ballettaxi

taxi4ballet - my DD is the opposite. The other girl she's always paired with took a stretch a while back and is now at least an inch taller than my DD - however when they are in their Inter Foundation class and doing their pointe work DD is back to being the same height - her friend has tiny feet and my DD is a size 4. She's only 12 and not yet 5' tall - so we liken her to Coco the Clown when she's walking in her pointe shoes as her feet just look enormous! (I believe it's my job as a parent to laugh at my DD with these things - then if anyone else makes a comment she just shrugs it off as it's nothing she hasn't heard before from us! - ha ha)

We have a fabulous costume club at DD's dance school which I put a few £'s into each week - normally just the pound coins that I have in my purse at the time. Come show time (now!) all her costumes are already paid for, plus new tights, ballet flats, etc as needed AND I get money back. This year I'd stashed away £80+ across the year and as she was able to re-use/adapt a few costumes I'll be getting over £40 back this weekend. Nice to get money back from dancing for a change! ha ha

spanner - you're completely correct, I meant to say a humidifier. Hubby finds it hilarious that I constantly get mixed up between the two - it's really obvious of course, but I can just never get it right in my head. oops!

Hi grumpybearzuk, my DD had something similar when she was around 7 or 8. She had the inhaler and was advised to use just before any form of activity. We found she seemed to need it when the air was very dry, so we started using a de-humidifier at home at nights and this really helped her. I mentioned it to her Dance teacher (she was only doing a couple of hours per week at that time) and the teacher installed one in the changing rooms and commented that she noticed a lot of the other children seemed to come in to class breathing a lot easier after doing so. Our doctor felt that it was what she termed as 'seasonal asthma' (don't think this is an actual condition, just her opinion and experience) - brought on by starting to use central heating in the winter and then air conditioning in the summer (although we live in Scotland so probably more the central heating ). After about 12-18 months she stopped needing the inhaler, but we still use the de-humidifier frequently - it's nice with a few drops of lavender, helps everyone get a good nights sleep. Hope this helps.

That's sounds like the voice of experience taxi4ballet - perhaps a disaster with current pair over the weekend?

Hi Totty - thanks for the information, however we're on holiday that week. That would have been great as she met Kenny last year at the RAD Junior Awards and thought he was a 'lovely, friendly, smiley man'. Looking at the other options suggested on here and see what we can work around to get her something to keep her occupied (and stop me from going crazy with her moaning about not having any dance classes).

Ha ha, I can see why that would be appealing to some children, however my DD always feels uncomfortable if she doesn't know who's in charge and who she should go to if anything is wrong - new friends always find this strange as anywhere she goes the first thing she does is check out where the exits are and what happens in an emergency (she also does a head count of everyone whenever they go from one place to another - sorry all my fault, I'm a bit neurotic too!) - yes she's old before her time in that way but she has said that would feel a bit uncomfortable in that situation.

Does anyone ever tell their husband how much dancing costs? I only ever admit to the fees and an occasional new pair of shoes - leotards, ballet skirts, jazz pants, etc are all 'in the sale' at the dance shop and were a bargain and less than half price etc etc. One day I'll maybe admit to the true costs, but then again maybe not. ha ha

Thanks Belljul, I'll check out the Perth one and definitely see if I can find out more about the Russian ballet in Edinburgh. I'd hear mixed reports about the Ballet West summer school - more around the out of class supervision and security of the children rather than the dancing itself which I've always heard good things about. The Conservatoire is £400 for the six days (non residential) so hubby and I are still in negotiations (!) - not budgeted or even considered spending this amount so definitely needs a bit of thought before we sign up. (Although still need to check if they have availability at this late date.)

My DD's private lessons are either £15 or £30 per hour. £15 if there are other lessons going on at the same time so the studios are open. £30 if the studios are opened just for her. I think that's reasonable as the quality of the tuition is excellent.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and hugs. DD is keeping her spirits up and had great fun yesterday at the first of many shows she has this year. Totty - what summer schools do you know about? We're on holiday for the Scottish Ballet week so she can't go to that one - really disappointed as she has enjoyed that one the last few years. The only other one I know about is at the Conservatoire but it's quite expensive. thanks

Thanks balletshoes - her own ballet teacher, can believe she didn't get in last year and felt certain that she had a great chance for this year. I have always discussed these things with her as she has a fantastic reputation and a number of her current and former pupils have achieved great success in the dance world (and she know's how determined DD is!). I think it just proves that you can never tell what the board are looking for - is it potential, current ability, physique, musicality, etc. There is obviously a criteria that she didn't meet, however she's young enough that all these things could change as she matures (she's only 12). I had seen Spanner's comment and actually quoted this to DD yesterday - scary how we all think alike when it comes to encouraging our DKs.

