tutoo2much

Do vocational students take places from non-vocational students? Besides WL, aren't most of the other schools run on a first come first served basis?

Just wondered what other people thought. I can see that for young people who are not at vocational schools, summer schools can be valuable, there is an opportunity to meet like minded people, dance all day, maybe live away from home, measure their progress in comparison to others their own age and experience different teaching. However I am wondering would students who do dance quite intensively be better off with a rest and are there benefits I hadn't thought about?

I know a lot of local school in our area run summer schools. They often bring in external teachers and provide good quality training and are cheap in comparison to well known ones. However, I am not really sure how you would find out the good ones except by word of mouth. Your local dance teacher may have some suggestions.

Stardancer- I am not sure how serious your daughter is about ballet, but doing only one hour a week (well 55 minutes of advanced ballet) is not really going to be enough at 12 if she wants to take her dancing at all seriously. She obviously did well to pass her intermediate exam in such a short space of time and must have natural ability. However, she might not be doing enough for her to get into a competitive associate programme or go on to further training at 16. You obviously have limited options due to past events and you seem to be saying that this current teacher has a positive relationship with your daughter, even though your relationship with her is a bit strained and she appears to be a bit abrupt at times. At this stage I think it is wise to ignore this if she is kind to your daughter. I think a lot of parents can have a strained relationship with their dd's ballet teachers at times. For me, some of that was because I don't actually know a lot about ballet. I remember being somewhat offended when my daughter wasn't put forward for an exam I thought she was ready for. My dd was very upset as well and I did feel indignant on her behalf but luckily I am not the sort of person to have the courage to go up to a teacher and challenge them. And having witnessed the behaviour of some other mothers I was definitely scared of appearing a 'pushy ballet Mum'. Looking back now though I can see dd's teacher had a much longer term vision of my daughter's progress. And even my dd would now say that there is no point (sic) in rushing through the grades. Despite being in a relatively high grade when she went to vocational school she had to go right back to basics and in fact did her interfoundation again. Anyway, my somewhat waffley pointe is- since you don't seem to have any options at this moment in time, it would be best for you to trust this teacher and do not assume you need to fight your daughter's corner. I would encourage your daughter to do the same and actually accept that her ballet teachers do know more about ballet than she does. Definitely encourage her to do the new intermediate and or interfoundation and her grade class. I would think she would then be doing a reasonable amount of classes for her age. It doesn't matter about the name of the class and it will be new to her. The focus on basic technique would really help her advanced class. You could even ask the teacher what she recommends and do those classes, even if it isn't what you both think she needs at the moment. Not sure if everyone would agree, but I certainly think that it is a lot less stressful to trust the teacher and let her get on with it (On the proviso she is competent and treats your child respectfully) Good luck, getting a balance here is going to be very tricky but if you want your daughter to reach her full potential, something has to change!

Another point is that JA's is a very long ballet class, over two hours I think. For some children, especially 8 year olds, this can be quite hard. The classes can be quite basic and repetitive. Children on higher grades might not enjoy it so much and actually find it boring. I do know some parents who have struggled to get their child there as they didn't want to come. Even more so if it is an early class and a long drive! I think there was a time in the past where teachers had to write a reccommendation for Year 4 children, and at one stage I don't think they even took Year 4s. I must admit though my dd enjoyed them. Depending on where you live you might be able to acsess some of the RAD short courses. They do workshops based on ballets such as Sleeping Beauty for younger children. I am sure my daughter would have loved them when she was 7. This is a link http://www.rad.org.uk/article_pink.asp?id=169&realCat=124 They hold them in quite a lot of different centres!

This is the school web-site http://www.class-dance.co.uk/

I just looked it up Primrose. Fees at Arts Ed are £12 050. And it is £75 to audition!

Actually, there is probably nothing stopping parents with girls setting up their free ballet school.

If it's any consolation, the feed seems to consist of the content of the news page on their website.

