Bluebird22

Was it Miss Farrell?

You can get narrow pointe shoe ribbon!

@drdance & @Dance*is*life I completely agree! I am in the process of Covid proofing my income by taking on additional work in other fields so that if we have to close again I have something else to fall back on. Devastating but I can’t expect the studio owner I work for to prioritise my earnings above their own

Glad it’s not just me who is confused!

Does that rule out adult classes?

I found iMovie really easy to use for editing it together, you literally just select the videos from your camera roll. All of the audition videos I’ve done I’ve filmed from the floor to make the leg lines look longer. Offer to pay a teacher to help with exercises otherwise you will need to let your DC watch every exercise back before moving on. Performance doesn’t always translate well to video so practice going bigger. Anticipate it taking hours

The School of Dance Watlington, I’ve done a few courses with the owner and she comes across as an inspiring and very kind teacher

This is not a surprise to me but I think it misses the why. A lot of dancers are very academic or driven and could have their choice of careers. I could easily have chosen a career path with more financial stability, where a second job wasn’t necessary and unpaid hours didn’t account for the same amount of my time as the paid ones. But would I have the same level of job satisfaction? Would it genuinely make me happy? I doubt it. I have students who know they won’t ever be financially rich from dancing, that it will likely be a constant struggle, but they need to do it. It’s very hard to explain to someone who hasn’t performed what it feels like when you step out on stage to an audience or how freeing a studio can be. If lockdown has taught us anything it’s that we should spend more time doing what makes us happy and being with people who make us happy.

Feet look nicer generally in canvas and satin

Gorilla as in the company that make the glue?

I’m in search of another shop after Barnums closed (dance teacher not parent) and I had a really great conversation with the lady who runs Pose A, I believe she’s an ex dancer so knows how a shoe should feel as well as how you need to move through it. It’s one of the few places I’ve seen posts from on social media and been impressed by their fitting.

Pose A near the Trafford Centre in Manchester

Has anyone tried wearing a neoprene (wetsuit looking material) mask? Specifically to exercise in? I do worry a little about these “fashion” masks as I’m not convinced they are made from the best material.

Could you move to a different Ballet Boost centre?

Only sauté though not batterie or anything else in the allegro section!

Now that you mention it a few years back I was prepping a group for their Inter Found exam and without fail one student would finish the petit sauté exercise and have to sprint to the loo! I was quite convinced I would need to send a form into the examiner so she could go to the toilet

Thank you for this insight @Pas de Quatre & @Anna C I think in the mad dash to try and get places student finance has probably been way down the list of priorities. I really hope they can offer some financial support to those who have had to swap to a level 6 course because the majority of similar degree courses are already full.

@Anna C That is really helpful! Thank you

@Pas de Quatre I am completely with you, my younger classes are wearing shorts/leggings and a t-shirt unless they are completely competent getting dressed and going to the toilet without assistance. I’ve also adapted my timetable to start with tap so their parents can put their shoes on and tie laces before they arrive, then they can just slip their ballet shoes on independently. I think their problems with going to the toilet stem from the fact they get so confused and muddled as they roll down their leotard and tights, they end up with a big bunch of fabric rolled around their ankles so everything ends up on back to front upside down and inside out!

We had less than 48 hours to get audition video done and sent in, one very late night and no dinner breaks later the offer came! The first time I’ve slept properly since the news broke!

London Studio Centres are accepting applications until 1st September, they have a degree course (which helps with funding) there is also access to teaching qualifications after graduating through bbodance, not sure if your dd was also doing the RAD teaching course? A student from the school I work for went to EPA, don’t know much about her experience as she wasn’t my student and didn’t stay in touch with the school, but she was a very strong MT performer with an incredible voice. Her strengths were definitely more MT, commercial, jazz rather than ballet or contemporary.

@Peanut68 it happens with other examining bodies too where not all teachers pay for their membership, even when they are qualified. To maintain my membership I have to complete 18 hours of CPD annually, keep my safeguarding certificate up to date, as well as DBS check. On average I spend £500 a year maintaining my membership not including travel expenses or hotel stays needed to complete CPD. That doesn’t include what I spent self funding my teaching qualification.

I don’t think other staff members are RAD members

Loss of degree status and funding punishes the students more than the school surely? Sends out completely the wrong message to anyone else who has suffered or is suffering at other schools, haven’t victims been through enough? And not just victims but students who have no experience or knowledge of these allegations who are left uncertain about their future and second guessing every part of their training. This move plays directly into the hands of abusers, if you say anything your qualification and funding will be in jeopardy.

Oh I’m glad they’ve dropped the set shoes! Manchester used to have horrible Bloch satin split sole shoes, that were cut really low at the sides, not a great shoe for growing kids and flexible feet.