LinMM

Pas de Quatre I think CeliB's mum mentioned the San Francisco school as an alternative their Russian teacher had suggested.

Well this is a cat thread but the blackbird story reminds me when I lived in London a blackbird built a nest in one of the flower boxes on the balcony. We placed a slow release camera on the nest and got some lovely piccies.....but the point is......when the babies started to fledge...they seemed very tiny still and managed to hop off the balcony(third floor) to garden below so I rushed down to try to rescue and put back in nest but got chased by a very angry blackbird who was really diving at me and didn't appreciate the "rescue" at all!!

Sorry KOBBORG!

Aileen I read that about Kobburg too and in another that Kobburg and McRae were the same height so perhaps he is 5ft 9in then.....he has certainly never given me impression of being that tall. Sorry all you dancers out there I really don't mind what height you are!!!

JulieW same well done...love to see a photo...when I go for next IPad lesson must ask them how to post piccies on the forum..and links..not sure yet. So he's top Tartu now! Taxi4ballet I love the bit about the cat wolfing down the dog food!! But they do get fussy with age. It can be annoying....you think they've got a "thing" for particular ....usually expensive...brand and flavour...go out and stock up and then they turn their nose up at it...grrr!

If you spread the news he could be in demand locally then!!

Exactly....as this forum seems to have substituted for my job since I retired....I'm going to start investigating!!

Sorry took so long to write last post...."above" refers to spannerandponys post. Since then I see Pas De Quatre has left an extremely helpful post too so thanks for that info....the funding situation will sink in eventually. The private donars/charities may be worth investigating then for some people.

I do understand the above as it must save some time/money not to have to audition EVERYBODY however presumably there will be some children who dont live near enough to any of the associate classes to attend on regular basis but might want to do a summer school......where quite a few places are already automatically given out then!! But you wouldnt think that from reading all the summer school threads recently it certainly seemed as if EVERYONE had to audition for places....associates or not. I do agree however that any dancer not thriving at any of the really big schools where everyone dreams of going would keep their place for long. I don't have so much problem with this as schools cannot predict over time(7-8yrs of time in some cases) who will stay the course....my problem is where a child is still very good, wants to stay and parents have to withdraw child for lack of funding. However to get back to thread teachers are important....a school gains its reputation from having CONSISTENTLY good teachers and not so good ones are probably asked to leave....just like the pupils are. In a big concern this keeps the situation healthy but I do fear in smaller concerns certain individuals can get away with a lot especially if they run the show!! Hence the dilemma of CeliB. Especially as the scholarship is for that particular school and they haven't had time to reorganise....yet! And as Pastel has shown some pupils don't thrive well without a really dedicated teacher......adolescents are already struggling with lots of things.....changes in the body etc.....at least us adults don't have to put up with growing 2-3 inches in a year......and academic work ...so having a teacher believe in your talent can be important for a few years at least.....especially 12-17 I feel and even more so if NOT at a vocational school already. In my opinion teachers are more important than the schools in the end as many people will have experienced looking around for another ballet school where the teaching was not so good I think.....and there are destructive teachers out there(luckily not many I feel) which even some adults would have problems surviving with let alone a developing child! And what does one do when hubby's job suddenly takes one 500 miles away and your child is with the best teacher ever!! If your child is NOT at a vocational school already you are not going to split the family up you just have to hope for the best you will find another good teacher. I seem to remember in the film First Position where both the children at that point had a good teacher the father moved his whole company so as not to disturb their routine which meant all his workers had further to travel instead!! But not many are in this somewhat "fortunate" position.

Interesting Marianne that chart one forgets these things as a WORLD average too!! I would have sworn that the average would have been about 5ft 11 in say UK America Australia and Scandinavia but there you are we are not as tall as we think!! Though of course on an individual level this can appear very different.....I am considerably taller than average for a female then and so,are most of my friends who all but two are taller than me!! Found out Nureyev was 1.73 which is about 5ft 8ins as I thought. In one article I read it said Steven McRae was 5ft 8ins or thereabouts so a bit vague....so guess he won't be more than 5ft 10 ins........which is getting on the tall side for a dancer!!!(male or female) currently.

Can't find any info on his height he is same as Johan Kobborg apparently. He may well be taller than the impression of him on stage with others gives but your daughter has had the experience ......I would have assumed about 5ft 9ins otherwise....which is small by average male standards but not in ballet. Anyway whatever his height he has a great stage presence!! I can't remember how tall Nureyev was who had a wonderful presence but it was the opposite with him he seemed taller on stage than when I actually stood next to him I'm sure he was no taller than 5ft 8ins or 5ft 9ins maybe.

