tabitha

If you have a WL offer which you plan to accept, it seems unfair to go to other auditions and waste everyone's time. Assessors will spend time assessing a child who has already decided to go elsewhere when they could be spending more time assessing the children who really want the place. The idea that you should go in case you get assessed out of WL is frankly ludicrous. You will have changed considerably both physically and as a dancer by then as it will be at least 2 years on (WL don't assess out in yr7 anymore) and the other schools will assess you at the time should it happen.

Oh me too Snowflake, I love Lancôme Teint Idole 24 hour. It's the only foundation that I have found that is not heavy or Carey and lastst all day. It still looks as good at the end of the day as the beginning. And I have tried just about every new 'miracle' foundation, BB,CC, tinted moisturiser etc going!

I know people say that it is an old wives tale that chocolate causes spots but my DD finds that if she eats sugar, she has breakouts whereas if she has a diet that avoids sugar and processed foods (which behave like sugar) like white bread or pasta and has a lot of fruit and veg, it pretty much keeps her clear.

Well schools such as RBS, ENBS and Elmhurst teach mostly classical ballet and that is their predominant genre. They also teach other genres e.g. they may have a couple of contemporary ballet lessons a week or even a flamenco class, but that is a small fraction of the time spent on classical. Many of the other schools teach classical ballet as the foundation of all dance styles but tend to focus on a more rounded curriculum and wouldn't expect the amount of training time on classical ballet to be sufficient to land them a job at say the Royal Ballet. So yes in theory all schools teach a variety of skills but in practice they tend to specialise.

Yes ballet companies do 'all sorts of dance' but there are those who do a large proportion of classical ballet with some contemporary ballet e,g Royal Ballet, and there are those which do mostly contemporary ballet with little or no classical e,g. Rambert. And then there is contemporary dance (as opposed to contemporary ballet). Yes you have to be versatile but when most of your training has been classical ballet and that's your love, it's disheartening to join a company where there is little or no classical, even if you can do other genres of dance. And by the way Classical doesn't just mean the so called 'white ballets' - it refers to the style of ballet - there are plenty of other, recently choreographed classical ballets such as those which David Bintley produces for BRB on a regular basis.

Yes you're right. Her contract with Phantom wasn't listed along with the other graduate contracts in 2013 in the end of year performance programme.

Depending on your definition of classical, I think there are roughly a couple of girls and a couple of boys taken on each year by each company, depending on the year, so maybe about 20 jobs each year? Well there are more students than that in any one year of any vocational school. And as for Germany / Europe, all the major companies have affiliated schools who are also producing similar numbers of students each year for a similar ratio of jobs. I know lots of students have ended up bitterly disappointed after failing to get a classical job that they have spent many years training for. Some end up in more contemporary companies and others give up or go into teaching.

I think she went from RBS to Laines and then Phantom.

I agree sarahw. I'm afraid I can't be as light-hearted about it as some, given the huge financial contribution and major compromise of academics, it seems fairly harsh to end up without a job at the end of it. Yes there are many good experiences and positives but at what price? And what if you don't want to teach?

It is definitely an over-subscribed profession and there are hundreds of dancers out there competing for each position. The problem is the outcome is unpredictable when you start, so it's a leap of faith for a white knuckle ride! The one thing that does seem more difficult in ballet compared to 'normal' companies is that the selection is totally subjective and down to the whims and preferences of one person (the AD) which can be difficult to understand. Certainly where I work there are clear selection criteria and a moderation panel. Even if lucky enough to get a job, your career may not progress as desired. There are many still in the corps after 5 years and still some remain after 10 years and I don't think anyone really trains for 8 years at vocational school with a dream of getting to the corps and progressing no further. It is also a very demanding profession and it takes a lot of sacrifice to succeed - starting in the morning with company class, followed by rehearsals and then an evening performance, getting home bone tired at midnight to get up and do it all again day after day. There is little opportunity to have any kind of life outside ballet and life inside can be tinged by competitive tension; as Lauren Cuthbettson said recently, she doesn't really have any friends in the company, just colleagues, so it can be very lonely. Probably all worth it if you're going to be the next principal but otherwise maybe not, no matter how great your passion for dancing. There is a romantic ideal of being totally self-sacrificing for the sake of your passion and not being able to live without dance - but practicalities of life are still there - still got to pay the bills.

Hi Pastel, I have no direct experience of this to share but I am aware of recent graduates who joined RB and ENB who clubbed together to share flats and have managed to find reasonably OK accommodation in not too bad an area e.g. Barons Court appears to be a favourite where the trade-off between price, standard of accommodation, distance from the centre and decent area seems to be optimum. I think it's a struggle and like you say, travelling late at night is fine in the centre but it can feel very deserted when you arrive back at the suburbs. I guess the key thing will be if she can share with others and where her company is based which will decide whether there are affordable areas not too far away. Good luck with her auditions!

