap ballet gets from the media regarding girls and their weight. I am aware of the history of eating disorders in ballet but to my knowledge, most ballet organizations have gone to great lengths to change the stigma and to redirect to healthy dancers and healthy bodies but no one outside the ballet community wants to hear this. My dd is 16 and in a professional program and she has a slight but strong figure. The school puts a lot of focus on healthy EATING and has zero tolerance for unhealthy dieting. Perhaps this is where the focus should go to.... healthy eating. There is nothing wrong with wanting a healthy body and when a young girl/woman isn't happy with her body, she should be made to understand that the way to health is through good food instead of by eliminating food. We are so busy denouncing skinny people that we are almost endorsing obesity. If a 9 year old child is having body image issuess, I have to believe there is more to it. Like another poster mentioned, this child may have issues that stem from within her own home and publicizing it was a really stupid choice. And I acknowledge body shapes are all different regardless of eating choices (I am overweight and ok with it). And knowing that body shapes are different, and that some industries require certain physical traits, then we direct our energies into those that work for the individual. Ballet is a great activity even if you can't go pro. Basketball is a great sport even if you are 5'2". Many sports have physical criteria that most don't fit into and yet it doesn't get the bad rap. And I am tired of my dd's doctor and others question her eating habits. My kid eats... a lot. And nobody is asking the next kid what they eat even though they probably couldn't identify a vegetable to save their life and are overweight. Yes this is a rant...

Well I can share abit about Canada's National Ballet School... It has it's own syllabus but with many of the teachers from Russian, there are hints of Vagonava in the training. Academics and ballet studios are in one compound and the residences are about a 2 minute walk. Each grade has between 15 to 25 students. The higher the grades, the more international students are accepted. Auditions are start in the fall but you would have to check the website for DVD audition standards. If you pass the first audition, you are invited to the 4 week summer audition. There are many similiarities between life at RBS and at NBS. It is more difficult to get in at the higher grades and you can be assessed out at the end of the year. Financial assistance is typically not offered to foreign students. Ask away.....

To the OP. Schools generally do not train as a feeder into just one school correct? So height will not be an issue for the schools per say. Height will not truly be a factor until auditioning for companies. And many companies do have height restrictions. Regardless of how beautiful a dancer is, companies do want the corps de ballet to look like a corp. There are jobs for the shorter or taller dancer but they are fewer. So go into it knowing the reality... research all the options while dd is finishing training so you are prepared and to direct her energies into the best suitable places. And good luck!

Just a note on San Fransisco School as it was mentioned as an option. I have no idea how 'russian' the training is but I was fortunate to watch the senior students perform recently and 4 years ago and both times blew me away. The style performed was classical with a modern twist. So many performances from the other schools leaned so far to contemporary but San Fran had beautiful lines and technique.

My dd concurs with the "more corrections = more attention" idea. She has said many times in the past that she wishes her teachers were more like the Russian stereotype ballet teachers, even if it was tough. So this year she has a Russian teacher and although she is not as brutal as the stereotype, she can have a sharp tongue and she defineately pushes harder then her past teachers. And dd will be the first to acknowledge that this is keeping her at the top of her game. For a student, I guess it depends on how serious you are about excelling. If you are not in it to win, then your tolerance will be much lower. If you want to go all the way, you will want to be pushed to your limits. Even if that means putting up with some harsh words along the way.

Not really sure what my dd does to turn her pointes into soft shoes but I have a (formally) really nice pot that has been destroyed by the process. It's covered in gluey icky smelly shoe stuff. She soaks them for a time apparently. Thank goodness she knows the process and is self-suffient. Side note.... I don't buy slippers anymore

My dd is just about to complete her 5th of 7 years at a ballet boarding school. Ironically today is the final re-assessment notice day and therefore looks good for final 2 years. Regarding sacrifice? As I mentioned on another post, I am coming to grips with the behavioral choices of her friends from home. She has lost contact with most of them as she has always been too pooped to socialize when she comes home on weekends and breaks. So, the 'old' friends, those that she left behind 5 years ago - they all are doing all the things we dread of our teenagers. I knew a few were into all sorts of trouble but last night I had a mom on my doorstep in tears. Drugs, sex and rock'n'roll in a nutshell. And pretty much all of them. I'm not surprised as I am not naïve but is this considered a 'normal childhood'? I have a dd who would be suspended or expelled for any of these behaviours if the school found out. She is aware of how many others would take her spot in a heartbeat so she won't risk it. She's too busy anyways and also, very conscious of her health. Her current ballet school classmates seem younger, lighter spirited and fresher then the former. And yet they are extremely mature and responsible and capable of so much independence. So I don't feel my dd has sacrificed her childhood, rather I feel her childhood has been preserved.

