Strawberyy

I am not new either although I did lurk for a long time before joining/posting.

CeliaB - I was really pleased to hear of all the offers your son has. I hope he enjoyed the whole experience. It brings back lots of memories including an Australian Mum whose son was at school with my daughter coming to support her as she always wanted to see Prix live.

I don't see as much ballet as Janet but I agree about Corsaire and Prince of the Pagodas. But my favourite performance was Daria's final appearance as Juliet in the Royal Albert Hall. A very tearful moment.

LinMM - DD's school made the preselection video. Once she was selected the school chose her 2 pieces from the Prix list. One classical and one contemporary. There was no extra charge for the coaching. At Prix there was a week of classes and coaching and a classical class and a contemporary class are watched by the panel of judges. The 2 solos are performed to the panel on the raked stage (not seen one quite like that before). These 4 marks are added together and the top scores go into the final. The 2 solos are performed again and based on these performances the prizes are awarded. Anyone can watch the unmarked classes so that is when you hope to be spotted by a school or Artistic Director. My dd was 18 and one of the oldest there.

Harwel - we both enjoyed the experience. It reminded us of the festivals she used to do. My dd went to vocational school at 16 and missed performing, they only did an end of year show. That may have changed now. But Switzerland in February can be a bit cold and snowy. The venue is at the top of a big hill.

My dd entered Prix de Lausanne a few years ago and we had to stay in Lausanne for a week so the expense may be the prohibiting factor. No financial help from her vocational school. They have tight budgets. My dd was 18 so it was a job hunting exercise.

My dd thought of the auditions as an opportunity to have a great ballet class, taken mostly by top class teachers.

I was so glad I was there - it was a wonderful performance and a very emotional goodbye.

I agree with Spooky, make sure you check the standard of dance on the BTec course before you commit yourself.

My dd appreciated the occasional letter in the post even though we talked/texted most days.

My dd left at 16 to go to dance college and thrived, others seem to find it more difficult being away from home at a young age. She wanted to dance and I knew she would go to any college rather than stay on at school. She never bothered to apply to 6th form. The dance training at any "recognised" dance college is going to set your daughter up with skills and discipline for the future. It is still education but something she will enjoy. Go for it.

My spies have told me Vadim will be but not Daria.

I went this afternoon and will be there tomorrow evening - weather permitting.

Totally agree Janet.

No visit to the stage door tonight after Corsaire in Manchester - it was just too cold.

Saw the matinee this afternoon. I just found it delightful.

This is such a familiar tale and so sad to hear that things haven't changed. 15 years ago my dd's head suggested she wasn't at the right school if she needed time off for her dance. She stayed at the school for 5 years but they were never supportive.

I saw Corsaire last night and loved it. It was such a treat and I now understand why it has had such rave reviews. The costumes and sets were wonderful. Looking forward to seeing it again in Manchester.

I agree with Anjuli about the Achilles/musculature combination or being born with it. In my teenage years at school we used to run round the room jumping and I can remember the hovering feeling and being slightly scared at how high I could jump. Not sure I could do it now.

When my dd competed. The first round was a class - semi finals were a solo and a class presentation. The finals were 2 solos, same one as semi final plus another. There was a list of the solos you could use. I am sure if you ring RBS upper school they will send you the details. If you google YBDY there is a blog from a competitor - not sure of the protocol about copying the link.

My dd did this a few years ago. She actually competed 3 years running, the first year was before vocational school. It is a great opportunity to see inside RBS. The first round was on a Saturday and was in the form of a class. There were 3 groups, the final group being mostly non-vocational students. The semi final is held on the Sunday so if you get through that you have to stay overnight if not local to London. The finals are held the following weekend. The competition has a lot of RBS students! 3 (I think) scholarships to summer schools were awarded to the best non-vocational students.

My daughter did Prix many years ago. It was a wonderful but scary experience. It was very similar to the festivals she used to do but on a grander scale. Yes it was an expensive venture, although the finalists get some money towards their expenses. She was one of the older contestants and was really job hunting.

T4B we had the exact opposite, the dance teacher was very supportive and during the last year her form teacher allowed her some leeway but otherwise dance was not considered academic enough to be important.

Taxi4ballet - do you know this class will be taught by an unqualified prefect? It seems a bit harsh to assume that when the teacher of GSCE dance will be qualified to teach. My DD did her GCSE a few years ago and was the only one who went on to dance. As it was an academic school the whole GCSE was taken out of school time. She was allowed off some of the classes early because she could pick up the dances quicker than most.

My daughter left to go to vocational school at 16. We chatted on the phone every night for the first couple of months. She was lucky to have a single room. I think we spoke more than we would have done if she had stayed at home. I still felt connected to her and she told me about her day. I didn't suffer from reverse homesickness and she seemed to be quite happy. The only tears I got was when her purse was lost/stolen and we were too far away to help. But I just told her to walk back to her flat after explaining she couldn't get a bus, it was a couple of miles and the other flatmates looked after her when she got there. Thank goodness for mobile phones and the good friends she made in her first term.