JulieW

JA's always came first for my son and daughter. We were fortunate that groups at our local festivals were always scheduled for late on Saturdays or on a Sunday and we didn't enter with duets if there was a risk of a clash (or we covered the cost and gambled on the entry).

Congratulations BCD - very exciting for you all

Ah ha, I see - you were talking calendar year rather than academic year. I'm easily confused 😁 You did say you were hoping for a WL place in September though which is what did it - you might be applying then but you won't know about a place until either after the first audition, or after the final in the spring if fortunate to get that far. I don't wish to burst your bubble but there's a long way to go yet and an MA place is also hard to get. But it doesn't hurt to think ahead and consider all your options.

I hope you'll pop in from time to time - we'll miss you but do understand. I've hung on in there (mainly because I'm a moderator!) since Josh gave up his dance career - it's hard reading everyone's excitement around audition time and seeing the hope everyone has for a dance career when I miss it all so much, but I still enjoy watching ballet/theatre and have friends in companies or dancing freelance, so that keeps my interest alive. I find I can advise less now as times have changed but hope I can help steer people in the right direction and keep their feet on the ground. Sorry, went off on a slight tangent there - thinking of you and your daughter x

I'm a little confused - you say she currently attends year 5 JAs but then talk about going into year 7/WL in September. Not that it affects your question really, but please can you clarify how old she is. Thanks

Quite, but it didn't stop her from being asked to audition by our local teacher, nor actually get into JAs. She had a fantastic time with some wonderful opportunities with them, so I'm glad she auditioned.

Nearly 12 years on and I still go cold thinking about appraisal results. Good luck everyone - for assessments or auditions.

My daughter certainly didn't have flat turnout (decent amount but was never going to be "good enough" to be a professional), but was a RBS JA for 2 years. Good job she wanted to be a vet 😁

Well, it's now over 5 years since I started this thread, and my daughter's now in her last few months until finals and hopefully qualifying as a vet. She wants to move to the Cambridge area (very longstanding boyfriend works and lives there) so if anyone knows any vets in the area who might want a new graduate, please do let me know!! She's got a placement in the area in the spring and keeps an eye on the job press but it doesn't hurt to ask just in case any of you have any "contacts" 😉

A lot of this may also depend where you're from Jade. Are you UK based?

Resurrecting an old thread as Arthur Pita's The Little Matchgirl is back again this year. Almost sold out in London in their pre-Christmas run but I've just changed dates so released a couple of tickets for tomorrow! And there are still some available. I highly recommend it for young and old (although very sad, Arthur's given it a twist at the end to ensure youngsters leave satisfied). I love the live music and the slight whackiness about it. And if you're fortunate to see Corey Annand in the lead role, you're in for a treat (although the whole cast are fantastic). https://www.thelittlematchgirltour.com/

Her dance background certainly helped. She's been the vice-Captain, and vice-president in her time there, and has played for her campus team as well as the university team. Sadly she only gets to train occasionally with them this year as she's on work placements. I didn't know sporting colours was a thing outside of Oxbridge (never having gone to uni myself)!

My daughter went to Nottingham but sadly (from a dance point of view) she's on the Sutton Bonington campus. The dance society in Nottingham is really good I believe and there are decent dance schools in the area, but she couldn't face the one at SB as it was just too basic for her (she was looking for classes at advanced 2 level) Sadly her course is too time-consuming to spend ages traveling to things - so she took up rugby instead and LOVES it. Four years on, she misses dance but has moved on (she gets her dose of performing each year in the vet review they put on)

(newdancermum - I've moved this to its own topic otherwise it'll get hidden - let me know if you'd prefer a different title)

My 3 (boy, girl, boy) are now all grown up and working (well, nearly - dd has less than a year to go to qualify as a vet as some of you will remember) - they still call my eldest "the chosen one" as nickname. Sorry, not really given much advice on how to deal with your question but everyone laughs at his nickname in our family 😉

Thanks 2dm :-) Youngest had been in his job a week and they've promoted him!!! 21st birthday on Sunday so more to celebrate

Fantastic 2dancersmum. What a week! My son got the job he was interviewed for this week. Will give him some great experience while he looks to the future. And we had a good discussion today about paying "rent". It's a fine balancing act between him paying his way and covering his costs, and us not sounding like heartless parents by "charging" him to live with us lol. His job is walking distance from home so he won't be moving out anytime soon! Graduation on Friday and our eldest 2 are coming home to celebrate with us.

Lovely catching up with these updates. Difficult times for our young people whether dancers or not, when it comes to work. My youngest son has his provisional results from uni and he's got an overall mark of 67 giving him a 2:1. There a very slim chance that after the exam board he could get upgraded to a first as good marks have been on a steep upward curve this year, but he's (and we're) delighted with the 2:1. Final results next week and graduation the week after. Now to get a job! He's been applying to lots but he doesn't know what he wants to do (did Language Science & Psychology) - always thought he'd make a good teacher (English secondary/A level) so he's looking into that he also applying for entry admin positions and some retail stuff to just get some more work experience. He has an interview on Monday so keep your fingers crossed. Daughter happy doing her final year vet placements and feeling like a proper vet at last - but they all have a slightly petrified expression when you mention that they'll be qualified in a year lol.

Arucaria - you have had lots of lovely advice on here and it is clear you need to speak to your parents/health professional about this if you need any further clarity, so I am closing this thread. Thanks to everyone who has so thoughtfully contributed.

Here's a good topic to read to get you going...

I presume she meant for full-time training...

Welcome to our newbies! It was a long time ago now, but my eldest son got a place in July after being on the waiting list and went on to get a place at WL and a short ballet career! Youngest son also was on waiting list and didn't get a place. Just about to graduate with a non-dance related degree :-) ) and daughter got a place straight off, loved being a JA, but will hopefully be a vet in a year's time!!

Many years ago I had a son and a daughter who were JAs - the former went to WL and danced professionally for a while, the other danced for fun and now is a rugby playing vet student lol. Both had a wonderful time at JAs, dancing at the Opera House, Albert Hall and the WL summer fair, and I made some friends for life. Enjoy the auditions, they make them as enjoyable as possible. And good luck. (My youngest son also auditioned and didn't get in after being on the waiting list, so I know how that feels too - he didn't continue dancing for long afterwards but still laughs at wanting to go to WL just because his brother did and he thought it was like Hogwarts!)

I think it's wonderful that they have so much support available now (and I'm only butting in as my children are now in their 20s - but were JAs) but we would have got a thing as we're about 46 miles away from Covent Garden and it would cost us (now) about £34 every week on rail fares - which is exactly why we stuck to fortnightly classes - a lot of money on top of the class fees and other dance classes!

I'd choose Elmhurst but then I'm biased - ds was once Head Boy Personally we couldn't've afforded YDA either even with any scholarship-type they might've been able to offer. Good luck with whatever you decide.