HAIRBELLES

Don't worry too much yet. I heard on the grapevine that they were a bit later than usual due to some of the Admin staff being away promoting the school at Move It . Best of Luck it is a lovely school.

Hi Lilac I am saddened to hear of your dd's struggle as my dd is in the same boat . It is upsetting to watch her struggle with nerves and confidence when watching her perform as I know what she is capable of in private. If memory serves me right I think your dd is younger, mine is a very young 13 , her teacher is lovely and like yours says she must have more self belief but how on earth do you obtain it ? Thanks for starting this thread I am hoping that I too can gain some knowledge and tips on how to deal with this. I will PM you later .

Best wishes to your dd celb will be thinking of her x

Hi MVOBE it was my dd's local teacher that requested the feedback, she spoke to Mark Annear head of the Associate programme. This was 3 years ago. Has his local teacher been to watch him recently? Do they even still do this........I was thinking you could invite his teacher to watch and she could ask the JA teacher about your sons progress.

I have had two dd's in JA's and each time nothing specific was mentioned in the letter, although at the time something must have been written somewhere about feedback but it was deemed only acceptable to request it through your child's local teacher. What is also different from the letters I've had in the past is that you say your letter says he is a strong contender for Mids. I am thinking that there has been a bit of a shake up this year as a few things, re auditioning and Summer School are different. Well done for Elmhurst and good luck for the Final .

Sorry to all who had a no this time. MVOBE I really do know how you are all feeling at the moment .Anyone who is familiar with posts about my girls ( I can hear you all groaning "she's not going to tell that story again is she" ) will know how upset I was for my younger dd when she didn't make finals, gosh can it really be 3 years ago, it feels like yesterday when I'm reading all your posts. To cut a long story short dd was a JA for 3 years and after a very encouraging phone call from her teacher ,which made me think she was in with a chance ,my husband phoned me with the results whilst I was in the middle of doing a bride's nails, I felt like I could have thrown up and broke out into this cold sweat. I too had a cry to my Mum I just couldn't understand it as most of the class had also got through. It makes me feel emotional now just thinking about it. No matter how many times I explained to my dd about how Royal like very arched feet etc she thought it was because she was rubbish. As your ds is a JA you can ask for feedback via your local teacher as to why this time he didn't make the final . We did and it all became a lot clearer. My dd followed her sister and is now in her 3rd year at The Hammond (that was another saga ).......Although every year she tries for Summer School at White Lodge she only ends up on the wait list. Keep going MVOBE and everyone else fingers crossed for the rest of the results..........now where did I put those Summer School forms

Hi, if memory serves my right I'm sure it is when they have finished auditioning at every venue.

I was going to say the exact same thing. I think that sometimes one can underestimate how these setbacks can affect our youngsters. My youngest dd reacts with a I'm not bothered ,didn't want to go anyway etc and is in a thoroughly bad mood and this is only for a summer school so I'm dreading when I have to go through Upper School auditions with her. It isn't unusual to become a bit disheartened from time to time ,so if there is nothing else bothering her maybe sit her down and look at her schedule together. Hope she gets her Sparkle back soon.

Or maybe both...... All of the above to gain a place then a lottery win to pay for it

Hi Pictures Northern Ballet Academy at Leeds is £225 (think I've looked at the right price) but on top of this you need accommodation on top of this if it is too far to travel. For the money I cannot recommend NBA highly enough. Both my girls have attended the Summer School and gained a tremendous amount from the teaching there. As your dd is a vocational student she wouldn't need to audition.

Hi Katymac Have you looked at The Stage recently ....last year they funded at least 2 scholarships for the type of training your dd is auditioning for . One was with D&B in Kent and Stella Mann . They fund the 3 years and you just find the accommodation expenses maybe worth looking into . Well done to your dd for the offers she has got so far .

I need to stay over in the New Year and the Hilton Doubletree was coming up at £66 plus breakfast which is a fantastic rate, beautiful hotel down the rd from Hammond....Booking.com There is a Travelodge (Warrington Rd) that is situated at the bottom of the lane that leads to Hammond, it is connected to the Toby Carvery. Words of caution....the big Travelodge in Chester is now University acommodation and I am of the opinion it will drive up the prices of the smaller ones round and about. The Travelodge at Cheshire Oaks always seems reasonably priced and only 10 mins away. Lots of nice little hotels and guest houses in an area called Hoole which is slightly nearer the school. If you stay in the centre of Chester allow lots of time to get to the school as a 10 minute journey can be more like 45 mins at that time of day.

Hi Tulip Summer School dates are: Covent Garden 20 July - 2 August (15 - 18 years) White Lodge Week 1: 21 - 26 July ( 10 - 13 years) Week 2: 27 - 1 August (13-14 years) 14 year olds can do the 2 weeks. Closing date 28th February 2014 Good Luck to your DD getting a place straight off this year Tulip.

