LinMM

How awful Fiz. It's far too long winded to go into on this forum but a school I worked in had a similar prob with a tv prog how it's edited can make such a difference to the real truth!!

That could make me quite murderous!! Are they allowed to do this then.....or rely on the fact that most people wouldn't be able to afford to take up a libel challenge!

I've noticed a preference for turning to the right no matter what supporting leg which if I hadn't been observing I would have thought the turn on the strongest supporting leg would be favoured! To clarify when turning en dedans definitely prefer the right.....and this would also,be the right leg supporting. However when turning en dehors I also feel more comfortable to the right(though less marked than when en dedans) and that's then actually the left supporting leg!! And it's very difficult to describe this "more comfortable" feeling but it's definitely there. In Pose turns I am markedly better when turning to the right and on right supporting leg......always more likely to go off course to the left! But I think it would be a good practise for spotting at least to have to continue on round in a circle(as is often choreographed in ballets in fact) rather than just keep to the diagonal as it would force you to keep re- focussing your spotting point so to speak. I must try going on round in a circle to the left could be interesting...............

Thanks for this info Pas de Quatre as my friend coming over from Sydney with her DD had been asking about any summer schools in case DD didn't get her choices......which she now has got in fact but if not this looks a worthwhile one.

What a lovely word Tulip!

afab is it necessary for all three daughters to go to the same school or are you okay with possible different schools for them but would prefer at one school if the ballet there was particularly good. I will be sending you PM about schools but just wanted to know this first. Also do you know which side of Reading your husbands job is likely to be on because obviously he needs ease of travel too. Two of the better ballet schools I'll send are nearer Oxford so would be great if that was a coincidence!! There are a lot more places to learn dancing if ballet is not the main concern of course.

Nana Lily I think this topic thread was started by Ribbons in response to an article she had read(she posted the link) which implied that most people doing ballet were upperclass.....she was concerned this would give the wrong impression to the general public especially with regards to funding.....that's the ballet connection but if you read the article you will see how this thread also got on to accents and use of local Lang etc!!

Well I must say I'd never heard of the words Bevvy and butty till I went to live in Liverpool never heard them used in Surrey or London area at that time ......1969-1972. I've just emailed my friends who taught with me in Liverpool (now in Cambridge) to check I havent lost it and the word bevvy was in common use in Liverpool at that time but also friends who still live in Upton on the Wirral to see if anyone in their circles still uses this word now or not!! Definitely could be a generational thing.......we do all have our bus passes!! Janet I don't know about the quotes. Just re-read the article and I suppose you have to trust that the quotes are the mothers.....on the other hand maybe she is quietly fuming that she has been misquoted and wrong impression given!! You do,have to be careful with journalists and tv reporters who can appear to be on your side but a programme/newspaper report might not always be weighted the way you think it's going to be.

I was on the Dance Direct website and have to say don't really understand their size charts It looks promising at first as they mention this xxlarge size for size 14plus etc but then when you look at the chart underneath with weight and height on it there's then no mention of this xxlarge size only large is mentioned which is a size 12!! In fact this Large size covers people from 5ft 3ins to 5ft 11 ins And people who weigh between 63kgs to 69kgs(the top weight on chart) So when I go along for my weight (which this am was 70.5kg) and my height I'm told I'm a large......which is their size12!!! I am a size 16 at least their xx large size which is nowhere to be seen when looking at any of their leotards. Perhaps Ive misunderstood this chart.......but anyway my gripe is that I would like to be able to go into at least one of the ballet shops in London and find a leotard which fits. I'm not a big Internet buyer really and hate having to send things back and forth. However looks like I will have to do this as obviously in the ballet world a size 16 is a no-no!!

My friend who is living in Sydney at mo and whose DD has a place on the first week of the Yorkshire SS said that they asked for photos yes, but they did ask for previous exam result too even the mark she got and what current class level attending etc. She was wondering whether some kids were being tracked because they know parents can afford to send them every year!! But have referred to forum as reading through the posts here wouldn't say this was he case. I believe she said both the ENB and YBSS didn't require as many photos as the RBS did....which can be seen on RBS website. I have seen the RBS application form but not the others so don't know how much info parents were asked to give on them. I can see that if they were being asked to fund children they might need more info....hence an audition...but it does seem as if kids from less well off backgrounds are then being asked to go that extra mile to get a place....but it's just an impression I'm getting....don't really know what the reality is about decisions to give children places or not.

Yes well I was in Liverpool 1969-1972 so quite likely that Bevvy and butty have gone out of fashion. I'm pretty sure the "bullring" just of Brownlow Hill will have gone by now too. I started teaching at Pleasant Street Board School and it really was still called that in1969! When I went for my interview and saw this dreadful looking school with bars at the windows I assumed there would be a new school out the back!! There is a new school there now on the other side of the road. However I loved teaching there it was tough but the kids were still more respectful generally then they seem to be today in comparative schools another thing that has changed with the times. Anyway digressing a bit too far from the topic thread probably which is ballet being seen as an "upper class" activity and whether the mother in the article genuinely believes this or just thinks anyone with a southern accent is upper class which is of course nonsense. And also the fact that she felt she shouldn't speak because of her accent which is of course ridiculous as well especially as apparently society has hopefully moved on from all this!! However there's an article in the Sunday times news review just this weekend which shows perhaps not as much as we would have hoped! (Cameron's Crew)

Probably may not have seen that closely then as when watching the video was looking at the dancing more!! And it's difficult unless you actually see them all lined up together to gauge the actual frame sizes unless perhaps you were in the room with them. But when I go to the Royal I don't get the impression they are all anorexically thin though of course by normal standards against the general population they will undoubtedly be thinner! Try buying a comfortable leotard if you are a size 16(back to ballet posts!!)

