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Hi Dramascientist, Nice to hear from you. Real life is very busy at the moment and coming and going to England for all these auditions kept me busy too! I still read the posts as often as I can and I will be back more often soon... My other too are fine thanks... DD2 is 15 and is as interested in ballet as ever and will be auditioning for upper schools next year. She's in a new vocational school and thriving there but unfortunately we will be moving at the end of the school year and we'll have to find a new one for her last year... DD3 is 12 and is in the same vocational school as her sister but she's more and more interested in theatre so she's decided to concentrate more on it as well as broadening her dance and singing next year hence less ballet. I suppose she will be joining DD1's old vocational school next year. How's your DD doing? Is she happy in her school, BW was it? Thanks for your advice LinMM! I agree with you...

Hi all, I thought I'd share news about DD1 audition results even though she has left the world of ballet slightly behind her... so many of you have been following my DDs over the years... So DD1 has just turned 17, she will finish her A'levels French equivalent in June and she's been auditioning in 4 schools for Musical Theatre. She got a no from Bird College but it was her least favorite school so it was ok. She got a place at Chichester on their Triple Threat BA (Hons) course, a bit unsure about the quality of the course there and where the alumni go... She also got an April recall audition for the finals at London Studio Center for their BA, she had a choice between doing the recall in Jazz or in MT and picked MT. Finally, last but not least, she was offered the Foundation Course at Urdang which was and still is her favorite school and is ecstatic about that... So I suppose the final choice will depend on the recall audition at LSC! Given that she's always trained in France where MT is definitely not a specialty, it was a big test to compare herself to UK trained kids and we're all very proud of how she held on own. I'll keep you posted on the end results... Good luck to all!

Fantastic News Taxi! Very happy for you!

Not yet but I'm thinking of doing or else sending DD2 for a holiday school there. I did talk to someone whose vocational DD auditioned and she said it was one of the hardest audition her DD did... Interesting!

Yes LinMM, I suppose the teacher I'm talking about is in her late 60s if not more...

Hi Sitch, I think what Window's daughter is experiencing is partly what you describe as you don't start ballet in France and especially in a conservatoire before the year you turn 8. So Window's daughter must have been so far in a pre ballet class called Initiation here... In those classes you play with rhythm and music and yes you play a lot while learning... From 8, one does real ballet, much stricter, even though still fun if done well but not the same fun... The teacher Window is talking about is no fun whatsoever! She once spent an hour long private lesson seeing if she wanted to take my DD, then 11, as a full time student by constantly correcting her, stopping her to tell her she couldn't do much, she wasn't doing things right, telling her she couldn't jump (it's actually DD's thing), etc... We're talking a kid who has spent a week of the previous summer at RBS... My daughter was close to tears and the teacher then told me she was brave because she didn't cry and then offered her a year long place at her school! An offer we didn't take on, surprisingly enough!!! There will be a jolt in transition between pre ballet and ballet I agree but going from from pre ballet to that teacher would be more like electrocution to me! Lol

Yes very Thequays, but don't forget that music is taught there and it's even more popular...

Window, apart from the big ones, you have to try them (end of year shows, open doors) or word of mouth... Furthermore, people who don't know much about ballet get very impressed with the wrong things so it's not easy...

Unfortunately, even though the teaching of arts is heavily subsidised in France, it is still very rare to find dancers coming from the low social classes...

Definitely! POB school, and the National Conservatoires are free!

To complete what Window said, yes each biggish town has a conservatoire. Conservatoires have 3 levels. Most have dance, music and theatre... The town ones are Municipal. Each region has a bigger one called Regional (crr) and then France has 2 national ones, one in Paris and one in Lyon (cnsmdp and cnsmdl). The national ones are extremely high in level... Very difficult to get in! Even the regional ones are difficult to get in, especially the Paris one which is an annex to POB school in the sense that kids assessed out of POB school always go there after. Teachers have to have a national diploma to teach in a Conservatoire. It all sounds wonderful nevertheless the levels vary enormously from one conservatoire to the other. Some are really good and some are really rally bad! Some private school are much better than Conservatoires... When DD1 was 8, her municipal conservatoire teacher, noticing how serious she was with dance, told me we had to find a better school for her as "she (the teacher) couldn't do anything for her because she would be losing kids if she pushed them a bit more..." Most kids in a conservatoire municipal are there for the fun, there is no audition and it is great for most but when a kid is serious at dancing, they need to go to at least a regional one where they have auditions. Even regional ones are 2 tiered, some kids are "amateurs" and do a few hours a week, some are "horaires aménagés" and do more classes often during school hours... It's a mine field for parents of serious dancers but it's a great system for recreational dancers...

I want to add that I believe it is difficult to dance well without breathing and when a child is scared or made to feel bad or obliged to do something that doesn't feel right, their breathing hitches and stops all together... So does the fluidity of the movement... And it's very difficult once the bad habit is caught to allow oneself to breathe properly again...

Hi Window, since I know who you are talking about, I can tell you she scares me too... As for getting 9 kids into POB school, she's also well known for having kids for a few lessons and sometimes even 1 and then taking the credit of sending them to POB. Does your daughter want to audition for POB? I don't know if you know but at that age, POB takes kids on physique and suppleness only. No technique involved...

Sorry to be the odd voice out but DD1 got a nude leotard for a show 4 years ago and has never found a use for it since...

I sent an unsigned form to RBS once because my DD's old teacher didn't "believe" in his students auditioning elsewhere so I didn't want to ask him. I explained why to RBS and they said it was not a problem... Hope it helps!

My DDs have done 3 SSs between the 2 of them (2 senior and 1 junior) and each time I noticed the grouping was not made solely by DOB. My eldest DD who was 13 and 14 when she did the senior SS was put in groups with some girls up to 2 years older than her. I think they also use the number of dance classes they do a week and how long they've been dancing... But it's only my reading of things!

Thank you CeliB, I will!

Thank you LinMM and Kat09!

DD1 is 16, will be 17 in January. She will be auditioning for MT with a strong emphasis on dancing and singing, not so keen on too much theatre... She thinks of herself as a dancer who sings or a singer who dances... She will be finishing her A'levels this year and would like to go for a degree rather than a diploma if she can...

We are too W! Are you going for ballet or MT?

We saw them last year; It was fantastic! Enjoy!

Hi all, the title says it all... I'm looking for a Summer School for DD2 for next year in or around Washington, with an audition process and a good level. Any idea? Thank you!

Hi Swanprincess, I think you should follow your gut and you won't be wrong... It's the best advice I was ever given! You and my DD became friends at BTUK SS, she really liked you... I wish you all the best for whatever you decide!

On my way! See you later in Birmingham!

Yes I agree about Central being in a higher league than NBS and BW...