Pas de Quatre

Congratulations - do please tell us all about it afterwards. How did you apply, with a DVD?

I agree with DRD. I try to drum into my pupils that pain is a warning - something is wrong. If you just mask the pain and continue, whether sport or dance, you will make the damage worse, and lengthen the recovery time

Have you seen 5 Soldiers, John? I may be able to catch it at Blandford. How about agewise for my pupils, teenage and above or 18+?

If not the appropriate place please move. It has struck me that there have been no offerings from the dance world to celebrate the 70th anniversary of VE day. OK it is not a round number like 100 but even so... I saw via facebook an extract of the celebrations in Moscow with some wonderful dancing by the Moiseyev company in Red Square. There were many offerings last year to mark the centenary of the beginning of the First World War. Was nobody in the dance world minded to celebrate the end of the Second World War? Or do choreographers only want to do angst, rather than joy?

If you mean the one with the grass stepped amphitheatre, that was Trinity Laban, where they held the mentoring sessions. The one with lots of trees outside the full length windows was Tring.

Unfortunately rest is the only cure. Has she been trying to do too much? A full timetable at Tring plus rehearsals and the show with her "home" school strikes me as risky.

Not sure I would like stage and tap included - aren't they seen often enough in other tv competitions? The joy of BBC Young Dancer comp was its serious nature with everything tending to be calm and understated with no glitz or hype.

I don't think this has been deliberately weighted to have more boys in the final. It just seems that at present boys training is stronger. Over the last few years, looking at published Graduate success lists from the top UK Vocational schools, the boys have generally done better than the girls. Now though some schools are no longer putting names alongside the Graduate destination. One has to wonder why.

I think the Times cartoon was because everyone thought there wouldn't be an outright majority and there could be days of negotiations (horsetrading) before a viable coalition was in place. However, it is a clear majority so no longer applies.

I stand corrected - I don't think you have to have been accepted into a company after all. My other query would be over the student loan, as it needs two year's funding. There have been previous discussions about whether you are eligible for student loans if you have a three year Diploma. It doesn't seem clear.

I believe this has been available for several years, but is only for those who have actually gained a job in a company after their three years on Diploma course. During their first years of employment they have written tasks alongside their practical performing experience to gain the BA (Hons). I'll see if I can find a link anywhere. Edited to add link http://www.dadainfo.org.uk/ba-hons-conversion/

One of the nightmares of being a ballet teacher, getting all the names absolutely right on cla ss register, show programmes, exam entry forms etc. with all the various spellings! e.g. Leyla, Laila & Leila, or Lucy & Lucie, Mae & Maie.

No, it isn't marketing hype, they really do last longer because the synthetic materials they are made from don't break down as quickly as those in traditional pointe shoes. DD wore them for a while, but changed to special order Grishko's for a better fit. However, I have a few other pupils who wear them and are perfectly happy with them. In general I prefer "new to pointe" pupils to have traditional shoes to begin with. As their feet may still be growing, and may change with pointework anyway, I feel the extra cost of the GM is only justifiable when you are sure you are not going to soon grow out of them!

Happy birthday for yesterday Helen! When it was announced on the radio yesterday that Kate had gone into hospital, I misheard and it sounded like she had gone into the Lido wing. I had a vision of one immense birthing pool! Congratulations to the Cambridges on the safe arrival of their daughter.

An enjoyable - if old - novel is Ballerina by Vicki Baum.

I do not think Vaganova and Cecchetti are as far apart as is often thought. Both were part of the Russian Imperial Ballet, and in both styles épaulement is fundamental. However, no matter what style is taught, it is how well it is taught that is important!

ballet_lyon - I am a teacher, so naturally I did them myself! I help any pupils who are having photos taken for applications. We do it in the normal hall, against a plain wall. I correct the pose while a parent takes the photos. These days with digital cameras it is so easy, you can check immediately if it is working. In the olden days when you had to shoot a reel of film and have it developed, you never knew if you were doing it right until the prints came back! Not necessary to have professional photos. Best is to sit on a reversed chair so you can lean on the back of it (if you don't have a tripod), then you are about waist high so there is little distortion. Another tip I got from a professional is to be quite a way away and zoom in, again it avoids distortion. But make sure you leave plenty of room round the dancer so feet and hands don't get cut off. Edited to add second paragraph

Every school asks for photos, but they aren't exactly the same. When we did them for dd (some years ago now) we applied to 6 schools which all wanted 6 to 8 photos but we ended up having to do 18 poses!

Now that would be a battle to see - a percussionist against a rock drummer!

I too enjoyed it more than expected! As for judging in the final, like in Young Musician where they have different instruments it must be very difficult.

One of my pupils has had her email.

Thank you Janet - that is very interesting. I followed the link to Models from Abroad which makes very interesting reading.

No, Rothbart fell to his death from rocks, at the back of the stage!

I went to see this in Poole at the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were several performances and the one I went to was very full, lots of little girls and their parents - not many boys to be seen! As there was not a cast list for each show, it would be difficult to be certain which dancers were performing, even though there was a very nice informative programme with headshots of them all. So I will not say anything about individuals. The standard was very good, although definitely student rather than professional level, but some promising work. The story was explained by a narrator, who was an older Odette, recounting what had happened. This worked very well, particularly in the mime scenes. The scenery and costumes were sumptuous and all the production values very good. My only caveat is the way the story was a bit mangled. The girls going to the Prince's birthday party were just local girls - Odette and her friends This doesn't really make sense as Princes marry Princesses. In clever theatrical moves, Rothbart isolated the girls one at a time and transformed them into swans. Act 2 by the Lakeside is where I also feel it was wrong to change the story. The narrator kept saying that Siegfried was dancing with a swan, and falling in love with a swan - but in the original, Odette regains her human form at night, so he falls in love with a beautiful girl and at the end of the act she turns back into the swan. This was also carried through in Act 3 where it said that Rothbart changed Odile, his daughter, into a black swan with black feathers! Apart from that it was an excellent production and the audience seemed very appreciative. Do go if you can. Just a final lighthearted comment - in Act 3, to give the boys more to do, the Spanish Dance was for three boys. It was a bit sudden and when the queen announced, via the narrator "Let's have some Spanish Dancing" I couldn't help thinking "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

Having watched the Contemporary final of BBC's Young Dancer of the Year, if I heard correctly, Akram Khan was explaining that there is no definitive technique or style for Contemporary dance, that it is evolving all the time and and feeds on new ideas. I have always understood this is exactly what the three UK Contemporary schools are trying to teach, openness and the ability to become "thinking dancers". So to me it seems that his remarks on this programme contradict his press release last week.