Jump to content

Anon2

Members
  • Posts

    1,002
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Anon2

  1. We put £10 once a fortnight into dc bank account. Tends to manage with this including bus fares into town and buying odd drink out. Has been better managing money since had a debit card. Like All4dance I also make sure has a spare of everything, toothpaste, shower gel etc each term. And if going on special trip give extra pocket money.
  2. Oh yes I had forgotten taxi fares to doctors, other medical appointments!!
  3. The costs easily add up from the start. There is an audition fee and unless you are living very close hotel stays need to be factored in for auditions/ induction days. Apart from the usual costs for uniform etc you need to allow for bedding, duvets, pillows etc. Some end of term events eg carol concert are timed so early that they necessitate a hotel stay unless you are very local. If your child is in different casts for different end of year shows and you want to see them dance everything then there are extra show tickets to purchase. Some events at dc school can only be attended if you are a Friend of school so had to join last year to see her perform. Some of arranged house trips can be expensive and if your child doesn't want to go we have had the situation where it has suddenly been announced they need to be off site too meaning either a pick up after Saturday class or an early Sunday morning start to take them out for the day. All of these individually seem like manageable amounts but when you add it all up over a term it can be a bit of a shock! I think it is sensible you are gathering information at this stage. We worked out a worst case scenario for costs when dc offered place, we underestimated the number of trips we would do and the amount of miles we would put on the car. Also didn't realise at start it was possible to get basics like joggers, ballet shoes from other outlets rather than the expensive school supplier. Did help the MDS uniform allowance to last a little longer in subsequent years but has always run out before end of year! I would say overall it hasn't been easy and involved some lifestyle changes to support dc through vocational lower school but it hasn't been impossible. Upper school might be a different matter! Good luck with it all.
  4. Have noticed in past years vocational school show reviews are over a few months worth of copies of Dancing Times. Didn't they just review upper school show last year Blondie?
  5. Anon2

    Ballet Tights

    Never hand washed them!! We did go through other brands quickly when she was younger but once found these (& another brand I can't remember) do last. Normally bin because end up to pale. Are expensive though. All the London shops give a discount to vocational students as Tulip said. Just need to take in offer letter or tag and they put you on system. They then keep a record of shoes etc and will post them out from shop to school if stuck.
  6. Anon2

    Ballet Tights

    Kat, dd has been at voc school for a number of years. Has always managed with 6 - 8 pairs a year. We might have been lucky but always make sure she starts year with good quality tights, she likes Danskin and then just nag her not to put in general wash. None of this years pairs are laddered just looking a bit sad but might recover with a soak and then can be used as spares for next year.
  7. Interesting that they are looking for a space that would allow them to house 80 students too.
  8. I thought some had contracts with Estonia and some Ireland?
  9. BBB the students at Elmhurst tend to do 2 hours ballet class each day, National, jazz and tap probably take up no more than two lessons per week. The students will have done extra in the run up to the show as rehearsal. From year 10 tap is dropped or becomes optional and the students start Flamenco again two lessons per week. They also drop National and do a contemporary lesson at this age and start supported adage. Unless there is a choreographed ballet piece where a few students are chosen from each year I have not seen the younger students do a classical ballet piece in the shows they tend to do one of the other styles. Last year was the first time the school started doing split lower and upper summer shows with a just a couple of mixed shows. I haven't seen an upper school show but the mixed had a number of classical pieces mostly performed by the upper school students - this year we watched a very moving The Two Pigeons and an act from Paquita. The Defile is only performed at the mixed shows too and is when every student comes on stage in their year groups doing a couple of minutes of ballet, finishing with the graduate year. Someone with a child that is at White Lodge might be able to give more insight into how their dance lessons are broken down over the week but from their website I found this "In addition to classical ballet, students also take classes in character, contemporary, gymnastics, Irish, Morris and Scottish dancing. At senior levels, classes in repertoire, solos, pas de deux and upper body conditioning for male students are incorporated into the curriculum." A friend whose dd went through WL a few years ago was disappointed at the end of her first year to only see her on stage for a few seconds doing National dance and couldn't pick her out in the Defile. How did your dc feel after seeing the show? Are they worried about the different styles? Mine was thrilled by the Flamenco all those years ago when we went to induction day and couldn't wait to be old enough to start the lessons.
  10. Happymoocow, there has been a previous thread about dance physios that listed some that people had found helpful. Physio and podiatrist that specialise in dance will recommend each other and will work together to address some problems. http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/5774-dance-physio/?hl=%2Bdance+%2Bphysio I would second Taxi's advice about getting shoes checked too.
  11. I would be tempted to do both. Podiatrist to check health of toe nails especially as summer and will probably want to wear sandals. Then a dance physio for an assessment to check pulling up out of pointe shoes, using core and turn out correctly etc. However good a teacher you have a physio picks up on the thinnest detail which once worked on makes a huge difference.
  12. Anon2