.... or spin it around. The many amazing moms (and a few dads) I'd make friends with over coffee while waiting all those hours. The skills and responsibility learnt from maintaining a ballet lifestyle. The posture and confidence gained from the ballet lifestule. And most importantly, a dd who is so wrapped up in her ballet education that she doesn't have time for trouble. Just found out about some former friends/dancers of dd who had quit their dance studies and have since found some serious troublesome behaviors so I'm feeling sentimental.

When my dd started her ballet residential school (Canada) at age 11 (now 16), I think we spent in the neighborhood of $700 (450pounds) between academic and dance uniform. Since then though it has only been a few replacement items each year for academics - mostly socks! And we always find a used kilt or two. With a 20% discount on pointe and dance uniform needs, the annual clothing cost now may actually be cheaper then if she were at home and dancing with a studio. But don't tell her that!

My dd will be attending both weeks but I will not be there til the end so if anyone hears a Canadian accent and notices me looking lost and jetlagged, please stop me to say hello!

http://www.livestream.com/nbsenb/video?clipId=pla_da355d0e-22e9-4435-a358-543dfd81a005&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb This was the highlight of the event. A live streaming project with dancers in Toronto and Amsterdam performing simultaneously (without lag). Skip to 13:30 as the first 13 minutes are intermission. A lot of this is student improvisation. Some of it I loved. Some of it I found too random but a lot of focus was on the technical issues of making it work. What can be done in the future?! If you have time, scroll through the various film clips shown at the bottom. Most is student choreography. All the pieces are with dancers from different schools and with only 4 hours rehearsal time per piece. These are our the future dancers.

There will be youtube videos at a later date... I will share those too.

http://capture.nbs-enb.ca/1/live/38.aspx Today's class being streamed live. Teacher from Cuban National Ballet School. Students mixed from 18 dif schools. I watched the dress rehearsal for one of the performances last night and got to see David Donnelly and Yaoqian Shang from RBS. They were absolutely lovely. Met David last summer here in Toronto and he is such a sweetie.

Just adding what I know... My dd is a student at Canada's NBS and like Katherine stated, fees are high for non-Canadians. For residents, the full year incl. summer is closer to $30k or 22,000 British pounds. Something like 80% of students receive some kind of bursary though. One difference though between here and the UK, is that very few schools receive funding and I believe NBS is the only Canadian ballet school to receive federal funding at its current levels. If a student makes it through to graduation after grade 12 (17 or 18 yo), they are all encouraged to apply to post secondary programs affiliated with the company they wish to work for thus giving them a year to train at the style and level for that company. Cranko seems to be a favorite and Stuttgart has a few NBS graduates on it's roster. We as parents are constantly being told to encourage our kids to take that extra year of post secondary training for the sake of long term strength and sustainability for a better career. I suppose we hold RBS as an ideal school though and I am pretty sure that if we could afford it and dd was accepted, she would kill for the opportunity. The reputation is world reknown. Next week, I will have the opportunity to see students from 18 different ballet schools around the world perform here in Toronto.... I will share my thoughts as I see it when the time comes. My dd will get to take class with all these different dancers and I can't wait to hear her stories!

Starting this weekend and running through til the following Saturday (April 28th to May4th), Toronto will be hosting an International Ballet student festival at Canada's National Ballet School. Students (aged 16 - 19) from 18 schools including RBS, POB will be in attendance and working on group choreography, mixed dance classes and performances - all which will be shown on-line with live streaming on the website. The website address is: http://www.nbs-enb.ca/ai13/ When the live streaming is up and running, I will add a link for that if I can. Might be an interesting opportunity to see up and coming talent from around the world. Not sure if this is the best forum to have posted this so let me know if it's not!