BankruptMum

We met an elderly lady on a train once, set sat across the aisle from us. My DD walked off down the train and she looked across and spoke to me. Turned out she was a "very ex" principal of a Canadian ballet comp she could tell my DD was a dancer and she said dreams were there to be followed not tossed away - we were very touched by her thoughtful words.

Sounds like a wise decision, your daughter has an amazing opportunity in Sept so a lot to look forward to. Good luck to you as well, hope its a speedy recovery!

Same here Spooky - no scales in our house, I know when my jeans are getting too tight!

Completely agree, experience is always great but not at any cost, either financially or emotionally. Its not so much the missed time from school but the knock on effect from tiredness which will creep in and affect everything else What your daughter does in that audition room is far more important than what may be written on her application form.

I too would caution the use of charts etc., (other than for our own information) as it can be misleading - there are no 'standards' when it comes to body size, its all to do with 'normal' for the individual. Very active children also have a much heavier muscle ratio to fat and this will also lead to misleading results - it is perfectly natural for any girl at this age to 'fill out a little' the body needs fat reserves at this age - everyone will go through it and it all adjusts its self out in a couple of years. Difficult one to explain to a 13 year old where facts are understood but they still dont like their image. A reminder that a dancer needs a healthy foundation to grow and develop from was helpful for my daughter. Puberty has a lot to answer to

OK I'm worried I can as well now - but for the past couple of days I havent been able to - was it just me????? There was nothing there other than the Report and MultiQuote buttons Breath ...... all is well now, thank you!

Just wondered why we are no longer able to 'like' each others comments? I personally thought it was a nice way of showing support or agreement without diluting the thread content. Just curious ......

Like Aileen I was about to suggest looking at his fathers height and also that of uncles and grandparents. His gene pool is very mixed but that would give u an indicator of possible growth. I would suggest that he still has a lot of physical growth to do in years 15 - 19. A wider range of auditions would be a safe decision though - wld he be looking more towards musical theatre or contemporary if classical wasn't an option?

A huge amount of valuable information, thankyou everyone.

http://www.theartsdesk.com/dance/opinion-what-ballet-school Thought this gave some interesting figures.

Just a slight amendment JulieW if I may - the MDS at Elmhurst covers lessons for two instruments which involves a 30 min individual lesson per instrument each week (depending on the availability of the external teacher), the standard of music within the school is very good, flute, guitar, singing groups meet weekly in the students own time. Re styles, Flamenco doesn't start until Y10 in years 7-9 the do one class of tap and jazz although its a very mixed ability class as some could be in high grades and other no experience in tap or jazz. They do not take any exams other than RAD ballet which is one 1.5 hour class on a Sat am which is also included in the MDS. Think that's everything!

There is an awful lot of this information in previous posts - worth having a search through.

Perhaps you could explain the circumstances - maybe they could email you a copy of the letter today?

The application forms for vocational schools make it very clear they are open for all to apply, if there were a preset requirement for experience they would specify. To be honest even if they did this lots of people outside of this specification would apply anyway - how many of us know parents who have let their children audition for pantos etc knowing they are a couple of centimeters over/under the height reqirement, just in case! Associate classes are great for additional training but are by no means a golden ticket into these schools. For example my daughter came from a class of 40 PVP's at Elmhurst only 5 of them were offered places for Year 7. There is often no obvious reason behind the selections these schools make - there seems to be a lot of unrest this year with the audition process, if you have specific questions it is much better to refer them directly to the schools in question. If you dont audition you will never know what may of happened, even if your child does get acceted there are no guarantees of what is to come - its just a stepping stone, if you dont get a positive response first time around as many on here can testify it doesnt mean you will never be successful.

Well done that's a great achievement, there will be lots of shuffling around whilst eveyone makes their minds up - dont uncross those fingers just yet!

There really is no requirement, some will have passed their IF , some will have no exam history at all - it makes no difference.

I agree Moneypenny but for a lot having the "choice" of a vocational school is not a possibility due to the lack of spaces and funding. I personally think for those who train at home it isn't the best idea to get wrapped up in the number of hours vocational students do and feel they need to replicate it. Quality and variety is more important.

A very good example if why a variety of teachers is a benefit.

Fantastic news - just goes to shows what determination can do, brilliant!

To be honest the amount of classes some girls do seems a little worrying to me - after all its the quality of teaching which is just as, if not more important as the quantity. Having a variety of teachers is a great opportunity which is why Associate classes are worth their weight in gold. Being taught by the same teacher can often be detrimental, they miss corrections which another teacher quickly picks up. Vocational students have a much reduced academic work load and to try and 'keep up' with their peers in this way seems impossible - its a different pathway, I dont see you can replicate it. Those not at vocational school will have greater tap/contemporary/moder/jazz/gymnastic skills (whatever their preference) which will, together with their good classical foundation, produce a different skill set, most are likely to have a greater sense of performance and confidence due to experiences which are not open to vocatinoal students. As has been proved many a time on this forum there is no set specification by 6th forms for a 'type' of dancer I dont see why you need to carbon copy vocational schools. A non vocational dancer is taking a different skill set into an audition - whilst a suitable physique and basic skill set is required, arent the schools looking for students they can teach rather than those who have already learnt and need to have techniques undone to suit the schools teaching?

My daughter would usually do 1.5 hours a day, 5 days a week doing ballet with 1 sometimes 2 x 45 min pointe classes each week with 1.5 hours RAD on a Sat.

Soft blocks are very hard initially but after use they do end up as flexible as regular satin shoes. I have deshanked a couple of pairs of old pointe shoes for my daughter, placed a tea towel over them and then bashed them with a heavy hammer a few times just to get things started. Seems to do the trick!

This has often puzzled me too - the young students with amazing feet often look very unstable and not so 'attractive' en pointe. Given a lot of their time is spent enpointe does it really matter if students feet dont have outstanding arches but just great ones?

She will have a great time, its an amazing competition! Good luck, look forward to hearing about it Xxx

I know the tuition is often free if not a lot cheaper than in the UK, still if you are on a lower income it makes it a huge if not impossible financial committment. Does your daughter come home for half terms or is it only the major holidays? Do they offer any scholarships for their summer schools?