Picturesinthefirelight

There are summer schools every single week of the summer holidays so pretty impossible to completely avoid. He is often asked for help choosing sings but without ever having heard someone sing its virtually impossible.

Also he has previously said the age would be 16 plus but I think 14/15 as dancers often audition at 16.

Midlands/North West

My husband has been toying with the idea of running an audition technique workshop for dancers who have been asked to sing as part of their audition. Could I ask a few questions? Is this something you or your child would be interested in? What sort of things would you like to see covered? When would be the best time of year eg summer before auditioning in the autumn, spring the year before you apply etc? Would you be interested in a one off half/full day session or be able to cover stuff in more depth over one or two weekends. Or is this something that would not interest you at all/there is already enough out there.

That's so sad the quays. And so sad that the secondary school didnt recognise his ability.

Hi well done to your dd I don't have a child there (though we wish shed auditioned) but I have other connections to the school.

One of the reasons we shied away was I didn't want to push dd into doing something because it was financially better for us (we are in the odd situation that vocational school would be cheaper than her current school plus dance classes) and we didn't want to appear foolish both to her current dance teacher and to dh's colleagues. She'll be fine she just needs to keep her head down and ignore the attitudes of done of the other kids at school.

I should have encouraged dd to apply for vocational school instead of putting her off because I didn't think she was good enough. She may not have got in - but now we'll never know and it would have suited her down to the ground. She has aspirations to a career in musical theatre and I know it isn't necessary to go away at 11 to achieve that but still. No one "gets" her at her ordinary school. Oddly enough she is the opposite to a lot if posters on here who worry about the singing part of the audition. She'd have flown that and she is a good dancer but not what I consider exceptional. Maybe I'm being harsh, maybe not. Not really looking for answers as such just wanted to tell people who understand the dilemmas.

My completely non dancing husband has amazed some of his same teacher colleagues with his wonderful frogs. Shame about the poise, grace, co-ordination etc!!!

I agree about full time under 16. Despite bring eligible for a generous bursary which would work out cheaper than her current independent school dd decided not to apply for the drama strand at vocational school as it would be too restricting She would get minimal dance there fir example. There are all round Musicsl theatre schools suck as Italia Continue, Sylvua Young Arts Ed etc but they are out of our reach. Dd does Stagecoach, ballet, tap, modern, dance, SC dance troupe and occasional shows.

Katymacs dd won't be applying for ballet school though she will be applying for dance/all round Musicsl theatre courses where it's not as usual to do a levels.

What a shame it clashes with rehearsals and performances of ABD's Peter Pan Musical

The freedom if information act only applies to public authorities.

Hope things went well and the snow didn't prevent anyone getting to where they needed to go. After an horrendous couple of days in Chester battling power cuts rescheduled shows and treacherous travelling conditions my poor dh then drove a minibus of my students up to Birmingham yesterday. Dd made her RAD associate class and the rest of us made a big performance of Cats. Now for a couple of weeks off.

Or it might just be that for other reasons (distance/ ethos/ family connections) WL might be a 2nd choice for some and Elmhurst/Hammond or elsewhere might be the first choice.

All the schools in my area break up on 19th July. Dd is at an independent and she breaks up on 5th July. I guess it varies by area.

It's still on. There are two episodes.

That was a thing in the ads.

I feel a tiny bit of sympathy with the mums as my hair skills are terrible. I wouldn't get drunk and brandish curling tongues around kids though.

Ok thus has surprised me a lot I expected Abby Lee to be awful. So far she isn't that bad if you see it in the context of a comp class not a normal class. I've certainly been that strict with my own daughter (but not other people's mind). On the while the mothers are terrible except for Nia's mum. And socks on bare floor are banned in all our classes too even drama.

That's quite a high grade compared to dd's dance school (she is 11 and about to do grade 3). The 12-13 year olds are grades 4/5 depending on how long they have been dancing so I wouldn't worry too latch about falling behind. But then again as I ssud the girls at dd's school are encouraged to audition for externsl things and many delay exams if they get into something.

I'd go for the later session not because if the exam mark but to make sure she has a solid grasp of the technique before moving on. This happened to dd last year because of panto but a lot of the others were in the same situation. The teacher won't enter them until they are completely ready.

That depends on the company. Some only allow licensed chaperones due to space issues - too mZny parents backstage can be a nightmare especially if that parent only wants to help their own child. Non licensed people can not be left in sole charge if a child. However dd's dance school has a few non licensed but still crb checked helpers who have specific roles backstage such as dressers for quick changes/stage hands. When I put shows on I usually have a couple of non licensed make up people such as when we did a toy box piece or a cats dance.

When children perform in a show where an admission fee is charged (or film) they have to have a child performing licence. They are allowed to perform for up to 4 days in 6 months without a licence as long as certain conditions are net and amdram groups can apply for a body of persons exemption to the licence They have to be supervised during the performance by a licensed matron or chaperone. To become a chaperone you have to apply to the education welfare office of the local authority where you live. This usually involves a crb check, written references, interview and in some cases health check/ training course. A matron has certain legal responsibilities and has to ensure thatcthecregulations regarding children performing are adhered to. Each local authority administers it slightly differently.

It is possible that for EYB you were an extra backstage helper. There has to be one licensed chaperone for every 12 children but sometimes there are extra people backstage to help dress etc.