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Mumofballetmaddaughter

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Everything posted by Mumofballetmaddaughter

  1. Hi All, This is a request on behalf of my daughter who is trying to find somewhere to hire a professional looking Odette tutu. If anyone has one they would be willing to hire out or can suggest somewhere to do so in the London area, it would be much appreciated please. Size wise, it would need to be around a size 8 and it is for a charity fundraiser in Imperial Wharf, Chelsea on the 25th June. Many thanks
  2. Such fabulous news and after watching the video, very well deserved. In an age where 'news' is often depressing, this is wonderfully uplifting to hear. Many congratulations to your son and also to you for the support you have given to allow him to pursue his dream. Looking forward to finding out where he chooses to accept. Having so much choice is a wonderful position to be in. You must be on cloud nine and bursting with pride. Enjoy the next stage.
  3. Sorry to hear this Lisa. Such bad luck. Hope some good luck comes your way to make it doable for you.
  4. Wow CeliB, your son was fabulous. You must be so proud of him. It was enthralling (and exhausting) to watch the athleticism and artistry of the boys. Thank you for posting the video. I wish your son the very best of luck and I'm sure he will have a lot of success in the future.
  5. Lisa I would suggest Sean waits until he moves in before buying pots, pans, crockery and kitchen equipment as he may be able to get together with others he's living with and share the cost of these. When my eldest went to Uni, she lived with 6 others and they all brought the same things on day 1 so there was a lot of duplication. For towels, I would recommend John Lewis Basic range as they are a good size, very reasonably priced and they wash well. As they aren't thick and fluffy, they dry quickly too. Some stores have student bedsets, containing duvet, pillow and bedding at reasonable prices. Again, not the most luxurious but perfectly adequate to start off with. I wish Sean the very best of luck.
  6. Each of the bedrooms/en suite bathrooms within the 4 bed flat had a lockable door. I think it was the exception to the rule that my daughter ended up with a uni student as a housemate though as none of the other NBS students did.
  7. My daughter stayed in Medlock House for the 3 years and I also felt it was a very safe environment. It is only a few minutes walk away from NBS and this was reassuring especially as show rehearsals meant a late finish. She was in a 4 bed flat with 2 others from NBS and a uni student. The uni student however moved after the 1st term as I think she found her housemates a bit strange as they were usually too exhausted to party, at least to start with!! Most of my daughter's year were in Medlock House so there was always someone to walk to and from school with and it was within walking distance to the city centre. The free metro link bus stopped nearby, which was handy when coming back from the city centre with food shopping and Oxford Road rail station is a 5 min walk away. Piccadilly rail station is a bit further but still walkable. I think there is a Sainsbury's metro close by too. My daughter worked part time at the Dancehouse theatre which was good experience and helped eke out her holiday earnings and as a bonus she got to see some good shows too.
  8. My daughter went to NBS from 2006 - 2009 so things may well have changed since then. She enjoyed her time there and found the teaching to be excellent in both ballet and MT. The principal had an open door policy and was very approachable. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming and having a theatre on site was an added bonus as there were lots of performance opportunities. Each year in December, the classical students performed in a full length ballet, the MT focus students did a full show each Easter and all came together for a showcase at the end of the summer term. Not many students secured classical contracts during the 3 years my daughter was there but the school had a good graduate success rate with most students going on to perform on cruise ships. My daughter secured her 1st contract straight after graduating and continued dancing around the world until May 2016. She then took up a place at the RAD on the professional dancers teaching diploma course in June 2016. She is now a registered RAD teacher (freelance) and teaches 6 days a week at various locations in and around London. She's continued peforming and now does ad-hoc promotional work at corporate and charity events. My daughter really flourished at the school and has been very successful as a result of her time at NBS. Hope this helps but please feel free to ask if there's anything specific you want to know and I'll do my best to answer.
  9. I am selling my daughter's practice tutu skirt. It is black with 4 layers of net and has been hardly worn as she had 2. £5.00 plus P&P
  10. Hi Piepie, I can't add anything to the excellent advice given so far regarding academics at vocational school as my daughter didn't start full time training until she'd finished her GCSEs. What I would say though is that family finance must be the overriding factor when deciding on your child's future education as even if the other sibling/s are supportive of their dancing brother/sister, resentment can rear it's head further down the line if family life suffers as a result of so much money being directed at one child. It also puts a lot of pressure on the child to succeed especially if injury occurs or they lose the passion for dance. Being at mainstream school and dancing 6 out of 7 days a week was a juggling act and homework had to be fitted in to lunch breaks, to/from and in between dance lessons and the 1 free evening. Having said that, my daughter who is average academically, did achieve a good set of GCSEs, so it can be done. All the best for whatever you decide to do.
  11. In response to Annaliesey's question of where does it all lead. My daughter has been dancing professionally for 7 years and has recently found out she's been accepted onto the RAD Professional Dancer's Teaching Diploma course. She finishes her current contract in May and will start the 3 month course in June at RAD headquarters. She's wanted to do this for quite a while but this is the first time her vacation period has fallen at the right time for the course. Fingers crossed she will be successful as it is very expensive to do.
  12. My daughter often does the Advanced/Professional classes when in between contracts. She said the standard is very high and to get the best out of it, you would need to be at Adv 2 level.
