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Cecchetti for young dancers at Tring for DD1...

He knows how much it costs and it stresses him a lot but is very supportive of his girls! Maybe because his parents didn't do that for him and music!

Tring didn't offer anything to our DDs who both got in and aren't allowed to MDS as we don't live in the UK. The only thing they gave us was a list of charities and none could help! It was entirely on us to come up with the whole sum... Needless to say, it was impossible!

I paid once 93€ (£75) for an hour with a top teacher... Of course that was a one off!!!

True but it's not the boarding which is the bulk of the cost in UK schools...

Still doesn't explain how prestigious schools like POB, Bolshoi, Julliard and so on can do the same, if not better, job for much less or even for free!

It's also unfair that British kids living abroad cannot get MDS... But my opinion doesn't count either!

And I thought DaDas were also offered to European Union nationals over 16...

They stick pads on tights and the leotard holds everything in place and sometimes they wear black dance shorts on top! Spanner, in my DDs' old school, if you were knickers, you were to go and change and only come back if wearing nothing under your stockings. It was serious trouble if you didn't comply! How do professional dancers do? They get time of the month too!

Knickers, invisible or not, are a complete non-no in DDs' school, time of the month or not...

Fantastic! Well done to her and the whole family for supporting her so well! Really happy for you all!

No they only had 1 scholarship and it has already been offered...

yes she can, and they already told me she should do ballet then... But we have to come up with the money for this year first!

It's too late unfortunately as they had a panel of judges for that day only and the scholarship has been given to the only boy who auditioned and he auditioned in his special talent: hip hop... Thank you for the suggestion, though...

The results of the scholarship audition are back and DD1 didn't get it! I now realize how much I was counting on her getting it to be able to send DD1, DD2 and even DD3 to their schools of choice. We're back to square one trying to find funding and even though fees are cheaper in France than in the UK, 3 DDs is really expensive on 1 salary... The worst for me was that the school told me after DD1's 2nd audition that they fully expected her to do a ballet solo since she's a ballet dancer! But their website states jazz or contemporary! So when they told me she could choose her style, I never even thought of suggesting ballet to her!!! And now they tell me she would have had a better chance with ballet! GRRR! To top it all, she had a wonderful ballet variation ready!!! Any idea for funding anyone?

When the first you do when you turn your computer on in the morning is check this forum...

We don't know exactly when we find out but they said rather soon. A couple of days maybe...

Back from Paris and very hot!!! Thank you so much for your lovely messages! They meant a lot for DD and I... The audition went quite well. DD had to perform all 3 dances in a row in front of a huge jury of about 15 people! She had to do the set jazz solo first which didn't go as well as she hoped. Her lack of training and confidence in that style showed in bits. She then had to do her free solo, contemporary in her case. She did really well and seemed very at ease. Then she had a couple of minutes break, the time for the jury to decide what they wanted to see her in. I suppose they wanted to see what they hadn't seen before as one girl got the theme "Joy" and another one who only did jazz numbers got "Adage". My daughter got "Rythmic" and she threw herself in a fantastic solo half inspired by an automat doll and half by something that seemed to flow straight from her! As people could see the dances through a window but not hear the music, I sat there mesmerized by her ease at improvisation... Very proud mother moment! Anyway, she's not too unhappy with herself... They were 25 auditionees and the school has 1 or maybe 2 scholarships to offer! Terrible choice! I'll keep you posted as always... Thanks again for your support!

No Lildancer, unfortunately she wasn't untitled to one as, even though British, we live in France...

