Dance*is*life

So she's going to be able to do both? Yeh for her! And yes. I agree it shows guts and morality! Also, well done to you for raising her and implanting in her such ethics.

I would actually ask the exam teacher to move the rehearsal even if it seems a cheek. She has shown herself to be very sympathetic and has tried to compromise for your daughter. I would actually be upset if after all that it didn't work out. I'll tell you what happened with our exams. Three girls who are together in the same High School dance stream came to me horrified that on the day of their RAD Intermediate exam, they had a serious maths exam. I contacted our local organiser and she gave me permission to change our exam groups around. I moved the three other girls into their exam slot and moved them to a later date. All was sorted - or so I thought. The high school dance stream performance was that same week and the Principal told them that they needed to be in rehearsal at the time of their ballet exam and she couldn't release them because it was a lighting rehearsal. I had to move their exam yet again and wouldn't you know it, the maths exam, which started the whole story, was postponed and moved to the new Inter exam date!!!! Luckily it didn't actually clash, but instead of coming in early and warming up carefully, they had to rush over from the exam and get ready in about 30 minutes. In the end they did the maths exam, the ballet exam and the dance stream performance successfully, in spite of everything. So yes, I would talk to the exam teacher again!

What do they have to do and what are the prizes? Am I right in thinking that these award days are held all over the UK? Good luck to all participating!

I am not surprised that you found it hard to pick up! Talk about tricky! And fiendishly difficult technically! I thought that music was actually used for a girl's fairy variation, but I may be mistaken, because I can't find it now! I do prefer the version danced by Duncan Lyle (he's gorgeous!). Flows more and less steps crammed in.

Can you give us a link to the Beauty Pas de Cinq? I'm not quite sure what you're referring to and if I see the choreography I might have some idea why you found it harder! I would just say that I have seen the Swan Lake pas de trois and its variations taught to students in short courses and they found it easy to pick up (performing it is another matter!). The choreography is quite straightforward and not what I would call "tricky" technically or musically. If you were taught it clearly and well, I could see why it wouldn't be too hard for an experienced dancer such as yourself to pick up quickly. As I say I am not sure which piece of choreography you are referring to in Beauty, so can't comment.

I once took a photo of a door propped wide open. Why did I take a picture of an open door? Because it had written on it in large red letters Please keep this door closed.............

Sorry Aileen I was referring to the RAD allowing split-soled pointe shoes and my not having a clue as to what they are. I was speculating as to whether or not they mean pointe shoes with part of the sole sliced off, but I honestly have never heard of them before they were suddenly allowed by the RAD! In the company I work with as character artist, they all wear soft canvas split soled ballet shoes for the whole of class and pointe shoes are kept for rehearsals and performances.

I wonder when they refer to split sole pointe shoes (which is a wierd concept to me) if they are talking about the practise of slicing off part of the sole of the pointe shoe close to the heel or splitting it in that position in order to stop the backs breaking. Otherwise I really can't understand it, because once the backs go I find that my students (unless they're really, really strong) can't work in the shoes. I agree about boys being OK in canvas and we have found anyway that once they get into the adult size feet range, you can't buy anything but canvas split soles.

I personally don't allow my students to wear canvas split soles as I really don't think they give enough support or resistance and they wear out very quickly. I do allow them to wear leather split soles, but I only teach from Grade 5 up. Bloch has a split sole with just a diamond of material under the instep and the rest is leather. You can hardly tell that they're wearing split soles. I have actually had students wear these shoes for exams, before it was allowed. If the leather split soles were the only shoes in the child's size available and that's what they have been wearing all year, I am not going to ask them to get new shoes for the exam, which is expensive enough already. No examiner has ever said anything and it has certainly not affected their marks. I would let your daughter wear what looks good on her, what feels comfortable and what her teacher allows.

Thanks so much afds - I have just ordered the Nerina/Blair Fille from Amazon! I shall look forward to wallowing in nostalgia!