Hi balletshoes - tried to post an update last night but for some reason it didn't seem to work. Unfortunately bad news again for my DD - she's understandably upset but after locking herself away in her room for a couple of hours she came back downstairs with her pointe shoes on and stated that she'll just have to work harder to stand any chance of getting into Seniors next year!! I honestly can't believe the resilience she has (or is that stubborness?!) Her best friend, who had a place last year, didn't get one this year so she's been very mature and consoling her. Unfortunately she'll now have to tell all her friends at her dance school as they all knew she was going for it again - but they all know how determined she is and have all admitted that they just don't have the courage to put themselves forward for this type of rejection (most are at least a year or two older than her, but none as set on a career in this field). Thanks for the crossed fingers and toes - I'll give you a shout for support again next year if you don't mind bs

OMG - that means its time to start running for the post before DD gets to it so that I can prepare for the onslaught of emotions (either way - hankies for small envelope, earplugs for big envelope!). Edited to say - Obviously I wouldn't open the envelope but just need to be prepared!

Hi Totty - yes that's what I thought was happening. Think Mids is this coming Saturday so still a while to wait. How many results are you waiting for? B

I agree with so many of the comments above. Thankfully my DD realises that if she wants to pursue a career in ballet then she really has to look after her feet! So for school (S1 this year) she agreed to a sensible pair of black wedges (very low wedge, about 1 inch max) from Clarks, for wet/snow days she was happy to wear her wellies (really cool tartan ones from Ness so I should think so). These have seen her through the entire year and with 4 weeks to go I will admit that they are definitely looking the worst for wear but they are still supporting her feet so will be worn up until the last day. For S2 she's asked for a pair of black patent DM's - I'm delighted. Even at +£90 per pair (size 4) I'm more than happy to buy her these as I've had a pair for years and they still look like new. Even my husband can't find anything to argue about with these. he he Outside of school I have flatly refused to buy her heels even for party wear and following a friends recent 13th birthday party she came home with tales of other girls hurting their ankles with their 'silly shoes' and told me that the mother of the birthday girl actually commented to her that she wished her daughter would wear shoes the same as my daughter. She was wearing lovely wedged sandals with different coloured leather straps - but they also had a bit of a wedge so she was happy to wear them as they made her feel taller. All other times she lives in converse - the shoe of choice apparently for every child these days!

Hi Totty - last year the results were out in a matter of days for the mids (sorry don't know about the seniors), however I have heard that it may well be as long as the 2 weeks quoted this year. My DD is on tenterhooks and can't sit still waiting to see if it's a big or small envelope.

Morning All4dancers - I'm so glad you posted this comment. My DD has the most incredibly 'clicky' joints. From the moment she wakes up in the morning until she goes to bed at night she clicks wherever she goes (no pain whatsoever from any joint). Many people have commented and we've had the raised eyebrows too. The clicking started about 3-4 months ago, and has just gotten more and more pronounced as time goes on. So, as my family have a history of rheumatoid arthritis I marched her off to see our GP. Five sets of blood tests later - she doesn't have rheumatoid arthritis (phew!), her thyroid is fine, both her red and white cells are there in the proper amounts (you can tell I'm not particularly clued up in this area, but you know what I mean). What she does have is slightly elevated allergy levels - but not so high that our GP is concerned (BTW I do rate this GP - no nonsense tells you like it is, but doesn't treat you like a neurotic mother if you go with something that others have dismissed). GP recommended that she visit our physio again for him to check her joints and make sure he was comfortable with everything she was doing with them. So off we trotted. DD explained that she has 4 hours of ballet per week plus a couple of hours of modern and tap on top of that, Karate for 2 hours (loves the core strenght building element of this) and 3 hours of PE at school (mix of track, conditioning suite and various games). He gave her a complete check over and announced that she was in perfect shape - even during his check up she was clicking. So while we're re-assured that there is nothing wrong with her and our GP is pretty sure that she'll grow out of it we're back at square 1 in determining whats causing it. Don't know if any of the above helps you at all, but at least you know you're not alone in this.

Congratulations to your DD balletshoes. My DD was a JA from August 2009 until May last year and absolutely loved it. She was in the weekly classes and was amongst the first Associates to get the use of the fabulous Education Suite and the main studios - wait until you see the Peter Darrell Studio - it is amazing - the light, the space, the accoustics - WOW!!! The level of tuition the children receive is outstanding, my DD still starts many statements with 'Miss Livingstone says.......'. And don't ever start her on Alan the pianist - he plays them lots of silly little tunes to bop along to and really helps them to relax when they're working hard (he also throws in a few classics for the audience at parents evenings - picture watching your child dance to the theme to Blackadder - yes all you can visualise is Edmund's haircut and Lord Percy prancing in the background!!). The programme also has the extra benefits of confidence and broadening your childs circle of friends. My DD grew so much in confidence, not just in her dancing but as a person, and made some lovely friends - one friend in particular who she just clicked with and they still travel some distance every month for a sleep over to keep in touch - lovely to see. My DD is audition for Mids again this weekend and is very nervous - she didn't quite make it last year (had a pesky growth spurt just before the audition and so was at that gangly stage where she hadn't regained her normal level of muscle tone - darn!) but we're so proud of her that she's prepared to put herself out there and try again. Fingers crossed for us. I have no doubt your DD will love her time at JA's balletshoes, it's a fantastic experience and she'll love every minute of it (if you're anything like me you'll love the cakes and pastries in the Tramway cafe - oops!).