Pas de Quatre

I think the big difference is that in most countries outside UK ballet classes are longer because tap and modern would not be taken. The whole of the after school time would be for ballet so there would be no problem with a 90 min class. In my ballet school more advanced classes are at least 75 mins and the longest one is a special coaching class including pointework of an hour and three quarters but I know that is unusual.

Best of luck to your dd Tulip - she looks beautiful in her photos, they are sure to want her (it seems so long since I saw her in the flesh!). And also good luck to all others auditioning for 3rd year. Do you know if any current 3rd years have offers yet for after graduation?

Nice film. The only point I would dispute is where the dancer says that lots of companies only do one thing and ABT is special because it does classical and contemporary. Maybe this is true of smaller companies in USA but I would say that internationally every major company has both classical and contemporary works in its repertoire. Edited for punctuation

Up until the 1970s there was always at least a one act ballet before Giselle - I remember feeling very short changed the first time I saw Giselle presented on its own at Covent Garden. A quick dig in the cupboard and I have come up with a programme from 1967 of The Royal Ballet at Cambridge Arts Theatre (plain RB, not touring or Sadlers Wells). The first ballet of the evening was Sinfonietta by Ashton. But it is not only in Ballet that performances have shortened. Orchestral concerts used to contain more works than they do these days too. On the subject of ice cream, look out for Purbeck or New Forest, two of the best brands, made from real ingredients.

He had an article in the Times yesterday asserting he never said such a thing and has been misquoted, also that he personally is very keen on these American books.

The thing to do is practice diagonals of piqué without turning. When you can do them very strongly then you can add the turn and it will seem easier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_(ballet) All good ballet fans should know that Terpsichore is the Muse of dance, one of the three Muses in Balanchine's work Apollo. This was, and is one of his most widely danced ballets, still in the repertoire of many of the best companies in the world.

Melody - I think it is to create a cleavage. The ones my pupils were using were like this but without a fastening, i.e. two separate cups.

I agree with taxi4ballet's friend - what seems to be considered normal by some gymnastics teachers is considered totally wrong by dance teachers. We have a big gym locally run by ex-Olympic people and I have heard various stories from mums which confirm my fears.

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1282282/choreographer-inspired-michael-jackson-sony-xperia-z2 A now for something much better! Link is to a whole page, but watch the video (Idon't know how to separate it out).

Several of my teenage pupils chose to wear stick on bras (just 2 large circles that stick on) at a recent performance under low-backed pale leotards, and they worked well. One of the older girls had recommended those at Primark.

Ballet & wider dance disciplines are indeed difficult competitive careers where the auditions contain far more good dancers than there are places at Vocational Schools. DH and I were discussing an item in the newspapers yesterday which said that there were 11 applicants for every place at Medical school. These are candidates who already have been "pre-selected" by their GCSE and predicted A-level results. So dancers should not feel they are the only ones who cannot get a place for training in their chosen career.

Tring may not require a guardian in the strict legal sense, but they certainly require an arrangement in place so that the pupils have somewhere to go when the school shuts for exeats, half term and holidays. There are commercial organisations who provide this service in UK for many boarding schools, whether dance or academic.

http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php?s=75ca0856a3fd05fad8f4e28903ad33e3&act=idx Here is the link to Ballet Talk for Dancers. I have been a member there as long as I have on this board - but have a different user name. There are several useful threads about ballet schools and colleges (Universities) in USA. One thing that came up recently was that more companies do now like to take slightly older students who have gone through college with a ballet major so going to college does not mean the end of ambition for a performing career..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Royal-Ballet-Dancer-Teacher/dp/1906830665 Valerie Adams has just had this book published, it should answer a lot of questions.

It seems sadly that the good intentions were never implemented!

Congratulations!

Ribbons, I am surprised that your daughter says bras may not be worn. It was a few years ago, and I cannot remember where, either a teachers' seminar or audition practice, that this was talked about. Spaghetti straps on leotards were going to become just one option with more solid leotards available so that girls who needed bras could wear them. I was under the impression that this was a concerted move by all the schools to counter one of the pressures leading to eating problems. Are you sure this is actually the school's policy and not just one teacher? Or even the girls themselves misinterpreting something? The dance director Primrose referred to said exactly the same to my daughter in my presence, but what amused us both was that she cited Tamara Rojo as being an example of "tiny". Ms Rojo may not be very tall, but she is beautifully womanly, and has stated in many interviews and articles that she does not approve of pressures in dancers to be thin as she had received criticism in the past for her weight.

Well said Tulip. There are indeed certain stages of development when a girl's body will fill out. She may later regain a slender shape or may stay more naturally robust. What really annoys me over the whole assessing out syndrome is how short term the vision is. Experienced teachers at top schools should be aware of the natural rhythm of female development. (Boys have their own problems to worry about so I'll stick to girls here). But frequently it seems they can't see beyond the end of the current year. However I am pleased to see that nearly all Vocational schools now have cap sleeve or vest top leotards available as part of the uniform, which allows a bra to be worn.

Yes, there used to be two or three classes in each year group, and the "graduate" class were considered the best. There were also one year courses for foreign dancers to add "polish" to their training.

Thank you, a very good article.

Rambert advertise themselves as training equally for classical and contemporary. The truth is that in today's world there are few purely classical jobs. Even from Central, in the last few years, some of the boys have gained classical contracts but others have gone into contemporary dance.

Hi - you have achieved a great deal in a short time, well done! There is still a chance you may get a place from Central's waiting list. Did you try Rambert? If not it might be worth speaking to them as they are still auditioning I believe. If you are in Leeds, Northern Ballet Academy is based there, perhaps you can contact them. Even if they have nothing suitable for you at the moment, they may have suggestions where you can train before auditioning next year. I am sure other board members based in the North will be able to add further suggestions (I'm afraid I'm in the South). edited to add - Others that you could try to audition for now for entry in Sept 2014 are Ballet West and the school of Ballet Theatre UK. There are threads about both of them on this board.

The word "vocational" comes from the Latin and means a "calling". It used to be a term reserved for serious life choices such as Religion - priests, nuns, missionaries; Medicine - doctors, nurse; Law & Teaching, to give a few examples, as well as careers in the Arts. These all involved years of training, some of which could be highly academic and nearly always involved self sacrifice and dedication to a higher ideal. When did vocational come to mean non-academic and practical as the word is generally used today? I can't help feeling that it undermines the respect for the Artistic training our DKs are receiving and the teachers are providing!

I always use a professional company to film, some have been better than others. Please be aware that the copyright people are enforcing licencing quite diligently these days, you need to pay for a licence for performing on the day and for distributing DVDs.