Pas de Quatre

Thank you Primrose, that was beautiful - and the soundtrack is one of my favourite arias from Samson and Delilah.

Ballet News had a link to an article in Russian. At first they translated it as Joy W had got into the Mariinsky, then corrected it to say Mikhailovsky, but I haven't seen it confirmed elsewhere yet.

Some more heartfelt congratulations from this direction too. Heather has managed to navigate some pretty rough water over the last few years - hope it will be plain sailing from now on (feeling nautical today!). xxx

My dd lived in Startrite when she was younger, but the sizes didn't go up high enough. She had very long narrow feet, and the size seemed to follow the school year i.e. in Year 6 she was a Size 6 and Year 7 a Size 7. Luckily it stopped there and with ongoing ballet training she has build up her arch and shortened the overall length.

Anjuli - I don't think we are talking about retired dancers here, whether they had a formal qualification or not, they knew what they were doing. It is the young, sometimes barely out of their teens students who simply do not know how to dance and would never be professional dancers. They have taken classes for a few years, learnt a little, but seem to think they know enough to teach.

taxi4ballet - it is worth remembering that the Intermediate being examined now is the new syllabus. The new Advanced Foundation and Advanced 1 exams will be released next year and examined from 2014, when the old ones will not be valid anymore. If the RAD do it the same way they did for IF and Intermediate, there will be no overlap.

It's not just the risk of accident with high heels, its the shortening of the achilles tendon that happens when they are worn too much.

petipacat outlines a real problem. No - there is no overall body supervising dance schools absolutely anyone can set up and teach without qualifications, knowledge or insurance - frightening!

This is just the beginning, girls in particular have to decide whether they seriously want to dance. It is called a "Vocation" (literally meaning a "Calling") for a good reason. I sometimes joke with dd and my pupils that it means resisting temptation - and avoiding shoes which may damage feet for the sake of fashion is one of the first challenges they face.

Rambert School says it trains equally for Classical Ballet and Contemporary. Central, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Ballet West are all degree programmes and accept students at 16, 17 or 18 (or more). Remember, the current funding arrangements end with the September 2012 intake. It may be that there will be fewer Dada places and more degree courses in future i.e. less places at 16 and more at 18. London Studio Centre stopped taking 16 year olds a couple of years ago and now only take at 18. So no one should feel they have missed the boat at 16.

The tea dye (without milk) is an old standard. I have even used it on bras to get the right shade. You can vary the strength of tea to match skin tone too.

When you can date the garments in your wardrobe to dd's courses and auditions (only time to clothes shop).

No Spooky - I doubt if it was the school you went to, there often seemed a mystery about why people passed or failed. It was a bit like taking the driving test!

That's right, Grade 6, 7 & 8 in music are very serious, and the equivalents in ballet are the Vocational exams. I really don't know why the RAD is allowed to use the names Grade 6, 7 & 8 for recreational exams as it is misleading for the layman (layperson?).

Bloch do discounts too - not sure if includes Associates.

One of my pupils has just had a pair of custom made pointe shoes from Bob - she will start wearing them soon, so I shall be interested to see how it goes. The adjustments he suggested sounded good for her present stage of technique/physique.

Exams measure what you have learnt, at auditions for Vocational school they are looking for bodies they can train - quite a different thing.

amum/Cathy - the dancers are credited below the screen. Haven't had time to watch yet - but look forward to doing so!

Even now - as a teacher - I use surgical spirit on my feet every day, particularly between the little toe and the next one. Teaching multiple classes most days can leave you with very soggy skin on the feet, this prevents cracks and athlete's foot.

Deep south - "Summertime"; New Orleans - Jazz; any Souza marches; West Side Story, if you don't want voices Bernstein's symphonic suite is good; also he has a suite for the music from the film "On the Waterfront"; Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring".

I saw the programme in Poole and agree with everything Janet says about Robert Parker! Good luck to him for the future!

No, it should be avoided at all costs. "A stitch in time saves nine" applies here. A small injury which should easily heal may be turned into a major problem by dancing on it before it is better. A major injury needs careful attention so it does not become career-ending.

I saw it on Sky too, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and was not bothered by the costume. DD tried to get tickets for SW but it was sold out!

The Planets has been used by many people, but there is nothing that has become a standard repertoire piece. Interestingly there is also as short ballet Holst wrote called "The Perfect Fool" (as part of an opera). It just lasts about 12 minutes, but the music is very similar in style to the Planets, i.e. some quite dramatic movements like Mars and a beautiful soft movement like Venus. I have used it several times for children's ballets.

One of the good things about Tamara Rojo is how she has stated in various articles recently that she wants to move away from the super skinny to more healthy looking dancers.