Mumofballetmaddaughter

Well worn but in a fair condition. Plain front with cross over detail on the back. Shelf lining. Fabric is 45% cotton, 45% polyester and 10% lycra.  Can send photos if interested.

Selling for £2.00 plus P & P.

Never worn. Bought for audition as daughter only had the tan version but in the end she didn't need them. Slight marks on front right shoe  caused in storage.  Soles and uppers are leather, soles are unmarked. Shoes are marked as 6.5 but as daughter is a 4 to 4.5, I'm assuming this is US sizing. I asked daughter to confirm the size and she thinks they are a 4.5. She's a 4 in ballet and pointe shoes and 4.5 in all other dance shoes. They can be seen on page 94 of the Dance Direct book, ref 656 or online.

Can send photos if interested.

Selling for £15.00 plus P & P.

Navy skirt used for ISTD exams although not sure if this is still the regulation uniform as exams were taken quite a few years ago. Fabric is 100% polyester.

Happy to pay postage if someone can make good use of it.

Both have been well used but would be good for practice or spares for teachers.

1 is royal blue and white and the other is shades of purple. The stitching on the short ends is a bit ropey as both daughters did their own!

Happy to post for free as they weigh next to nothing.  PM me if you can make good use of them.

Worn for 3 shows and is in excellent condition.  Dress has V front, fully lined empire bodice, attached leotard and side slits to A line skirt. Looks identical to dress (apart from colour) on born to dance org uk, item ref 7408. Fabric is 90% polyester, 10% spandex.

Can send photos if interested though.

Selling for £15.00 plus P & P.  

1 pair size 4 - very well worn but still ok. Selling for £2.00 plus P & P

1 pair size 6 - worn but still ok. Selling for £3.00 plus P & P

1 pair size 6.5 - hardly worn, ex cond. Selling for £4.00 plus P & P

Can send photos if interested.

Think (but not entirely sure) that this is a Bloch leotard. Ruched front, shelf lining and very strappy back detail. Can send photos.

Has been worn but is in fairly good condition. Fabric is cotton/lycra.

Selling for £3.00 plus P & P.

Hardly worn as kept for auditions but there is a small mark on the lower back which looks as if daughter has rubbed against something.

Can be seen on Dance Direct com ref no M133V.  Ruched front and straight back.

Selling for £5.00 plus P & P.  

Grey on the top half, black on the bottom. Cross over straps on back. Has been worn but is in good condition.

Fabric is 45% cotton,  45% polyester, 10% lycra.

Selling for £3.00 plus P & P.

Strappy cami top, ruched front and double cross over straps at the back. Double lined front. Never worn (another item!) Can be viewed on Dance Direct com, ref is P15. Fabric is 88% cotton, 12% spandex.

Selling for £5.00 plus P & P.

VGC. Fabric is 80% nylon, 20% lycra.

Selling for £3.00 plus P & P.

Hardly worn. Fabric is 86% micro, 14% spandex.

Selling for £4.00 plus P & P.

Microfibre camisole leotard, extra long sheer chiffon mesh dress overlay, suitable for ballet/lyrical dance. Worn once for portfolio photo shoot. Fabric is 80% nylon, 20% lycra.  Can be found online on the Dance Direct com site and the ref is P98SL or I can send photos.

Selling for £15.00 plus P & P.

Never worn. Fabric is 88% cotton, 12% spandex.  Can be seen on pg 104 of Dance Direct ref P44. According to info on item, inside leg for the L size is 33".

Selling for £5.00 plus P & P.

Bought for auditions but never worn. Fabric is 88% cotton, 12% lycra. Top part has a shelf lining.

Selling for £10.00. Can send photos.

Hardly worn, very pretty with 4 straps across the back gathered together with diamantes. Fabric is 80% nylon, 20% lycra spandex.

Straps have been made shorter but folded over and sewn so the full length of the straps is still there.

Selling for £5.00 plus P & P. Can send photos if required.

Congratulations to your daughter Kat09, such a fab result and position to be in. Best of luck to her for the next stage of her journey.

Fingers crossed for a contract being offered soon Blondie.It's a tough life. Wish I could say it gets easier but I find that even though my daughter graduated 5 years ago and has just started rehearsals for her latest contract, it is still stressful when a contract is coming to an end. You never know if the last one really was THE last one.

So sorry to hear this C4D. Best wishes to you both for a full recovery and hoping there's a very long spell of good luck coming your way.

On the subject of NBS, my daughter went there from 2006 - 2009 but was fully aware that a career with RBS/BRB/ENB wasn't going to be a possibility. The majority of graduates went onto cruise ships.  My daughter auditioned for ballet companies in Spain and Germany but was unsuccessful and after spending a small fortune on flights and hotels etc , decided to audition for a cruise contract instead. She was successful and has never looked back. She really enjoys the life and has been around the world several times. She successfully auditioned for another production company just over a week ago for a cruise contract and is just waiting to find out when and which ship she will be going to. This will be her 6th contract and the previous 2 have involved a fair amount of ballet and pointe work. The latter can be a little challenging however! She has also added ballroom, Latin, swing and lindyhop to her repertoire as this was a requirement on the last 2 ships and has loved doing these. She is currently taking ballroom/latin lessons in London each week to improve her technique. In addition to this, she does a couple of professional ballet classes to make the most of the 2 days she spends there. The height range at NBS went from just over 5' to 5' 10" in my daughter's year. As has been said before, dancers need to be versatile and pragmatic as competition for contracts is fierce. Not only are new graduates competing against each other, they are also up against experienced professionals. At my daughter's audition, there were approx. 270 auditionees. 80 were put through to the final and another 50 put through from an agents call. Out of the 130 finalists, 40 were successful. Apologies to the mods if I've gone off on a tangent!   

Best of luck to everyone for now and in the future.

Lovely news Frangipani. Congratulations to your daughter and good luck to her for the rest of the auditions and results.

Hi Michelle

I was diagnosed with tendinopathy last October and have also been given the Protocol exercises to do by my physios. One is based in my health centre and the other is the head of physio at the hospital where I had foot/ankle surgery last May.  I was advised to do just the 'drop' part of the exercise (both feet flat on the edge of a stair at the same time) 2 x 15 reps twice a day as due to the operation I had, I am still building up strength in both my calf and foot so am unable to rise up and take all of my weight on the affected foot. I was led to believe however that tendinopathy is a degeneration of the Achilles rather than inflammation, for which one can only hope for improvement as opposed to a total cure.   Both physios have cautioned against doing anything which puts the Achilles under too much stress and are taking the 'less is more' slow approach.

I wish you all the best.    

I felt quite horrified at watching this. Apart from the obvious dangers to the dancer, I don't like wanton destruction.

Thanks Aurora and 2Dancersmum. Recovery has been slower than I anticipated but physio and hydrotherapy have really helped. Thanks for the suggestion and the link 2Dancersmum, that's the 2nd recommendation for the school in Fishponds. Daughter lived there a few years ago so will be familiar with the area.

Thanks for the quick response Aurora, I'll pass your suggestion onto my daughter. Going to classes with her is a lovely idea but unfortunately she lives 2 hours away from me!  I'd be even more hopeless at dance than usual at the moment as I'm recuperating from fairly extensive (and painful) foot and ankle surgery to correct a long standing problem caused by a very high instep.  The dance shoes will have to wait a while longer!

Can anyone recommend any schools which offer adult tap classes in the Bristol area please? Eldest daughter, aged 26, would like to go back to tap after a break of 9 years.  Her previous tap training was ISTD but she would be happy doing any style. She isn't looking to do exams as it would just be for recreational and fitness purposes.