taxi4ballet

A few years ago, I had the thankless task of manning the bouncy castle at DD's school fete. One of the kids fell over and another one landed on her ankle. I heard the bone crack. Good job I'm a first-aider.

Especially since the plate was the one I had just used for my lunch!

Don't remember the source, but I heard that cheerleading accidents are the greatest single cause of injuries in teenage girls...

Someone who used to work behind the scenes for a ballet company told me that a lot of the dancers were doing Open University degrees in their spare(!) time.

The PE department at my DD's school is very co-operative and helpful: at the last parents' evening the PE teacher was even talking about the different muscular development of ballet dancers compared with the general pupils. Unlike the performing arts department, strangely, that teacher is very dismissive about ballet. DD also has an unlikely talent for the climbing wall..

DD's schoolfriend goes to the one in Ipswich, and they say it's very good.

There was a fantastic improvement in my DD after one week at Easter school - can't help wondering what she'd be like if we could afford to pay for her to go full-time.

Perhaps we could try asking BBC4, they might do it (not Sky Arts though, we don't have Sky)!

Mine is banned from doing rugby, cheerleading, and the trampoline in her friend's garden. It's not hurdles next lesson, it's the shot putt - can't see her making much of an impression there...

DD came home from school today after having a go at the hurdles for the first time. I asked her how she got on, and she said she didn't even bother trying the low and medium ones, the high ones were easy, she just did grand jetes over them! Has anybody else's DD/DS found an unexpected use for ballet?

Couldn't agree more.

We're in sunny Bedfordshire

Anjuli, Since I have flat feet, zero turnout, scoliosis, a torn knee cartilage, and a bulging disc in my neck, it's more a question of what the osteopath can do for me I'm afraid! Mind you, my adult tap teacher keeps nagging me about my 'ballet arms' so at least somethings's OK...

Missed the Hertford one - double drat!

Clearing up cat sick takes some beating, just now I happened to be walking past the offending moggy with an empty plate in my hand, so it was caught in the nick of time, but all the same - yuk!

My dd has worn Katz or Papillon for all her exams. I think there is a mention somewhere on the RAD website that specific clothing is not required, as long as it is in the regulation style. Can anyone else confirm this?

I had a new cooker delivered yesterday and had to clean the floor when we took the old one out - ugh!

Well done Fiz, wish I could do it too... I did ballet for a couple of years when I was a child. I was useless then and I'd be even more useless now!

Milton Keynes, Northampton, Cambridge & Peterborough would all be do-able for us. Not sure about Oxford though, I might do a 'dry run' while she's rehearsing Sleeping Beauty in Aylesbury and see if I think I could stand it...! I suppose that as well as the right theatre, a suitable place for rehearsals would have a bearing on their choice of location too.

I think I know the lady you mean, she's a lovely person.

Thanks, we'll try Dancia then. We do go there sometimes, as it's near Bloch where we get her pointe shoes.

If anyone is looking for a snack lunch before matinees, you could always try the V & A or the Natural History Museum down Exhibition Road.

Not tried So Danca, will give it a go - do you know of any stockists in London/Herts/Beds?

I hope my DD doesn't end up looking like me!!

I wonder if they will be coming to Stevenage or Dunstable again, it' been quite a while now.