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HAIRBELLES

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Posts posted by HAIRBELLES

  1. Anyone looking at 16+ dance courses I just thought it worth a mention how I am impressed with the course on offer at Preston College.

    Set in the affluent area of Fulwood it has a state of the art performance building on campus.

    It's a 3 yr part funded FE course, the performance element of the course is £1,100 which can be paid monthly. Means tested bursaries are available too as is a £700 scholarship that any student can apply for.

    As it is a FE course families on a lower income do not lose family allowance or tax credits , help towards living costs are also available plus free lunches and subsidised bus passes .

    Campus itself is like a small shopping centre with a shop , resteraunt, hairdressers, nail salon, snack shop, gym and physio and much to dds delight a subsidised Starbucks.

    The students study for their DDI & DDE in a chosen genre as well as lessons in performance. Ballet , tap and modern are studied up to ADV 2 .

    It is a full on course dd starts at 8:30 -4:45 mon- fri

    As well as ballet , tap and modern syllabus classes every day she also does

    Jazz

    Contemporary

    Commercial

    National

    Body Conditioning

    MT

    Plus Weekly workshops with industry professionals

     

    Throughout the year students take part in a Xmas showcase , a fashion show , Move It and the main show in the Summer.

    The enrichment programme is fabulous there has already been a trip to a Dirty Dancing also planned is a trip to Alvin Ailey , a weekend to London for Move It plus much more.

    There is also a yearly trip to New York for 5 days including 2 Broadway shows and 2 master classes on Broadway this time one of them is Wicked.

     

    It was a huge leap of faith to hand back dds dada from her previous school but she was ready for a change and is loving every minute ( except for the bus journey home lol).

    Well worth a look for any 16 yr old not yet quite ready for London life.

    • Like 10
  2. As with a lot of stories nowadays I fail to see how this is "news".

     

    The police are obliged to investigate if the person reporting the "crime" has used words that indicated harassment , alarm or distress.

    Some of this story could fall within the realms of section 5(1) of the Public Order Act 1986.

     

    I only know this as my ex -husband called the police because her step -dad posted her some Parma violet sweets through his front door .

    Crazy!!!!! But the police had to follow it up as he said we were harassing him !

     

    Now where did I put that number for The Telegraph ;)

    • Like 6
  3. Was funding more generous in the past, or were the fees for lessons, vocational schools etc lower relative to parental incomes? I do know that fee increases for academic independent schools have far out-stripped inflation and average pay rises in the last decade so that education at such schools has become much more expensive. There have always been dancers from modest backgrounds at the RB who have come up through the RBS. How did they manage it? By going to the School at 11 and benefitting from full funding by way of grants plus scholarships from outside foundations and donors?

    I'm not sure that it was more generous just that there wasn't as many students competing for it.

    Before my eldest dd did JAs and I hadn't read this forum or a copy of The Dancing TimesI was completely ignorant of the ballet world and believe me ignorance in this case was bliss. I have never stressed so much in my life about ridiculous things as taking photographs , in hindsight a waste of energy , I digress.

     

    The best money I have spent so far is on 1-1 tuition but this teacher is a 2 hr train journey away and I do believe if she were on our doorstep dd2 would be ,I wouldn't say amazing but a lot better than she is.

     

    There is funding for some things but it is where to look ... I list a few examples I know of ,maybe a separate threat would be useful.

     

    The Royal Ballet do primary steps it is free and they provide the leotards and ballet shoes even the cost of trips.

    They offer means tested bursaries for associates and summer school they also now offer travel bursaries for all associates and accompanying parents that have to travel over 120 miles to get to class.

    RCS and Central waive audition fees for low income families.

    RCS offer bursaries for short courses

    YBSS offer lots of scholarships for summer school

    EYB offer scholarships

    • Like 9
  4. Feeling a pang of sadness at the mention of the Carol service Ballet4Boyz it was my absolute favourite event of the school calendar.

    Im at a bit of a loose end this year as I have the feeling I should be packing bags and sewing tags etc

    Good Luck to all the new parents and DCs .

    • Like 2
  5. Both my dds didn't have extra drama at all but both had a singing lesson. In our time at the school most of my dds year had a singing or musical instruments lesson . They also both had a lot of singing and choir timetabled into the week so if it had been an option at the time for elder dd we may well have chosen a drama lesson as she wasn't on MDS

     

    If it's feasible maybe your DS can wait and see how he copes with school and boarding, also is he keen to do the extra lessons ?

  6. Advice please

    I am just thinking about the extra lessons that are available in drama and singing. Thinking we are going to go for extra drama but unsure whether to go for singing too. I understand that my DS will get some singing lessons as part of MDS, does anyone know how many lessons and whether he will need extra on top of that?