Somewhere on YouTube following one of the students(can't remember now who it was) but she said she ate a lot but just burned it all off dancing. I agree that if you were a professional you couldn't survive long as an anorexic as you just wouldn't have the energy required. Having said this I do still think there is pressure on girls particularly to keep their weight down....makes a bit of sense as a professional as you do have to be lifted....but shouldn't be made too much of for younger students especially those just going into puberty. There is also a particular body frame which is small so if you re taller with that frame you are going to be thinner. However all parents should watch out for any unnatural thinness developing in case an eating habit has started(ages 13-16 are most vulnerable) As a rule the Russian dancers do seem to be thinner but I think especially at the Maryyinski they go for the taller thinner type like Yuliana Lopatkina(who is a beautiful dancer.....though I like Diana Vishneva also thin but not so obvious as not so tall) but the Royal and ENB re a great mix of sizes.....watch the RBS class on Youtube....where this can clearly be seen!!!

Yes I saw The Methodist Hall there.....seems to be spread out into other venues as well. My first Ballet lessons were in the old Binfield Hall in Byfleet.....don't know whether that's still there...haven't been down that road for years. Susan Robinson does have a good rep though but there are others good too a bit nearer Reading. Will be posting shortly to afab.

I think it's Received Pronounciation thequays I resonate with so much of the above especially what Fiz says My mum was a Yorkshire lass from Redcar(where I was born.....where gran was) but she came to live in the south after the war and had hardly a trace of northern accent just the shorter "a" 's when saying "bath" for example and some die hard Yorkshire expressions. She too wanted me to "speak properly" so I have a southern accent which to some may appear posh but not to me.....I sound positively "common" around really posh people!! After working in Liverpool for three years I did start to pick up the Liverpool intonation and some of their expressions like"going for a bevy" (drink) slipped out! Some accents are so strong you can't help it but I love them all too inspite of my mums best efforts!!

Maybe the upper class remark was her interpretation of a southern accent! When I started teaching in Liverpool the kids from the old bullring there that I taught said oo you talk posh miss! And used to imitate me. One day I came into class and practiced my best Liverpool accent on them....they fell about laughing but loved it and soon forgot I was "posh" . Is this one of those North/south divide things? I agree about the Billy Elliot thing....getting annoying. Before Darcey it was who will be the next Fonteyn!! None of the people I know who either do or did ballet are "upper class" at any rate.

I'm a council house kid!!

Really sounds like they should fit Aurora as I'm only 5ft 8ins have just lost a bit of faith with most people's standard leotards but I will have a look at the ones you are describing on Dance Direct

Gosh Byfleet is where I grew up and started my ballet lessons!! But wasn't Susan Robinson school then. However I think Ive seen her girls dancing at the annual summer fete though. Check its not in West Byfleet though people often get the two confused. And it is a bit of a trek from Reading.....know that journey well!! Hopefully reporting back with info soon.....just got back!

Hi may PM you will start checking through my network there may be somewhere in Maidenhead but need to double check. I went to College in Reading and few years back went for a 40th reunion and didn't recognise ANY of it!! Hopefully will be in touch with some USEFUL info......won't do any speculative stuff trying to be helpful!!

Will reply later afab what a lot of talented kids you have. Just a quickie some kids here in Brighton who have been offered the Vaganova in Washington SS apparently a chance for them to see if worth offering full time place later just can't afford to take them up, such a shame, one girl in particular is really good.....now at day classes in London

Thanks Aurora. I seem to be particularly sensitive to leotards pressing down on the shoulders for some reason. I hate to feel that compression especially when arms in fifth! Hence so far haven't felt comfortable in any of the standard sizes. However I have sent my exact measurements to JustBallet and hopefully will have one made now!! I am quite broad across the back and shoulders....probably if had a smaller frame these XL sizes would fit! Also something Ive noticed in recent years because of extra weight on the arms that if there is a discrepancy between top and bottom it is likely that I'm larger on top now whereas when younger was the other way round( bottom half size 12 top size10!!) I usually fit into most high street size 16....but occasionally the bottom half is 16 but the top more18 if the cut is on small side. This may explain the leotard problem. Some people are just not one size!! But thanks for info anyway.

She is obviously very talented afab. I don't know whether with the younger kids (say 10/11) not having done any exams plays less of a part than it might with an older child. I'm sure the people running these ballet courses can tell a lot from the photos they probably get a feel for level of technique etc. I still don't think it could give you much idea of someones dance quality though which I feel is as important as technique but people do like different things anyway and maybe they feel the dance side will come later.( One of the reasons I myself like Russian style training is I think the dance quality is incorporated in the training earlier.) I suppose too that once having attended a summer school....say at RBS and a child has been seen who they think is good then presumably it would then be easier to get in the following year. Is your DD going to an SS this year afab? I'm sure my friend would have been delighted with an RBS ss place but she did think the Yorkshire one looked particularly good as well so is pleased about that.

Yes just been to RBS site....my friend sent me photos 4and 5 I can see now. However on looking at the application form they do ask for levels reached, how long been doing ballet, and how many classes a week etc plus name of school attending. This probably does give them a fairly good picture as well as the photos.

What is the youngest age a child can apply for summer school by the way? My friends DD had also applied for RBS summerschool but assume she did not get offered a place there as she hasn't mentioned it. Ive emailed her to ask exactly what she had to submit to the schools she applied to. I know she applied a while back now though so don't know whether early application is an advantage or not.