Pas de Quatre

Lift out of your pointe shoe means to engage and lift the muscles at the front of the instep and ankle. A good way to feel it is to sit on a chair with your toes touching the floor as if on pointe, in bare feet or socks. A common problem seen these days is that it is the fashion for dancers press down and over trying make their feet look more arched and breaking the shoe too much. In the long run it simply weakens the feet and ankles.

Try looking at Prix de Lausanne and YAGP streams online.  

This is a wonderful initiative.  The level of payment sounds very similar to the traditional "stagiaire" in French companies. When I was auditioning (last century) in Germany and France my teacher warned that to begin with a stagiaire position might be offered instead of a full corps contract, and that they were a valid entry point. As it happened I did get a full corps contract in France, but there were a handful of stagiaires. Some progressed to full contracts in various places at the end of the year.  

Spend time watching Lisa Howell's videos online. She is an Australian physiotherapist who specialises in ballet. She also has written material to buy and download about foot readiness for pointe, strengthening exercises and how to break in pointe shoes.

I have mentioned this in the past, but many years ago Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra tried programming their concerts one season with some performances dedicated to the work of a single composer, e.g. all Beethoven concert. It simply didn't work and the following year they reverted to more traditional concerts. I think the same applies in ballet, it is an art to programme a triple bill that is interesting with each work enhancing the others. So an Ashton programme needs something else as  contrast.

19 hours ago, Geoff said:

No longer can it be claimed that one of the two is “old-fashioned” whereas the other is “daringly new” or “relevant” or whatever. 

In today's world of "me too" and revelations of how vulnerable women and men are treated in the Arts, I would venture to say that it is some of MacMillan's work which seems dated and unacceptable by modern standards, Ashton's is enduring

On Saturday I went to see BRB2 in Poole. At the end some people did leap to their feet. This wasn't an option for several of our group as they have mobility issues. Luckily all of the audience in the seats directly in front of them stayed sitting! 

Saw the Saturday matinee on 18th May at Poole Lighthouse. A full house with a very appreciative audience. Such a joy to watch such talented dancers. The programme was interesting, giving lots of  contrasting pieces.  My only caveat is in the classical section, possibly the choice of such iconic excerpts from the Classical repertoire was a little ambitious.  These were excellent young dancers at the beginning of their careers, whereas these piece are normally danced by polished professionals with many years experience.  For me Tom Hazelby was the outstanding dancer, both in La Sylphide and Les Bourgeois.

I agree with Janet, I didn't care for the "backstage" format. But my companions did like it.

In UK copyright laws cover all Artistic creations, i.e. music, literature, dance, art, and any I may have missed. It lasts for the lifetime of the creator plus 70 years, So yes it becomes part of a person's estate which can be left in their will to someone else, and so on.  The only exception I know is that An Act of Parliament was passed to give the copyright of Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital in perpetuity.

Sorry Lifeafterballet, I'm afraid the world of musical theatre is just as difficult for students as classical l ballet. Huge cattle call auditions where hundreds of dancers turn up. Very few graduates achieve a performing career. You can say the same too for graduates of the contemporary establishments, hardly any paying performing openings.

What we are saying is that you learn a great deal from watching ballets, whether live or recorded, but many students do not see this as necessary. They concentrate on technique as an end in itself, rather than a way to express artistry.

Even if one can't get to live ballet performances,  which is always something special, there is a wealth of performances  available free online, often on YouTube.  Unfortunately I find that today's students often aren't the least bit interested in watching any of it, and have never heard of historically important dancers,  choreographers and composers.

I agree Associate training is an add on, but the pupils have to be of a high standard already to be offered a place.

There is a whole series of classes online delivered by Ernst Meisner of Dutch National Ballet.  Here's a link to one as an example. I love them.

Ernst Meisner

Aerosols can set off fire alarms. On a residential course (where I had pupils) dancers had been warned about this, but of course some of the boys had to see if it were true. It was, alarms duly went off and everyone had to evacuate, late evening.

Not scientific, but over years of watching, and having pupils in some of the Associate schemes named, I am afraid the answer is very few. None some years, up to two or three maximum.

The Ukrainian Opera and Ballet Theatre Kyiv are nearly at the end of their tour of various Operas, but I managed to see their production of Carmen on Wednesdy at The Paqvilion Theatre in Bournemouth.  There are still a couple of performances this week, on Tuesday at Hexagon Theatre Reading and on Wednesday at The Anvil in Basingstoke.  A friend had commented that she had never been to Opera, so we booked.  The overall production is a little pedestrian but we were blessed with a world class interpretation of the role of Carmen by Irina Sproglis.  Her voice was rich and melodiousan with such a slim young physique, you wondered where it came from!  At the end of the curtain calls with full company on stage, they unfurled the Ukrainian flag and sang the Ukrainian National Anthem.  The audience rose to their feet and at the end there was even more enthusiastic applause.  If you want an entertaining and worthy night out, do go to support them.

Be careful with UCAS points, it can be a red herring. Not many Drama or Dance courses accept them. There was a discussion on a previous thread.

It may simply have been a comment meant to reassure your dd that it didn't matter if her sock slipped down a bit, rather than a telling off.  A common occurrence in ordinary class is for a child to become worried about the draw strings on their shoes when sitting down for point & flex and start fiddling with them! I second all the above posts, a simple plain leotard without criss cross straps or insert panels is best. At insight days they say a colour is good to help identification, and try to have photos taken in the sames leotard.

For me too, although I never met Capybara, I looked out for her posts. She will be missed RIP.

They are traditional style lacing strings for boned bodices, which can be at the front or the back depending on the design of the costume.   To me they look as if they are badly threaded as you can't see the proper criss- cross pattern.  How tight they should be pulled depends on the measurements of the dancer.  In the corps de ballet we would make a "train" with each girl lacing the one in front!

No point in writing another list which would contain the same titles, but nobody appears to have mentioned Heidi - I adored it, and the sequels.

Everyone has their own opinion. It depends how important academic qualifications are too. As a bigger school Tring has more subjects available. RBS may be the big name but I wonder how many parents are aware that the course is only for Yr 7 - 9 and very few British pupils progress to Yr 10 and beyond.

I think in general those who turn down an MDS at Tring only do so because they have an offer they think is better, e.g. RBS, Elmhurst. 

Rambert Pre-vocational

Here's a link to the schedule. Yes they do good classical classes.