ZooZoo

Ah thanks Julie - that's good to hear. That is more like I would have expected, so I feel a bit more reassured now. Thank you. Zoo

Oh my goodness - this is a big shock to me. I didn't think I would need to keep funding DS if he actually ever got a job in ballet. Maybe I will try and persuade DS to switch to medicine!

Sophika - whilst it must have been extremely unsettling for you all to have this happen, your daughter must have a great force of will/self belief. It would have been "easier" to just keep going with vocational school than to be brave enough to make the break when she realised she did not want to continue. I bet she will look back one day and feel really proud she was able to do that and start walking down a different path.

Apologies for the very blunt title to this thread but I have a genuine interest in the answer to this and no clue what the answer is. I know dance is a vocation and passion and that dancers usually love their work and feel very fulfilled in their work, which is very important of course. However, training is expensive. If I was paying for my son to go to medical school, I would have a rough idea that at the end of it, assuming he was employed, he would earn enough money to have a decent lifestyle and buy his own home. I feel in the dark about whether the same is generally true of ballet dancers. What does the corp de ballet at the Royal earn for example? Would a dancer in a company abroad receive free accommodation to enable them to save a little, for example? I appreciate that this is a sensitive subject and I hope I will not cause anyone offence by asking. I am happy to receive personal messages if someone can help but does not want to post on the open forum. Thank you Zoo

My son did Sussex Summer School (extended day) this summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. They had some good enthusiastic teachers and had lots of fun. The standard seemed mixed - some obviously very high but others more "dancing for fun" types. Lovely location, and it looked like everyone had a great time. He was very sad when it was all over.... I don't think he will be able to do it next year though as he is now at White Lodge and they like them to rest fully over the summer....

I think it can work both ways. You can be invited to finals and not get offered MA. You can not be invited to finals but get offered MA. Somewhat confusing. I have also heard of a child invited to finals but not offered a place for year 7 then being offered a place for year 7 after attending summer school. It is possible that they may have been on the waiting list - don't know. I wonder if any child assessed out of WL is ever offered a MA/SA place - does anyone know?

Thank you for posting - I watched and enjoyed that. Not sure that I will show my DS (age 12) though. He has actually never had anyone at school or anywhere else be negative to him about doing ballet/dance. I know he is very lucky. I think he would be a bit bemused by the comments about being teased. We are unusually thick skinned in our family. I managed to make it to my mid twenties as a red-head before I picked up on any "ginger" negative connotations!

I would have thought tall and skinny is exactly what they are after. However, the Royal can afford to be very choosy I guess, especially with girls. My DS had been doing ballet for years before I realised the importance of turn - out for example - I guess they are looking for lots of things. I would say try again because there are just loads of stories about people getting in on second/third/fourth attempts....Good Luck!

I would view this as a good sign! I don't think they would waste anyone's time if they weren't interested. So be cautiously optimistic!

If you google White Lodge's calendar and follow the links you will see a residential course from 7-11 April 2015 for "Young Creatives" (you will have to link through from the page). Looks good - 15-19 years old and amazing value - other venues too. Hope this is of interest to someone. Zoo

Having been through all this last year, here is my little bit of advice. Auditioning is so exciting and there will be happy outcomes and sad ones. If, like us, you audition for a few don't forget you also need to focus on your non-dancing alternative. What will this be? What are the good things about this (alternative) school for your child? If, after all the auditions, you are "stuck" with this non-dancing school you want to make sure that your child is still looking forward to going to it (or staying at it). It's hard not to project your own hopes on your child but I firmly resolved to greet any disappointment with a shrug and an "oh well, never mind, let's stick with (school) then" so even if my DS was upset, he would not think I was. Disappointment for yourself is hard but if children think that they have in some way disappointed their parent, I think that is worse. We did such a great job bigging up DS's local school, I know he wouldn't have minded in the least if that is where he went (nor would we, although in the end he did end up at vocational school). So, in amongst all the excitement about the vocational schools, don't forget your alternative and keep reminding your child of what is good about that school too.

Ooo - so exciting - well done to your daughter Lema - what a lovely feeling to get a YES from the first audition. Best of luck in March.

What a happy story and such a good lesson in life to never give up! I wish your DD every success at Tring where I am sure she will have a wonderful time.

Hi DanceMam I certainly think it is worth keeping on trying and wish your DD every success. As I understand it, places like RBS and Elmhurst do audition anyone who applies, but as to how much info they keep from previous years I have no idea. Anyway, dancers can be very different one year to the next so it is worth trying again. I am not sure about entry in year 11 though, as I thought that very few schools take them in year 11 due to being half way through the exam period (years 10/11).

