Lucinda

Hi Twiggy, my DD is currently looking for an alternative pointe shoe as it's too difficult to source her present shoes (Russian Pointe Encores) where she is training and her teachers would like her to change. She tried on a pair of Wear Moi La Pointe the other day, liked them and I think she will end up ordering a pair. It will be interesting to see how she finds them.

My DD uses shellac but we buy the flakes, put some in a glass jam jar and then add methylated spirits to dissolve them. Painting the shellac on the inside of the box has made a huge difference in extending the life of DD's pointe shoes. We fortunately just found a local antique furniture restorer who was happy to give us a small jar of shellac flakes for free. He said it was his small way of supporting an artist!

Thanks for the reminder. DD had the Men C immunisation when we were living in the UK. I will now check to see if she can have the booster before she moves back to Europe. I will also check on all her other immunisations now!

Just wondering if you have tried suede patches that you glue onto the satin on the toe of the pointe shoes? They are mushroom shaped and you trim them to size. We purchase ours from a specialist dance supplier. DD uses a bit of sandpaper to roughen the suede when she needs more friction and also 'scores' the leather sole of the pointe shoe in a criss cross pattern with a sharp knife as well.

We used the Prix de Lausanne list of partner schools http://www.prixdelausanne.org/v4/index.php/partner-schools.html and found further information about the individual schools and their audition dates/policy from their respective websites. This sometimes meant e-mailing the school for further information.

My DD did the perfect pointe course with her own physiotherapist about one year before she started en pointe. Her feet and ankles are very flexible and so she needed to gain strength before starting pointe. She found that the course helped her to work out what areas she needed specifically work on, it is very structured (which m DD liked) and DD still does some of the exercises every day to maintain strength. There is almost too much information but it is easy to work out which exercises are appropriate and which are not. A few years later she received "front splits fast" as a present and this helped to improve her flexibility in front splits and overall. Although the products seem expensive I think they are value for money as following the program could prevent injury and also they help the dancer have a better understanding of their body. This has been the case with my DD I feel.

On the RBS website under applications, there is an age of entry section where you can download a table which will let you know if you are within the age limits. Here is the link http://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AgeChart_2013-14.pdf With regards to applying to the school (as with any others), if you are eligible, I'd suggest submitting an application. Nothing ventured, nothing gained : )

Many of the German ballet schools have free tuition regardless of the nationality of the student. If fees are charged they are considerably lower for international students in comparison to UK international tuition fees. The tuition fees for the Dutch National Ballet Academy are just under 2 000 euros per annum for European students and slightly more for non Europeans. The cost of living in European cities varies but is usually less than the cost of living in London. In addition, in many of the top European ballet schools outside the UK the main language of instruction is English as there are so many international students.

My DD also found the ENBS audition workshop very informative and useful. Dance/ballet magazines often have articles about auditions some of which may be accessible on the web. You may like to ask your teacher and other dancers for useful tips too.

I carefully chose well known principal dancers who I believe could not have possibly have attained their positions without being physically and mentally healthy. They are ballet role models that aspiring teenage ballet dancers look up to.

Congratulations to you and your DD. Wonderful news!

I think we should be describing ideal ballet dancers (especially to impressionable teenagers) as healthy, not thin or tiny or fat. There are definitely some dancers who are aesthetically Balanchine type dancers but are also look healthy (RBS Sarah Lamb is one who immediately comes to mind) but there are also many ballet dancers who are more athletic looking, have a bust and are healthy too e.g Tamara Rojo, Igone de Jonge (Dutch National Ballet)At a talk I went to recently, the AD (David McAllister) of The Australian Ballet stated that he likes his female dancers to look like women not girls, which was great to hear. There are many female ballet dancers in world renowned companies that look like women and not pre pubescent girls thank goodness. These are the role models that I point out to my impressionable teenage DD. Eating disorders are unfortunately still too common amongst female ballet students and I feel we should focus on "optimum weight for good health" especially in the teenage years when the body shape is still changing.

You raise me up- Josh Groban

What a great idea! One that comes to mind straight away is "What a wonderful world" by Louis Armstrong. An oldie but a goodie….

It's very hard but we make decisions based on the best knowledge that we have at the time and sometimes we don't know or are able to utilise the opportunities that are there. Then there is the element of luck, just being in the right place at the right time. Throw in the fact that dance is very subjective and it's no wonder that it's difficult for us parents, especially those of us who have no dance background.Most children who dance (even on a vocational pathway) are not going to be professional dancers and even if they do, the average length career for a dancer is 7 years! Children who attend a well regarded vocational school are more likely to dance professionally but there are still many who don't, there are other roads to the goal of dancing professionally. In my opinion I feel the benefits of having a child (to the age of 16/17) living at home and dancing at a local dance school (assuming they can get enough high quality training) are outweighed by the advantages of vocational school. What I'm trying to say is that the focus should be on bringing up a well rounded, healthy, educated child with good mental health first. The child as a dancer should be secondary to those factors. This is so much harder than it sounds in the teenage years but good quality dance training is never a waste and as a young dancer once said to me "somebody has to make it" (as a professional).

