taxi4ballet

If there is anyone interested in the study of molluscs then I suggest they come and have a quick five minutes walk round my garden with a bucket; they'll be occupied for weeks...

I'd love to know whether there is a gymnastics forum somewhere out there on the internet where they are all busy discussing the pros and cons of ballet!

If he is worried about being teased you could always ring round the dance schools that are within reasonable travelling distance for you, but far enough away for it to be unlikely that there is anyone there that he knows. Hopefully there may be a school that has boys in a class at his level.

The majority of European school are cheaper but they tend to be non-residential.

Can he try both, and see which one he enjoys the most? He might like one of the teachers and other children in the class more than the other. Because he's so young there's plenty of time for him and at 6 he needs to really enjoy what he is doing.

Just to let everyone know - problem solved, thank goodness. We've found two lovely schools which are happy to work with one another, and between them they can offer dd all the classes she needs. It's such a relief, and thanks to everyone on the forum for all your helpful advice.

Fiz, did you get any ironing done in the small hours? !

My dd knows that she wouldn't be able to take up a place without funding, but she has decided that she would rather audition and run the risk of having a place offered and turning it down than to never try at all. You've got to be in it to win it!

How do the girls cope period-wise if they can't get on with tampons and aren't allowed knickers?

Our school just didn't 'get' it either until I pointed out that grades 6 and upwards give you UCAS points and are on a par with the dance A-level. They seem to understand things better if you give them something they can actually relate to.

Quite hard to decide when the are ready - much easier to decide when they're not!

Not so easy at time-of-the-month

The asparagus has now produced hundreds of tiny green bell-shaped flowers.

A lot of the bones will still be cartilaginous and won't have formed proper attachment to ligaments (according to doctor brother-in-law).

Doing a rain dance now, although it's probably not necessary!

It's on blochshop.co.uk (sorry, I don't know how to do a link) Choose pointe shoes, and then you can refine the selection

I think I just googled Bloch, maybe it was their international site - I'll try to find it again and let you know.

If it's a disappointing no, then it might help to explain that they see lots of lovely children and they would like to take them all, but there just isn't enough room for everybody this time.

English Youth Ballet go to Norwich, check out their website. Edited to add: performances on 29th & 30th June

Tesco also do a seamless style in nude & black and are reasonably priced. The small is about a size 6/8.

If you look on the Bloch website you can narrow the search for pointe shoes and specify the shank strength etc, it helps to rule out different styles.

The French mum of a girl at dd's school says she went on pointe at 9.

If you are finding Aspirations too hard, see about trying on Amelie, they are similar and have a soft shank.

I remember reading somewhere that the earlier you start on pointe, the earlier you have to stop.

i wonder what an x-ray of her feet would look like...