Pas de Quatre

There is also an infection called Labrinthitis which is an inflammation of the inner ear. I know a couple of people who have suffered from it, and one of the main symptoms is dizziness.

Having been there, both myself as a ballet student (many years ago) and my daughter more recently, I am afraid I would say the school is right. Your dd cannot afford to neglect her academic studies no matter how focussed she is on a ballet career. Even if she is successful in auditions for 6th form, GCSE results may come into play later in life. As Spanner says, Upper school places are rare, and only a minority of their graduates are finding employment. Then there is the awful prospect of a career ending injury. It can happen at any age, while studying or as a young professional.

If your other hours of dance classes have given you sufficiently strong feet and ankles, I don't see a problem with starting pointe and an extra classical ballet class may not be necessary.

I have had various pupils attend these over the years and all thought they were excellent days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clJ_ayzpBbM How about The Betrayed Girl from The Rakes Progress. It is very melancholy, deceptively simple looking but actually needs a great deal of technique and control. The ballet, choreographed by Ninette de Valois is very important in ballet history, it is still in the repertoire but not seen so often. Will someone coach your dd or does she have to do it all by herself?

I have found the 'lift and lower' method works well for arabesque too. Facing the barre lift leg behind and place on the seat of a chair or stool. This is still relatively low so you can be very well aligned. Fondu on supporting leg, straighten, then lift leg a few in inches. Repeat several times slowly. Then lift your leg to highest point possible. If someone is with you, they remove the chair so you can then lower very slowly to point & close.

I believe Mark Suffolk has married an American girl and spends most of his time there.

Wishing Polunin every success in this venture. Many dancers have branched out in acting, although often later in life. Two examples that more closely mirror his decision are Moira Shearer and Christopher Gable. Both left the Royal Ballet company at the height of their success as Principals, to establish successful acting careers. Of course Christopher Gable then returned to ballet in later years. In the translation of the original article I love the way Principal becomes Prime Minister! The mind boogles!

I think every walk of life has its own specilised vocabulary. So it's not surprising if ballet does too

I have written numerous references for pupils over the years - to be honest I have no idea whether they are even read, or make any difference!

I agree pretty much with Ellie. The Russian training is very slow and methodical but there are not any gaps. However most schools that teach this would expect serious students to build up to multiple ballet classes per week to gain strength. The RAD has always said that the Grade exams are aimed at once-a-week students who have a few extra classes in the run up to the exam, does this still hold true with the new Grades?

LinMM - when you say the Russian Syllabus has rather big jumps, do you mean gaps in the syllabus or grand allegro steps? If the latter, I don't see that as a problem, most children love to jump and I think a lot of the emphasis in the new RAD syllabus tries to emulate the Russian way of teaching.

Another vaccination that it is worth making sure is up to date for dancers and sports people in particular is Tetanus.

Agreed coloured is best, keep to one colour - two colours can produce strange optical illusions,cutting off the classical line. The same thing goes for straps, plain is better, avoid criss cross, etc.

At RBS Audition Insight days when they are talking about the upcoming auditions, they always recommend a coloured leotard rather than black. They suggest you get it in good time and have the photos taken in the leotard you will wear for the audition as this helps them recognise candidates more easily during the actual audition.

An ex pupil just graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire. She reported that they were streamed within each dance discipline, as students might have had different amounts of training. The girls in the top set for ballet who wished to often did pointe work.

I haven't seen these turnboards used in classical ballet, a pair of turnout discs (or turndiscs) are more common. I have a pair and I know RBS associates use them too. The discs work singly for pirouettes too. Ballet teacher has posted a good video on the thread Free resources ..... It is post no 10 at around 9.40 mins.

Over the years I have had pupils who didn't get into JAs (or I hadn't even put forward to audition as they were not ready) but then gained MA places. Conversely I have had JAs who didn't get into Mids, or who didn't want to continue Associates as it took too big a chunk of the weekend. Every dancer is different and every audition is a new beginning. Edited for spelling

Rather than doing ballet at home Louise, perhaps your dd could do some simple strengthening exercises which help ballet. There are Darcey Bussel's Pilates books and DVDs or New York City Ballet workout DVDs and I am sure there are many others out there too.

Is it a modern thing that graduates expect to walk into plum jobs in the West End? Many years ago it used to be that without a full Equity card you couldn't work in the West End at all. You worked with a Provisional card for a set number of weeks - can't remember exactly how many, 42 or thereabouts. The weeks would be made up in Panto, end of Pier show, cruises etc. As these were seasonal it could take several years to earn a full card. Only new entrants into very specific jobs such as Classical ballet companies could obtain a full card straight away.

Agreed, studying Contemporary as well as Classical widens the options, not narrows them. The world of dance has changed rapidly over the last few years with economic problems leading to many companies throughout Europe down-sizing or changing from a Classical to a Contemporary focus. Many Contemporary companies prefer older dancers and the auditions often ask for at least 3 years professional experience, so this is where the "Catch 22" happens. You can't get a job without experience, but you can't get experience without a job! Apprenticeships vary widely in what is offered. A very few companies still offer paid apprenticeships, but recent open auditions held in London for these were overwhelmed with candidates, literally hundreds of dancers were after just a handful of places. Some dancers move onto an MA after graduating with a BA, and some of these MAs involve apprenticeships with placing in a company or graduate companies. However, these are really just another year of tuition, with fees of £10,000+ and living expenses to be found - so you would need over £20,000. An MA is not funded by student loans although there are occasionally bursaries/grants available, but if you can't self-fund you need to take out a "Career development loan" from a bank. The companies with year round contracts are quite few, and most jobs in Contemporary dance are for specific projects, which may be a few days, a few weeks or a few months. Hence the term "Portfolio Career". Contemporary dancers in general will do various short term projects supplemented by other jobs in between such as teaching, coaching or indeed waiting at tables. I hope this has helped clarify things.

Katymac is right - this is often termed a "Portfolio Career", particularly in Contemporary dance - I will put more on that thread.

A great loss. Another great talent who was similarly depressive was Peter Sellers.

The factor which will give a good guide to the level of technique in a Dance degree is whether entry is by audition with many candidates competing for places, or whether it is only academic exams that are needed for entry.

Articles in the press this week say that scientists have discovered that milk, cheese, butter and eggs are good for you after all!