Moomin

I don't personally think it is unreasonable to charge more instore if they have spent a long time with you fitting the shoe. It does seem odd that all brands are the same price though! our local store don't have the prices of anything marked which I don't particularly like but I only buy soft shoes so not so bad

Have you taken her to a physio? If not I'm sure they would be the best people to judge how much further improvement she could make & give some good exercises. As an adult my flexibility has improved since starting ballet again so I definitely don't think it is purely an age thing.

Just sent you a pm Sheila, could you let me know if you don't get it? Thank you!

I'm so glad that you managed to find a good home fiz :-) I'm still being indecisive but thinking maybe digital for a while until girls are older otherwise I will be having to get it retuned every few weeks!

Check out this video on YouTube: Lin on the play bar select the right hand bottom & there is an email link option which will give you the URL x

I love that solo (the gelsey Kirkland version on YouTube is just amazing), I wouldn't even get past the turns in arabesque though!

Personally I would be much happier with a scheme that offered the cheaper tickets to people on low incomes. There are plenty of students, and pensioners for that matter who are not particularly hard up!

I would go and see your gp first to check that you couldn't do yourself any lasting damage. If they say ok I would try it and see what you think, may be ok may not but you've got nothing to lose by trying! Ballet shoes are quite unforgiving for any pre-existing foot problems as there's not really any cushioning, do you know whether they have studios with a sprung floor?

Thank you Fiz that is so kind of you. I hope for your sake that they do collect it at the weekend but if not I will definitely have it :-) Going to the music shop tomorrow to see what options they have. I love proper pianos & we are detached so no neighbour worries! The big advantage I can see of a digital is that it doesn't need tuning (although turning down the volume whilst my daughter practices sounds good too :-S ).

Our local music shop sells second hand pianos for at least 1k, I'm very suprised people have trouble getting rid! For anyone musical, do you think a digital piano is just as good for beginners? Space is not an issue x

Brilliant news fiz

Thank you x

Do you still have it fiz? Only just seen your post, myself and eldest daughter are about to start lessons!

Haha, yes our garden needs an overhaul but I think there's a wasp nest lurking somewhere so too scared to go out there (that's my excuse anyway!)

Oh no fiz, hope the root canal goes ok. I found it ok (although very slow as Lin said!) and I am a real baby at the dentist. The pain from mine did alter with position, have you tried decongestants? If its sinus pain they should help a bit. The worse part for me was the cost; ouch! I have another couple of weeks until classes start again too. Has anyone got any good exercises to get back in shape (a bit, not expecting miracles) ?!

If you're still looking just seen these on the gap website http://m.gap.co.uk/product.html?dn=gp000146096000&dv=0&shopid=0&pdn=gc83829 It says 'slim fit' & they do look quite slim in the pic. I have the same problems with my little one, although she still wears pinafores so not such a problem! We had a 'long' size skirt in a younger age from John Lewis to accommodate the small waist but I can't find the different fittings in our store or on the website, has anyone seen th this year?

I would go for a laptop, an iPad is a fantastic toy but no word processesing/ PowerPoint/ access to flash websites etc would make it much less suitable for school work IMO. If you got a laptop with a DVD player incorporated he could watch films aswell.

How exciting fiz!

I have used porselli (only for the kids althpugh they do have some adult things) and Bloch online, both good. Porselli are often quite good on price. I find Bloch do some nice leotards and they are made of lovely thick fabric. I got a couple of things from their sport/ yoga section and they are lovely fabric and very flattering too.

How are your feet Michelle? Are you staying in London too Lin or travelling in every day?

There's photos of my children on all sorts of websites; nursery, school, photographers, dance school and I know there are videos of school plays, sports days etc which I have no control over. Your two girls look beautiful in the films, both lovely dancers, I can't really think of a reason not to put those on you tube personally x

My heels don't touch in 1st position as I have hypermobility and big calves, tbh even as a skinny youngster I don't think they quite touched and this was always thought to be acceptable by teachers so perhaps it's for similar reasons that you have observed it Michelle? I'm sure it is not the ideal. Sounds like a good book Lin, I can't say I've ever been taught much about muscle use.

I have only ever done a 180 degree rond de jambe. In quatrieme derrière was your foot opposite your heal? It's easy to let it wander out a little as it often feels more crossed than it actually is, I am not an expert but I would have thought having it opposite 5th would destroy the alignment of your hips?

The quality of dancers is not only influenced by talent but also by the quality of teaching and leadership within the art. Those who are wonderfully talented dancers do not always have the necessary attributes to further the profession or mentor young dancers. I find it very difficult to believe that out of all the little girls who do ballet there are not a few who are prodigiously talented.

I have scrutinised it several times & I would call it a developpe too but that is an uneducated guess, hopefully one of the professional teachers will enlighten us! Hope your back eases off tomorrow Michelle. When I do all those bending stretches I always have in my mind to 'bend from the hips' with a flat back. You get the same stretch but it's kinder to the back, might be worth a try if you're not doing it already