taxi4ballet

I found the programme really interesting and thought-provoking. There is just one thing, though. Whenever charities and other fundraisers ask for donations, I find it really off-putting when there is a minimum amount asked for. There must be many people out there (including ourselves) who have to watch every penny, but would like to help if we can. It makes me feel that they're just not interested in having you as a supporter unless you are well-off.

I would be really interested to hear the experiences of people who have changed their ds/dd's dance school. Why did you move, and did it work out for the best, or do you wish you had stayed where you were? We are having a bit of a dilemma at the moment, and aren't sure whether a new approach from a different teacher would be a good thing or not.

I've never twittered - or is it tweeted? I wouldn't know where to start.

We have family on the Gulf coast of Mississippi, and they have amazing birds and other creatures all the time.

Yes, I think my asparagus can safely be described as having bolted! It's only a tiny patch so we never get enough to make it worthwhile cutting. Left to grow, it turns into beautiful tall ferny fronds and looks lovely. It does grow really quickly, at least 6 inches a day. I vaguely remember something on a gardening programme once (or it might have been QI) that rhubarb grows so quickly that you can actually hear it creaking and rustling.., weird

We first tried dance classes in an attempt to tire out a very energetic toddler!

They seem to stay pink and don't really fade

When dd is late for class and you have to stop typing in the middle of a ...

DD's school uniform is red, and she has quite a few pink clothes, so I tend to put tights in that wash.

Personally, I've always wondered how they manage to film the X - Factor finalists arriving at the auditions. How do they know who to film? Or do they do thousands in the hope they strike it lucky?

Wash them with red socks?

At 8.15 on a Monday morning you realise that there is no clean school uniform in the house.

Has anyone ever seen any ballet on BGT?

It's just a small patch of asparagus stuck in a corner behind a bush - by the way it's grown another 6 inches since yesterday!

Honesty is the best policy - especially if you're going somewhere stuffed with tv cameras!

When you spend 15 minutes chatting away to someone you vaguely recognise whilst either a) frantically trying to cover up the fact that you have no idea who they are,what their child's name is or where you met even though they seem to know everything about you or frantically trying to change the subject to anything under the sun except ballet because you have just remembered that you met at an audition when your child got in and theirs didn't or c) frantically trying to be terribly enthusiastic about their child and at the same time extra-modest about your own

Whenever there are films and documentaries like this, I can't help wondering how much of the footage ends up on the cutting room floor because it doesn't fit in with the message the producers/editors are wanting to convey. They are naturally going to want to make their programme as dramatic and controversial as possible.

When that horrible noise the vacuum cleaner is making turns out to be mangled hair pins jammed in the works!

This particular dance school is a small one in a village hall - dd goes there for tap and modern because it is two minutes away, the hall is used by others some evenings so the teacher is limited in the number of classes she can offer. I agree completely with the other comments on here about grades not being the ultimate guide.

When you spend your life in Costa Coffee

The thing is, at this particular school, there is only the one class a week for them, and I know that a couple are thinking they would like to take it further, but they genuinely didn't realise that they weren't doing enough...

Went down the bottom of the garden this morning to discover my asparagus is now 5 feet tall!

Although I appreciate that trends in choreography have moved on, I much prefer to watch something graceful.

Can't imagine why any dance school would move little children up into tap / jazz classes they weren't ready for, just because they had passed an exam in ballet. Your dd was very young and doing really well to be going into grade 3 ballet aged 7 anyway, so why on earth would any dance teacher think it a good idea to overwhelm the poor girl with senior tap and jazz classes when she wasn't ready? Everybody progresses in each discipline at different speeds, and the teachers should treat everyone as an individual. Is there possibly another dance school your dd could go to instead?

My dd is always cracking her knuckles - she says her hands ache if she doesn't do it. She occasionally gets it in her ankles as well. We mentioned it to a physio once, who said that a lot of dancers are like that, and it was nothing to worry about.