drdance

Tulte - a lot of ballet teachers 'disapprove' of many things, purely because others do, or because someone told them something that they believe or agree with, without questioning it. I have discussed the pros/cons of split sole shoes at length on another thread but suffice to say the debate still goes on! I might encourage a dance science student to do a bit of research in the area!

Good luck for finals, swe! Enjoy it :-)

It is true that joints are susceptible to the cold, as the structures tend to stiffen slightly when cold. All the more reason for a thorough cardiovascular warm up before each class (getting out of breath for at least 5 minutes continuous exercise). Deep heat/tiger balm etc all do very little to warm a joint as they cannot penetrate beyond the outer layer of skin. All they do is warm the skin which gives a feeling of warmth but can actually be dangerous as the person using them feels as though the joint is warm so is potentially going to do more damage. However the sheer action of rubbing the joint is fairly effective at increasing local blood flow which CAN help warm it up. I would recommend wearing a support, which will help to insulate the area and keep heat in, as well as doing some extra rises and balance exercises to keep it strong. Ankle injuries can be an issue purely as the sufferer fears a recurrence. Many premiership footballers, gymnasts etc tape their ankles heavily just to feel more secure on them. If the pain gets worse with activity, seek advice from a physio. If activity lessens the pain then it's more likely to be a cold/stiffness issue.

Daniel works in TV production (his company were behind 'agony and ecstasy', and perhaps that has something to do with it? Maybe raising the profile of ENB indirectly? He's also close to retirement age...

'fraid not, sorry. There's got to be a gap in the market there!

Best of luck, and if I can be of any assistance with your research please don't hesitate to contact me (emilytwitchett@gmail.com).

I came across this exercise when I watched JA's who had been preparing it ahead of RBS auditions - having said that the one who was successful at the auditions has really short achilles and couldn't do it! I've never seen it done anywhere else but I'm pretty sure it's to look at achilles/calf length in conjunction with balance and control.

Twinkletoes - staff iPods sound brilliant.... Do you mean each person using their personal iPod or are they provided by the studio/school?

Best of luck to all those auditioning in Birmingham this week!

If you are looking to learn the work, especially with PP and P the best way is to go to a local RAD examiner (who will also be a teacher) and ask if you can watch or even better, assist with the classes. The work has a fair few elements that are not 'set in stone' ie there are certain steps that need doing but the order and formation are up to the teacher. If you end up getting on well with the examiner, they may well be able to give you a copy of their DVD too! If you are a parent, can you ask your childs teacher if they have a copy?

Most places don't offer many year 4's but I know of several who have got year 6 places who have been unsuccessful in the past. It doesn't hurt to audition each year if you can get the time off school, and as long as your DD/DS's are prepared that it might still be a no. Also be aware that RBS and Elmhurst JA schemes focus on ballet mainly, although I believe Elmhurst do offer an optional jazz class, they tend to accept those children with physiques best suited to ballet. I taught a pupil several years ago who was very musical, very strrong, always did well at festivals, had excellent flexibility but didn't get RBS or Elmhurst JA's. Perhaps she was a bit 'showy' for them, but I'd have snapped her up had I seen her at a MIDAS audition (MIDAS didn't exist then!).

old or new syllabus? The new is on youtube....

Have you tried auditioning at any of the other schools that do a-levels?

Hi everyone - I just wanted to let you know that unfortunately the session that I mentioned a while ago offering a group fitness screening on Jan 6th won't be going ahead due to a lack of interest / clash with going back to schools etc. However if anyone wishes to have a screening or wants advice please PM me or email director@midas-dance.org.uk - I can't promise to be the speediest responder to emails unless it only needs a 1 line answer but I WILL respond so please just keep nagging if you don't get a reply! In the meantime... whatever you stretch must be strengthened, and whatever you strengthen must be stretched!

Yes - Merry Christmas / happy holidays to you all! May you all receive the gifts and/or blessings you wish, in whatever form they may be!

As a dancer I used to love festivals - I hated the stress and the endless panicking rehearsals but everyone being there together, and the 'togetherness' that you get in a good school with a good presence at a festival is great. I hardly ever got placed with things so when I did it felt brilliant, but it was nice to just get on stage and perform. As a teacher, I have mixed feelings on them. One has to be very careful as they do end up being ultra competitive between parents and can get quite nasty even within one dance school eg in a couple of schools I've worked at, parent's have been allowed to 'dictate' certain things about the dances that their child gets to do, eg who choreographs it, when they get new music etc. You would think that this would be a no-no but in a lot of dance schools the pressure of keeping a parent happy, particularly when they pay a lot to the school, wins out. No-one thinks about the feelings of the teachers when "so and so would rather teacher X for their lessons now, please". You can easily generate a culture playing one teacher off against another when you have multple teachers creating competition work in multiple dance genres. It needs careful organisation, or a very supportive and collaborative team who are ALWAYS 'singing from the same hymnsheet' as it were. Finally - please do spare a thought for your teachers - especially if they are not the school owners - who come to festivals to support their students. They probably won't be getting paid to be there, they certainly won't want to sit in the audience with a load of competitive mums when they want all their students to do well, and they won't want to hear things like "please can you make my DD's dance harder? That girl just did a triple pirouette.... should my DD be doing a triple pirouette? You didn't put a triple pirouette in her dance! That's why she didn't win...." :-P

