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My DDs wear Gaynor Minden. DD1, who has an amazingly strong feet, used to break her pointe shoes in a couple of weeks and she also hurt herself more than once falling over them... We went to Gaynor Minden, at first reluctantly because they cost twice the price of other pointe shoes in France. But we've never looked back! She can wear them for a few months, using them nearly everyday. She actually outgrew the last pair. And the shank never broke! Really good value for money and even more importantly, no sprain ankle! And definitely no breaking them in...

DD2 I meant is facing the dilemma... I'm so tired, I'm getting my daughters wrong!

Back from the land of disappointment, I can know tell you more about our adventures... Audition at CRR then... You have to arrive about 1/2 hour before the time you are called and not much before or else there are too many people in that room. No nice welcome nor chat from the team. The auditions started at 8.45 with the wee ones (9 years old) and went on until 6pm with the A levels... DD2 was called at 3.30 and DD1 at 4.30. They had to warm up on their own in a windowless room without any chairs nor barres and lots of mums sitting on the floor or standing trying not to take too much room away from the dancers. The first part of the audition is a class with a rather simple barre and a more difficult centre. DD2 was in a class of 24, one of them being a student at POB and trying CRR in case she wasn't taken... 24 of them went in, 6 were called back and 2 were finally offered a place... DD1 was in a class of 17. 2 were called back and I don't know the outcome... A friend of DD2, who was called back last year, didn't even get a call back this year! Pretty tough as you can see! Of course the added irony is that when kids from POB school are offered a place at CRR but end up not being assessed out of POB, they of course don't go to CRR and the place is not filled... It's a strange system! The week-end was actually not lost. It allowed DD2 to have a private lesson with a very nice teacher who helped her a lot with her placement and gave her lots of very good advice. And it also allowed DD1 to finally settle happily with her choice of going all the way into the Musical route. For her, ballet is a means to get somewhere not an end and I'm very proud of for her for being able to make that choice at only 14. She wants to keep on with ballet though on top of all the other types of dance she'll be able to study next year. She also decided not to audition for the CNSMDP (the national conservatoire) today so I will be able to tell you more about it once I have talked to DD2's friend's mother... Next monday, DD1 is called back to her school of choice, the performing arts school where she already has been accepted, to try and get a scholarship which could be covering her tuition for the next 3 years!!! Of course, the problem is there is only 1 scholarship to grab and at least 15 people going for it!!! It would be such a help if she could get it! I'll keep you posted as always... DD1 has now finished her round of auditions and is facing a dilemma since she's been accepted in the 3 top private schools of Paris Lots of thinking and gut feeling ahead of us...

Yes Aileen, they are in a normal ballet school but have extra lessons while the other kids are at school. They can be private lessons but also lessons organized by the school for whoever can come. The school owns the premises as most schools do here, own or rent for the whole year. You never go to a church all to dance in France but to a proper studio. Some going-to-school kids are allowed to leave school early to attend dance classes as long as they catch up but we found that system too difficult... There are also state schools which have half day schooling so that pre-professional kids can do their dance/sport/music/theatre... I have to state that the programme at those academic schools is in no way lighter than at normal schools, kids simply have to be academic and fast!

Yes in France too. That's what our DDs do. They belong to a special national programme which they are allowed to follow because they dance and they get the official curriculum sent for free with the same state evaluations as the kids who physically go to school. It's really hard work but one can organize it around dance...

Hello all and thank you really for all your best wishes! Just back from Paris and really tired and unfortunately my DDs weren't taken. But it was really interesting and eye opening. I'll get back to you with details later! Thank you again, it was lovely reading your messages waiting for their turns in Paris...

Thank you all for your good wishes! Some news tomorrow night hopefully...

Tomuchtalent, this is France after all! Not a country known for its nice customer service! Nobody ever rings you to give you a result. You either phone yourself on a special date to find out or you wait in queue to look at a piece of paper! I suppose the Internet helps because you can check online now... No waiting list either at Conservatoire even if kids don't take their places!

That's right, DD2 (12) auditioned for year 8 in the UK so it would be the same pointe-wise in both countries for RBS and POB school.

They generally start around 10-12 depending on their level and strength. Teachers decide when to put them on pointes. I suppose the ones who try Conservatoire are the ones who already dance a lot of hours so have the practice... Our youngest DD's teacher just told me she should be fine to start pointe in the first term of next year. She turned 10 a week ago.

Follow-up for the Paris audition tour... Auditions for CRR (Conservatoire Régional) for ballet are on Friday. DD1 & DD2 are trying... The auditions are in 2 parts: a 45 min ballet class on demi-pointes & pointes from the age of 12. At the end of that class, someone comes out and reads the names of the ones who are lucky enough to be called for the 2nd part which is the day after. On that 2nd day, one has to present a 1.5 min max solo on pointes from 12 onwards. The dancers are given a studio to warm up beforehand and they have to do it on their own. The successful applicants are told at the end of the 2nd day. The success rate is very thin. They have been known to take 1 or 2 kids only except at 10 when a new class is opening of course. The classes are quite small. If you're successful, you automatically have a class in an academic school waiting for you. But that school (there are 3 in Paris) is not attached to the Conservatoire. In fact, you have to travel by metro between the academic school and the dance school. You also have to find a host family or a boarding place if you don't live in Paris. The academic school is either in the morning or in the afternoon depending on when your dance classes are. So there... Having written and read that harsh description, I'm in 2 minsd about my daughters being successful!

