Anna C

Stop it, you're all making me feel really poor and inadequate! ;-)

*Sighs*....we'll just have to wait for a lottery win... :-(

Ah, thank you. :-)

Thank you. :-). Still slightly confused about the RBS figures though with your original post saying about a quarter of all students getting RBS finals - could you clarify that? :-). Thanks.

Fantastic! No boarding there though, is there? :-(

Talking of YDA, anyone know where their 2011 Year 11 graduates are training? The website only shows 2008, 09 and '10.

Mmm, I would LOVE to be able to afford to send DD to Arts Ed. :-)

Might as well wish for the moon!

I thought YDA was for children up to Year 11, but I take it that YDA students have auditioned for White Lodge as well as Upper School? Do you mean that 25 % of YDA graduates have got finals for RBS Upper School?

My friend's DD is at YDA and seems very happy there, but the fees are completely out of our league. Am I right in thinking they like very small year groups? Is it 8 children to a year?

Yes, my daughter has fantastic natural turnout, but has had trouble maintaining it. She's now having to go right back to basics to learn how to engage the muscles in her legs to keep the turnout. Conversely, Grand Battements are ridiculously easy for her. Hypermobility can be a blessing and a curse at the same time! :-)

Definitely! Even my DD's local teacher was shocked at how hypermobile my DD is and how difficult it is for her to feel. At DD's private ballet lesson this week the teacher was hands on at every exercise and it was as if a lightbulb had gone on in both DD and the teacher's heads - DD because she could finally feel which muscles should engage, and the teacher who had worked out the best way to teach DD! :-)). A very constructive lesson all round!

I can't upload a photo at all; when I try it looks as if I'm uploading one but then appears as a blank box entitled "spannerandpony's photo". When I tried to sign up to Gravatar, all went well until I tried to log in and then I got repeated messages of "no account exists". Bit sick of battling with it now; so I shall remain as a blank!

Thanks everyone. Having logged in from my laptop, I've discovered that it seems to be a simple matter of ipad incompatibility - I can post, edit etc. using the ipad but the tools, emoticons etc. simply aren't available. Hey ho!

I would add to this that very hypermobile children sometimes have difficulty "feeling" what their joints are doing, and feeling which muscles should be engaged. My DD's teacher has recently started - with my permission - to be much more hands on with my hypermobile daughter and saying "this bit!" which has been very helpful.

Thanks for all the suggestions. My dd is not at school in England so only finishes school at 18 unless she wants to leave with a pretty poor qualification. Unfortunately she is not going to get in then either with the quality of teaching we have access to. There are no dance physio's here either. She saw the dance school's physio when she did her audition and all she was told was that although she wasn't that flexible, she was tall with long legs and still growing and that it is harder for taller people to be as flexible as younger, smaller children.

Tall or not, there will always be exercises that your DD can do at home to improve her flexibility. If you haven't already, it would be worth asking your local danceteacher, or the teacher at Associates, for exercises aimed at improving your DD's flexibility.

I understand the situation about having to wait until 18, but if she is aiming for a career in musical theatre then 18 is not too late to start vocational training. Can you keep up tap, ballet and modern classes locally? How about drama classes and singing lessons? Does your secondary school offer singing tuition?

My DD is not at Vocational School and had had a couple of bouts of achilles tendonitis before her overpronation was spotted and she was fitted with orthotics. We looked at setting her up with BUPA when I took redundancy and our healthcare ceased. Although one of their options was very good (covered scans, physio etc.) for the price, because I was honest and told them about her treatment for tendonitis, they said the new policy wouldn't cover anything to do with her feet!

Seemed a bit useless for a dancer so we didn't bother. :-). But it seemed a reasonable policy if no other treatment has been required in the past. Think they wanted about £22 per month.

Edited to remove a word!

Hope this is the appropriate place to offer my assistance...

I am unable to work at the moment and have free time during school hours. Happy to offer my services as a part time Mod if required.

Famcandance, don't forget post 16 places; it's not the case that your DD will have to wait until 18. The choice - certainly for ballet schools - opens up vastly at 16 so your DD could get her GCSEs and then apply for the Upper Schools or the large number of excellent performing arts colleges. If your DD is more interested in Musical Theatre and she has potential in that area then even 18 isn't too late as long as you can keep dance, singing and drama classes up in the meantime.

