Dance*is*life

Thank you so much. I will pass it all on to the teacher. There are really a lot of options!

Really! Thanks!

Thank you!!!!

A young teacher here is interested in studying for an MA in Choreography in the UK - preferably London area. Just wondered if anyone here has any suggestions or has experience in this? I know the University of Surrey has several dance degrees and I also wondered about The Place. She'd be very grateful for any advice!

Gosh yes - I wouldn't let a student send in photos without my approval. There are so many things to check on! Especially in that leg in the air out to the side (à la seconde en l'air) . Is her supporting leg turned out, pulled up, foot not rolling, body centered, arms well held etc etc? Even the easier ones are tough and when they choose you just by looking with a practised professional eye at your photos they'd better be good! She really needs a teacher to check the photos before sending them. Thank goodness for digital cameras on phones! I used to spend a fortune developing photos and throwing most of them!

June Dancer, perhaps you can do three weeks - I just asked about two really out of curiosity, but anyway most of the younger students only do one. My student has also applied for week two, which as you say now seems to be the week which will fill up the quickest. If they invite her for the third week, I am not sure she will accept, because I can't come and watch during the third week and as it is if she does get in it will be quite an adventure for her! She's only 13 and the fact that I'll be there to support her is important.

I asked on FB and Iain said that those applying for two weeks could apply for either weeks one and two or weeks two and three. It's wonderful that they've opened up more places!

Sorry just wanted to get something straight - are you saying that she does 4 ballet classes a week plus other classes in different genres? At the beginning you mentioned 4 classes and in your last post 12 hours, so I'm a bit confused! If she's 15 and wants to develop as a dancer, she should at least have passed her Intermediate and be working on the Advanced levels. It doesn't sound as if she's getting what she needs at her current school. If you can find a school that can offer more intensive training within a reasonable driving distance, I think you should seriously think about transferring her.

I wanted to add that YBSS are adding a third week. Anyone doing two weeks can choose either weeks one and two or weeks two and three - I asked! The problem is that that means that week two is going to be full and I have a student who has applied for just that week 🙁. I really hope that she will be accepted - it's a wonderful course and the standard is very high. The evening masterclasses are fantastic! I have watched for the last couple of years and hope to visit again this coming summer.

Well Invisable Circus I agree with you - the RAD may have been talking about unqualified teachers, because well that's what they advocate, but I come from a dancer background and never attended a teachers course. I did get qualified right at the beginning when the RAD decreed that you had to be, I even took their teaching exams to do it properly, but I personally believe that experience and your own knowledge gathered from years of training is what's important. There are some wonderful teachers out there, who may, like you, be considered 'unqualified' but whilst theoretical knowledge taught on a teaching course is obviously good to have, I would suggest that that alone does not make you a qualified teacher - it's the years of hard work and experience that follow. Of course one of the main problems in all this is that the majority of parents don't really understand whether the teacher is good, bad or indifferent. All you lovely parents on here excepted of course ! But I once nearly lost a good friend because when she asked me along to her daughter's recital, I'm afraid I told her in no uncertain terms that it was dreadful - not a single child knew any actual dance steps even the older ones! This was a highly intelligent woman, who simply had no knowledge of what her child should be learning. And indeed why should she? So whilst it may help to check out a teacher's credentials, it is and will remain a problem.

I think some of the remarks are referring to older children joining a school without basic technique. I think the article is a bit misleading, but it is very true that correct teaching from the word go is vital, no matter what age the child. I started at 3 and 4 months with a brilliant teacher of "babies" , Nancy Robinson in Streatham and that wonderful start set me off on a lifetime of dance. In my year alone most continued on to professional careers. My Great Niece started going to ballet around the corner from her home. She was there four years without advancing significantly - the student teachers working with the class just shouted corrections and orders the whole lesson. The qualified teacher in charge didn't seem to check on them. Such a waste. There's nothing wrong with having teenage assistants, but they shouldn't be running the classes in my opinion.

I wanted to add to my post above and for some reason can't edit it. My response was to what Peanut said that training in sports is similar to professional training and a career in dance. The demands on our bodies are sometimes just too great. Gymnasts sadly pay an even higher price in damage to their bodies. I suppose that's the price of excellence. I know someone who was actually crippled from being a super efficient stenographer. It is very sad when it happens to someone like Andy Murray who achieved so much and has given so much to his chosen sport. He is still young and hopefully he will eventually find another outlet for his talents - perhaps in coaching - teaching is very rewarding.

When I got married I turned to teaching. I always said that when I gave up dancing I would become a teacher, but in the end I have carried on dancing all my life, without, I am grateful to be able to say, any major problems. I often think the fact that I only had a short performing career, but kept up taking classes, put less strain on my body. I often read about dancers almost crippled from overuse of their joints- it's very sad. With all the modern methodology getting purportedly better results, I still feel that our old fashioned training was somehow gentler on the body.

Great! Thanks very much everyone.

I was going to recommend Premier Inn to the mother, but some of them are more expensive than others. I'll mention Old Street then. Is that the nearest Premier Inn to Central do you know? What is the nearest tube station? I visited years ago and simply don't remember. Thanks so much for your help!

Hi just wondering if anyone can recommend a good place to stay near Central for the summer school. Student will be with a parent. Hotel/b/b/ flatlet whatever. Thanks.

Happy Christmas and a wonderful 2019 full of joy and ballet!

Well I just wanted to say thank you for posting this variation - it is amazing! What I love about Baryshnikov is how he achieves perfection with seemingly no effort whatsoever! As someone wrote above - he just floats in the air! About the terminology used in non English speaking countries, I think you'll find they stay the same, just the counting and connecting words are in the country's own language. Well done for wanting to get it right - it always annoys me when authors use totally impossible combinations of steps, just to try and make it appear authentic, presumably believing that the reader won't know the difference.

Thank you all very much! Most useful!!

Has anyone heard of a good summer school in Brussels? I promised a student that I would find out for her. Thanks.

I discovered quite by chance on youtube a spanish piece by Elgar! It's called Sevillana Scene Espagnole. I used it for my pointe dance last recital and it was a huge success!

The latest RAD syllabi are very different from the old ones and certainly the choreography is far more creative than it used to be. There is one free enchainement and the format has just been changed slightly. The examiner can choose between three focal steps and use whatever she likes from a list of linking steps. There is a choice of two dances, one classical or one neo/modern. Demi-pointe shoes must be worn, but they can be old pointe shoes with the inner sole removed. The actual pointe work is fairly simple. 3 exercises on the barre and two in the centre, plus the reverence......... put simply wearing demi-pointes prepares you for working in pointe shoes on stage.ointework

Yup - I can vouch for that! My husband and three sons totally make me feel like Tiny Tim!

Definitely an important point! In the 60s when I was looking for work I lost several possibles because of height - my lack of! Although I was 1.62m which isn't too bad. I remember doing a class audition with the Stuttgart Ballet and feeling totally as if I were in the land of giants! Marcia Haydee, their star, was tiny and all the corps were tall in order to emphasize this. Although they liked me, they couldn't accept me, because I wasn't ready to start as anything but corps. Such is life! Of course the bonus was that I often got picked at RBS to be Wayne Sleep's rep and pas de deux partner😊

Oh yes - I quite agree and that is indeed a problem. I think that children, even today, are educated from the word go, not to question a teacher's decision, so it can be very hard for them to stand up for themselves if the need arises.