t_rose

Anyone that's got previous experience of this - how intense is this ie how many classes / how long etc dd wants to do this, but has things booked in weeks prior to this summer school so wanted an idea of what's involved

Dds teacher is going to phone shop we are going to (she has used them herself so knows them) & will let them know issues we had with merlet shoes (she has also said they didn't fit right). She also spoke to dd about them so she will have a slightly better understanding of how they should feel. We've been told by others that they do have wide range & will bring out bags full of shoes to try & they have been known to order in when necessary. DD has quite wide feet & can be hard enough getting flat shoes, but we'll get there.

We have fitting booked at shop that's bit further away but told they have lots of different makes/models. Has been recommended by several others at dance school. Dd quite excited to be going to different shop, although I'mnot so sure - every time we're in a dance shop we end up with more than we went for ...

How exciting, hope she enjoys first class! Because of holidays dds first class not till after half term so still time to get some more, get them approved & sewn, so she wasn't too disappointed, she gets to try more shoes on which she sees as a bonus

Had to take shoes back - teacher not happy with them, she doesn't think they are suitable for beginner. Will try again in half term hols

Congrats to your dd. My dd also got first pointe shoes yesterday. Teacher had been hinting that she was nearly ready, and then told her in class yesterday am that she could get some now. I'd been reading posts /advice on here & lady that did fitting was great. She ended up with Merlet shoes - not one I'd seen mentioned on here. Now just need teacher approval & lesson on darning....

Congratulations & good luck.

Are you still dancing with Yorkshire ballet scholarship centre? One of the trustees, Sharon Hancox, teaches at York Dance Works, I know Rebecca Davies School of Dance has had pupils go onto further training, there's also Patricia Veale School of Dance and Red Shoes School of Dance. There are other dance schools but these are the schools that me / my dd know students at. You could also try websites for the main dance organisations (eg IDTA, RAD, ISTD etc to try to find schools nearer to yourself.

Don't know of any local dance school that does the amount of training you are looking for, but could you contact local dance schools, explain your aims and ask if they would allow you to attend more than one school. I'm based in York, there are several schools with good reputations in the area.

Dd used to do festivals, was good stage experience. She sometimes placed sometimes didn't, seemed to have little to do with performance standards on the day. Festivals, auditions etc can be great for experience, but as said above don't worry too much at this age as long as shes enjoying it.

Not an RAD expert (dd did RAD grade 1 but has been doing IDTA grades but now doing RAD IF as well). I've noticed that diff dance schools introduce IF at different places in syllabus, not sure why but I'm sure each school /teacher have their own reasons. I would say trust the teacher to know the dancers capabilities.

If you've read earlier thread you'll see we had some initial issues, but these were sorted out with Angela, and dd had a great time.

We had an invite to the Halifax auditions direct from angela as dd had taken part before. Unfortunately we weren't able to attend this time but I'm sure your dd will have a great time. Congratulations on the scholarship

DD does RAD and IDTA. In the past I was told RAD was more technical, IDTA looked at performance as well, however both have changed syllabus & i think there is less of a difference now. A previous teacher once commented that she had to teach the steps in a technically correct way for RAD - in my opinion a good dance teacher will teach the steps correctly whatever syllabus! A good teacher will always be more important than syllabus for us.

I think it depends on what it is & how commonly found second hand. I never get much for dance shoes (even unworn ballet shoes), some costumes only get a few pounds second hand but others I've sold for almost full price. I've also bought second hand when my dd did competitions. The price i was willing to pay was dependant on how urgently i needed it & how much I needed to do to make it fit / right for the dance.

Ours also took about 3 months to arrive so hopefully yours will arrive soon - always nice to watch the shows again!

My DD has been to 3 different dance schools & had approx 7-8 teachers. She has taken different things from each of these and has benefited from their differences. To try to name a 'best' would be putting the others down.

It was October last year

DVD was included in cost of the course/ performance. Ours was of the show, no backstage footage, but good quality.

Have you tried ebay, might be cheaper than the dye

Never easy moving dance schools but the most important thing is that our dc's (or adult dancers) enjoy themselves. Glad you found the right place for them x

I made comments on a previous thread regarding some issues we had, which sound really negative. I would like to add that we did get the issues sorted out by discussing with Angela, and my dd really enjoyed the experience, and the performance was lovely.

Sometimes parents have to take decision out of child's hands. I've moved dd twice, she didn't want to move as had friends, knew how school worked etc. I explained reasons to dd & in end she agreed to it. (First time she was being held back as younger children in group, second time as we wanted more technique)

For those looking for Bettys (coming from York st john uni) head into York along Gillygate & its almost straight line forwards (straight across at far end of Gillygate is slightly to left). You'll walk past theatre royal & McDonald's.

Hi, I think they contact local dance schools with details prior to audition date - that's how we got info last year. We were told that a website was coming soon. We had posters for show (I still have one) with phone no on but prob shouldn't put that on here?