Huddsballetmum

Men!!! Sorry male forum members but that's just how I feel today.

I have a couple of lovely lyrical costumes exactly like the one's you describe. One is navy and one is a gorgeous blue green PM me if you are interested. They came from America and are beautiful.

Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom do a fabulous summer school with a choice of a dance route or a performing arts route. They do dance on both, but singing on the performing arts one. They also have a choice of a couple of weeks and the dance course incorporates ballet, tap, jazz and contemporary I believe. It's worth a look.

Fantastic news Celib. Such a wonderful result. Your post made me quite emotional, and I cannot imagine the emotional rollercoaster you have probably been on over the last few years, the highs and the lows. Wishing him all the best for a wonderful future

Personally I would go straight to the top and express your concerns regarding the attitude of the ballet teacher. Bullying anyone is not acceptable in any walk of life, but an adult bullying a child is especially wrong. Your DC cannot be that weak a dancer if he has passed all his assessments and his mental health is so important, particularly at this age where they start to feel emotional and vulnerable due to hormones etc. I really feel for you and your DC and hope that you manage to resolve the situation.

Christmas cake in our house would last for ever - neither me or my dd like it

HI Lisa If you give the uni's admissions team a call then they will be happy to help you sort out what you need to send and when. They are used to dealing with new students and parents who are not sure of procedure and what to do. There is also quite a lot of information for parents on the UCAS website and some FAQ's that will help answer some of your queries. I'm sure everything will work out fine, and if you ring Liverpool John Moores and explain the situation then they will probably amend his status again and reopen his application. Good luck

I'll keep my finger crossed for him. You must let us all know where he ends up.

I have Westfield though work and it covers my dd for physio and other therapy treatments. There is a limit on how much you can claim in a period of time but they have a number of packages and I think even the highest one's were less than £30 per month. That cover's both me and my daughter and they cover hospital stays, theraphy and the usual optical and dental. Plus side - you complete the form on line and the money is back in your account within 48 hours, on the other hand you have to pay the bill in the first place. Worth a look though.

So sorry you had such a terrible day. It's so stressful organising uni visits ( we are just starting that journey for 2018/19) when you are in the same country, never mind iof you have to catch flights. Hope you get something sorted.

Oh CeliB what a shame she isn't there until October. She would have loved to visit the Vaganova school. It would have been such a treat. Thank you so much for the offer though.

People who try to tell me how to think on Social Media. I am thoroughly fed up of people leaving statuses on my facebook telling me how I should vote tactically to "get the tories out" or to "save the UK from Brexit" or to "save the NHS" or any of the other causes that take their fancy. It is a pointless quest - I have my own views and opinions and am not going to be swayed by a facebook post, but they are so frequent at the minute that I am getting to the stage where I will defriend the offenders. I look at facebook to see random pictures of my friends, stupid cat video's and other general fluffiness or sarcastic funnies, not to be bombarded by social and political rants. If I want to have a political rant I will watch question time and shout at the tv in the comfort of my own home. I will discuss with friends in the pub over a nice glass of wine but I will not put my political views on a social media site - expect Trump bashing as I find that highly amusing!!

Thank you now voyager. I think we are more likely to be able to book the Bolshoi as she is in St Petersburg 15th to 17th and then Moscow 18th to 20th. I had a look at the Mariinsky's schedule that has been released and the schedule just doesn't fit hers. This is the problem with organised trips and she is supposed to be there to visit the palace's, the Kremlin and Lenin's tomb for A Level Russian history rather than visit the ballet. I would just like her to be able to combine the two if possible. Will keep my eye out for the Bolshoi's winter programme and hopefully Corsaire will be a possiblity.

Thank you so much for this information. I think my daughter might be out of luck with Corsaire unless there are some performances beforehand as she returns to the UK on the 22nd October. It would be a fabulous performance to see though so I will keep my fingers crossed.

What a fabulous 4 day Easter weekend, of which the highlight for me was seeing 42nd Street on Saturday. Such an amazing show with old style Hollywood glamour, superb tapping and wonderful singing. Just a joy to watch and a fabulous day out. The sun was shining in London and Covent Garden was thronged with happy people enjoying the sights. This was followed by a wonderful Sunday with a great friend and luckily for me a great meal (I cooked real food for a change, with a receipe and everything!!). Summed up by a relaxing Monday with a good book. All was right with the world this weekend!

I always remember a song that came out in 1989 called "who's in the house" and I was convinced it was "Bugs in the house" and could not be persuaded otherwise for years!

Does she not realise this is a GCSE maths exam day!! Much more important things going on than an election I think. High schools will not be volunteering to be polling stations.

Thank you. I shall have a look later in May then. Much Appreciated

Does anyone have any idea when the Bolshoi or the Mariinsky Ballet companies issue their programmes for the later half of the year? My dd is lucky enough to be going to both Moscow and St Petersburg in October and would love to go to the ballet, but when I have looked online it just says to be advised later in the year. Because she is going with college we will need to request that she be allowed to go in advance and I don't want to find out too late and her miss the opportunity. If I had some idea I could talk to college staff and at least broach the subject. Can anyone help?

On the subject of office cleanliness I hate the fact that our office kitchen sink is full of dirty pots all the time, the draining board is full and the microwave is a health hazard. We even have a sign up that says "your mum is not here - clean up after yourself". Dread to think what their houses are like.

On a train journey to Birmingham late last year I sat next to a young woman who proceeded to extract more makeup than I own in total out of her bag and spent 45 minutes applying it. I was amazed! Must have cost her a fortune.

My dd did spirit of the titanic at that age - basically a young woman who doesn't realise she is dead until she see's herself in a mirror half way through the dance. Lovely dress, slightly scary makeup and only prop was a bit of fishing netting and a mirror which I made from cardboard & tinfoil ( low prop requirements are always a bonus). She did rather well with it and always got placed. Never seen anyone do it in any other festival.

The rules on funding in Further Education have changed over the last few years so it has become more difficult to do A levels as an adult, but it is not impossible. There are a number of routes 1. 19-23 first full level 3 qualification is free (3 A Levels) 2. 24+ you can take out up to 4 Advanced learning loans which are paid back once you earn over £21k 3. There are Access to HE courses for those who want to go into HE for which you have to take an advanced learning loan, however the loan is cancelled it you move into HE and take up a HE loan. The only issue I can see these days is the fact that you only get 4 years of HE funding, so if you wanted to do a three year dance degree and then wanted to do an academic degree in later life, you would only be funded for 1 year of the second degree. The costs may then become prohibitive. Edited to add - you can take out an advanced learning loan from the age of 19 if you already have a full level three qualification.

Not particularly a correction but more an observation - a teacher once turned to a pupil in my dd's class and likened her to fine french furniture "beautiful to look at but nobody wants to buy" he then turned to my dd and said " and you are like IKEA furniture functional and everybody buys it". We have never been able to fathom out whether or not it was a criticism or a compliment!!

Thank you for this explanation as it has finally solved the mystery of the relationship between my daughter and my cousins children. 2nd cousins - who knew!