Anna C

Best of luck, Ljmk. I think that if you are open with the school and show that you are willing to work *with* them, it will go a long way towards them trying to reach a compromise with you. As well as all the great advice you’ve been given here about your dd learning time management and so on, I would say - from personal experience - that no matter how much potential a child has to make it as a professional dancer, it is *vital* to have a plan B, particularly in the form of a good range of academic qualifications if the child is at all academic. So much could happen between now

In my experience, some models of Grishkos can be quite hard and not particularly flexible, especially for beginners without very strong feet. I’d go to Dancia, Bloch and Freed (Freed do “light” and “Opera” versions of their pointes which are great for beginners). Freed are only seeing people by appointment at present so it would be worth checking with the other shops too to see if you need to pre-book there also. Gaynor Minden shoes are lovely but very expensive and given that young students are likely to outgrow their first few pairs of pointe shoes long before they “kill” them

Definitely wasn’t ideal - took me a few days in bed to recover from that one! 😳

I would have booked accommodation literally next door to RAD HQ and taken with me a case full of antibiotics, Calpol/paracetamol, glucose tablets and a portable aircon unit. Quite literally, *every* single vocational exam dd took there was scuppered by illness (ranging from chest infection and perforated eardrum for Inter Foundation to hypoglycaemia and heat exhaustion for Advanced 2), transport problems (like the bus being diverted and dropping us 30 mins walk away in the middle of a housing estate) or extreme heat (35 degrees outside on Adv 2 day when the exam was held in the s

Might be an idea for a new range, @Sheila Beelam?

Hello and welcome from me too. ☺️ I think it’s important to find a balance between remembering you’re a paying customer and treating your teacher with professional courtesy, so being upfront and honest with her. If extra classes at the current studio aren’t possible, I would investigate junior associate schemes, performance opportunities like English Youth Ballet and so on. At 9, the most important thing in ballet is technique, followed by fun, so personally I would steer clear of the “competition school”, but that’s just me. I would make an appointment for a proper

Such good, sound advice, everyone. @Medora have you read the “Dance careers - are they worth it?” thread? It’s very interesting and may be helpful to you. As a rule, I think the primary years are for trying different hobbies/arts/sports and seeing what you’re good at, what you love, what you’re happy to commit to (time, money and other family commitments allowing) going into your teenage years. Some children are multi-talented and skilled at multi-tasking so can do more than one thing at a high level. Others need to concentrate on one thing plus academics. Now, say that “one thing” is hor

So sad. What a marvellous career she had. The often under-rated “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” was made even better by her performance as Tracy.

And for the top groups of girls, this session was for pointework.

Absolutely, Balletboysdad. Places at CBA are always in high demand and there are always more talented dancers than there are spaces. Add to this the unpredictability and restrictions around COVID and they just won’t be able to offer more than a few spaces. It’s unusual to get any feedback or personalised letters in auditions so people should try not to be disheartened or disgruntled if their letter was not as individual as expected - given the short timeframe I’m impressed they got the results out so quickly. Very well done to those with a “yes” and commiserations to

Absolutely; any art, sport or skill studied to a high level make a well-rounded person with all the qualities glowlight mentions. If I remember rightly, my dd was asked about her ballet at her Oxford interview. I know of other Advanced dancers who have gone on to Oxbridge - some who did associates, LCB, EYB etc but who always intended to go to Uni, and the level of ballet they reached has always benefitted them. There can be downsides to full-time training and we shouldn’t forget the longterm effects these can have; both physically and emotionally, not just injury but body image

Lovely news! Congratulations to your DS, BalletBoysDad. If the boys’ CBA classes are as good as Miss Samaai’s girls’ classes, he’ll have a wonderful time.

From the perspective of a parent whose child went from full-time dance to Oxford university (via an enforced year out following a training-ending injury that happened at the upper “school” she was at) all I’d say is that I’m hugely relieved that my dd is where she is. However, that’s not to say that I wish she had never gone down that route - Ballet, two good Associate Schemes, endless summer schools, aiming for a career in ballet, passing her RAD Advanced 2, even her injury, all gave her so much in terms of discipline, fun, independence, resilience, and most of all, some wonderf

Twickenham, alison: https://www.rambertschool.org.uk/school/contact/

There are a lot of courses at LSC, Junedancer - which course are you referring to? There’s nothing obvious on the website. Could it be that they are simply having to limit the number of courses starting in September as part of the COVID-19 precautions - so not too many students are onsite at the same time?