Kate_N
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Posts posted by Kate_N
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My advice would be to get off social media. It's edited and "curated" (very annoying misuse of a term which indicates knowledge and expertise). It isn't the real world, and it's not particularly healthy if you take it seriously.
Presumably your DC are being taught by experts whom you trust. Talk to them.
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Just to add, from the perspective of someone teaching at a university, there is nothing wrong with encouraging your DC to slow down a bit. Gap years are great! And might be quite important for those moving from the intensity of a vocational dance training into other areas.
I've been teaching for over 30 years, and what I increasingly see is hothoused anxious driven young people. Current secondary school education is an over-examined treadmill of benchmarks, tests, assessments - SATS start at age 5 nowadays, don't they?
We try to get our students to slow down a bit, to stretch out a bit, and to breathe and take a look around them. We've toyed with making our entire first year a Pass/Fail assessment (first year marks in our degree don't "count" to the final degree grade) just to take some pressure off the constant 'grade grubbing' that they've faced since the start of their school lives.
It's about prioritising education over schooling, if you see what I mean ... Lives are long (we hope!) and although for young people it all seems urgent and desperate, we can help these talented people by encouraging them to slow down and take the time to work out what they really want.
Edited to add: it's apparently a well-known phenomenon that many young people go through something like a second adolescence in their late teens/early 20s (sort of 7 year cycles). So there is a further bout of self-questioning, emotional ups and downs and so on. Sometimes young people are diagnosed with depression at this age - I often wonder if that's not just a consequence of the young person under pressure, and going through this final stage of growth into physical/biological adulthood - the brain takes until early 20s to mature, for example.
So some sort of thrashing about looking for life's meaning and purpose seems to be a common experience of the late teens/early 20s, for many young people, not just dancers.
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Knowing the current job market in mainland Europe in state-funded theatres/companies (fairly static & affected by the pandemic), I'd say that landing any job would be a bonus!
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But on a more positive note -
HUGE congratulations to dancing children (and parents for surviving ...) Even to have auditioned is a big thing - brave and ambitious. That's great.
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On 17/03/2021 at 10:55, Peanut68 said:
So why in future for the £30/60+ fees for applying for short courses don’t they offer several online classes run at different times of day to allow for timezone differences as auditions for these?
Umm, at the risk of being annoying ... 😉 maybe the fees cover staff time for administration of applications, acceptances & rejections, and all the queries in between, as well as the time taken by expert staff in viewing the auditions - whether they're in person or via video or online, that time for staff is still a resource ...
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Society for Theatre Research: Online Lecture
Online Lecture: Putting Britain on Point: 150 Years of Teaching Dance
Thursday 11th March @ 7:30pm
This lecture will be given via Zoom Webinar. Please book on the website and we will email you the live link 24 hours before the event.
In conjunction with the current display ‘On Point: Royal Academy of Dance at 100’ at the V&A, curator Jane Pritchard will look at how young people have been trained in ballet and dance over the past century and a half. Beginning with the establishment of the National Training School for Dancing in 1876, the presentation will consider the development of dance schools for those who wish to become professional dancers and schools for those who wish to learn for pleasure. Discussion will take into account the situation before the development of such institutions now known as the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (founded 1904), the Royal Academy of Dance (1920) and BBO Dance (1930) and how such British organisations have now acquired international status.
Read more about the display here: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/on-point-royal-academy-of-dance-at-100
Jane Pritchard is Curator for Dance at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where she curated the current display ‘On Point: Royal Academy of Dance at 100’ in the Theatre and Performance Galleries.
Book a free place via our website: https://www.str.org.uk/product/online-lecture-putting-britain-on-point-150-years-of-teaching-dance/
If you have any questions, please contact our Lecture Series Coordinator Valerie Kaneko-Lucas via events@str.org.uk.-
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10 hours ago, Diandri said:
V&A are still pushing ahead with their planned new premises in East London
It\s basically going to be storage, without specialist staff, as I understand it.
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Yes. I can't say too much, but there's strong pressure to "thin" out any/all archivists as some in the senior management don't see the point of libraries & archives. It looks like the plan is to focus only on the art/craft object collections, and not the archival collections & research which gives them context.
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I know., @Odyssey Fo one of the leading theatrical nations in the world, it's pretty poor, isn't it? In the course of y work, I've been to many designated national theatre museums, in Spain, in Slovenia, in Finland, and many others. It's a bit of a scandal that we don't celebrate & protect our theatrical heritage.
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Sadly, misogyny is everywhere, I suppose. In olden times, women getting together to talk were called witches ...
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1 hour ago, glowlight said:
I remember reading it back in the first lock down and it really helped me to get control on some of my panic and put things into perspective.
Ditto! But it also made me realise that large groups of people mixing indoors was something to avoid!!
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You may have heard the Front Row programme on Thursday 4th March about the proposed restructuring of the staff areas of the V&A, which will result in the closure of the Theatre & Performance specialist section, and if followed through, will likely lead to the redundancy of expert staff in that team.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000srg7
(starts at around 18 minutes into the programme)
We know the amazing exhibitions produced by that team - the Ballet Russe exhibition for a start. There's more to this than simply losing the staff and the named team - collections will no longer be developed or looked after by theatre, dance, music expert curators and archivists.
You may not know it but the Theatre Collection at the V&A is THE Designated National Theatre Collection.
There's a petition doing the rounds here:
When the Theatre Museum was closed in Covent Garden, and absorbed into the V&A, they promised that they would hold and nurture the collections. You can make up your minds about how this commitment is being honoured ...