Hi all again, Last (finally) audition tomorrow for DD1... Earlier this year, some of you might remember, DD1 auditioned for a Performing Arts School in Paris and got in. Even though she had been offered a place at Tring for the Performance Foundation Course, she believed Tring wasn't offering enough dance (6 hours/week) as she wants to be a "dancer-singer" and not an "actor-singer" (her words). So she auditioned for the school in Paris who offers around 14 hours of dance plus singing, musical and theatre i.e. around 20h/week. The audition consisted of a short ballet class, a jazz class with a short variation to learn on the spot and dance in front of a jury, a poem to tell (they had a choice between to fables) and an imposed song created for the occasion also in front of a jury and finally a group interview (10 of them )in front of a jury asking them in turns why they wanted to enter the school, what they were expecting from the school, what was their strength and weaknesses and so on. Remember we're talking kids between the age of 15 and 20!!! My DD and another girl were the youngest at 14 and had to be deemed mature enough to be offered a place. The jury (6 people) wasn't particularly smiling nor encouraging, stern faces all around. Prior to that, they had to answer a questionnaire about why they wanted to become performing artists and sent it by mail and they had an interview with their parents being there with the head of the school and the head of studies... I didn't tell DD1 that the first meeting was a kind of interview so she went in free of worries to check out the school and she didn't realize she was also being checked out and because DD3 was also interviewed at the same time (she was 9 then) to enter the school at her level, everybody went just "to have a talk and see what they had to offer... Audition for DD3 was only that talk and she got in too. Any way going back to DD1, she was delighted to be offered a place and even more to be offered a call back for a scholarship. Out of around 50 kids and young adults that day, 2 were offered a call back and I don't know how many got in without being offered a scholarship. There was a second date for the preliminary audition but I don't know how many were called back. I simply know some of the students already in the school are also allowed to audition for the scholarship tomorrow. For tomorrow's call back, DD is called at a precise time, she has to arrive 1/2 an hour before to warm up and she'll have to present a free variation in either jazz or contemporary and she chose contemporary as she has never done jazz in her life. She also has to present a jazz set variation sent by the school. It's very Flashdancey and it's was quite funny at first to see her try and move her bum in a way she's absolutely not used to but she got better... She's still quite worried about that part though! The last thing she'll be asked is an improvisation on the spot and on her own! But she seems quite confident about that part, I suppose she's used to it! She can be offered up to 3 years worth of scholarship which would be a blessing for us and would mean she can go. At the moment, even though French fees are much lower than UK ones, we're not sure she can go because we have 3 DDs and adding the fees become really expensive. So fingers crossed for her, I'm sure she'll do her best as she always does...

Hi Grumpybearzuk, DD1 got in the Musical course in Tring without having ever done a jazz class in her life. Ditto for DD2 who got in the Dance course in Tring as well. I wouldn't worry about her not doing jazz/tap even if you're aiming for that school...

Hi Swe, As I said before we got a lot of comments too, behind our backs mostly of course... DD1 (14) does 6 lessons a week plus twice 1.5 hours of private lessons together with DD2 (12) who also does 6 lessons a week. DD3 does 3 a week and she horse rides as well. All 3 play an instrument which they practice every day, sunday included. And to top it all, they all have accelerated at school wich means they are in one level higher than their peers. It means DD1 is doing the equivalent of GCSE in June while DD2 will do it next year... And they are home schooled and have to work really hard for it... As you see, I agree with most of the above comments especially the one saying that we are pulled by our kids and we do not push them. I'd be far less tired if they stopped pulling!

How old is your DD, Swe? We get the same comments by neighbours/family/other parents as I suppose most of us on this forum do...

My 2 eldest DDs have had private lessons together twice a week for 1.5h for the whole year. It's used to correct bad habits they acquired in their old school and to prepare for their auditions. Most serious DK in vocational schools have private lessons here, when they can afford it. It's been really hard financially but really worth it. My youngest DD (10) didn't have any as it wasn't needed at her stage.

It makes sense... My DDs have heard that criticism before and they say they've got no idea what people mean! DD1 who's sitting beside beside me says they are much more comfortable than the other brands she had, she finds she can move her toes more easily (my DDs don't wear "padding" in their pointe shoes) . The fitting is very precise, you often have to try a few pairs before you get the right one... DD2 says that, with her old pointes, she felt nails were pushed into her skin when she had blisters and not at all with GM... On my part, the only downside is they are really hard to sew the ribbons on because of the strength of the material!