It has occured to me it would be better for DD to do few auditions between now and 16, just to get some rejection experience!

Has anyone got any tips for washing ballet tights. I hand wash dd's but there are a lot of pairs which have discolouration on the feet which makes them look dirty. Does anyone put them in a machine? If so at what temperature?

Hi I have just copied and pasted this from the ballet boyz web-site. Looks great for all of those with a ds. BalletBoyz Easter Taster 31 March 2012, 10:00-13:00 For participants aged 12-16 Urdang, Rosebery Avenue, London £20 For boys AND girls aged 12-16, this Easter Taster session will include a contemporary dance class and the chance to learn company repertoire. Participants should have around one year’s dance experience but don’t have to have done ballet or contemporary dance before. BalletBoyz BootCamp Dates 13 -17 August 2012 For young men aged 12-16 £300 Following on from last year’s hugely successful inaugural BootCamp, company dancers and artistic directors Michael Nunn and William Trevitt will lead five days of intensive dance sessions. Each day begins with a ballet class followed by contemporary technique, company repertoire and choreography. The week will culminate in a performance of an original piece created during the sessions for family and friends The course is open to boys aged 12-16 with at least one year’s experience in dance, though this doesn’t have to be ballet. A keen interest in dance and the desire to be challenged are the most important criteria! For further information about our Easter Taster and BalletBoyz BootCamp, please get in touch with Katherine Rothman, Education Project Manager atkatherine@balletboyz.com

No ideas, but nothing raunchy. However I would be tempted to do it in whichever genre she is best at. Was it the school concerned that suggested you didn't do ballet?

DD was 8 years old when she started IF classes and about 10 and 3 months when she started pointe. I felt really uncomfortable about her starting so young but decided to trust the teacher. She took her exam at 10 and a half. I think it is fairly normal among girls who have started to train intensively but not sure if this is good practice.

Sounds a gruelling process. And expensive! Good luck to everyone going through it!

Not amazing odds. It probably varies from year to year, but when my daughter was in Year 6, about 1 in 4 or 5 got an MA place!

Good luck to your son JulieW. Thinking about it I haven't really read that many or even any threads relating to auditioning after 6th form on the old site. Not something I need to know about just yet, but would love to know how it works and how he gets on? What is the process, do you send in an application form or just turn up on the day? Do companies hold one audition a year or several? Do you get told on the day, do you wait to hear and do you have to assume you weren't successful if you haven't heard. For European auditions do they organise it so they can do several in each trip? Bit scary from a financial point of view. How many auditions does he expect to be doing over the next few months?

meant to say tetanus up to date!

Anjuli, I was being a bit dramatic, I just pricked my finger! Though there is a speck of blood on the shoes. Luckily tetanus up today.

Thank you Anjuli, Elliepops,glowlight and frangipani, Will try a long curved needle with a small eye next time. Battled with a short needle with a big eye last night and although it got the job done, it was hard work. Middle finger is still throbbing this morning so that is where I will put the thimble. However, the penetrating injury was to my right forefinger. Next question-how best to clean blood spatter off brand new pointe shoes?

Can anyone reccommend a particular make, style, size and shape of needles for darning pointe shoes. I just pick up whatever I can find at home, although I am sure some needles make the job much easier than others. I would be happy to invest in some new ones if I knew which were most suitable. The second part to my question is, if I did have a thimble which finger would I put it on? For me the answer might be each one! Thanks

that went well then!

I was told there was a record number of applicants this year. When my dd auditioned a few years ago, I think the number 800 was mentioned in the talk at the beginning.

Found this information on the Royal Ballet School web-site. Not as many UK applicants as I would imagine.

I wonder if it is worth waiting for the RBS deadline for people to send in their acceptance to summer school, before commiting elsewhere. I don't have any evidence of this, but I wonder if a few people on the waiting list get an acceptance letter when RBS know how many people have declined places.