Thank you Aurora! In France, one goes from demi-pointes to pointes little by little but without going through the soft pointes stage. My DDs teacher who is not French actually and has been a dancer had never heard of soft pointes! Isn't it interesting how different countries do different things to get to the same results!

Just ballet Pointytoes22, character and contemporary were interesting even though not particularly difficult because different from the ones they do and they had never done Musicals before nor Jazz, so that was fun...

We don't use soft blocks in France as far as I know... What are they? And soft points for that matter? I know what they are, I simply don't understand the point.... Can someone enlighten me?

My 2 eldest DDs did it last year. Yes you can choose your classes but most kids chose the whole day instead. They did a ballet class everyday and some other classes and it changed everyday. They were both in the top class (they were then 11 & 13) but didn't find it challenging enough even though pleasant. Mrs Schon is really nice and the atmosphere was very friendly. It's open to anyone so some of the girls had never done ballet... Anything else you'd like to know ?

I don't know toomuchtallent... We would need to have access to statistics to know for sure... At least at RBS you get to dance before you are either picked or turned down as opposed to POB! Yesterday I wax counting the kids coming out with a yes while waiting for my daughter. Out of 14, 1 got selected for the 2nd round... It's already less than 10% and I was told that on the 2nd round they take less than 20% of the first 10%! Somebody can do the maths!!!

Jellybeans, do you mean your DD is too small or too tall? I suppose too small... The point of those measurements is that the school prepares for entry into the corps de ballet where everybody is suppose to be more or less the same size. Mle Platel, the director, is supposedly trying to soften the rules... But I haven't seen any difference between now and 6 years ago when DD1 tried at age 8...

I meant to say DD1 is doing it. She's 14 and, since we live in France, hasn't got RAD nor Cecchetti grades. Her teacher had to write a list of the things she can do and Miss Notley put her in the top class. Maybe our DDs will be together...

DD3 is doing it this summer. How old is your DD Taxi4ballet ?

News from the day... Unfortunately it was a no for DD who sort of expected it on the 2nd round but not on the first! She knew exactly what she had to do and what was going to be done to her but we didn't know that all that probing and checking flexibility was going to be done without being warmed up first!!! They were left to wait for about 20-30 minutes and told to sit when we parents thought they would be using that time to warm up! of course very few people can do a perfect frog on cold legs! And we waiting patiently in the car playing games so that she wouldn't stress when she could have warmed up in the car park!!! Grrr... I did see some kids doing it after DD had gone in! DD is ready to stretch and warm up in the carpark, the metro or on the bus if needed next year! By the way, no nice welcome like in Tring here! Parents drop kids at the door and wait outside! I had to beg to use the loo! And I thought some of the private schools in Paris were not welcoming enough! That's the update for today! Next week Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris (known as CRR de Paris). There is one in every département but the Paris one is supposed to be the best! As opposed to POB the audition at CRR is a class on demi-pontes and pointes and if you are called back a solo has to be performed the day after on pointes from the age of 11-12 (5e at school which is, if I'm not mistaken the UK year 8)... DD1 & DD2 are trying. DD3 decided to wait a little longer!

It depends at what age, DD (12) had to be between 1.5 and 1.55 meter and between 34 and 40 kg. But they are slightly flexible... DD weighs 41 kg! You have all their measurements on their website.

It depends what you mean by a 6th form... There is no such thing in France... After the equivalent of GCSE which you take at 14 or 15, you go unto the last 3 years of school (lycée) to prepare for your baccalauréat and yes you can do that at POB school. I suppose you could call it a 6th form but then there is Lower 6th, Middle 6th and Upper 6th... Am I being clear ?

I forgot, they also wanted the parents' heights... She also has to get there with her school reports from the year to prove that she's a good student as I think they said they cannot have kids with learning difficulties because they do the whole year programme in half the time. In France, you can't choose your subjects for A levels as you do in the UK, you sit for all the year subjects and you pass only if the average of your marks is above 50%. Being at the POB school, academic school is compulsory and one cannot opt out of A levels (baccalauréat).

At POB, you can apply between the ages of 8 and 12. Your kids' height and weight have to be in certain boundaries and you go to a first audition which is purely physical. Tomorrow DD will be measured and weighed, they will check her natural outturn, natural suppleness and make her do demi-pliés, pliés, jumps, walk naturally, do a frog and so on... If she passes, she'll be invited to a lesson in 2 weeks time... The difficulty at her age (12) is that she has to have natural potential and technique to sort of match the kids who are already there...

As my DDs are embarking on the round of Paris auditions starting tomorrow with the POB and since some people have shown interest in knowing about schools and auditions in France, I can tell you about the auditions as they go... Let me know if it would be useful...