I have no idea if the purely classical schools offer additional funding but last year at Laine they offered 6 further scholarships as well as the dada funding so it may be worth a phone call to the schools you are applying to and asking. Both Urdang and Hammond offer bursaries too.

Hi Rushed It's more like a 10 minute walk. My dd did classes at Northern Ballet for a while so we've done that walk many times. I believe quite a few do a class at Northern then go across to JAs. Good luck for your Dd and welcome from me too .

If you requested Manchester I think it's safe to say i twill be at Centrepointe it has been forthe last few years and especially if Spax is selling things there.

I just wanted to wish everyone who has DC's auditioning this time and having formal appraisals next week and after Christmas a collective good luck message I do not always get the time to leave a comment on the different threads and sometimes miss posting to people I know.( I hope all went well yesterday Tutugirl ). I know from personal experience that the postman doesn't always bring the news you are excruciatingly waiting for and there is usually something else that works better for your child in the long run. Wherever your rollercoaster journey takes you and your DC's you can bet someone on this forum has been there and can offer advice or support.

I would agree with Ellie .......Let her do her hair how she would normally you will be very surprised once she starts auditioning to the young people who turn up and what they look like.......some of them will even have short hair so cannot have a bun .It really isn't like when you turn up for a classical ballet course where everyone hasn't a hair out of place. I would try appealing to any friends or looking on ebay before spending loads of birthday money a leotard although it will come in handy once she starts college, as my dd wanted half a doz more and where she is there isn't a uniform as such. I always find a nice glass of prosecco will help with the latter.

I think there are a few more MDS places at Hammond not wanting to contradict you KathyG but the year my eldest dd auditioned there were 13 MDS places the majority went to yr 7& 8 but her friend got one for yr 9. When my 2nd dd auditioned I'm sure there were around 15 MDS places I could be wrong . It all depends on the outgoing yr11 and of course children leaving for other reasons. The Hammond also offer generous bursaries to all who don't gain an MDS. It is very difficult to source any independent funding.

Hi Katymac Having" been in your shoes" last year my advice would be to have all the leos ,tights and accessories in an "audition case", dd had one of those with wheels, and let your dd get on with it. Conflict over leotards with an auditioning teenager is futile and will only serve to upset you. I have been in this very situation and she did what she wanted anyway. I tried to post to you on NAPM but couldn't remember my password, here is what from our experience dd needed although she didn't do as many auditions as your dd. Classical leotard and convertible tights for ballet Brighter colored leotard and black tights for jazz/ own solo.....tights worn over top of leotard ,would also recommend this for tap. Hair accessories put in some pump action gel spray as some buildings don't allow use of aerosols. Clothes used for singing were anything from nice tracksuit to dresses nothing too formal. Whether your dd can change clothes in between classes will be governed on which groups she is in and the running order.DD arrived at Bird immaculate bun for ballet only to find she was in the group that sang first and had to take it all out. My dd used the same solos,monolugues and songs for each audition. A major item, and one we didn't have for Bird ,red lipstick If your dd has everything with her she can see what others are doing and follow their lead . My DD 's second leo was a lovely long sleeved lace one.....I let her choose this one ......my dd has a generous bust and for the ballet she had a Capezio bra-tek gave her a lovely shape. You made me smile about messing up your spreadsheet......It is a very stressful time indeed ,wishing you and your dd lots of luck ......PM me if you want to know anything as we were just MT not ballet. .

I don't know how I've managed to quote without the reply Tulip ..... I don't know the dates just this snippet of info. I think it's the last times dd can apply for WL SS always been waiting list previously , maybe 3rd time lucky .

Summer school applications are available from December and the closing date is February 28th .

When you mentioned holes and recycling tights LinMM it brought back memories of my ice skating days. When I got holes in my tights , which was often from the blades, my Mum would cut one leg off 2 pairs of tights and I would both tights over each other making one good pair. I know what my 2 DDs would say to that idea these days And just for the record we saw Kerry Ellis in Wicked.... Amazing!! She is my DD's inspiration .

Hi Dramascientist Even though it is less than 12 months ago I cannot remember there being a choice of monologues. I do remember that my dd did stick to the what they stated regarding the contempory speech (play post 1960) she found this challenging as she had never had individual drama lessons and struggled finding something suitable. I would usually say stick with what the requirements of the school are, but your dd has to be comfortable with her choice. It is only a minute at the end of a long day ,and only my opinion, if your dd makes it this far as some are let go at lunchtime, they will have already made up their minds about her. Good Luck to your dd and all the DC's and DP's auditioning this year it is exciting as it is stressful.