    Room 101

    Wasps nests - why do they have to build them a few feet from the back door?
  13. Charlie, in todays Odette team talk they mention using rosin to help keep shoes on heels. I have glued suede tips onto Grishko before, you need to make sure you stick the edges down well and keep an eye on them. Good luck with it all
  14. Thank you both for your kind words and to all the other likes/pm I received following my last post. Much appreciated.
  15. Reading this thread it would be easy to think that bullying is out of hand at vocational schools. It is easy to forget that these dc mostly 'leave home' at 11, they come from local dance schools/small primaries where a fuss will have been made about their success in getting a place at ballet school and they will be made to feel very special with lots of extra attention, becoming top dog if they weren't already. They start at vocational school and quickly discover they are nothing special - everyone else in the year is in the same situation. Some will try to carry on with wanting to be top dog and will learn to manipulate their peers. Some just need a gentle hand to get them back on the correct path, for some a cattle prod won't work. House parents have a huge role in managing this behaviour and as in all roles of life we have discovered they vary greatly in their abilities - some quickly get a measure of the their wards, others seem to lack the common sense they were born with. Regardless I wouldn't want their job, often being one of two HP being responsible for a group of 20 - 30 dc growing up together, going through puberty and by the very nature of adolescence trying to push the limits. It is easy to see in these situations how they miss some of the more negative behaviour and if you are the parent of a child that is suffering at the hand of others it does need to be brought to their attention, not just for your own dc sake but for others too. Sometimes other pupils will go to see a HP to bring to their attention some bullying they have witnessed. If HP don't act, or give the usual platitudes of 'she needs to toughen up' etc make them aware of the schools policies and keep a record of everything, be prepared to take it higher if necessary - the school management can be unaware and horrified to discover what is happening within their school. It can be an eye opener for them if the pastoral team have been telling them everything is wonderful. My dd is quiet, reserved and doesn't like to push herself forward. She has suffered bullying by two different girls, one who managed to appear to turn her friends against her but once the HP started dealing with the incident it became apparent that the other girls were also so scared of the bully they would do anything she asked to save their own backs. Once the situation was managed the bully lost her little team and they had the strength to stand up to her, she lost her power. As dd admits voc school has been hard, there have been so many times when she has been on the phone crying (I have got off the phone to have a sob) and we have been so close to throw in the towel on many occasions but she is pleased she has stuck it out. She says looking back the good times outweigh the bad. I think for all the children it is difficult to grow up in a situation where you are never alone - except the shower or toilet. They can't slam their bedroom door and storm about to let out their pent up feelings - at least one other person is always in the room too. Nothing more irritating than someone asking what is wrong when you have no idea yourself. Do wonder if the unbalanced ratio between the sexes at most vocational schools doesn't really help either, boys as they get older can help to just balance the group. Back to the original post. A couple of girls in her class are doing this a lot at the moment - not just to her but to others in the class too. I queried why the teacher doesn't say something, after all she is surrounded by mirrors and can see what is happening behind her. My dd thinks it is because if the teacher turns around to say something she is giving these girls exactly what they want - attention. Her priority at that moment is the other child. And on the note of adult bullying in the work place - a friend who had a very successful MT career suffered at the hand of one particular other women, constant put downs, critisms etc. They went through college together and then worked together for a year and friend hated all back stage time and was relieved when her contract finished. She was distraught to find herself a year of so later not only working