    Hope that makes sense

    Last year it was £550 worth of lessons ( singing or instrument) which was one a week . Unlike the dance exams the singing exams are extra . I would say it is plenty as the children come out of other academic lessons to do these classes.

    Hope that helps Sadie123

  7. Can anyone remember roughly when the applications went live last year for lower schools?  Only date I can find in thread was Sept 7th 2015 for RB F/T training.

    Royal already live Southerndancemum ....... It's crazy how quickly application time comes around , I cannot remember a time when I wasn't fretting about photos and closing dates .

  8. Thanks Pictures .... Yes sorry Annaliesey I wasn't very clear , I didn't mean height it was more an ability due to the age difference I was referring to and no not local dance school.

    My dd would have benefitted from dancing with the year below as she was nearer them in actual age and ability.

    I'm sure it must be very hard , maybe some of the teachers out there have opinions on this, to teach a class of 20plus boys and girls all at various stages of ability and physical development ( weakness due to growth spurts etc ) .

    How exciting Angel I bet it was lovely to watch your dd at WL .

    • Like 1
  9. So, what happens to those 16 year old boys who don't get an US place because they are too short and too skinny? Boys that are young in the year are actually auditioning at 15. My non-dancing son is very young in the year and it has definitely been a disadvantage for him, particularly as he has always been rather immature for his age and was a late developer. As has been demonstrated by Malcolm Gladwell, your position in the school year can have a profound effect on your life, older children generally benefitting from being taller, stronger, more physically developed, more mature etc compared with their peers against whom they are judged when so much is organised along school year lines.

    I am always "banging" on to my BMBF ( Ballet Mum Best Friend ) about the disadvantages of my dd having a summer birthday . She will be 16 in August and a friend of hers the year below is 16 in September a whole 11months difference. My dd really would have benefitted from an extra year before auditioning for US.

    Just going off topic, I think the everyday ballet in particular the school my dd attended should be streamed to take in account of physical and mental development it would also stop some unfavourable comparisons between the year groups .

  10. According to my programme it was called In Flight, was performed by 2nd years & choreographed by Tracy Baxter whose choreography is always very good.

    Three of the pieces in the second half was student choreography (which I didn't realise when watching)

    Same here Pictures !!! ..... Also a couple of numbers using MT students ?????,, My favourite number was also choreographed by a student and I really liked the in flight number and Gasp . The young man singing in Roses was phenomenal .

    • Like 2
  11. I echo everything said about Becky , she is very helpful. DD has never had a pointe shoe fitting with her but she comes highly recommended by my friends who have used her.

    I would imagine it is hard work keeping on top of everyone's accounts and they maybe have done this to streamline things, especially if like myself you are sending in receipts and then your child is picking things up from the shop . I have had to ring up a few times to see where I'm up to with the balance .

    Unless your dds go through pointe shoes very quickly , you would be hard pressed to spend £650 a year even if you bought everything from Stardust.

    If you do find you have a credit near the end of the year you can always stock up for the year ahead .

    • Like 2
  12. Hi Stardancer my dd currently at The Hammond auditioned in yr9 for Elmhurst and I put that she was there on the form .

    She auditioned again for Upper School and made it to finals .

    The only problem I would say that you might come up against ,especially if your dd has a dada , is that if your dd gets a final audition you have to get a form ,they send to you , filled in and sent back by your teacher.

  13. Here goes ladies .... I can either post or leave at the BH for you .

     

    School Coat like new ... I cannot find the tag so I have measured across the front of the chest and its 20 inches , sleeve from shoulder to cuff is 19 .... I can provide more measurements if needed ....... £10

    Blazer chest 34 .... £5

    Sweat Shirts chest sizes :

    34 Brand new £10

    34 like new £5

    34 like new £5

    4 X 36 like new £5 each

     

    Jazz Wear Moi leotards

     

    Blue yr7/8

    2x age 10/12. £5 each

    1 X XS £5

     

    Pink yr 10 ( I think )

    1x Med brand new £8

    1x Small £5

     

    Spares Still plenty of wear in them

    Blazer chest 28

    Track suit bottoms inside leg 28

    Sweatshirts

    1x 34

    2x 36

     

    Bundle of 6 pairs tights all new small Capezio £5

    2 X black convert able

    2 X footless

    1x pink convertible

    1x pink footless

     

    Bloch stretch pointe shoes brand new size 5 XX £20

  14. I don't know how I posted peanut68 comments again.

    I don't think anyone on here is suggesting that there is a golden leg length.

    And how can measuring proportions for potential be universally condemned as bad as encouraging boob jobs ?

    This is a rhetorical question as I won't be logging back on to read the answer !!

    • Like 3
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