My son wore split sole canvas double elastics for his auditions at the "big four". I think any shoe that they can dance in well should be ok. Better to be comfortable than get new shoes for the auditions that don't feel right. Now he is at vocational school he is getting specially made shoes because his instep is huge and all shoes look baggy. They are going to cut them very low, whatever that means, to try and stop the bagging...

Is this for year 7 or later? I left it later to get some more practise in for my son (and due to lack of organisation!). In hindsight there was a lot to do in Jan/Feb and places like Tring were, I believe, pretty full on boarding places by then. In hindsight should have probably done a couple in the Autumn term. However, leaving it late meant that I did not have the dilemma of paying say, Tring, a deposit (and then losing it when we were offered WL).

I did hear (but this is second hand knowledge) that there is a year at WL who have never had anyone assessed out along the way. I suspect that this may be that year - amazing news for all of them:)

Hi enpoint - welcome! I wish your son the best of fun with the summer school this year. My son did it last year and was unfortunately a bit homesick. Some of them took mobile phones and some did not. Now, when he went away with his school last month he was not allowed to take a mobile phone and was not at all homesick. Your son may have already been used to being away but you might want to give some thought to this. It was certainly my son's experience that those with mobiles missed home a lot more as they could call home. Anyway, just a thought......

Sorry - I have nothing really useful to add as I am not too clued up in the world of dance. However, whenever I watch Greek at festivals I have learned it is "bendy leg ballet" where they wear bare feet, bend legs and arms a lot, don't point their toes and dance about a sad theme. As I said, this is not the official description!

This is very exciting - congratulations to all the YESs. Please don't be too downhearted with a NO. My DS tried for year 4 and got a NO but has just got into WL for year 7 so a NO now is certainly a disappointment but not the end of the story. We auditioned again for year 5 and got in that time. In a way I was happy it was just JAs for years 5 and 6 as for us there was a lot of travelling anyway. I am sure that there are lots of similar stories out there. Just being asked by your dance teacher to audition for JAs is a huge achievement. For those of you with YESs exciting times lie ahead. It can seem like you have stepped onto a conveyor belt of auditions/boarding school etc which is not really something that I truly contemplated when we started off on the journey all those years ago. Remember - you can step off the conveyor belt if you want, but if you are enjoying it stay on and enjoy the ride!

A few of the boys offered WL this year can't do splits three ways as far as I can tell, maybe only one way, if that, for the 2 or 3 I know about. The girls generally get a bit closer but I don't think it's a necessary for WL even, let alone associates so no one should be put off by not being able to do it.

You have all been very helpful. I have managed to google quite a few of the children who will be joining DS by using a few search words - interesting.. Obviously lots of people don't mind the photo/name thing. I have decided to say they can have a photo if full name is not used. If that's not ok, then we won't do it. I appreciate all your views which have helped me make a decision. Thank you!

Right - I think I am edging towards saying no because.... 1. When DS had his JA photo in the paper it somehow got on the internet and now if I google "Zachary Quack" and JA I get the photo and article pop up on Google, so these things do hang around. hfbrew - if it was only a cutting that would survive I would agree and have the memory, as you have described...but I know from past experience that this will likely be able to be googled for years to come.... 2. It is of no personal benefit to me or DS (but I do feel a bit churlish for not letting Local Dance School have their advertising). 3. DS won't be bothered either way, but I will ask him tomorrow. 4. it is a good point to ask the school, so I will do that tomorrow. Perhaps if they do have a particular policy about it then the decision will be made for me by them! Isn't the internet amazing? All alone with a decision to make I have managed to have a chat through all my options with my online friends:)

Thanks for the replies so far - they are certainly helping me work through the options. I appreciate your bluntness Pictures - I do see what you mean about that, but I do feel very undecided. I wonder if the schools themselves have policies on this - maybe I will check with the relevant school to see what they think....

Ok so DS has got into a vocational school for Year 7. Let's call it "Big Ballet School" for the sake of this question. His local dance school is rightly proud of this and wants an article in the local paper - fair enough. Let's call this school "Local Ballet School". The thing is though, they want to put DS's full name in the article with a picture. So the article will say something like "Zachary Quack (for the purposes of this question, this is not DS's real name!), currently a pupil at Local Ballet School has been offered a place at Big Ballet School for year 7 - congratulations or whatever". Bit more blurb etc. Now, I feel a bit uncomfortable having his full name published with the school he will be going to - it seems like a bit too much information and the NSPCC website on child protection says not to do this for child protection reasons. But Local Ballet School is making me feel like an unreasonable paranoid parent. I suppose this is a Mumsnet WWYD (what would you do?)!