Anna C

I will investigate Paul Hamlyn performances, thanks Rowan. We did get to see one opera and one ballet (Johan and Alina in Giselle!) a few years ago as part of the old "Family Performances" scheme. That scheme finished and unfortunately because of my back injury and mobility problems, I need the most comfy and accessible seats I can get, with the most legroom. They don't tend to be cheap! :-) But we saw the Mariinsky at the ROH last year and are seeing La Fille this year, so haven't done too badly. :-)

Knowing how hard my DD works to juggle the vast amount of homework she gets, singing and piano lessons, local dance classes 4 evenings a week and Associates pretty much all day on Saturday (including travelling time), I wouldn't want her to attend a second Associate class on a Sunday. She'd never fit all her homework in BUT, just as importantly, she'd never get any time to rest her body and mind. Knowing how hard children at Vocational School work, (and don't some of them do RAD classes on a Saturday?), I wouldn't be happy for my child to be dancing every day at Vocational school and then doing an Associate class - when are they supposed to get quality rest?

That's such a simple idea Anjuli, but a great idea! I'm going to share that one with my daughter. :-)

I know we discussed attending two different associate classes, but the only people I know who do that (not my dd!) are not at Vocational School. I think that's a different issue from being at Vocational School and still attending Associates though. The whole point of Associate Classes for my daughter is to take advantage of very good non-syllabus training at the same time as "topping up" her local syllabus training and juggling academic school. Surely there must be a slight clash between two systems of training if, for example, you attended Tring and also RBS Associates?

If this is not a silly question, is there a reason why someone at Vocational School would need to go to an Associate Class at the weekend?

I'll be watching in the morning, but I particularly wanted to watch the R&J rehearsal - no such luck as I'll be en route to the ballet physio with daughter! :-/

If you follow Luke Jennings on Twitter, it seems that he's writing a piece on RBS - might be worth looking out for.

Ian, I see what you're saying, and I think those of us with children, or friends' children at Vocational School in the UK know that none of our schools are a guaranteed feeder system into the company they have links to. However, when I read Dancing Times and see an advert for The Royal Ballet school with the rather bold statement "The School for the Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet" emblazoned underneath, people can be forgiven for thinking that there is a strong chance that if you train at RBS from 11, progress to Upper School, and graduate, you could be taken straight into RB or BRB - at least more than 1 or 2 graduates, anyway. Now we all know that this is not the case, for a variety of reasons (not least because our companies rarely have more than a couple of contracts to give), but for a novice ballet parent reading that advert, it is a somewhat misleading statement.

What a fascinating post Anjuli. Not something that ever happens in my daughter's school. The closest she's come is via repertoire classes at Easter and Summer Schools. Luckily we have a wealth of DVDs at home, ranging from LCB's productions to Royal Ballet. We take dd to see ENB every year, along with Ballet Central's tour and - when we can afford it - Royal Ballet. Don't even get me started on all the ballet books at home and posters on dd's wall! :-) Anjuli, I wish you lived near me and could give DD the odd lesson...:-)

Yes, Vocational classes are by invitation at our school too. And welcome to the forum, taxi4ballet! :-)

Thanks Rowan! :-)

Yes, I agree Glowlight. :-) Probably being dense here, but "RSAMD"....enlighten me?

You may feel differently in a few months C4D, if your dd begs you to let her audition again! I think for year 8 and above places we go into them in a different frame of mind - almost letting the children go to audition purely to be seen and to keep the audition experience fresh....knowing how rare funded places post year 7 are. It's a very personal choice; some people audition every year without fail; others audition again for a year 9 or 10 place, still others choose to concentrate on training and associate classes and leave the audition circuit for a while. Mind you, even if you don't audition until 6th form, it can still happen! :-)

Hello Tracey47, Can't help with MAs but wanted to echo amber's sentiments and say welcome to the forum! :-)

Bad luck Karen. :-((. Just remember it may not be this year but it doesn't mean it's a never. Best of luck for Hammond funding.

Really delighted for you kiwimum, such lovely news. I want whatever you feed your talented bunch! :-))

Interesting point about Matthew Syed's book, which I have also read. I agree with what he's saying, but because he's discussing sport as opposed to an art form, I think the situation is slightly different. You are not discounted from playing tennis on the basis that you don't have an aesthetically perfect physique, for instance. Whereas a lot of ballet schools, both in the UK and abroad, insist in a certain "look". There was a discussion on another thread about what requirements some of our vocational schools look for for MDS places, one of them being "very high arches". Yet speak to a dance physio and they will tell you that strong yet straight feet are less injury prone than very beautiful high arches. So child in ballet could practice for 20,000 hours and improve what they've been born with, but if they don't have the "look" that is the fashion du jour, then that's that. On top of physique, musicality must play a huge part, as does the dancer's memory and ability to pick up and retain steps. So in ballet although practice can make permanent, there are other factors which come into play which simply aren't an obstacle in sport.

Very very well done to your DD Angela! :-)) Yes, good luck from me to all those still waiting.

With regards to PC teaching, I feel sorry for teachers. I had to give my DD's local teacher permission to be as hands on as she liked, to help demonstrate to my hypermobile DD which muscles should be working the right "bits". I can't imagine trying to teach ballet without being able to be hands on, to be honest!

...although JulieW is one step ahead of me as she has (most impressively) managed to get a profile picture to appear! ;-)

Interesting question Aileen. I would be fascinated to find out WHY Artistic Directors have the preferemces they do, for example what is it about the Japanese system of training that makes Japanese dancers so desirable at the moment? What are they doing differently to us? We do have some lovely British dancers who seem to be progressing; Lauretta Summerscales seems to be getting on well at ENB, Melissa Hamilton and Leanne Cope at RBS (not to mention Lauren Cuthbertson of course). Central students seem to be trained in a way that Northern Ballet like, which is encouraging. Is it a lack of connection and communication between who Lower Schools are taking and Upper Schools want? Or a lack of links from Upper Schools to what the companies want? Is our Assessing Out system at fault, when a child could be guided through adolescent growth and the temporary loss of technique and balance which can come with it? I don't think as parents in this country we are too soft. I don't see sending your child to the other side of the country at 4 or 5 to be stretched, manhandled and shouted at is the way to go, as we've seen in some (hopefully extreme) documentaries. Sergei Polunin was, by his own account, pushed into ballet at a young age and sent away to study. Principal at 19 and then a delayed teenage rebellion at 23, leading him to resign in emotional meltdown.....not what I would want for my child. I know that's an extreme case and maybe there needs to be a happy medium between that and our current system. But I suspect the only people who can give us the answers are Artistic Directors because only they know what they're looking for.

My DD is a year too young. :-((. Sounds fab though - good luck and keep us posted!

Well done! :-))

It would be better coming from you, if you can. Just select the text in your post, copy it, and then on the front page of the "doing dance" forum there should be a "start new topic" button up on the top right above all the thread titles. Just paste your text into a new topic. Shout if you get stuck!

Aileen, can I ask you to start a new thread with your post in? Just so that we're not discussing two separate issues in one thread? :-)