So agree with thisCeliB! I don't believe Steven McRae for example of the Royal is that tall but I think he has a commanding stage presence!! And there is that extra undefinable something where you just want to follow a certain dancer which has got nothing to do with height but if its there in a taller person perhaps a touch more noticeable. And I did think your DS looked considerably taller than when I had previously seen him last June as a by comment!!! But I still thought a year ago WHO is that boy.....really is the last time will mention!!

I think the average height of males is supposed to be getting taller but not that I see, at any rate, in the ballet company's. we could do with some taller male dancers now I think. But obviously dancing seems to attract the not so tall or presumably there would already be taller dancers.....I only care about this re partners for taller females....always for me the height has nothing to do with quality of dancing etc.

Have looked at touring dates and places etc and although may have missed this time if they go regularly to Tunbridge Wells that's probably easiest for me so will watch out for future performances. Ive never been there yet but there's also the Hawth in Horsham which seems to have some good productions on.....are they looking for new venues or overwhelmed already!! As there is also a theatre in Wimbledon is it the Rose....or is that the Kingston one? Will check but definitely the Wimbledon one has put on Ballet before. There are even a couple of smaller theatres here in Brighton....The Pavilion and The Corn Exchange which could be interested but if its a one off performance you may even fill the Dome.....especially if local schools are targeted with the info and the Company wants to do any outreach work. I'd be happy to distribute programmes to local schools and do some initial liaison work etc!! But this is assuming they may want to extend their current touring. Anyway will try to catch next time round.

Thanks Primrose. I can't help feeling that perhaps there should be more reciprocal exchanges so to speak so that some uk students who choose to study abroad can be sponsored by those schools eg:Bolshoi with some Russian students being able to gain sponsorship to study at our schools and so on. It may not appeal to many but at least there would be that option. Is there any EU type funding available for ballet that you (or others ) know about?

Anjuli missed your comment but as it turns out I do know CeliB's DS....from class not personally I hasten to add.....(same teacher in Brighton) I dont want to say too much more now about this......except I can't resist saying he's one of the most striking YOUNG dancers Ive seen...with so few years under his belt too....but in my PM I did hint this can be one of the problems with smaller schools .....the Ego thing.....such a shame and I agree with your post above. The Ballet world can be a strange world sometimes!

Primrose did your daughter win a scholarship to the Bolshoi.....or are you having to privately fund this? Again I thought students could win scholarships to some foreign schools.....or are you saying the Bolshoi only funds Russian students? There seem to be a few American students studying in Russian now.....don't these big schools offer ANY scholarships to talented from abroad! Seems a bit unfair as the Royal do I believe....or have I got that wrong? Are there any private scholarships one can apply to who will agree to fund talented students to study abroad(or UK for that matter) otherwise I suppose DD's and DS's just have to train as hard as they can until they can audition for a company at 18. In the end if there is an exceptional talent a Company will not turn down someone who didn't train at Elmhurst or the Royal etc. and especially probably in America.....and there are some pretty good companies there to choose from and where the Russian style can fit well with. But I do really feel for parents of exceptionally talented students who cannot afford to fund places they have won....or cannot afford to continue etc.....the little ray of hope though is you do find exceptional talent tends to win through in the end against the odds even!!!

I do mostly agree with above.....this idea that teacher can somehow get him a place!! Especially a funded full scholarship place. I would be wary myself....but anyway CeliB have just PM 'd you in case it is your very talented son that I have seen in class! I'm not a professional but feel Ive some degree of knowledge and have expressed all this in the PM....I definitely feel he is "stand out "quality and quite remarkable as a latish start though I know this is more common in boys. Anyway hope a couple of suggestions were helpful but I feel sure you've got the situation covered mostly!! This school has a reputation to keep up but a couple of things you said do worry me and I hope the School itself is not in financial difficulties when standards could start to drop no matter how good to start with.....sincerely hoping this is not the case though and that he can finish schooling and training where he is but sometimes difficult decisions do have to be made if you start to feel the School is not serving you anymore.

I go to Judy Breen once a week in Brighton and love her classes.....as an oldie have never had private tuition with her but I'm sure she's good!! How interesting perhaps our paths will or have already crossed!! I may PM you CeliB in case I know who your son is and if it is him I would say he has a brilliant chance of a career!! But it may be another boy who went to Washington after studying with Judy and who also had a latish start. The boy I saw in her class and have now been in class with was extremely talented in my humble opinion!! Reading between the lines I guess your son actually feels very keen on the Vaganova style so perhaps the new teacher may not be his cup of tea.....in that case lets hope the current teacher can get him into somewhere with more Russian style but its the scholarship aspect that worries me......does this come from UK or US? Can he manoeuvre that situation? Typical of London Russian to offer to teach your son for free they are a generous lot but will go out of business if offer to do this for too many people I fear!!! Well lets hope that in the end your sons teacher is allowed to stay.....but perhaps this teacher is a bit unhappy there too? And I agree about being out on a limb at 16....I think some dancers are already at an establishment but take extra lessons with a particular teacher they like......would this be possible for your son? He stays where he is and still takes some extra lessons with this teacher Or is the teacher moving away to another city if he is fired?

