Pas de Quatre

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.

I have had pupils at both Central Preseniors and Rambert Prevocational. Both schemes provide excellent training and they all loved their courses. Central Preseniors goes from age 11 up to 16. Rambert goes from age 14 up to 20, although I think most on the course are late teens.

Just to clarify, it is the original 5 dancers, not those who joined later. Jan has posted the press release.  I shall be seeing them in Poole in May.

I have just seen on Facebook an announcement that all current BRB2 dancers will be joining the main company as Artists for the 2024-25 season. What wonderful news!

This Raymonda is definitely suitable for an older child or teenager.   I agree with Irmgard and FionaM's posts above, and inspite of the flaws I realy enjoyed this production.  It might also help to look at the historical background a little before going.  Florence Nightingale's contribution to the war and the establishment of Nursing as a profession is fairly well known and interesting.  Also the Crimean war has direct political influence on politics and wars ever since, including the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia.  I don't want to start a political debate here, but the topic is worth researching.

Festival Ballet (before it became ENB) also had mandatory auditions to keep their subsidy. No one ever got offered a place, and the legend was that the AD visited RBS beforehand and had already made a decision.

Don Quixote - full ballet

Here is a link to Nureyev's Don Quixote, danced by La Scala, Milan. I think it is a very satisfying version. Enjoy!

Some years ago I had a pupil start in Junior and move up to Senior. I went a couple of times for teacher observation and was very happy with what I saw.  Weekly classes can be a good way of adding extra training. Every other week is fine, but if a scheme is only once a month the benefits are not so good, no matter how prestigious the name.

Some good advice above. Just be careful not to overload with too many classes, a growing body needs at least one day a week without any classes to allow recovery time. Otherwise injuries or burnout are more of a risk.

Hi Kitten, for RB Associates there are a limited number of places in each class.  Offers are made to fill the vacancies and those they like but don't have room for at first go on the waiting list.  Places do come up as some dancers may not take theirs up, for a variety of reasons.  Mids often sees some movement, the dancer may have been offered a place at a Vocational school, or at another Associate/CAT scheme which suits them better.  I even know of a case in a MIds class where I had pupils, of a dancer deciding that she preferred to do the sporting acitivity on Saturdays at the new Academic school she had joined for Year 7 and stopped MIds after a few weeks.

Alas the Winter Gardens are no more. Demolished some twenty odd years ago, and a "temporary" car park ever since, while planning applications for various developments come and go!

I started watching Creature on Marquee tv - didn't last long!

So long as the students involved realise this. Many dancers end up with severe mental health problems and eating disorders as they realise they are never going to "make it".  There are masses of posts about this problem from parents on this board.  

It is a difficult one. As a country we need to fund excellent courses, but how many? In all areas of performing arts the majority of graduates are unlikely to find employment in the discipline they have studied. 

It is nothing new - decades ago this happened to me with a German company, I was assured the contract would be in the post and possibly arrive before I returned home (pre email days). It never came and I learnt through the grapevine this was common. However at my first job in France the "in-house" stationery on which all letters and contracts were printed had as form of watermark round the four edges of every sheet of paper, "no matter what discussions may have take  place, nothing is confirmed until a contract has been signed".

Kings International is an excellent school.  The principals, Tania and Cheryl are wonderful and really bring out the best in their students.  

Do let us know how you get on.