aileen

I find the idea of 5 and 6 year old girls going on pointe grotesque, however keen, talented, mature etc they are. I feel differently about 9 and 10 year olds, though. Girls physically mature earlier these days and some 9/10 year olds will be doing quite a lot of ballet. By international standards girls in the UK seem to start pointe work quite late and I feel that this must put them at a disadvantage when they are auditioning for 6th form places.

I would take your DD out of the Sports Day and I would inform (rather than ask for permission) the head of year/middle school or whoever that your DD is doing her GRADE 8 ballet exam and cannot attend Sports Day for that reason. Don't speak to the PE teacher as you are unlikely to get a sympathetic response. Don't specify the time of the exam and do collect your DD from school before the start of the afternoon (I'm assuming that it is an afternoon rather than a whole day). I would do the same thing if it was a higher music exam as well. Sports Days are just not that important!

Wulff, are 60% of the RB's dancers really British, as opposed to British trained?

Congratulations to Alex O-C who is starting for England in a couple of minutes time!

I see that ENB are recruiting a new Marketing Manager, initially on a 6 month contract. I don't know how long this position has been advertised but the closing date is next Monday. Let's hope that ENB's marketing improves following the appointment, particularly in the areas of the website, mailings/e-mailings, friends' schemes, merchandising and pricing (including multi-buy, student and family discounts).

Ann, I'm not a particular admirer of Tamara as a dancer. Only time will tell how effective she is as an AD. For me, it is an advantage that she has been member of ENB (and Scottish Ballet before that) because she should have become aware of the financial pressures and artistic constraints which affect smaller, less wealthy companies which have a remit to tour. It is all very well wanting to have an exciting repertoire (I'm sure all the previous ADs wanted that as well) but this desire has to be balanced against financial reality. ENB are in a completely different position to the Royal and always will be unless they manage to secure substantial additional funding the possibility of which is vanishingly small, at least for the foreseeable future.

The Spanish are night-owls and so the late start will not be a problem for them. In Spain we usually found that we were leaving the restaurant as the Spanish were arriving around 10.30pm. I don't know how any visiting Americans will cope, though. They used to be leaving the restaurant just as we were arriving!

I hope that Tamara does not get distracted by any planned guest performances. She has been appointed as (and is going to be paid to be) ENB's Artistic Director and she needs to give her full time and attention to this role. I know that I am very much in a minority here but I did not particularly like M&A last year and I'm only going to see it again next season because it is programmed with two other ballets which I would like to see. I should also say that I am not a particular admirer of Tamara which, again, I know places me in a tiny minority.

What a lovely place to perform in. The Alhambra in Granada is one of my favourite places. Lucky BRB. Are you going Janet? I know that you are a travelling BRB fan.

You can't sell goods in less than perfect condition at full price. It makes no commercial sense to accept them. If you are the lady who is setting up a new dancewear business you want to get off to a good start and selling shoddy goods will give you a poor reputation (even if you do give a discount - which you won't want to do having paid full price for them). You must (pleasantly but firmly) explain to whoever supplied them why the goods will not be accepted and ask them to replace them. If the supplier is difficult about this you will need to go direct to the manufacturers (whose quality control leaves something to be desired). If the manufacturer is difficult about replacing the goods then you may need to stop ordering from them.

Norman, as an ENB supporter I'm glad that Tamara is ambitious for ENB. However, they are in a very different position to the Royal, having far less money and a commitment to tour. In their favour, however, they do have some very good young talent particularly in the male dancers. I'm interested to see what Tamara's plans for the company are.

Does anyone have any information about the replacement cast for A Month in the Country (Yanowsky/Pennefather) in the forthcoming triple bill?

On the face of it, it seems a strange decision for him. I don't think that he has any connections to Russia. I was pretty sure that he would go to the US if he joined another ballet company.

Thank you for this information, InvitationtoDance. My DD is too young for this year's course but I'll bear it in mind for future years.

What ages and levels of ability is the course aimed at? I can't seem to find this information on the website.

Primrose, your daughter is a couple of years younger than Joy and a huge amount can be achieved in two years. It may not be quite the same thing, but my son changed violin teachers after making very little progress for two years and after less than six months with the new teacher his playing was transformed. Although it is important to clock up enough hours "practising" it is equally important to have excellent teaching. I'm confident that with the demanding training which your DD is receiving in Russia and her strength of character she has as good a chance of succeeding as anyone else.

Very many congratulations to your daughter, primrose. To go so far away from home to a very different environment for your vocational training, with the added challenge of learning a difficult foreign language, really shows what an exceptional person your daughter must be. She must have tremendous strength of character and I'm sure that this greatly increases her chances of succeeding in her chosen field. I hope that you and your family have a lovely summer together.

Apologies if this information has already been posted, but who is replacing Yanowsky and Pennefather in the forthcoming triple bill or are they expected to be fit in time for this production?

I agree with you, taxi. You can be the best dancer in the world but a poor teacher. Knowing how to do something yourself is different from teaching someone else how to do the same thing. A really good teacher has a degree of empathy and excellent communication skills. It's absolutely vital that teachers know how to avoid injuries in their students as well. As for CRB checks, I would be astonished if a dance teacher was not checked (even if it was not strictly legally required) when Sunday School teachers, choirmasters, Saturday morning football coaches, parent helpers in schools, most of whom are volunteers, are now all CRB-checked.

David, on looking on the web for Chelsea Ballet SCHOOL I came across an amateur adult company called Chelsea Ballet which may be of interest to you in the future. It stages ballets and runs week-long workshops. I don't know anything about it but it may be worth having a look at. I notice that Gary Avis is the company's patron (what a busy man he is).

I should have added that some ballet teachers are experts in the art of damning with faint praise. My husband used to find open classes hilarious for this reason and we have some on video!

Taxi and spooky, the problem is that the approach of most ballet teachers is the direct opposite of that of most school teachers. Ballet teachers are hyper-critical and tend to focus on what is wrong whereas school teachers are trained to emphasise the positive and to overlook mistakes to some extent in order to maintain a child's confidence and enthusiasm. I think that when a child starts ballet the approach of the ballet teacher often comes as a bit of a shock to the child and the parents who are more used to the cosy world of the primary school where criticism is couched in very careful and sometimes oblique terms and there is a lot of talk of one's child being a lovely girl etc.

Julie, how do the boys build up their upper body strength?

Julie, I've long wondered how the boys can physically cope with the demands of partnering when they are still in their teens, given the fact that boys can still be growing, certainly in their mid-teens, and can also be very skinny until they fill out in their twenties. I still find it astonishing that Sergei Polunin entered the RB at 17 and, as a principal, was expected to do a substantial amount of partnering work at 19. Vadim Muntagirov at ENB took on the role of Siegfried at just 20. The fact is that the ballerinas are generally getting taller, and therefore heavier, however skinny they are. I simply don't know how these very young men manage. I'm surprised that they don't have back and shoulder injuries all the time.

Why don't they change Elmhurst's name to The Birmingham Royal Ballet School? It would then be really clear to foreign ballet companies that the school has a strong connection to Birmingham Royal Ballet.