Jump to content

Hull

Members
  • Posts

    39
  • Joined

Everything posted by Hull

  1. I have spent today listening to our DD describing the presents bought for her friends by their parents as a reward for their GCSE results: concert tickets, holidays, laptops, shopping trips, etc etc etc. So to celebrate our DD's excellent results, today we went shopping ….. She is now the (proud?!) owner of a pair of green wellington boots all ready for a long, wet winter in Scotland!
  2. I am responsible for posting items for our small business and it is often more complicated than it would appear to be. Not only do we have to source unusual envelopes/packaging, but we do not always have the correct postage available. It often means a trip to the local Post Office (and a long wait in the queue) - sometimes I just look up the address and if it is fairly near, I drop it into the house instead. Also, we have had a few instances when items have become lost in the post, necessitating us replacing the item at our cost. It all adds up to lots of receipts and extra work doing our accounts. Maybe your dance teacher thought that as you previously visited the studios fairly frequently (I presume), you would be able to drop in to collect it.
  3. Hull

    Olympics 2016

    As I was reading the last few posts on Tom Daley, my daughter came in to show me Tom's most recent post on Instagram. (He is very popular with her dancing friends and his diving at the Olympics was watched and enjoyed at a recent summer school she attended). He is publicising his latest workout video on his YouTube channel. I won't be viewing it, but I imagine many will be!
  4. I would imagine there are many of us who have dancing and non-dancing children receiving their AS or A Level results today. Hopefully everyone has received the results needed to further their education or gain employment. And we do this all again next week for the GCSE results …..
  5. Well done Dormouse! I enjoyed reading about your achievements in an article posted by Jacob's Pillow Dance in Massachusetts! It's on their Facebook page and has gathered many positive comments. They seem very interested in the shoes you were wearing. Re the journalist's comments, we always say that if our local paper gets one correct fact in an article, they are doing well!
  6. Thanks very much for this Anna C. After finding out that information could be found on the CDET website about particular institutions, I was wondering if SQA and other such bodies also had this facility. It's just so hard knowing what it all really means. There is so much work involved already in preparing for auditions - now there's even more to do!
  7. I think this is probably the most important thread I've ever read on this Forum - and I've read a lot over the past couple of years! I happily admit to knowing nothing at all about ballet or dance of any sort and, in the absence of any guidance from our local dance school relating to vocational training, I have spent many hours reading anything on this Forum relating to training establishments. All advice has been extremely gratefully received and our DD has now experienced summer schools, master classes and now vocational training is about to start. However, I admit that I never knew I should be checking if a college had a CDET logo on their website relating to their full-time training (not just for associate courses) or to look for any information produced by places such as the ISTD. I will definitely be passing on this information to other parents who have DC auditioning in the future. Finally, I see some training places have a SQA logo too (including some not based in Scotland) - is this something we should be investigating too?
  8. I agree with the comments about the widely differing standards in some categories. This can partly be accounted for by the fact that some schools (like my DD's) let absolutely everyone from the school dance in their various groups - it's not just the most talented who are invited to take part. Therefore you have dancers of different abilities (but who are the same age) who join up together to compete. It may not produce the very best dance, but it ensures that everyone feels part of the event and supports each other. Also each dancer is only allowed to compete in a maximum of 2 solos - even if they qualified for the final in several different classes. Often it's not easy for them to choose which 2 to dance, but it means that other dancers are given the opportunity to dance their solos. I must admit I'm not a huge fan of dance competitions - I believe they do not bring out the best sides of human nature in some cases! But parts of this event are really great. After each couple of classes, all the competitors gather on the stage, loud music is played and the dancers and audience join in singing and dancing. It's quite different to other dance festivals I have been to!
  9. I wanted to wish everyone 'Good Luck' who is competing in this week's BDWC event being held in Jersey. The event brings together around 3,000 competitors from over 30 countries to compete in various dance classes. It's a unique chance to meet dancers/teachers/parents from other parts of the world and hopefully some of us can escape for a few hours to explore Jersey too. This will be my DD's last competition with her local dance school before starting vocational training, so it will be an especially memorable time. I know of one other Forum member who is attending - I'm sure there must be a few more!
  10. I'm delighted to say that our DD will also be starting at Ballet West in September. After a long (and very expensive) audition round, she decided that Ballet West offers her the chance for full-time training which she has not been able to access previously and in a really spectacular location too. She's spent the past few days contacting other DDs who we have found through this Forum and I'm pleased to say that there is now a Facebook group where they can get to know one another. If there are any other DC who are starting in Taynuilt this year, please feel free to make contact so we can add you to the Facebook group. I would like to pass on my thanks to all the other Forum members who have helped us to come to our decision. Your messages were incredibly useful to a complete novice like me. For some of us based overseas, it can be very difficult to obtain full-time training for our DC. Without access to associate schemes, youth ballets, masterclasses, etc and with no funding available from our local government, at times it can seem like an impossible dream. Finally, I would like to say how helpful the current students at Ballet West who contribute to this Forum have been. My DD and I have asked them many questions and I am sure there will be yet more to ask in the next month or so. Hopefully my DD and her friends can be this helpful to any potential students in the future. I do hope to get the chance to meet some of you in Taynuilt in the future.
  11. I believe that the maximum ages for this year's event are now lower than in previous years. The ISTD website has a page giving details of maximum ages and other useful information. Sorry I can't post a link here. For Grade 4, it says 'under 13 yrs with the age being as at 1st Sep, 2015.'
  12. Is anyone going to the Ballet Awards on Sunday, 6th March? Our DD will be taking part in the Intermediate class first thing in the morning and it would be nice to meet anyone there from the forum.
  13. We also had an enjoyable but very tiring time at the Ballet Awards last weekend. DD reached her grade final (and won a prize!) I do not remember the prize winners in each grade, but James Hudson (Hudsonpictures photo.com) was the official photographer. The photos are now on his site if that's any help to you. If anyone is thinking of attending next year, please put plenty of snacks and drinks in DD/DS's bag. The dancers are called 1 1/4 hrs before their class and, if picked for the final, can be gone for several hours. Food can be pre-ordered at the cafe, but is of little use if DD/DS is not let out until a few hours later! Finally, the Gala was wonderful and a lovely end to a memorable weekend for us.
  14. Hi. Thanks very much. She's currently travelling, but I'll ask her to message you when she arrives. I hope you all have a great week.
  15. Thank you very much. That's given me a lot of ideas to pass on. I wish I was coming over too!
  16. My DD (14 yrs) is taking part in the NB Int Summer School starting on 28 July. Her grandmother is taking her (we live overseas) and I am looking for things for her to do in the day and DD to do in the evening in Leeds. GM is unfamiliar with the area, but is fairly active so anything a short bus ride away may also be suitable. Any suggestions gratefully received. Also if anyone has a DC who would like to make contact, my DD would be grateful as she will not know anyone on the course. Thank you.
×
×
  • Create New...