  13. Oxford Rd is a few minutes away and Piccadilly about 10 mins walk.
  14. Hi Tulip, when my daughter auditioned for JAR back in 2009, she knew on the day that she'd been successful and was then told they would be in contact when a contract became available. A week after the audition they phoned and 3 days later she was heading to Fort Lauderdale for rehearsals! It was a very hectic time. My daughter did 3 contracts with JAR but on different ships to those currently contracted to them. Daughter was under 21 at the time as the minimum age was 18 however this can change depending on the cruise line they are auditioning for. I think for Crystal you have to be 21. As there was no time to sort out medicals (JAR required quite an intensive one) and a visa, this was arranged by JAR in the USA. My daughter had to go to the US embassy in the Bahamas for her visa along with another dancer who'd been hired at short notice. Generally if a photo is taken, then you are on the books but it's not always the case that you get a contract. Sometimes you are offered one straight away and then other times it can take several months up to a year. Occasionally you never get an offer. A friend of my daughter waited a year before an offer came through. It is worth keeping in regular contact if you are successful and available for a contract though. JAR tend to work with high end cruise lines and socialising with guests was a requirement although this may not still be the case as my daughter's last contract with them was back in 2011. I would suggest your daughter has some formal wear and cocktail dresses just in case she is offered and accepts a contract at short notice. Whenever in public areas around the ship, the entertainers have to abide by the dress code. Jean Ann also holds a party for each cast at her condo at the end of rehearsals and everyone dresses up. As with regards to pay, there is no definitive answer unfortunately. Often you don't find out the salary until a contract comes through. If you are working on a ship registered in the US, there are no deductions. If working on one registered in the UK (or UK overseas territory) then you pay NI but need to request a NT tax code from the time you join the ship, which means you pay no tax at source but have to complete a tax return each year. For UK ships, if you are away from British waters for more than 6 months at a time (this is a rolling period and not linked to the tax year) you qualify for a seafairers deductible which means you aren't liable for any tax. For rehearsals in the UK, you pay normal deductions but are likely to be refunded any tax paid during this time. Generally speaking, the ships my daughter has worked on, (she's currently half way through her 6th contract) pay has been good. You are paid more for being dance captain and or company manager. Sometimes on a small ship these roles are combined. However you have to factor in the cost of currency conversions. At the moment the dollar is good for tourists but not so good if you're being paid in it and have to convert to sterling or Euros. It's ok when you are on the ship as the currency is usually dollars for onboard spending and the drinks in the crew bars are VERY cheap. Hope this helps, but please feel free to ask me any other questions and I'll do my best to answer.
  15. My experience of when my daughter was there is from quite a few years back so I'm not sure how valid this will be but here goes. She loved her time at the school and it was a very warm and caring environment. The principal had an open door policy for any issues the students had. My daughter did the classical course on which there were only a small number of students as opposed to the jazz focus course. She found the tuition to be excellent in all aspects of the course but it is fair to say that most didn't secure classical contracts. My daughter got fed up with travelling to Europe for auditions for classical companies only to find that even when getting through all of the cuts there weren't any jobs or being told you are too short, too tall etc despite being invited to audition based on details on her CV. During my daughter's time at NBS, the employment record was excellent. I think that is still the case. Most will go down the cruise ship route or land based cabaret shows abroad. My daughter has been very employable and is now on her 6th cruise ship contract. The current one and previous 2, specified classically trained dancers as they do ballet and pointe along with contemporary, lyrical, jazz, ballroom and Latin in their shows. The theatre at NBS is a great advantage when rehearsing shows and students get a great many performance opportunities. The classicals do a full length ballet in December, the jazz focus do an Easter show and all participate in the summer showcase. My daughter did Coppelia, Nutcracker and Swan Lake whilst there. She was also lucky enough to do an Easter show one year when extra students were required. Some of the jazz people were picked to do the classical shows when extras were needed for the village scenes etc. Unless things have changed, I would recommend NBS for excellent all round training.
  16. IMHO there is absolutely no point in trying to second guess as to why one child is chosen over another during an audition process. I speak from experience having a daughter who has been auditioning on and off for the past 18 years. As a young child I quickly realised that to preserve my sanity I had to be objective about her abilities when the inevitable rejections came. And there have been far, far more of these than successes. I used to tell her that being successful at audition didn't make her a better dancer any more than being rejected made her a worse dancer. It was just that someone else was more suitable at that particular point in time. My daughter always took this on the chin and her philosophy was that she would keep knocking on the door until she was successful and that she accepted she wasn't what the panel were looking for when unsuccesful. She never got past waiting lists for RBS associates apart from one year at summer school and never made it to one of the top ballet schools. Has it been tough along the way, oh yes. There were many times, I could have cried for her and thought why not her but that would have done neither of us any good and as her mother I felt it was my role to teach her that life isn't always fair. Has she got the career as a ballerina that she dreamed about at 7. No, but she never gave up and has been dancing professionally for the past 6 years. I am very proud of her success as a dancer but I'm even prouder of her attitude over the years.
  17. I left an 'emergency' box in my daughter's room when she first went away. It contained things such as travel size gel, shampoo, conditioner, make up wipes, cold/flu tablets and being ever practical, a toilet roll. It was just in case she forgot to buy something that was an essential and would tide her over until she could get to a shop. I also put in a supermarket gift card just in case she ran out of money or lost her debit card.
  18. Hi Nutcracker I have taken a front and back view of the leo so I can email them to you if you want?
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