I know we've discussed this at length on other threads but having or not having all 3 splits will not be a 'make' or 'break' for a dancer getting into a programme - it could be anything, could be shape of feet or legs, or the way in which a child dances. Sometimes schools will prefer to take a student who is 'rough around the edges' in terms of technique, but free of any affectations or style that can be easily trained to their method/style. I've known some very good (and flexible) dancers not get places at RBS associate schemes!

Great to hear you got the all clear.

I would recommend seeing a medical professional. If it hurts when the foot is pointed, then it will hurt on releve/demi pointe and any problem in the ankle like this sounds like there's something getting squashed/trapped in what is essentially a structure that is already pretty compressed in the pointed position. Staying away from anything that puts stress on the ankle at the moment is a sensible option, as is trying to stretch out the calf muscles (although if it replicates the pain, ease off). Take care when performing the calf stretch standing up, both feet should point forwards, both should be parallel. Many people do this stretch incorrectly and allow the back foot to turn out, and since that is the one that you are stretching, it's important to make sure it's completely parallel. You could also try a little massage to the back of the heel if the problem isn't causing too much pain - this might help ease any tension there. Perhaps the issue might resolve itself with self care and activity modification, but if in any doubt, get it looked at - while we can advise, we can't actually say what the right course of action is without a full assessment in person!

Couldn't agree more - any change in joints like the knee need looking at by a good sport or dance physio. Some injuries can be managed with self care (ie rest/ice) but if it doesn't resolve after rest and ice then it needs looking at. It might not hurt that much now but if left unchecked it could turn into something more serious.

Severs disease, or syndrome is very similar to Osgoodschlatters disease which affects the knee. Muscle tightness or shorter muscles/longer bones pull on the growth plate at the ends of long bones, causing inflammation and pain - this often happens during growth spurts when bones grow out of sync with the muscles and you end up with longer bones for a while until the muscles catch up. Most young dancers notice getting a bit stiffer during this time, but some end up with Osgoodschlatters or Severs. Both issues are fairly common and the major piece of advice in either case is to stretch the muscle so in the case of Severs its to take a lot of care to stretch out the calf muscles (both muscles, so a straight leg stretch and a bent leg stretch). Ice is your best friend - with these type of conditions where the issue lies near the bone, ice massage is soothing. Get a paper cup and half fill it with water and freeze it. When it's frozen you can cut part of the cup away to expose the ice block but theres still cup there for you to hold.

Great idea! I'm surprised no-one has thought of this before, it's so useful to be able to speed up and slow down music and gone are the days of the variable speed tape player!

You can either make individual arrangements, or I can start to book an open session for January. We are at MAC on January 6th so we offer a session from 4.00-6.00pm. I think an appropriate fee for this service would be £45. For that dancers will get measurements of flexibility, jump height, balance, foot and ankle endurance, core strength endurance, a turnout assessment, a brief postural assessment (spinal, knee alignment and ankle alignment) and advice on areas that may be injury risks. To book a place please PM me or email director@midas-dance.org.uk

Good luck!

Hi 222much - There are a range of tests that can be done. With an individual screening we can do measurements of performance ability so things like jump height, flexibility, core muscle endurance, foot & ankle endurance, and balance/stability. Furthermore, we can also look at different measures of turnout, can compare strength between right and left legs, and look at specific muscle groups. If wanted, we can also do a skinfold/body fat percentage measure and a ballet specific aerobic fitness test. Most of the tests (with the exception of strength between right and left sides/muscle groups) give numerical measurements which can be tracked over time, rather than compared against 'normal' values as at the moment there really isn't a wealth of data to create such values, especially in children. But the more that we do these tests, the more data we have and over time we will be able to do a comparison against an average. The tests have been used on dancers, or gymnasts, before and are specifically designed for purpose. The feedback will include all the data collected, as well as advice on how to improve certain areas. Any areas of concern eg imbalances will be fully explained and also the consequences of having such weakness/imbalance. My team is based in the Midlands but could travel. The space needed, time taken and cost will vary depending on whether you opt for the aerobic fitness test and whether you have an individual screening or take part in a group session. I'm sure I've forgotten something so please ask if you have any more questions. Emily Twitchett (PhD in ballet specific fitness)