drdance

Amen! I often wonder, particularly with children, who wants it more - the parent or the child! I often think why on earth would anyone WANT to do it?!? I also spend many, many hours explaining the true reality of the career to 'wannabe' young dancers.

It is a very tricky adjustment - there are organisations such as dancers career development (DCD) in the UK that support dancers in this position, and it could be that she has had injuries which mean that dancing as a career is no longer enjoyable. In this case dancers will go through the similar issues that retiring athletes will - and is basically a grieving process. I would assume that the healthcare team at BRB have been able to offer her advice, support and contacts to help.

Spannerandpony - our posts must have crossed in the ether! I didn't even begin to rant about the Mail, the writer or (don't get me started!) on Gove!

Primrose, thank you for sharing that. It saddens me that there is SO much work going on by organisations such as IADMS, Dance UK, The National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS) in the UK as well as TaMed in Germany, AusDance and many others across the world - all of whom are working and working to raise awareness of dance medicine and the various factors affecting dancer health and yet it seems that despite appearances (school directors going to conferences, company directors speaking at events, publishing in the media etc) the issue may still be rife? Of course there is always the argument that those individuals who are at greater risk of mental health issues including ED's are also those who succeed in dance and sport (the type A personality, perfectionist, conscientious, eager to please). In that case, is the body image issue a foregone conclusion, regardless of whether the individual dances? On a wider scale - many of the most 'successful' and 'talented' individuals in our world are also the most troubled - I am currently reading Victoria Pendleton's book and am finding more and more parallels with her training, and emotional struggles. How she coped with Strictly at all is amazing, bearing in mind her already-fragile psychology. You only have to look into the world of theatre, television, comedy and music to find an array of uber-talented yet immensely troubled minds.

I found, as a student, that musicality in music at first seemed quite different to musicality in dance. I always thought I was naturally musical as my mother was a music teacher and my father a drummer, but my musicality marks in dance exams as a child weren't as high as my parents thought they should've been. Our understanding of the terms (as novices to dance) were different. It wasn't until I started competing in festivals that I understood how to project fully. While a lot of the performance in festivals can be over the top, once I began to emulate the style of others, I began to feel it and develop my own natural musicality. Oddly this then translated across into my music and I began to feel the phrasing and dynamics of what I was playing, move more, and 'use my face' , which gained me more marks in music exams! I am also a natural introvert, yet when dancing I almost take on a different persona - Once I had 'unlocked' this freedom I really began to love the feeling of truly going for it, letting go and DANCING! I think it's important for young dancers to 'feel' phrasing and dynamics. Some useful exercises can be found by looking at Dalcroze Eurhythmics online. Other things that are sometimes neglected are the use of head and eyeline. If you ever watch teachers or experienced dancers watching other dancers, especially if they know the choreography, they will often be 'dancing with their head'- this is because as they internalise the music and movement, as they are usually sitting, their head and upper back is still free to move as if they were dancing it themselves . An exercise that my young dancers HATE (because the feel ridiculous) is to do a port de bras exercise to the music without using their arms, and to imagine they are using them. This encourages the use of head and upper back. Sometimes I make them do this with their eyes closed too, to further heighten their listening. With a pianist, you can take this task a step further by asking the pianist to REALLY accentuate the phrasing, by slowing down at the end of phrases, pausing/suspending at highlights etc.

I loved a Street Cat Called Bob - nothing to do with dance though! Darcey Bussell has a book that documents her career in lots of beautiful pictures. This link is quite good too http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2012/01/17/ballet-books-for-teens/. Bunheads (Sophie Flack) and To Dance (Siena Cherson Siegal) look like they might be suitable?

Agreed JulieW. I am concerned that by having a thread regarding this will open up a free for all and potential can of worms as has happened on other sites, to the detriment of several people.

This has been very sad to follow - and I have done extremely closely, as I had (note HAD) a lot of respect for some of what RGDANCE stood for. It is awful that such horrible things were (allegedly) being done by one man that has since destroyed so many lives. I think in the UK we are luckier in that there isn't the 'hypersexualised' routines and costumes that are seen in the USA and AUS. There are much worse competition routines and costumes in America - you only have to watch Dance Moms, or look up dance competitions on Youtube to see it, yet sadly this is all being overlooked and the incidents that allegedly occured in Sydney have all been blamed on costuming and choreography. If someone is inclined towards behaving that way, they will do so anyway. Putting a child into a costume won't suddenly turn a 'normal' person into a predator. If that were the case, no-one would wear bikinis on the beach! Another slight grumble I have about the video clip posted is that it was implied that these young dancers were winning competitions because of their costumes and their choreography. I totally disagree, having seen a lot of videos of these dancers. I DIDN'T like their costumes, or the choreography in a lot of cases, but the strength, skill and technique as well as the work ethic, motivation and positive performance skills that the dancers had was second to none. THAT'S why they won trophies etc and have travelled the world. There were a LOT of very positive things going on at that studio that sadly will be glossed over or turned into something sinister now.

