Pas de Quatre

Not all Vocational students will be looking for work at 18/19. A friend of dd waited until she was 18 to audition and is currently in 1st year of one of the major London classical schools - and I doubt if she is the only one.

In general I welcome this competition and think it will benefit dance as a whole providing it is run seriously and the programme makers are not tempted to go to much into sentimental back stories. As others have said, the age range is interesting, my take on it is that these are the students who will have entered serious (vocational) three year training, whether starting at 16 or at 18. Personally I don't like the need for pas de deux and partners who may or may not be in the competition themselves. It certainly makes it harder for anyone who is not at Vocational school.

Shouldn't this be moved to a new thread - Graduate contracts 2014?

Interesting - fewer than in previous years, but we all know how hard it is to get contracts these days. But I am curious as to why they no longer give individual's names and have erased them from previous years lists too. Could it be that it is again mainly boys getting the contracts?

I don't think we are really discussing the children themselves here, but rather the RBS and their offers after summer school. Therefore I don't see a problem. We support RBS through our taxes so have a legitimate interest in their actions,in addition to our main interest as ballet parents and teachers.

I too feel this is a bit off, verging on poaching which is usually frowned upon.

Punch & Judy pub in Covent Garden market. I first took dd there as a pre-teen for meals. She still goes there as a student with friends!

We have friends & family in London and it is considered perfectly normal to cross London to go to school by bus and/or tube for Year 7 and above.

The trouble with most ballet competitions is that each candidate only has a few minutes to "wow" the judges. So catchy, flashy steps are pushed to extreme. Creating a role and sustaining it through a complete ballet is quite different, but too often these days flashy technique is being carried over and incorporated. The Prix de Lausanne stands apart, in that even though there are only a few dancers put through to the final, it is the marks for how they have worked all week long, not just for the solos they show in the final, that are added up to decide the winners.

Still in 20th century, what about Lorca's play House of Bernarda Alba written in 1936. MacMillan choreographed a dramatic ballet Las Hermanas based on it, with pointe shoes and classical technique. Mat Eks has made a more contemporary version. Edited for spelling.

I've always felt this must be a bit frustrating for those who are on the waiting list for a place at the school, either Upper or Lower. Either there is room or there isn't!

Are we only talking full length ballets? What about Christopher Bruce's work, Swansong, about the interrogation of a prisoner by two brutal guards. Very modern and highly relevant today. Dracula is the end of the 19th Century so doesn't really count, although there are two versions currently in production, Northern Ballet and Mark Bruce company.

Thanks - isn't memory tricky. Off the top of my head I remembered the dates as being closer than that!

Yes I too went to performances in the big top many years ago - London & Cambridge. Any chance for dancers to perform should be welcome, I don't think it is a retrograde step for companies to appear at Festivals, the reverse if anything. By the way, when I saw the topic header I thought the thread was going to be about the ballet sections at Music Competition Festivals.Mmy mistake, but others might assume the same and not read on.

I would need to do some research to check the dates, but wasn't the renaming of LFB to ENB also connected to the relocation of Western Theatre Ballet to Glasgow and its renaming as Scottish Ballet? Thus both England and Scotland would have their own National companies in addition to RB.

ENB's dance for Parkinsons is also at Pavilion Dance South West in Bournemouth.

In July 2008, 2009 & 2010 I had pupils who were in Senior Associates (top class) perform at the Saturday matinees of Central School's summer performances. These were at the Unicorn Theatre. As far as I know Associates haven't been included again until this year.

But you never know - we might plant an idea that will take root!

Not just in RAD circles, Susan Robinson has a very good reputation overall and has had numerous students go on to Vocational schools and professional careers. She also guest teaches on various courses such as Dance Forward.

Helpop - no I have never left a dancer performance before the end. This whole idea of giving points started when DH and I were seeing various student choreographic competitions at Vocational schools. We just started giving our own marks as we went along to see if we had chosen the prize winners. It was then a simple step to say to each other, for example "I would have given it 8, but deducted a mark for excessive meaningful writhing, so only 7!"

Me too - it sounds such a fun event!

Still thinking of a move to the south, what about Bournemouth? They already have a dance hub in Pavilion Dance South West, which is housed in newly converted space in the lower levels of The Pavilion Theatre. The main theatre itself has a large stage and traditional flytower, just some of the backstage operations need updating. There is already Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (although at present it is based at Poole Lighthouse which has a medium sized theatre and a separate concert hall within the same building. BSO seems to act in some sort of partnership with Bristol, as all the concerts are repeated in both towns. So within the connurbation there are three excellent theatres, large, medium and small. ENB could still mount full size classics, but smaller offshoots could produce works at the other theatres ready for touring! There is a very strong feeling locally that the BSO is "our orchestra" and is well supported - perhaps ENB should look to this sort of model!

I have no personal experience of BATD, but two good schools in this area (Dorset) use their syllabus. As ever I suppose it is the quality of the teacher that counts, rather than the exam board.

As we have no classical companies based in the South, how about moving to Southampton - ENB regularly appears at The Mayflower. It is a thriving city with good transport, by rail, air & sea but still not too far from London!

Many moons ago when ENB was still called Festival Ballet, they were obliged by their charter to hold an open audition every year. This was before they had their own school. So I, along with over a hundred other dancers, took part a couple of times. As far as anyone could see, nobody was ever offered a contract from this audition. The rumour was that dancers at RBS had already been seen in their class, and routinely they were offered the jobs. So would holding an open audition really help? Most auditions these days are by invitation only. With the advent of electronic communication, applicants send a CV, personal statement and photos and/or video. Just getting an audition sometimes seems a triumph!