1) ABT Don Q with Baryshnikov (no-one quite does it like Misha) 2) RB R & J either Eagling and Ferri or Bonelli and Cuthbertson 3) RB Beauty with the divine Cojocaru 4) RB Manon with Penny/Dowell and Wall 5) RB Fille with Collier and Coleman (though I'd prefer Nerina if they ever release it on DVD!) 6) Can I have six - pretty please - ? RB Bayadere with Darcey Bussell and Asylmuratova or maybe Cinderella with Ashton and Helpman as the Uglies I remember in the days before videos (yes there was a time) when an amazing exhibition of the Royal Ballet and Opera companies was held at the Army and Navy Stores in the Strand. They showed clips from performances and one of them was of the Balcony Scene from R & J with Fonteyn and Nureyev. I think I just stood there and watched it over and over until they closed for the day! The entrance to the exhibition was going past a replica of the stage door keepers box into the wings at the side of the stage. It was incredible - they managed to duplicate the cold air at the side of the stge and that particular smell that the old theatres used to have.

I do think that IF/Grade 6 is a bit behind for 14. The average age is normally 11 to 13. However, if she can take her Intermediate and start working on Advanced 1 before she's 16 that would be fine. What I understand from your post is that she only joined this school about 7 or 8 months ago. If she hadn't done RAD before it would make sense that the school would want her to start at IF level to give her a better grounding for the new vocational exams. I entered students for the new Inter this year and they found it incredibly difficult to accomplish, because they had only done the Higher Grades and had no follow through for the exercises. The girls who took the new IF last year and are working towards Intermediate next year are finding it much easier. Can you increase the number of lessons she takes a week? The amount of training hours makes a huge difference in strengthening technique. Additional lessons would push her on a lot. When schools ask for your exam level it is really only to give them an idea of where you are in your training - the real test is in how well you do in the audition class, so obviously the wider the vocabulary of steps a student has the better, because it makes it easier to pick up the more advanced enchainements and do them well.

I believe Pastel noted that her daughter slept in froggies at night and I just wanted to add a word of warning to all this frenzied stretching. I know of a girl who ruined her hips sleeping in froggies for hours on end. She had been training full time at vocational school and had to give up dancing altogether. She eventually became a successful actress in film and TV instead, so it worked out OK for her in the end, but still not a nice thing to happen. So please people do be careful - hip replacements are very successful nowadays, but your own original hips are better.........

This confirms what I am always telling parents about ballet training - that it is a really positive thing for their children to do. With the culture of instant gratification nowadays the fact that children stick at something which is incredibly hard, takes endless practise and advances slowly is a miracle and will, I am sure, stand them in good steed for the rest of their lives. I will never forget working in a social services office as a temp for a period when I was "resting" . My job, along with the other ladies of the typing pool, was to type out the handwritten reports of the social workers. I found the reports fascinating for a start, so I typed them out at top speed eager to read the next bit and well because I had a lifetime of training behind me that made it impossible for me not to work to the best of my ability and full out! The other secretaries hated me and I was told in no uncertain terms to slow down, because they would be expected to maintain my high output long after I was gone!

The free movement dance in grade 6 is really lovely, if done in the right style, and is probably a nicer dance than the classical, but in my experience it is vital to teach both dances and only then decide what really suits each student. If the free movement isn't "free" enough and there's not enough relaxed movement and flow it won't get the points, so for this reason the classical is actually easier, especially as hfbrew mentioned above you have two different tempi to choose from. It's amazing, actually, what a difference the music makes to the dynamics of the classical dance and I always find that some dancers suit the 6/8 timing and some the 3/4 and end up with a mixture. I would ask the teacher to teach your daughter the classical (it doesn't take long to teach)in her private lesson and let her work on dancing it to both the musical pieces. If she's not taking the exam until the Autumn, she has plenty of time to work on both the classical and the free movement and then to decide which one is best for her. I always try and vary the study choices, otherwise it's so boring for the examiner!

I am always nagging my students to learn to sew - I honestly think one day I will run a sewing class so they can see how easy it is! Their mothers don't seem to know how to sew either - they always tell me that they have to wait for Grandma to sew the ribbons or elastics on! Or they take them to a seamstress, who invariably sews them in the wrong place and charges far too much. I think it's good that WL forces them to fend for themselves - it will become easier in time and dancers really do need to know how to sew!

Ideally a student should have twice a week classes in ballet that compliment each other. One class a week in other dance genres can be added on as the child progresses. In our school we add on modern first with an option of flamenco as well and finally jazz. It can be very confusing to have classes that clash in their expectations of level of technique and/or differences in terminology, so for that reason we wait until students are above RAD Intermediate Foundation before adding on a class with a Russian teacher to widen their horizons. Even then they come to me with questions about the teacher wanting something different from me and I have to explain that it's fine - correct technique is correct technique, but there are different versions of the more advanced exercises and becoming aware of these variations in style and execution is important. Having said that a child on the level of Grade 2 needs more practise on the same basic steps in order to advance, rather than to be taught a mixture of confusing styles and steps which she doesn't do enough of to become proficient in them.