Around 9-10. We'll only have two groups so the youngest need to be able to cope with grade 4+ material ideally.

Hi all, there are still some places on the summer intensive hosted by MIDAS at MAC in Birmingham. Daily ballet and body conditioning with other sessions in rep, jazz, contemporary, dancer health (including nutrition, warm-up/cool-down), anatomy, music theory/appreciation and performance psychology. A week of hard work to get you ready for the new term!

Hi all, there are still some places on the summer intensive hosted by MIDAS at MAC in Birmingham. Daily ballet and body conditioning with other sessions in rep, jazz, contemporary, dancer health (including nutrition, warm-up/cool-down), anatomy, music theory/appreciation and performance psychology. A week of hard work to get you ready for the new term!

Hi - I've sent you a PM :-)

I always feel so bad for the youngest students at the start of the week (if that is indeed how it's scheduled these days) - as it does seem that towards the end of the week more and more dancers get through. And then you look at the finals programmes for dancers in junior sections and there's hardly any entrants!

Thanks Spannerandpony. Yes Aurora there are still places :-)

Regarding this years summer course and my posting earlier on April 6th - the course will run from Monday 19th-Friday 23rd inclusive at MAC Birmingham. It is non-residential however there are several excellent options for accommodation in the locality - it is in the same part of Birmingham as Elmhurst and the main university campus if that helps. The faculty will include the 4 staff members as listed on the MIDAS website as well as professional dancers as guest teachers who are currently being finalised. There will not be any staff or students attending from RGDance [now no longer in operation]. Each day will include a ballet class and a body conditioning class. There will also be sessions in jazz, contemporary, choreography, repertoire, dancer health, performance psychology and virtuosity (turns and leaps). All the sessions will be underpinned by our ethos that safer and more effective dance training produces healthier, happier and ultimately more successful dancers.

Congratulations!

Well said C4D! Without the 'local' home dance teacher, there would be no professional dancers! Most of these teachers work long, often unsociable, hours often dealing with all sorts of obstacles. How often do they get a "thank you"?! It must take a great amount of self-lessness, courage and trust to advise students that there is only so much they can do for them, and to promote associate classes (I do know of teachers who won't always recommend every associate programme as "they can get a decent ballet class here with me!"). However, on the other hand, those teachers who work alongside the teachers at associate programmes can also reap the rewards.

Bluebird I will send you a PM

Graduates of central are actually really very rare in that that have a BA (hons) degree by the age of as young as 19. Most 19 year olds will only have done the first year of a degree, or will have completed a foundation degree, which can then be 'topped up' at a different institution at a later date. It appears confusing because the qualifications are named differently to those completed by the parents' generation. A foundation degree is a bit like the old HND (see more at http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/choosingcourses/choosingcourse/foundationdegree)

dramascientist that was my first thought as well! - All my pupils (at the secondary school where I work full time) should see that!

Katymac I agree with you - it is tricky, but again (just to think about the other side of the coin here), can you tell much about somewhere's teaching by only attending an audition? I imagine that most places don't actually do much 'teaching' ie feedback, coaching, etc in the auditions, so the best way to find out if a teacher/teaching style works for you is to watch an open class or join a taster session/Easter course/Summer course and meet the staff properly, but not every place offers these options. It is a very tricky one to deal with, definitely!

Most places do realise that not every place offered will be accepted, for various reasons. That is why waiting lists came about. It is only really frustrating when people decline places without being honest (I'd much rather someone say "we're declining the place because we've got a place at the CAT and our child wants to be a contemporary dancer", than saying something like "it's too far to travel" - you knew that before! Worse still, though, is when people accept a place then drop out halfway through the year with little or no explanation. You can only keep a waiting list waiting for so long. While I agree that parents want to do the best for their children I feel that this only really applies if you're auditioning at several, very similar programmes (ie focusing on ballet only or contemporary only) - you can understand only wanting to do one, as it might seem going to several of the same, so having to make a decision over which is right or best for your DD/DS makes sense. However, if you audition at several that are distinctly different (ie one more ballet oriented, one like Chantry or a CAT that is more creative/contemporary and one like MIDAS that includes fitness and elements of jazz) you know what the nature of the course is going to be from the outset - so the argument that you're going for the option that is best for your DS or DD doesn't really make sense, as you would've hopefully known that before auditioning.

I went for an interview there a few years ago and by the end of the day I no longer wanted the post as I realised what the course involved. It appeared, at least for the full time course, that each week there was a focus on a different dance genre. I don't know what the teacher course is like only that there appeared to be strong links with the ballroom/latin branch of the IDTA in terms of staffing etc

MIDAS is Sundays usually the first/second Sunday of each month.

MIDAS auditions are on the 26th May, or you can do the summer intensive...