LinMM

Can't wait now am going to see this next Tuesday (14th May) and have never managed to see the full length version before for some reason but feel I know some bits by heart from watching on YouTube....great to see for real now!

Think I would add Marcia Haydee too from Stuttgart. Also Markarova in Giselle was mesmerising especially in the mad scene.(I missed Fonteyn in this role but she was noted for it) More recently have noticed Itziar Mendizabel standing out....another one excellent in Las Hermanas. Some dancers seem to be generally good at acting too(Cojocaru) and others shine in particular roles. Even in light hearted ballets like Fille Ive been moved to tears by a particular performance like Acosta/Nunez......which reminds me of course Alexander Grant as the idiot farmers son.....I hate saying this but no one has bettered him in this role.....yet....his humour had such a gentle touch.

I don't know how old your daughter is Tulip but I would have thought a bit of jogging would be okay and possibly nice for you to do together!! As she does have professional aspirations for ballet though just a need to watch how much she does I would have thought as excessive jogging can damage the joints in knees and hips as others have said especially when running on roads etc. A moderate amount of running for enjoyment could be a good thing.....however if she is advanced ballet level I shouldn't think she would need to do another activity to support cardio etc. Ballet is supposed to be anaerobic and so on and I think this is because the exercise is broken up into different speeds during the class but try telling that to students at the end of a long class!!

I saw Las Hermanas recently and the whole cast of that including Cojocaru (who I love in anything just about) were brilliant.....really got the mood of Lorca. A word for Fonteyn in Marguerite and Armand and any piece where she had to portray joy or ecstasy! And Nureyev not so much for acting but just pure stage presence I don't think anyone can just run onto a stage like he did. Anyway this has got me thinking now........

Hi Michelle just looked and would have been great as have friends in Cambridge so easy to stay etc but am up in Haworth that weekend.....we have this college reunion thing going and each person in the group takes it in turns to organise it.....next year it's Brighton so better start planning now!!!! Last year it was in Ross on Wye and took a slightly macabre turn with us speculating who would end up being the last two to meet up as we're all,getting so ancient....but I digress..... I didn't know about these RAD workshops so will keep my eye out in future though last year they did email me about their adult classes and they are great if you live in London but its the same as with ENB ones you do need to pay up front and be able to attend each week. They do have this great Saturday dance day each week where you can combine different classes and I might think about that for next year when I'm that bit fitter as wasn't sure could cope with more than one class a day last autumn......will certainly find out this summer anyway! Have just today finally booked the Chelsea Summer School!!

Thanks Legseleven and Janet. I will be up in Haworth at the end of June....just bought ticket and its Leeds then Keighley....so that must be the nearest station. They moved there from Bradford and though have been before that was by car from Sheffield so not that au fait yet with the trains up there. Anyway I'll do a bit of investigating then if my friend doesnt manage to get something in York or nearby in next few weeks.

This RAD workshop sounds interesting Michelle.....is this on their website and can anyone go or is it liked to your ENB classes.....would love to do those but you have to guarantee getting up to London regularly once a week as paid for in advance and can't do that. Wold be interested to know anyway

Yes thanks Angel (about the accommodation ) I was a bit worried when she said she hadn't booked the accommodation......don't know whether you had to pay an extra deposit to do this...which would have played a part in decision probably..in middle of emails at mo....as well as DD she has an older son doing an acting course and auditions etc as well (in London at Central I think) must be a nightmare trying to organise all this from Sydney!! I think she will see if there is any Uni accommodation left first as would be a great social experience as well I think to be sharing with so many other ballet students!! I do have friends just outside Haworth etc but too far for a daily commute I think?

No not mad just a wonderfully supportive mum as so many on this Forum seem to be!!

Hi afab have just sent you a PM about the classes hope it's a bit useful anyway. Good luck with it all!

Especially as my friends DD will not know anybody. Have those people who've got places at YBSS got accommodation set up? My friend said she hadn't booked it(I think they stay at the Uni) and was wondering whether it would still be available....she thinks probably not.

My friends daughter is also just 13, 13 in March, perhaps they will meet up Nana Lily!

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!!!