Farawaydancer

Interesting - the group of JAs I know were told they had to wear their ja uniform and do their hair in the ja style! Their teacher was also leading the class.

Ds now at Elmhurst, didn't get a Royal mids place but he never auditioned for JAs. They really do seem to be looking for different things.

Manchester, Plymouth and Sunderland will be £10 per session from September.

I remember them doing that once before in Sunderland, they just started a couple of weeks later.

Not sure about lots of your questions but in one of Elmhurst's policies there's something in there about if your bmi is at or below 16 then you are taken off all dance - I think it relates to weight loss but even so, a bmi of between 12 and 15 sounds worrying, no matter how tiny you are height-wise.

Elmhurst don't hold places for particular year groups so although there will be children leaving from y9, those spaces won't automatically go to potential y9s. The boarding is flexible so they give the spaces to whoever it is they want in any year group.

As I have pointed out to staff before when they've tried to say similar things about preparing them for the industry - these are children, not professionals, and this is a school not a company. Bullying has no place in the classroom, ever.

Have pm'd you.

Elmhurst use Bupa too. Physio sessions aren't limited as such but they will only agree to a block at a time and then they have to ask again.

Not any more, new provider at Elmhurst since February half term. Parents had an email.

Thank you all, I knew some of you would have some ideas to try!

Now there's a thought ????

Yes, her teacher insists on leather unfortunately because her feet just look so much better in canvas! She's not allowed split soles either.

Sorry for the very boring thread. I need to find some pink leather ballet shoes which might actually fit my dd. The shops near us only stock one type, capezio daisy, which just don't suit at all so we have to resort to mail order. She has quite shallow feet and narrow at the ankles but really quite wide at the front when she stands on demi pointe. Anything which seems to fit width-wise at the toes is far too deep and I can get my whole hand in the top of the shoe, there just seems to be far too much material!! Can anyone recommend anything which might fit my dd's oddly shaped feet?! Strangely we don't seem to have this issue with canvas or satin shoes but even the same style in leather don't fit. TIA

My dd is 9 and she's 135cm in the next size up, 10-12 I think, and it's tiny on her but I can't believe she'd need the 12-14! I think the sizes must be a bit hit and miss! She's in the smallest size of tracksuit, for comparison.

From what I understand it's really not all about the feet when it comes to pointe. Core strength has a big part to play too, maybe your teacher is waiting for some other areas of your dancing to develop before moving you on?

My ds hadn't even taken his Primary exam when he auditioned, grades really don't matter. He loved his associates classes, they were his favourite class of the week for the whole three years he was attending.

They don't have a specific number of places for each year group which is why they won't give you an answer. The boarding is flexible so they just take who they like regardless of current numbers. Who was the lady who spoke about the academic side of things?

I think it's quite common? Both of my dc have always done their grade plus the grade above. It seems to have really helped them but I suppose if their technique wasn't really secure it might be different.

"However, I would expect a vocationally - minded year 5 child to be able to attempt a single pirouette. Grades are irrelevant to a certain extent unless your teacher is only following an exam syllabus. The better teachers out there (IMHO) tend to include more than just in the exam spec especially if they have more able kids." My vocationally-minded child, now in Y8 at a vocational school, has been taught to have a go and is now struggling with them and being berated for not having the right technique because no-one has ever taught him the preparations etc, he didn't have the benefit of leaning them step by step - and this is the voc school that have done it this way! Just having a go is not necessarily the best approach IMO.

Thank you all.

For a number of reasons, I'm considering bringing my dc home from vocational school and returning to local classes instead. Northern Ballet's CAT programme might be appropriate but I can't find any info about which days/times classes are on and I have other children (and a job!) to consider. Does anyone have a dc who goes to this CAT and can give me the info that's missing from the website? TIA PS I'm sure there are threads about this but I'm drawing a blank on the search facility.

I found the best way is to only wash them with red and purple clothes! My dd happily wears these colours so it's no problem to find enough for a whole load. If they accidentally get put in with other colours they really do fade badly.

Wish you were a bit closer to the north. We can't quite justify a trip to London every other week sadly but it sounds amazing. We'll keep watching for the intensives instead.

Is it actually intermediate work they are doing or is it just what she's named that class for that age group, eg juniors, intermediates, seniors? If it's intermediate work it sounds like a big jump but they're probably going to be in that class for quite a while.