Which schools do graduate tours and are they helpful in gaining contracts?

I don't understand why they have to be a GRADUATE? I would have thought that some of the best qualified teaching assistants in dance and drama would be those who have completed a vocational Upper School course, perhaps even at RBS itself?

I think RB should continue to increase the proportion of Ashton in the programme and take greater care of its heritage in the same way that RDB does or NYC. Unfortunately it will take more than extra classes. Some dancers will always struggle with Ashton either physically or just because of entrenched other styles of dance from a young age. For me, I am not interested in seeing Ashton works unless they are done exceptionally well and this would require a return to casting for suitability as opposed to status e.g. I don't see Osipova ever looking entirely comfortable in an Ashton ballet. It seems that those dancers best suited to Ashton seem to be those who have trained in it from a young age through White Lodge and Upper School, but even then, not all students can master it. Inevitably those who shine most brilliantly in the Ashton style are then not selected for the company due to not having the ballet characteristics that are currently in fashion. However, just very occasionally someone will have all required attributes and they should be given the lead roles and maybe a greater focus on Ashton will again change the focus of the recruitment policy to enable a greater level of competency across the whole company.

It is extremely rare now for major European ballet companies to offer full company contracts to student graduates. They tend to offer either apprentice contracts which have a high success rate of converting to full company status or Junior company contracts which have a reasonable rate of success with transition to full company. Both are obtained through either open or private audition. Aud Jebsen apprentices are the RB apprentice contracts which just happen to be named (in recognition of their funded/sponsor). There is no 'application process' - they are filled like all RB company positions through invite to private audition. They will generally filled by RBS students but could be filled by anyone that the AD likes the look of as he travels round the schools. I am aware that some apprentice and junior positions pay can be very low e.g. £300 per month and often need additional support. Graduate schemes like Northern Ballet's graduate scheme aim to provide further training to bridge the gap from school to company, but I would see these sitting below apprentices with an even lower conversion rate than junior companies. You usually have to pay the company for a place. I have not come across unpaid graduate positions - anyone got any examples of these? I am also aware that some schools keep graduates on while they look for jobs - Elmhurst is the one I know of which does this but there may be others.

Oh so pleased she found a place that she is happy with. I wish her the best of luck again this year with everything. It is a shame that there are a lot of jobs out there in smaller companies, both in this country and in Europe but as you say, paying barely enough to live on.

All great value for us but for the dancers that are over there, their pay is very low too.

Tulip, just resurrecting this post to ask how your DD and friends got on with their auditions last year and what they are doing now? Hope it all worked out well in the end.

Maybe Nina, but it was embarrassingly poor and I felt let down. This adds to a list of recent variable experiences and I don't think I will be venturing to ROH again for a while. I don't think a handful of stars can make up for the rest of the company, especially if you aren't lucky enough to see the stars.

I was really disappointed with the performance yesterday. It felt like the C list main cast and most of them were simply not up to the job sadly. I don't know if it was wrong casting or lack of capability. I was also disappointed with the corps, some of them looked like they were out for a Sunday stroll and lots of wobbly legs at the beginning of Flowers. Just not what I expected from a world class ballet company.

I know we are all human, but I am not sure I want to see the warts and all as I can't help thinking about it when I see them on stage, when all I really want is to be transported into another unattainable universe. It may be that if you are in and around ballet and the ballet community a lot then you are quite comfortable with seeing their real lives. But as Aileen points out, some people only touch this world once or twice a year and may be shocked to see some of the reality of their Sugar Plum Fairy's life.

Oops sorry Janet, hadn't realised this post was already started.

I am interested in views on dancers being on social media e.g. facebook, instagram, twitter, and how much should be shared? Does it spoil the illusion created on stage if you then see the same dancer posting pictures of their personal life e.g. parties, holidays, relationships etc. Are dancers who use social media to build their brand / profile actually more successful than those who don't in securing contracts, promotions? If you know that a dancer doesn't behave very well off stage or isn't a nice person, does it affect how you view their on stage ability?

Also very disappointed with the repeat of photos from recent years. Seems very much like an afterthought this year.

MAB much of what you say could apply to RB as well. Young dancers are selected for virtuosity with less account taken of musicality or artistry, the assumption being that this can be developed, but this is not necessarily the case. There are also some dancers in the ranks who have been there a long time, since the previous AD, who are somewhat sidelined. Alongside the lack of obvious vision for the direction of the company, it feels like RB is as much in transition as ENB.