lisadebs

Pavlala - congratulations to your DD and her friends, wishing them all the best at White Lodge Spanner - your comment made me smile, sometimes I think the ballet world is just designed to do that to a parent

Congratulations windover60 - fantastic news! How nice that there is 3 of them going I still remember the complete sense of shock when we received our letter a couple of years back. Enjoy the moment, the practicalities do eventually fall into place! Very best wishes to you, your DD and her friends - exciting times!

Sare - this is so encouraging to hear . Very many congratulations to your DD, I hope she has a long and happy ballet career

Congratulations to those with places for the final - exciting times! Hope you have a really enjoyable day

JulieW thanks so much for starting this thread. It's so nice to know there are people out there that could provide support if needed. We have certainly found waiting for these letters to be more stressful than waiting for audiiton results. It was a 'yes' letter for DD and so we are breathing a sigh of relief, but next year who knows........it is absolutely gutting to hear about those having to leave, I do hope anybody in this situation resettles quickly and finds a place to continue training if they want to. Dancers change and develop at such different rates during these years - as JulieW's son has proved it doesn't have to be the end of the road. Best wishes to anybody out there with equally shredded nerves

Congratulations! So pleased for you both Have a wonderful time celebrating - hope the details of contract etc get sorted quickly and smoothly. Very best wishes for the next stage of the journey!!

Wow - that's amazing and what a great picture! As they say 'its not where you start, its where you finish....'. Wishing her very many happy and fulfilling years with BRB

Hi Rowan, just to answer your query about vocational school hours. My DD is at a vocational ballet school in yr 8. Currently she has a two hour ballet class every week day which includes some body conditioning exercises at the start. Quite often they will have an additional class i.e. character/pointe/choreography after academics. They also have a gym class on Saturday and maybe another class depending on what they are working towards. Hope this helps. Spanner your DD sounds like she's doing an amazing job juggling everything

Yes, I agree with Jellybeans - if they see someone who they feel has exceptional potential they will make room. However if a child auditions at 11 and doesn't get a place, it may just be an indication that they aren't ready 'yet', they may become 'right' for vocational training at a later date. And it may be that a number of promising young dancers audition for places further up these schools and don't get offered a place because the year group is full. I would be cautious about delivering a dose of 'reality' to an enthusiastic young dancer - if dance is part of who your child is then no audition or assessment result can or should change this. I think we shoud encourage them to carry on enjoying and developing what they do, afterall who knows what context they might end up using their dance experience in? Sorry - have waffled - as you can tell I don't live in the real world

Congratulations to all those with a yes for the finals! Have a lovely day Hugs to all those dealing with a 'no' letter. I don't think it's humanly possible not to be dissapointed, but as others have said, its not a reflection of ability or talent, but is often down to practicalities such as lack of beds. Hope all you wonderful and talented dancers stay confident and continue to enjoy dancing To anybody still waiting - hope the post comes soon.....

Hi Julie, Northen Ballet (i.e. the company) have a brand new purpose built venue in Leeds. They hold their associate and academy classes there. They share the building with Phoenix Dance Theatre. I've not been inside but it looks amazing. I don't think Northern Ballet School have new premises, was there a few years back for DD's RAD exam. The bit we were waiting in was quite old (think the building is around 1930's - quite art deco!) the facilities looked good though. I'm sure somebody else will be able to give more details...

Perhaps the thing to do is to choose an audition solo as you would an audition leotard. Afterall it needs to show your DD off to her best advantage and she needs to feel confident and beautiful when performing in it. So it might be ballet, it might be jazz or it might be a hybrid. As for music - something that makes her want to dance. I'm sure the panel are used to spotting what they see as potential whatever the style, the important thing is for your DD to enjoy performing. Having said all that I won't tell you how long we spent agonzing over audition leotards

Kiwimum - really feel for you and your little DD. My youngest came out of the RBS finals feeling flat because she wasn't in the group that was recalled, she also felt that this meant they weren't interested in her, but this turned out not to be the case. It is hard to lift their spirits especially when they tend to be critical of themeselves naturally. Reassure her how well she has done so far, Elmhurst finals and the Tring funding audition show how much talent she does have and she would not be a JA if she was 'rubbish' Do hope she is smiling again soon, will be thinking of you and everybody else waiting for the post

Thinking of you both. I can appreciate how stressfull this time must be. Youngest DD is nowhere near this stage yet, but oldest DD flew out to Texas last week for her first big dance adventure. I have been hovering over the computer for updates ever since........ Best wishes to all parents and DK's auditioning and very well done for getting this far!!!!

Yes she was in Manchester - it was an afternoon audition and I know she went in with some JA's. Perhaps it was the slot before your DD's? She knows how few places there are at this level, but wanted to go for the experience, both she and her mum had a really good day. Wishing everybody a smooth and happy audition season - can't believe its come round so quickly!

So glad to hear that the auditions went well. My DD's friend auditioned for a Yr 9 MA place so we're keeping our fingers crossed for her. It was her first experience of an RBS audition but she found it really enjoyable. Good luck with the waiting everybody