I just read the response to the original article and one sentence she quoted from that, suddenly brought on an "Excuse me!!!!!!" in my head. Her daughter is 9 and yet she wrote "after eight years of .... and grand jetes" etc etc. So when on earth did she start her daughter dancing - in the cradle? And 8 years of grand jetes? Hmmm........

I just feel that the mother's reaction was rather too drastic. Kids at 8 often go through phases and believe all sorts of stupid things they hear from other kids - it's up to the parents to explain and sort things out. It may well be that at this particular school there is a tendency to emphasize body image and if the parents are concerned, then I think they should have talked to their daughter, her teacher, and even the Director about it. If after all that they saw that there was indeed a problem then they always have the option of moving her to another school, where the atmosphere may be less charged, rather than removing her from ballet altogether. The point is we don't know from the article if the parents actually did anything, apart from removing her from ballet,and this is probably because the newspaper wanted to sensationalise the whole thing. It is very easy to manipulate readers. By the way lots of dance students don't like to eat before a class as the food tends to sit there and makes them feel heavy. When I have a 9 0' clock class, for example, I eat breakfast first and then get washed and dressed etc, so as to give myself more time to digest the food before dancing. And lollipops are a no-no in most families nowadays, as they ruin teeth, so not a particularly alarming reaction. As someone said perhaps a school teacher gave a healthy eating talk!

How extreme to remove her from ballet altogether! Perhaps she could just have moved schools? And why make a big fuss about it in the papers? Poor kid! I was rather surprised to see so many comments backing the parents for exposing their daughter in order to bring the problem to the public's notice. One person however made a clever comment - "First time I've seen dancing and sinister used in the same sentence" I would be very interested in knowing whether or not there was a higher percentage of anorexia in teenagers who learn ballet and teenagers who don't. All the rest is just scandal mongering....

I have tickets for it in July, but the reviews seem mixed. Has anyone seen it? They wrote that there wasn't much of a spark between the leading couple - do you agree?

And you know you can apply to a school and not be accepted and then what do you do? I think you should apply, audition and see which schools are willing to accept you and then do the research. Visit the schools and try and see the facilities and get an idea of the atmosphere. All the big schools are excellent. A student of mine was accepted for 3 Summer schools at RBS, but didn't get taken on for student training there, much to his disappointment. However, Elmhurst accepted him with alacrity as did Central. He decided on Elmhurst, because it was residential and because of its connection with BRB and it was a wonderful experience and first class training. We'll never know if he would have been better off at Central, but he became a very good professional dancer, so who cares?

In my day the adjudicators would remark on any dance that was not age appropriate and I have to say that I am shocked by some of the routines I've seen. Both the costumes and the movements are ultra "suggestive" and not the sort of thing children should be doing. The trouble is that something like this case will probably stir up a can of worms about teachers physically touching their students in order to correct them.

Did anyone ever see a BBC play called "Happy Feet"? I have it recorded somewhere on video and must get it transferred to DVD - they never released it generally, which was a real shame. It was wonderful! All about a group of kids from a stage school travelling on the coach to a competition with their teacher and her dad who's the pianist. There's an hilarious incident in it, when some rival school's pianist is seen trying to identify their music, presumably for future use. The father decides to cover the sheet music with brown paper, so that no-one can see what he's playing, but it muddles him as well and he starts playing the wrong music for their star pupil. The poor little girl stops in the middle and comes forward so the judge can see her (the judge gets more and more tipsy from drink as the comp continues) and says pathetically - Please Miss it's the wrong music! It was really true to life and they showed quite a lot of the dances including an excellent boy (forerunner of Billy Elliot).

Oh no I lived in South London when I was a child,Tulip, so the bus journey was between 40 and 60 minutes, depending on traffic, to get into central London. We didn't have a tube where I lived, so bus was the best way to get anywhere. I do understand your mum's reluctance to take a train, but even with a loo on the bus, I don't think I'd like to sit 9 hours on a coach! The trains are so good nowadays, on time and quick.You can reserve a seat too and if you book in advance at certain hours of the day you can find really cheap fares.