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Here's a link to Dr Bromage's blog. It's a really readable guide to the science epidemiologists have been doing.
https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them
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I'm not sure what you're asking.
If you read the regulations, one to one outside training sessions held outdoors and socially distanced, (between 2 people not in the same household, obviously) are permitted. Gyms are likely to re-open on 12 April, but group classes unlikely to resume until after 17 May. It's all there in the regulations.
Children are being treated differently to adults because there's evidence to suggest that they don't become as ill as adults if they catch C-19, although they are a vector of community transmission. I suppose it's the government's balancing of public health risks of the novel Corona virus against the public health risks of a cohort of children denied many aspects of education and socialisation for a year.
Group classes were not permitted under the tiers system as it was impossible to ensure social distancing. Mixing households indoors is a really good way for the virus to spread - have a look at Erin Bromage's blogs on this. He wrote a blog very early on in the pandemic and it's still a good explanation for the layperson (he's a US-based epidemiologist).
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On 02/03/2021 at 20:07, Michelle_Richer said:
Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms will also reopen (but only for use by people on their own or in household groups)”
It’s pretty clear, I should have thought. Gyms re-open, but no group classes. look at the RAD response: adult dance classes are scheduled for resumption no earlier than 17 May.
if you and your coach are not in a household group, you can’t meet indoors until that date in May at the earliest.
I’ve been training one to one with a PT throughout lockdown but we work outside and maintain 2m distance (usually more) all the time. It’s indoors that’s the issue for group classes and things that mix households.
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On 21/02/2021 at 20:59, NJH said:
given how problematic parts of Mumsnet are for extremist radicalisation
What???? Gosh, MN is the epitome of middle England and an amazing place for women to speak their minds! It's also a place where many, many highly qualified women read & post; and it's multi-cultural - there's a dedicated section for Black British mums, for example. Excellent grounds for MI5 recruitment, I'd have thought ...
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1 hour ago, WrapsnBows said:
over the pandemic the Uni have limited there lectures, reduced the practical lessons
We were told by the national government to cease any teaching in person from early January. My Department had special permission from our university to teach our practical classes in our studios, face to face fromJanuary 2021. However, the Government law prohibits this at the moment. We're doing what we can, but safety of vulnerable students and all staff has to be paramount. As does obeying the law ...
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Thanks for that clarification @Anna C
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Looking at this from a university educator's point of view, and not school-specific, I wanted to ask about your daughter's general situation.
Does she have BTEC or A Levels or Scottish Highers? It may be difficult to be accepted straight into any UK degree course without those higher level qualifications. It's worth checking with all the places she's auditioning.
Again, this is not school-specific, but a Foundation year may be the offer instead of A Levels in order that the degree eventually achieved is a Honours degree (not just a Pass) degree). A Foundation year is still pretty standard in Fine Arts degrees.
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1 hour ago, Dance*is*life said:
This is why I impress upon all my students that the actual marks are not always an indication of a dancer's worth. The process of training for an exam advances your technique and that stays with you whatever the exam result.
Brava! This is so true. Focusing on the mark is putting the cart -of assessment- before the horse -of actual learning.
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@meadowblytheplease ask your DS to respond to the consultation. Anyone can! They need to hear of experiences like his. I teach at a very desirable Russell Group university, and we take BTECs as a qualification into our challenging degree which is both highly academic and very practical. BTEC students sometimes need to do a bit of catching up on the written work, but their practical skills often outweigh students with A Levels in drama/performing arts etc.
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I hope it's OK to post this here. I chair a national organisation for theatre/drama in UK universities. We've had it drawn to our attention that there is a Government consultation about the future of the BTEC qualification. Word on the street (or the corridors of Whitehall) is that the Government wants to close down BTECs. They see them as 'low value' qualifications.
Can I urge any teachers, parents and/or students here who've had anything to do with the BTEC qualification to make their views known via the consultation? It closes on 31st January.
You can access the survey here:
You can fill it out as an individual, a teacher, a pupil, the representative of an organisation, a parent, and so on.
There's a really good blog from an excellent organisation with which my organisation works, the Cultural Learning Alliance, with some useful ideas about the value of the BTEC and what you might say in response to consultation questions, here:
One of the main points which might be of concern to ballet/dance parents is that the BTEC offers a high-quality route into both vocational arts training and/or university qualifications. The Cultural Learning Alliance makes the important point that 'proposed reforms risk creating an unhelpful binary pathway between academic and technical routes that does not work for the creative industries, arts and cultural sector, in which many roles require both practical and theoretical knowledge."
The Department for Education is interested in hearing from employers, students and parents as well as those working in education. Please remember that your view does count even if you are not an expert in the area. Please do respond if you can.
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I loved the film. I did quite a few years of Cecchetti syllabus training and came to love the Advanced syllabus adages, even though I am rubbish at adage. The training is very dance-y - I had one teacher ask me the first time she taught me in an open class - did you have Cecchetti training?
I have to say, though, that I disagree with the opinions at the beginning, although I understand where they come from. I enjoy the new athletic contemporary ballet style (eg Wayne McGregor's choreography). I think there's room for both. I adore the kind of Romantic (eg 1830s-50s) ballet of La Sylphide, for example, and there's an interesting connection there to Cecchetti and Bournonville aesthetics.
We need it all!
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Is it really still potential? (Royal Ballet School 2021 intake)
in Doing Dance
Posted
Thank you so much for saying this @SissonneDoublee I find these threads bordering on uncomfortable in the way they speculate about and discuss some children via hearsay, not first-hand experience. Fair enough to post about one's own DC, and share that first-hand experience, but I find the speculation about other children, about whom posters know very little at first-hand, close to distasteful.