Happymum

I hope the recall went well and you’ll get the results very soon. Was the recall any different the the first audition? My DD is going in 2 weeks

Does Urdang give a straight “yes” this year or is it a “no” or recall? I’ve heard of many recalls but not a single “yes” so am wondering if it’s simply a case of two rounds of auditions this year (if DD is lucky to get a recall it means a total cost goes up by yet another hotel stay in London 🙄 )

Thank you Gowiththeflo. Preparing the solo plus 2 monologues and 2 songs doesn’t sound like the easiest audition? I think Urdang is 1 song, 1 monologue and no solo? I’m surprised there was no ballet class, I thought that Bird is the most dance focused MT college, or together with Urdang. I know there will be ballet class in Urdang. I feel like expert when it comes to ballet school auditions, both for lower and upper school, but MT is a mystery to me.

Hi, I haven’t posted on this forum for a couple of years I think. DD changed her focus from ballet to MT so trying for Urdang, Bird, Central School of speech and drama and Italia Conti this year. Not a success so far - Bird application form, nearly finished suddenly says #error and won’t work 🙄 so we still have no info what to prepare for audition and no audition date. Do you know if they always give you the preferred audition day? My DD hasn’t done any auditions yet, good luck to others auditioning and well done to those who already have offers.

My DD’s biggest dream since she was 5 years old was to be a ballet dancer. She was offered Royal and Elmhurst JA early and did it for 3 years, then was offered a place at 2 lower schools and spend 5 years in her favourite one. Auditioned successfully to 2 upper schools. She was so passionate! She almost never walked, she danced. She was so graceful and happy. But! She stopped loving ballet around year 9, she was very often injured, fractured foot, ankle sprains, hip and lower back problems and she will just exercise and exercise to keep up with the others, aiming for (non existing) perfection. She felt she was never good enough. It became a struggle and a task rather then love and passion. There were so many tears, sleepless nights, homesickness... But she couldn’t see herself not dancing. Then the pandemic started and there were no shows, no dancing in studios, online lessons started and one day DD said - “I like having my ballet lessons at home because I feel safe” (???!!!) During summer break we had lots of discussions about her future, I kept asking if she is sure she wants to go to one of the upper schools or maybe to a 6th form collage we had applied to as plan B. She couldn’t decide until the end of August but then made the brave choice of leaving ballet and go to a very good local 6th form college. Apart from 3 A levels she’s doing dance BTech and carrying on with ballet training with a very good Ballet teacher plus associates once a month and she is like another person! She is happy, she is bubbly, I can’t remember when was the last time she cried. The most important- she loves dancing again! Still wants to be on stage one day if she’s lucky, maybe be a professional dancer just not a ballet dancer but ballet is her favourite from all types of dancing. She was the happiest child on earth when she was accepted to Year 7 so I think we made a right decision letting her join this lower school. She has many lovely memories, made wonderful friends, had some great teachers (among not so good ones) but looking at how happy and healthy she is now I know she made the best decision not accepting her upper school offers. Thank you for this thread, it feels good to share it. (Because I felt like I should have left the forum in August with my head low, and there was this funny sense of grieving when my DD left ballet word...)

My DS is a breakdancer and currently at a vocational ballet school 🙂 trains ballet during day and breakdance in the evenings/weekends/holidsys. Sometimes performs an interesting combination of both. Recently decided to leave his ballet school after GCSEs and focus completely on breakdancing. It is extremely athletic so hard to carry on with both.

Thank you very much for the reply (and also a few PMs I received). It helped me to decide to order size 4 and hope for the best fit! I agree that the sizing very much depends on the brand!

Hi, I just bought online 2 different leotards, both in size 3, one fits my DD perfectly as expected and then the other, Freed RAD cap sleeve (Maddie) is far too small! Especially too short, doesn’t stretch lengthwise enough. I need to exchange it but do I choose size 4 or 5? The more websites I check for size guide the less I know... some state 3 is adult M, 4 is adult L. Other states that 3 is size 4-6 UK and 4 is size 8-10 UK. Then I found European site which says 3 is child size 10-12 years, 4- adult petit, 5- adult small!!! Which one is correct? We don’t have the option to go and try it on. My DD is rather tall, UK size 8 (sometimes 6). Is there a possibility that there is now a new Freed Maddie Leotard available made from a different fabric than a couple of years ago? Her old camisole RAD leotard in size 2A still fits, is just a bit tight.

