Moka

I realise that performers in the West End don't often break into a dance mid song and so appreciate the ability to have a musical theatre section but this is All England Dance, so I felt dong a grapevine or a strong head move wasn't quite enough. Also, there are many times people struggle with the time limit to get the essence of the song and some dance in, so I feel this needs to be clearer. As I said, I was very impressed with the ones I saw, they were certainly of West End standard, I was just a little confused. 😜

Hi all, Changing the subject back a little bit, can anyone please explain to me what Musical Theatre is? This year I saw it was Song and Dance and Musical Theatre combined. Last year we had an adjudicator that explained Musical Theatre as 75% song and 25% dance which differs from the 50/50 with song and dance. Whilst at the regional finals last week, 3 of the 4 honours people in the E section only sang, there were a few gestures but certainly nothing that I would call dance. Don't get me wrong, they were excellent, funny and I was very entertained, but I was slightly confused as I thought there should be at least a little dance due to it being All England Dance and all that. As I said, they were very good but I think would have been more suited in a singing competition as opposed to a dance one. If anyone has any information I would greatly appreciate it. Many thanks.

Don't forget all, after JA's, there's MA's so still opportunity to audition. It is tougher though as there are less centres that offer mid associate classes. Saying that, some people will be off to vocational schools. Good luck to the London auditionees today, hope you hear soon x

Well done to the yesses and keep going SWL and nos. My dd got SWL first time round, then got in second go although was turned down for CBA, so they really are all different. If she had got in we would have only done 1. I realise there are people who do multiple associates, there is nothing to stop people doing that, but in my personal opinion (which I know is not a popular one) I think it's a shame when it's the same girls taking all the spots. Obviously they are very good and have what they are looking for, but there are so many talented children that get so close and want it just as much. Sorry to be controversial. Good luck to all and remember, doing an associates class is just an added bonus, it does not mean you can't make a career of dancing x

I know of a year 4 and year 5 who have been offered places at Birmingham, but have one of each who havent heard anything as well. A shame they don't all get them at the same time, my thought was that they may not want to give out no's before the weekend.

I go to one in Swindon and pay £3 for 3/4 of an hour, I think this is very reasonable. I think the average price is around a fiver. Good luck with it x

Hi all, just wanted to say thank you for all the advice. My dd danced beautifully in the festival last week, gaining many top three positions and quite trankly danced the best I've seen her. The adjudicator didn't mention her wrist for a long time, then asked if the cast was heavy where my dd replied "No." I toild her she shoulld have gone for the sympathy vote and said "Yes - very!!" ha ha, but she is too honest for her own good. She now has a purple sparkly cast and is healing nicely. Thanks again x

Thanks all, she is very much looking forward to it, I think the pressure is well and truly off now, I'll let you know how it goes. Don't worry, I was only joking about the aerial!!

Ha ha Pups_mum, funnily enough she does have a cartwheel which I think we will change to a leap, but I did say she could just learn to do an aerial before next week!! Too much do you think??

Hi all, unfortunately my daughter broke a small bone in her wrist yesterday and is due to dance in a festival next week. It's not the all England semis, but I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of this? I have checked the rules and nothing is mentioned, she is very keen to dance and doesn't want to let her parnters or groups down. She isn't in pain, I've told her it is up to her and her friends and teachers just want her to be better but she is determined, I'm just worried that the organisers may stop her. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks x

Last year in Bath they cut the MA classes down from 2 to 1, so dc's that were already in those classes were disappointed as some of them lost their places. There were only 2 spots offered to year 7 children, those spots were give to people on the reserve list as the 2 children went to vocational schools. Unfortunately the number of centres providing classes for MA's is less than for JA's so it is harder to get into those classes. Good luck to all that are waiting to hear, just never forget there are many avenues to get to where you want to go, if this door closes another one will open and you never know, it may not be the one you were looking for, but it may be better for you.