Yes this is the main reason because the girls are on pointe.....maybe inContemporary not such an issue etc. It reminds me of a pas de deux created for fun ...was it Elite Syncopations?.... Which places the smallest male with the tallest female and makes a joke of it. When I saw this it was Wayne Sleep as male and Vergie Derman as female. A very funny piece at the time. I don't know how tall Vergie Derman was but she seemed tall for the Royal then who used to not like females over 5ft 5 in those days but perhaps she wasn't so tall by some of today's dancers.

Well looks like there's hope for all then thank goodness!! I only know a few professional dancers over the years personally and I must say they've ALL been on the smaller side (5ft 2-5ft-4)! However times do change and perhaps they're going for the taller girls now....which I can't help feeling pleased at being tall myself!! But really I wish this height thing wasn't such an issue.....good dancing is what one really wants to see and think of difference between Nadia Nerina say and Yuliana Lopatkina!!

Also if you are based in Lewes and your son is home it would be easy to get up to London Russian in Clapham....all teachers there are Russian and teaching is Russian style. They are usually very accommodating about trying classes etc. Also as it is not such a big school I would think you would get a lot more individual attention at vocational level. Daily classes there are running until nearly the end of August. Again if you are based in Lewes do you know Judy Breen who teaches Vaganova style in Brighton and does individual private tuition etc. Having said that she is off to do a Summer school in Portugal for part of summer. But I can PM with details if you would like I could be wrong but is the school your son is at The Vaganova school in Washington? As I thought this school could be attended only via scholarship from UK and if he were to leave the school where would he stand with this? It would be horrendously expensive to fund privately I believe. I also always thought that the US system is a bit like the French where you have to keep going to 18 to get the main qualification as its slightly more generalised than UK system. In UK you could feasibly make an academic break at 16 and then later take the modern equiv. of A levels......I'm sure it's harder to make this break at 16 if its like the French system. But you will have some idea about this no doubt!! If your son is adamant about a ballet career though then NOW is the time to go for it. If it doesn't work out in next few years he will still be young enough to take up academic qualifications later......though having said this I know how difficult this particular dilemma is from personal experience!! And it's NOT easy. The level of talent becomes crucial at this point I think.....do the staff there think he has a good chance of a career inspite of his latish start? With regards to teachers or schools by senior level would say teacher comes first obviously depending on the level and standing of the school generally I personally have always been a "teacher follower" but individual circumstances are so different and of course if money is an issue(which it usually is) it may be much more difficult to fund. I'm not sure but I believe Beatrix Stix-Brunell in the Royal followed a particular teacher too and although we are seeing little of her at mo I really rate her as a dancer so I think paid of for her. Sorry this goes on a bit.....do you know why your sons the teacher is being "fired" as such?

Thanks hfbrew I was going to ask for more info as not heard of until came on this Forum I would like to see them too so will check out website.

The music was Albinoni...Adagio for strings in G minor and we wore long floaty white costumes....very nice!

I'm back to ballet again tonight after a week off......and yes it's great having a break every so often to give the muscles and joints a bit of recovery time and I usually really enjoy that first class back except this time for me it's the hardest class I do of the week so hopefully will be up to it!! And gardens start to need lots of attention for next few months......we've just had a nest (in box) of starlings hatch out....five babies and they are very noisy at about 5.30 am all screaming for food! The great tits should be any day now too. Pirouettes into arabesque sound quite hard too....though have done into attitude...extend leg.....place in fourth...probably easier as not having to hold any position that long! You are very brave to dance at a wedding....is this on your own? Will it be actually in the church? I have danced with a group in a largish church....not recently.....and it happened to be a nice space to dance in I remember...it was lovely music which I can hear.....but name of which escapes me it's a famous piece though! It wasn't for a wedding...so less pressure!! I will investigate the ENB classes for the Autumn to see if I can commit to one day a week up in London regularly(I can do it in a day easily) so will be either RAD or them. Do ENB have a sort of taster day at all to try a level out.....The RAD do....because if you are paying for a term up front it's important to be in the right class. I imagine too people who've committed before will get preference so places hard to come by......and we're just adults doing for pleasure!!! When is the choreography you are practicing for to be performed first?