I think that Elmhurst contacted all of those who were on their waiting list and Central contacted many (but I don’t know if all). People were also offered places from ENBS waiting list but some are still waiting.

My DD also handed back her offer last week so hopefully someone else still waiting will hear from Central soon. It looks like everything is taking much longer this year, which is understandable. Good luck to those still waiting

The initial deadline to respond for students who have received an offer for September 2020 is Thursday 23 April.

I think there is no need to send as another email just to confirm that they are going ahead with the audition. So I guess no emails means the audition is on.

I’ve received a swift reply - the audition will be held in the old building and there will be no opportunity to see the new school. More information about the move will be given to parents during Q&A time on the audition day.

Thank you MAK for the information. The emails are out with the timings. Luckily DC assessment is in the afternoon on Saturday so just one night in a hotel for us. I’ve read the email twice and it doesn’t say if it’s in the old or in the new school building so I’ve just email them to find out.

I have told my DC that there is a possibility that the audition will be cancelled/postponed because of the Coronavirus 😟. Of course I hope it won’t happen but I know of an open day/interview day which has been cancelled at one of the schools in London ( not dancing).

Congratulations to all the “yeses”! I’ve heard back from Central and from a few other people who kindly contacted me and it looks like the physical assessment can happen any time on Saturday 21st, Including the morning.

Congratulations to your DS Farawaydancer. I was also wandering about it...... anyway I’ve just emailed Central with a question about the timing on 21st, will let you know when I hear from them.

Great news for my DC today, Central finals 😁. I was surprised how quickly we’ve heard back, the preliminary audition was only this Sunday. Good luck to those who are still waiting to hear and to those who are auditioning later this month. Is there anyone who could describe the finals from last year? We have been told that maybe the physio assessment will be needed and it will be a day before finals. Was it just for a chosen few or majority of applicants? Was it in the afternoon or morning? I hope we will get more details soon to decide if we need one or two nights at a hotel. All the usual information about what the audition consist of, how many in finals etc will be great. I’ve read all the old posts but they are mostly about accommodation or are quite old.

I’ve just noticed that RCS and Elmhurst finals are on the same day! Did it happen previously? What do you do in this situation? It’s so unfortunate! If a DC can afford to audition just to a few schools, is lucky to get finals and then put in this situation it’s just not right. I know I should wait to see if my DC gets any finals and then worry but just planning ahead

Thank you Danceintherain!!!! I didn’t know about it. Maybe we can add Central to our very short list, we Will need to think it through. Once again - I’ll go mad without this forum...

I think that maintenance loan is only for those who earn below £33.000 (ish, if I remember well). We are lucky to have a higher income then that ( not much!) so there will be no help with living costs, just student loan or DaDA award to help with school fees.

Not a good day today... I looked at the cost of accommodation suggested for Central and ENBS students and it varies from £200 to £400 per week!!! Maybe I’m mistaken but if not it’s on average around £13.000 per year (10 months) so same like Tring but then you need to add the cost of food (and possibly every day transport) so ends up being more expensive then Tring!! How do others cope? Obviously I must have got it wrong, please correct me otherwise my DC will be heartbroken, I already am

I’ve received a reply from Tring today: In reply to your email, based on the income you mentioned the fees would approximately be £.......... per term for the tuition and then the boarding element which would be around £4300.00 per term. There are three terms in each year.This is based on current fees and therefore are likely to increase/ change for September 2020. For us the above means that we can’t afford it which is a shame as they offer all the A level subject my DC wants to do. On the positive side - one less audition/hotel/photos etc to organise, trying to see positive in everything

Yes, it’s looks like they do. I was surprised to see that one of the 6th music auditions is already full! I’ve emailed Tring today with a question about fees for boarding if DC is lucky to receive a DaDa. I hope they will reply soon