LinMM

I'm sure there's a short ballet in this somewhere!! In one of the Scream movies can't remember which number probably Scream 10!! The audience turns on a disruptive member and she does not come to a good end!!

Yes probably inclined to agree Ribbons. There are certain teachers who just have had such an amazing influence on oneself and in the end I think you can only follow your heart with this.......others may be influenced by other teachers..... But you have to follow with what you are connecting with. The teacher I was thinking of was super strict and ultra focussed .......and I was sort of fascinated but also terrified at the same time! A part of me would like to re connect but another part of me thinks that as an adult I probably don't need to put myself through it any more (though by all accounts the teacher has mellowed too with time!) But in general I agree whether ballet school or not a school is only as good as it's teachers in the end.

Absolutely NO chance!!

I think the thing is that maybe some of us .....certainly myself ......are somewhat ambivalent about these things!! In the best possible world if I had a DD or DS I would favour keeping at home until at least 16! However one just cannot underestimate what may come from the Dd/DS themselves!!! If I had an exceptionally talented child who was haranguing me to go to a vocational establishment I may well give in .......and have to let go of them earlier than I would ideally like ......given they had the talent to gain entry etc. and were super keen and so on. My parents didn't approve of Private Education but from the ages of 11-16 I did receive private (academic) education because unfortunately there was no choice of state schools in our area at the time and they saw that inspite of their general and personal convictions ....as their daughter I had only the ONE chance at education.......and so chose accordingly......what they thought would best suit me. What's that saying supposedly attributed to John Lennon " Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" So....never say never I suppose!!

Yes another thing is with cacti it may be better to water them not directly into the actual pot but into the pot container/ under plate......so they can absorb the moisture throughs their roots. They would really hate sitting in water though so just a bit once a week should be enough!

Cacti need plenty of grit in the mix with the soil!! Have a look you may just need to add a bit. Normally at this time of year they shouldn't need much watering but are they on a South facing window sill do you know?

Can he hire it for just you and me Ellie!!!

Yes there was some restriction when I bought the tickets via Sadlers Wells but it suited me to carry on booking via SW. Obviously if you had certain preferences it may have been better to buy via the Coli!

Do you mind me asking why you choose to take classes with teachers today that you don't really like?! I can see as a student you may not have quite so much choice in these matters but as an adult ......does one have to put oneself through someone's class who you don't really like? Or Is this some sort of discipline thing where you don't like the teacher that much but respect what it is they have to offer as a teacher? I can think of just one person who I could take classes with (still teaching after all these years!) but who still fills me with a sort of dread who has a very very interesting take on ballet ......but so far haven't had the nerve!!

One does have to way up ones trips to the ballet more often. I like to think I'm more eclectic than I probably really am. When push comes to shove I tend to go for my own personally favourite ballets. I'm not sure how many of these would be Bintleys in the end......which is not to devalue him ......just saying that as an older person With only a certain amount of money to spend I might choose other personal favourite choreographers.

Alison that must have been annoying!

Good news indeed I was one of those who missed one of the cancelled performances only to find that the May was then sold out already. Hope I can get to see her at the Coli then.

I agree that having this news with GCSE on the horizon does not seem very good. But I may be missing a trick here I don't understand why having these auditions for example in the Autumn would help as wouldn't students already need to be placed in new schools by September if not going through to Upper? Would it be too late to hold these auditions at the very end of June so GCSE were out of the way? I would hope anyway that the RBS pastoral care would be very very good in helping the students through this tough time......as one poster said its tough enough but not having mum and dad brother or sister etc close by on the actual day does make it harder for some I think. Having trained at the Royal always leaves it's mark I can imagine other schools will only be too glad to have them. And don't forget that quite a few dancers who didn't make it to Upper or get into the Company and go abroad to dance for a while do find their way back into the Company at a later date........or are very happy dancing elsewhere by then. As in any boarding school it's particularly sad at this time anyway as students are having to say goodbye to their friends who they have been in a tightly knit community with for some years. it's not surprising that some get upset whether they have "good"or "bad"news at this time.

I agree but in a general way. All I meant was that one could drive oneself mad trying to account for how every single penny is spent!! For example where the Royal Ballet School is concerned I accept that part of my taxes are going to support a Centre of Excellence like them......and that talented children get a chance to go there who might otherwise not have that chance but for this support. And of course I hope that the school produces at least its fair share of truly excellent dancers. But nevertheless I'm not sure how far I would feel I could criticise the running of it........one hopes the people in place know what they are doing and why they are doing it! I do have other friends whoever who may resent their tax money being spent on the Royal Ballet School because as you say Pas de Quatre there are many other deserving people and organisations who would benefit from funding. In the end there will be many differing opinions about this but personally I'm happy to support the RBS and other centres of excellence connected to the Arts.

Well done to your son I'm sure he'll have a fab time at the Rambert!

An excellent achievement by your son he must be on cloud 9!!

Yes I think it is the tax situation that makes people feel they can give the Royal more scrutiny perhaps than other schools......Not that I worry too much about this personally...... but some people care more about exactly what their taxes are doing!! Perhaps the Royal has become a bit of a victim of its own success that these days so many aspiring dancers want to go there from all over the world .......so it is impossible for it to ignore this world wide talent pool......at least for Upper School .......though of course there are quite a few very talented youngsters already at WL who have been offered places from across the Globe. Just out of interest I wonder what the situation is these days at other world class schools such as Vaganova in St Petersburg. Through the years from 11-18 how many are asked to leave and how many join later. I imagine there is quite a bit of to and throwing there. Do they offer students from abroad many places at 16? I wonder how many finish their training there all the way from 11-18. And do they expect to get into the Company if they do? The numbers on all this may be interesting.

Just wanted to add that until now this DD has been very happy training at WL.

A friend of a friends daughter is in the final year at WL and has been very upset (ringing home in the middle of the night) by the atmosphere there just at present so it must be tough on them all. I didn't think they had made this selection for Upper School just yet so must have been the last couple of days?? I was told there is a minimum number of students which have to go through from WL each year......but beyond that .....the minimum or more from any given year may get through. I don't know whether there HAS to be a certain percentage from outside the RBS or not ......or whether it is just all down to merit at the time of audition........which may explain why some years not so many go through. In my years as an ordinary teacher I often noticed that some years the students as a cohort were particularly good overall and in other years not so good and this must happen at ballet schools too.

It's always worth having a go at these schemes that may help your child to improve etc .....it's just not getting too negative about it all if not chosen and the child then possibly thinking they are no good!! Best of luck with it all x

Just following two students from the Prix de Lausanne recently .....I'm not going to,name them for obvious reasons but I could have told you who the Royal Ballet would have been more interested in right from the out start ....later proving correct....however they were ENTIRELY different dancers and I would be very hard put to say which I preferred!! I'm not worried by this.......it's great for classical ballet.....for it means there is quite a wide range of what works for a classical dancer. Don't worry if your DD or DS doesn't make WL or Junior or senior associates or whatever. Encourage them to keep going if they are keen and see what happens down the line!

Good luck to your son!

What a lovely idea Happymoocow. Hope you both have a lively time.

Yes I agree a discreet bottle of water and cough sweets etc as these may be necessary for medical reasons but all the rest can go!! I still can't get my head around why people can't wait for 30mins to an hour before having to eat and drink something!

I would ban all food and drink in the auditorium if I could