Bluebird22

Try not to get too bogged down in specific brands, all a dance shop really needs is wide variety of brands and styles and good fitters.

My shoe of choice was always a Bloch suprima yet not one of my students wear them. I have heard other teachers telling students to "try freed because I wore them" or "try the same shoe as X because they look nice". It's poor advice. Every foot is different so while a teacher may have preference for a particular brand or shoe, it doesn't mean they will be the best shoe for your child.

I liken pointe shoe shopping to bra shopping, you want a good fit, a nice style, comfort and support- I can get all that from a triangle bra, my mum will always need something that resembles construction scaffolding!

Sometimes they really spice it up and sell a Grishko 2007! But agreed that is ALL they sell!

Pictures, I could almost tolerate an incompetent fitter, if there was a selection of shoes to choose from! I'm baffled as to how shops think 1 brand and 2 styles equates to choice and a well fitted shoe!

Tuco123 I found Barnums by chance after a disastrous day trawling the North West in search of pointe shoes. The staff are all really knowledgeable and will happily order shoes in for you once you've found "the one". I'm sure at least one of the fitters has danced professionally and now teaches so they offer really good tips and tricks.

Wherever you end up buying shoes from if any member of staff utters the words "with a little extra padding they will fit fine" or "I've left a bit of growing room" take your DD and leave immediately!

I second the advice of pictures, the selection in Staffordshire is terrible. However Barnums in Warrington, provides an excellent fitting experience. They stock a wide range of brands and styles and are incredibly knowledgeable. I take all my students there from beginners to advanced students. They keep a file card for every dancer so they can track how long between fittings etc and gauge how the shoe is being worn. They also have a points card which roughly works out at £5 off every 2/3 pairs of pointe shoes.

Does White Lodge have a waiting list/reserve list or similar? I know of one girl about 4 years ago who was offered and accepted a year 7 white lodge place but doubts began setting in on the last day of primary school, they still purchased uniform etc but by the end of the summer holidays she was too upset at the prospect of leaving home so she ended up not going!

Surely no matter how prestigious a school some children decline their offers in favour of schools they preferred or because once the reality of leaving home sets in, it's just too much for both them and their families?

Are the year 7 results out? Wasn't expecting my nervous butterflies back so soon!

What shoe is she wearing? Some of the Grishko styles are near on impossible to go through Demi pointe

Very relieved to hear results will be quick!

Micellar water is brilliant for getting all the rubbish out of the skin, make up, sweat etc. I've read a lot of articles that claim spots etc are a result of dehydrated skin so the skin overcompensates and over produces oil. I use a facial oil in the evening and a moisturiser in the morning after cleansing and toning.

The pill actually makes me break out, prior to the pill I would have the occasional pimple.

Also take a look at face mapping

I have given my details to countless applicants over the years, the only contact I have had has been from Royal, usually the standard newsletter type email about opportunities coming up etc. The only time they have contacted me personally has been when a student of mine had paid for summer school, white lodge and mid associate auditions which had resulted in an overpayment, they were struggling to contact her parent and reached out to me in the hope that I would be able to contact her parents. Other than that I have liased with several of the Royal teachers to watch my students classes or to discuss additional work I can be focusing on in their local classes.

One of my students also gave me an envelope addressed to "Teacher" the first year of her associate which included a list of classes and times and a contact email if I wished to attend any of the sessions.

For all the other associate programmes, Hammond, Elmhurst, Moorland Ballet Elite, Graham Fletcher, Etc I have never been personally contacted with a successful/unsuccessful results or otherwise.

I had this all through school and it continues now as an adult from friends work colleagues etc. I've been called a boy because I don't have boobs, accused of anorexia, bulimia, amongst other things. I accepted it as a fact of life but it isn't, it's blatant body shaming! It is utterly disgraceful, and I firmly believe a lot of the shaming in school stems from parental influence. The amount of posts I see on social media along the lines of "real men prefer curves only dogs go for bones" and "real women have curves". And don't get me started on Meghan Trainor. If kids are seeing this or this view point is perpetuated at home, kids think it's ok to mock others.

Children need to be told that it is wrong, all bodies are beautiful. Anorexia is not a weight it is a mental state, it's irresponsible, ignorant and harmful to make accusations like that.

I highly recommend your friend speaks to the school and asks for it to be addressed.

Apologies for ranting, it's just a matter that is very close to home!