with this person again but sharing a dressing room. A few days in the behaviour was destroying her. One day she had the strength when the bully was in mid flow to ask her to 'hold on a minute and I will give you my full attention', she rummaged through her bag, produced her mobile, started filming and asked the bully to start again. When the bully asked her what she thought she was doing she pointed out to her she 'wanted her to hear and see herself, everything she was saying was so ridiculous she couldn't have any idea what she was saying'. The bullying cast member was furious but it did make her see sense, possibly the thought of ending up showing her true colours in public. Took a lot of courage for my friend to do this but she was at the end of her tether.
  16. Mumontherun I could easily have written your post a few years ago and I have to agree with Miracle's post. It does seem to be an issue that dance staff seem to be oblivious to even though it is happening in their class. I spoke to house staff about it and they said much the same as Miracle but wanted dd to report to them when it was too much to cope with. Interestingly the girls that gave my dd most grief have been assessed out along the way. A few years on she can now 'switch off' to most snide remarks and concentrate on what she is there for. Nearly the end of term - these things more difficult to cope with when they are tired.
  17. At dd school they do release tickets to parents, then a week later Friends of the school. The casting was announced just after parents tickets released for sale and before open to Friends. There are limits on number of tickets bookable as a parent and a friend. A block is reserved for the Saturday matinee for next years new starters and parents.
  18. Maybe all parents should hold off booking tickets until cast lists are published. I do agree though that how the casting for the shows is handled can be very demoralising. As always vocational staff seem to forget they are dealing with children and young adults. Their excuses that this is what company life is like isn't really relevant to a 11/12/13 etc year olds.
  19. She is 7 and you are worrying she wants to do what all her friends are doing? What looks like a harmless but productive hobby that will be a fad to be followed by another. Years ago I listened to a mother of a DC slightly older than mine who said she hoped all the hours spent travelling to and doing classes/associates paid off as her dd had missed out on a normal childhood - always missing birthday parties, sleepovers etc. Said dc changed physically and had to change routes losing her associate ballet friends along the way but isolated from her school peers - let her be she is so young. Does a child this young really have a dance that is so important they have to rehearse it outside their classes?
  20. We have that rose too Taxi. It is particularly beautiful this year.
  21. Have tried deshanking in past but they always ended up being too big. She has ditched the ouch pouches in pointe shoes and just going for tape so has gone down a shoe size so might give it another go.
  22. Don't think it will be a number it will be whatever proportion of the £14m the dance vocational schools get then shared out among the students according to their parents income band. There are 19 DADA institutes, not all dance or MT. http://www.dadainfo.org.uk
  23. S&P I have just emailed to ask them about that! Having tried all the brands and dd finding something not quite right or school not liking them I might see if she will give these a try. DD pre vocational teacher used to keep a supply of Shoo soft blocks but no idea where you can now get them.
  24. I wonder how many of the students think it will really lead to a dream job - my dd and her peers just finishing year 11 and heading towards sixth form seem very grounded about it. Like my dd they probably all hope they will be the lucky one that ends up with a contract in graduate year but they are realistic too. Most of them have watched the majority of last few years worth of graduates struggle to find employment but equally they are excited when they hear one has a contract - even if they have never spoken a word to that 'sixth former' They know it isn't going to be easy but having got this far and knowing that at the moment they won't be happy unless they have a good shot at trying to make a career in dance they forge on. The AD has never made any promises - he tells them it is about their potential and that they need to be versatile if they hope to be employable dancers.
×
×
  • Create New...