Hello SBallerina, I guess you have already looked at the website http://www.australianballetschool.com.au/ .There is also a Facebook page. The main intake for full time is at level 4 (usually 13 yrs as at Jan 1st of the year of starting at the school) and the majority of the students selected have been in the interstate or part time programme. It is very difficult to get a place in levels 5-8. The school year starts in January (like all of Australia and NZ). There are no boarding facilities. The students have academic lessons at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS) and have dance for around 4 hours per day, Monday to Saturday. The majority of the students are Australian with a few New Zealanders and Asian (usually Japanese) students. The head of the school is Marilyn Rowe who is retiring at the end of this year, Lisa Pavane has been appointed the new director.

Would you consider just your ds first name only and a photo that is of him far enough away (or in stage make up) so that he is not easily identifiable? Of course this is much harder if he has an usual name or has flame red hair etc. Many of the schools here just state "1 student accepted into XXX school, level xxx" etc when they have students accepted into full time prestigious schools, rather than naming the student. I don't think it is necessary to publicly identify a child , but just my humble opinion. My own DD has appeared in the paper but she was very keen to do it and was asked by her dance school. She was also much older. It was an article about mentors.

In comparison to Grishkos, I think it depends on the model. DD has worn 2007's which in comparison to RP encore had a similar length vamp but a lower profile and only 3/4 shank. Grishko miracle had an even lower profile. In other respects those Grishko pointe shoe models were similar to RP. Dd had one pair of Grishko Vaganova's which was an interesting experience.......they were very tapered, had a tiny platform (which dd hated) and the hard shank was incredibly hard....they were like bricks! I don't think dd ever broke the shank, she just gave up wearing them because they were so hard. The RP's in the standard vamp (2) are definitely longer than most of the Bloch models, the box itself is longer too. It's very frustrating but none of the Bloch (Australian company) pointes fit DD as the boxes are all too short for her long toes unless we go down the made to order route (for a student?!). It would be so convenient if there was a model to fit her. I have ended up ordering her RP's from the USA and Russia (via the r-class website) as until recently Energetiks only imported medium shank RP's not hard!

My DD loves her Russian Pointes, she wears Encores which are imported by Energetiks here in Oz. She had previously worn Bloch, Grishko and has had one pair of Freeds. Russian Pointes are made in Russia (but called R-class there and some of the names of the styles are different, eg Entrada is called Elegance from memory) but the hard shank is not as hard as the hard shank in Grishko in our experience. DD likes the flexibility, many of the styles have the option of a v shaped vamp (no drawstring) or a u shaped vamp (with drawstring) and there are 3 vamp lengths although the shorter vamp (1) and the longer vamp (3) are usually only by special order. DD is wearing the standard 2 vamp with vamp elastic, the 3 vamp would probably suit her better but she'd prefer to try it on first before buying. In addition there is usually a choice of a flexible shank or a standard shank. The flexible shank allows for better rolling through from demi pointe to en pointe and dd prefers this. The Encore also has a pre-arched shank will helps to mold the shank to the arch. The shoes themselves are hand made and a very pale pink in colour (not peachy at all) so it can be a little difficult to find ribbon pale enough to match. There is a large range of sizes and widths and we have found the sizing to be very consistent. The Russian Pointe website has a number of videos and on- line information that explains the differences between the models and the shank types etc. Also the r-class website. Hope that helps!

There are no vocational boarding schools in Australia and only three public funded dance schools (Australian Ballet School, Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and Queensland Dance School of Excellence). The students have dance for around 4 hours per day and academic lessons for the remainder of the day. Consequently there is a large number of private dance schools that offer full time dance programmes and the students continue their schooling by distance education (even if they live in a city). The majority of very serious ballet students from around the age of 14 yrs who wish for a career in dance study by distance education in Australia so that they can fit in their dance training of 16+ hours per week. Sometimes considerably more hours if they are entering competitions.

I think you also have to look at the gender difference. Boys will often get accepted at an older age (18, 19) into vocational ballet courses because they generally mature physically later. For girls it seems to be more difficult to be accepted once they are past 16/17 yrs. The age at which dancers are "company ready" has increased compared to 20-30 years ago because dancers need to have more skills and be more versatile than previously. Many of the vocational training programs will allow students another year until they are ready to audition. A student may also take longer to complete their training if they sustain an injury which unfortunately is relatively common. When it comes to the crunch however I think when auditioning for a company the actual age of the dancer (18 or 22) is a much lower consideration than many other factors (luck being one). It is a very tough path to take from any direction!

Maybe it depends on the school as when I asked ENBS about how flexible they were with entry age I was told that they prefer girls to be 16 years turning 17 in their first year. Though I imagine like any school if they are really keen to have you they will make exceptions! Would be lovely to be in that position

My DD much prefers the wider (3/4 inch or 18mm) elastic. She has tried thinner elastic and also Bloch invisible elastic, the latter is expensive too! Have you tried purchasing on line? Also you might like to try Freed as that is where we have previously purchased vamp elastic and the 3/4 elastic on this USA website http://www.tutu.com/dwear_accy_01.html is described as "Freed pink".