When I worked on ships, many moons ago, I started just as a dancer and was paid $1600 a month. I used to send $800 of this home and still had plenty of money to enjoy the ports I was visiting, do some excursions and buy far too much rubbish to fit in my suitcase at the end of a 6 month contract This pay did increase when I moved up to being dance captain, I also changed company and ended up being line captain and deputy cruise director so my pay was again more. The pay was tax free, but you do have to pay national insurance. When you are on ships your food and accomodation is obviously provided (although sometimes the food in the mess could be less than desirable) but you have to pay for your drinks and we also used to tip the stewards who used to clean our room (everybody has one). We had a crew bar that sold heavily subsidised drinks and also a shop where again everything was heavily subsidised so you can find that your money goes a long way. Again, this was a long time ago now (I was on ships from 1994 - 2001), so this may have changed but it can hopefully give you an idea.

Cruise ship auditions are fun as they cover a wide range of techniques as you have to be able to do most of them to be part of the shows on board. Generally a ship has at least one Male and Female featured vocalist, then a few male and female singer/dancers and then dancers, some of which may be a part of an adage team. Jean Ann has been going for years and, as you say, has an agency who provides for quite a few ships. When I auditioned for ships many moons ago, I was told on the day that I had been chosen but then did have to wait for a contract to come up. Contracts can be anything from a few months to a year depending on the company, usually spending a month or two somewhere beforehand to learn the shows. What I can say was that I had the most amazing time of my life on ships and went to places I never imagined without racking up debt!! These days there are also excellent choreographers doing the shows and you can find, as a dancer, that you work harder in the shows on ships than you do in the West end, controversial I know but at the end of the day there is only a finite number of you on there to entertain a lot of people. Good luck to everyone embarking on auditions, it's a nervous but exciting time.

My friend has told me about this, a shame as my dd has just started year 7, if I had known earlier I would have contacted them. I have, however, sent them an email to ask for further information and what ages this will go up to. No response yet, but I'll keep you posted

I would always advise to try as much as you can first and then you can specialise in one form later on if you find one you particularly like. Of course trying more requires more time!! Whatever you decide to do, enjoy it and have fun

I'm glad everything has worked out for you, but I think this is going to be the first of many tough decisions ahead. Sometimes trying to accommodate one associate class into your lifestyle can be tricky but you have committed yourself to 3!! It's a great achievement for your little dancer, just remember there needs to be balance, a controversial idea I know, just talking from someone who has been through it. Good luck x

I had lovely long legs and long limbs, including a long neck and lovely arms. Unfortunately I had no flexibility in the hips or turnout. Ah well, you can't have it all That's when I decided to go into musical theatre!!

Beautiful day, by U2.

Well done to all the yes's and keep going all the no's. It was a SWL for my DD which I was very happy with as I thought it would be a straight no due to the number auditioning and me not thinking she had quite the right body shape. Good luck to everyone else waiting for replies x

MVOBE it can take a while for some dancers to 'click' when it comes to dancing. I was a dancer myself, more musical theatre than ballet, and I also taught. I never went to a vocational school, I was very lucky to have a fantastic local school, but I worked for 10 years professionally with others that had been away since the age of 11 so it can happen. I watched many dancers, who were good dancers, all of a sudden blossom overnight into beautiful dancers so hang on in there. He wouldn't be an associate if they didn't see something in him and he sounds like he is very keen doing his exercises, I have to remind my dd! Dancing is a wonderful thing and I still love it to this day, although now I'm more of a taxi for my girls. I realise that if you want to go into a ballet company then the earlier you can start the better, but there are many more options available, who knows where it will take him. Best of luck to him at Tring and you don't know what those other letters may say x

I need to purchase some new tap shoes for my dd and I was wondering what type of shoe was best to get? We currently do ISYD exams, I know they have recently changed some of their tap syllabus and wonder if there is a preferred style for my dd to use. My dd is 10, tap shoes aren't the cheapest things to buy so I want to avoid spending out on something that's wrong and could affect her results. Thanks in advance x

Hi there, I'm curious about the size of the hoodies and tracksuit bottoms too. My daughter is 10, but is 4'9" so I was thinking about ordering her an age 11 in both. Will this be too big for her? Thanks.