I second what taxi is saying. What looks aesthetically pleasing to a photographer in my experience is rarely what looks good for a dancer. I take all my students audition pictures, and I always shoot from the floor up on my iPhone. Check the light against where they are positioned in the room as I've had some very odd shadows appear!

One set of age 7 entry photographs I took came with no pictures of what it should look like, how parents were supposed to navigate the terminology without a teachers help I'll never know!

Have you tried eBay ?

It depends if you want to be able to pointe your feet? I preferred them as a technical shoe, but from a vanity perspective if I was going on stage I'd opt for the so Danca as they are higher and I'm pocket size! That said when I've been on stage in them I haven't really needed them to pointe so perhaps if I had I'd have gone with the bendy ones x

Apologies my bendy ones were a Capezio Broadway flex though Bloch do a SFX split flex. My So Danca ones I just wore them and gave them a bit of bend like I would with tap shoes to wear them in X

I had two pairs of New Yorkers in the same make (so dance I think) but different colours one tan one black and to roughen the soles me and my dancing friends went for a jog round a very gritty car park did the job nicely and prepared us for dancing in them!

The leather bit on the black pair ripped when I pointed my foot but other than that I had no issue with either pair. I also have a lower pair which I think are Bloch, they have a suede soles and an unusual strap detailing as well as neoprene inserts, I wore them for a theatre craft exam and the examiner actually had a good chat with me in the middle of my exam about how gorgeous they were, as I could fully pointe my foot in them. They were unbelievably comfortable

Ballet4Boyz that is the most beautiful, touching story. I wish your DS the very best of luck at his funding finals.

My brother started off doing copying me at the back of my private lessons, he then started breakdancing and hip hop classes age 3 followed very shortly after by ballet, tap and modern. He gave it all up age 17, no reasons given, nothing! Now age 19 he still pirouettes around the kitchen when he thinks nobody is watching.

A lot of the boys I teach now started off in a break dance/hip hop class taught by an ex male central ballet associate. They all hero worship him because he's cool and young, once they find out he is also a brilliant ballet dancer it opens up another dancing possibility that they had previously associated with their younger sisters and tutus!

I teach boys in boys only classes, which I actually really enjoy. It's a totally different experience to teaching girls, you can't turn your back for a second. I find the boys to be more openly competitive in their efforts to impress me but at the same time infinitely more supportive of each other and they are always praising each other throughout the class if they get something right or manage something they couldn't before.

One of my students got waiting list for Royal summer school yesterday and told her mum she didn't stand a chance at MAs or White Lodge if she didn't get summer school. Today her mum has rang me to say she's been asked to White Lodge finals for Y7. She auditioned at Birmingham last Wednesday. I do wish these schools would explain their logic to us because it ties me up in knots trying to figure out and second guess!

Anyway I'm a very proud teacher tonight, especially since the little dancer in question was my very first Royal JA after I qualified.

And also you can't brag that your son is surrounded by beautiful girls all the time if they are playing football

Once the boys start, it's their dads who are their absolute biggest supporters! I teach a lot of boys and when I speak to their dads they are just bursting with pride. It's just a case of breaking down people's misconceptions about boys dancing and ballet in general, past the age of 5 twirling around and pretending to be a fairy isn't what ballet is about! Once people see the strength, stamina and commitment required with ballet, you can't fail to be impressed

The examining body we use provides credits with examinations which several girls have used on UCAS applications and CVs. That seems to be a real plus for parents I speak to, because no matter what path they choose to go down they can use their dance exams and experience and make themselves a more desirable candidate. Like annaliesey said, using a syllabus helps to teach technique which can then be applied to festivals, competitions, performances, auditions as well as exams!

Oh Colman that reminds me of my own brother! My dad was set on sending him to kickboxing and football which he did, but he was a natural showman, he started ballet age 3 under the disguise of "body conditioning" to increase his strength for kickboxing!

Here's hoping piccolo, one of them has been a JA since age 8 and this is just a big audition season for her, made worse by the fact that she loves white lodge.

I have just read on another thread that someone's DD got a white lodge place but never summer school!

All I really know is I just couldn't handle being a dancing parent, the waiting drives me mad just as a teacher!

2 of my students both Royal JAs have been offered waiting list for week 2. One got 3 separate emails all different, very confusing!

Not sure how to feel for them, as they've both auditioned for MAs this time and one for year 7 white lodge.