I know it's frustrating - my DD was turned down for Tring CBA a few years ago on the basis that she wasn't flexible enough, which is funny as she's very hypermobile! I think it was actually the case that her performance skills weren't very strong so why they blamed flexibility I don't know. My point is that you never know what a particular school is looking for on any given day, so there is no point tying yourself up in knots over it.

If you think there may be an issue with your DD's flexibility, is seeing a dance physio feasible?

I have reached my quota of "likes" for the day, but great posts and very well said, Belljul and Bankrupt Mum. :-))

If the Head of Dance/Artistic Director/Director of Dance was the one who took the decision, I don't think there would be much point in appealing to them. It could be worth asking for a meeting with the AD and thevschool's principal, but it's worth remembering how tiny the ballet world is and that you may come across teachers/Directors at any time - they pop up in all sorts of places!

Once you are happy that you at least know the reason behind being assessed out, and have had a thorough chat with the staff concerned, I truly believe it's better for both parent and child if they can move forward with grace and dignity like Bankrupt Mum and her DD.

100 RBS Associate places may sound a lot but not when you consider how many talented girls there are in the country! We all know how rare funded places are at the big four schools for places in Years 8-11. It may be that many children are happier to stick to their Associate Classes and local training and not put themselves through the audition treadmill until it's time for Upper Schools auditions.

At my DD's Associate Classes the Assessment process each year is very strict indeed. There are some fabulous dancers on the scheme who may not have been ready to get a place in Yr 7 but to my untrained eye stand a very good chance of getting post 16 training.

There are many reasons why those Associates who do audition may not get a place at RBS or Elmhurst for years 8-11 but that doesn't mean they cannot start full time training at 16. I wouldn't write Mid Associates or their equivalent on other Associate Schemes off.....

I really dont see any difference between some of the mothers on the disco programme and some of the mothers at dance festivals/dance schools!!

The kids/parents and teachers clearly all work very hard for these competitions and enjoy the training and competing-this programme has obviously taken film and edited certain snippets together purely for the effect on the viewers!

It is not unusual in the gymnastics world for kids as young as 6 to train for 4/5 hours solidly a few times a week in the UK.

Disco is not as clean and precise as ballet but it is still a recognised form of dance that many kids enjoy.

I'm sure there are some shocking ballet mums; my DD's school doesn't do Festivals so I am somewhat cosseted in terms of only having come across a couple of "pushy" ballet Mums. :-)

Of course a TV company could do enough research into any type of dance, and come up with some horrors, and I'm sure there are plenty of quiet yet supportive "Disco Mums". But you do have to allow for personal taste, and I love the precision, extension, musicality and grace and beauty of ballet, where technique is the building block that must be solidified and practised. So for me, deep brown fake tan, £900 costumes etc. are all somewhat alien and - to be honest - pointless if there is no requirement for precision or musicality, for every time I've seen examples of Freestyle, it always looks as if the music could be any track or any speed but the children would still be dancing at the same speed!

I did say that I meant no disrespect to those who do Freestyle, and I really don't - it is just my personal opinion and very alien to the quiet ballet world I inhabit. By the same token, I love watching Contemporary Dance, yet my Grandmother hates it - she calls it "throwing yourself around, wearing knickers and not much else"! :-). Each to their own....

No, it wouldn't happen at our school either. All the girls who are started en pointe are over 12 and they all start pointework at different times, when the School Principal thinks that they are strong enough.

Well done! Brilliant news. Best of luck for finals. :-))

No idea about profile views, but I hate that you have a quota of positive votes!

Caught up with Strictly Baby Disco last night...my jaw is still on the floor!

Yes, my DD has always used the Bloch Elastorib as she used to get periodic achilles tendonitis. I must say it's improved greatly since she was diagnosed as overpronating and fitted with orthotics. The orthotics, Elastorib, stretches and strengthening exercises have sorted the problem now.

We also stitch through the drawstring of her pointe and ballet shoes at the back of her shoes either side of the back seam, so that when the drawstring is tightened, it doesn't tighten across the achilles. That was on the advice of a dance physio.

Ugh, couldn't agree more re. tiny children en pointe, and if you dare to question the safety aspects of it, e.g. Bone strength in the foot, they jump down your throat.

What channel is Dance Moms on?