Kate_N

11 hours ago, Nama said:

You are paying - you are the customer. You need to advocate for your child

Maybe ... but to think of the relationship between young person, school, and parents only as a commercial one, is to distort the essential pedagogical relationship between teachers and pupils. It instrumentalises results (and I have heard statements close to: "why didn't I get top marks, I'm paying for this"). 

There needs to be a balance between advocating for your child, and trusting that the teachers are experts who know their jobs. And the knowledge that your child may be different at school, in class, than at home in recreation & everyday life. I don't mean misbehaviour! Just that in the teen years, education is an important aspect of a young person developing their independence and sense of self outside the family - and this can be a difficult process for parents - letting go.

That doesn't mean condoning bullying, but that there is a balance needed, and acting principally on the basis as a 'customer' can interfere with the delicate processes of education, especially in the creative & performing arts, where the highest levels of excellence are aimed for, and, sadly, disappointment is almost always inevitable - even for the most accomplished! 

It's worth repeating the question upthread:

What do you hope to achieve through an appeal?

In my line of work, students can't appeal academic judgement, only academic or administrative process. However, if they are concerned, angry, or upset about their actual mark, we encourage them to book a tutorial with us, and we listen, and go through the work and the narrative feedback explaining the actual mark. 

It sounds like what you actually want is the feedback (a mark isn't feedback really, or only of the crudest kind). If an appeal would get you some written comments, it might be worth doing for that reason?

@Oakley any performing art is collaborative. And knowing how to collaborate and work with others is a learned skill; it doesn't always just happen. If you don't work with other people, you lose opportunities to learn how to collaborate, and how to be creative as part of an ensemble; you lose the opportunity to learn from others.

15 hours ago, cotes du rhone ! said:

That 11 year old who wanted to be a ballet dancer is now a beautiful, intelligent young woman with a whole new life ahead of her. Her passion, drive and ambition will continue in a different career. Covid actually helped her and gave her the breathing space she needed to make the difficult choice to start plan B early. 

That is an amazing post @cotes du rhone !But please don't beat yourself up - hindsight is 20:20 vision, as they say, and you as parents  were doing what your children wanted at the time.

And the section of your post I have quoted is really important: your DD needed to do the whole thing to get where she is now. 

I often find myself advising undergrads & PhD student about their futures, particularly when they haven't got what they thought they "needed" (a First class mark for example, which no-one needs) - my experience is that most of us get were we want to go, but often not by the route we expected. 

What's that saying? "The journey, not the arrival, matters."

For adults -

There are lots of really high quality teachers & classes on Zoom now. This is - for me - the huge silver lining of this dreary year - I have been able to do some sort of ballet class 6 days a week (or more if I wanted). And I've strengthened and improved. Somehow working on my own in the kitchen, has really helped me take things back to basics, and rebuild my alignment, and I'm much stronger & freer  in my movement than ever before. 

So this is just what I'm doing in my kitchen

I currently do Christina Mittelmaier's classes on Zoom (google her name and you'll find her website). Christina is such a wonderful teacher - she demands a lot, but is so kind ^ encouraging - I never feel embarrassed at making a mistake in her class. She does around 80 minutes, a barre, and quite a bit of centre, tendus, adage, pirouettes and then petit allegro - just a bit usually warm up sautés, then a short petit allegro & sometimes a sissone combination. 

Hannah Frost is teaching both from home & from Pineapple Studios. Hannah is a wonderful teacher - her classes are very simple in their choreography, but technically very demanding (adage without arms in the centre really tests your placement, I can tell you!) She gives a very safe barre (no grand battement, for example), a centre with a simple adage, drilling for pirouettes, and a tendu/pirouette combination. We don't jump (for safety) but again we drill things such as lots of glissés in the centre with co-ordinated arms. The value of Hannah's class is the opportunity to take things back to basics and get it clean & correct & in one's body. I think if you email Hannah, or find her on Instagram @hannahfrostballet  she'll send you class information.

I also do floor barre & ballet with Nina Thilos-Mohs (you can find her on FaceBook at The Ballet Portal) - she teaches a gorgeous Zena Romnett floor barre, and also a ballet barre + centre based on Christina Bernal's training technique. It's lovely, but a bit different from a standard class. But is so so good for turnout and alignment, and Nina's classes are always choreographically interesting and get you moving. 

What I really really miss though, is just moving through space in big combinations! But because I don't live in London, normally I can only do these classes when I'm working in London, whereas via Zoom, I can learn from these fabulous teachers every day. 

I have been really impressed at the way that they'e all adapted to teaching via Zoom, and the corrections they give are way beyond anything I experience in a live class.

I think other favourite teachers of adult dancers are teaching via Pineapple, and through Zoom on their own platforms (eg Karis Scarlette). Most of them seem to be on Instagram. I also think of this as a way to help freelance teachers & artists to keep going in these difficult times.

10 hours ago, alison said:

the girl who played Lady Capulet

Shireenah - she was extraordinary!

It's so wonderful seeing this series again. Wouldn't it be interesting to know how the young people who participated are faring now? Has there been any follow up?

I've read probably thousands of UCAS statements for a performance-related degree over the years ... Can I commend this straightforward advice:

1 hour ago, dancefanatic said:

info about what drew her to start learning contemporary aged 10.5 and went from there, plus why she was applying to Rambert.

Also pleeeeeeeese try to avoid saying "passion." We take it for granted that someone who wants to undertake an intense 3 years (or however long) in a demanding area of learning has "passion." Focus on what you'e learning, how you understand and process your learning so far, what you're particularly focused on, and how you want to develop your learning/training to a professional standard. If you've done youth ballet, competitions, performances, reflect on how those have assisted your training (don't talk about loving to be in the spotlight or similar) - but think about, instead, what has learning repertoire brought to your education and training as a dance artist?

13 hours ago, glissade said:

The happiest young children (in terms of this current discussion) are always those who are supported in following and exploring their interests, whether those interests conflict with a parent's own ambitions for them or not.

This is so very true - at least from what I've observed in teaching older teens/young adults over the last 30 or so years in higher education. Those children who are supported but not helicoptered are then well-equipped for the further challenges of independent learning.

I've been watching some livestream (paid for) theatre/drama performances. I've been sent a link which is good for 48 hours in one case. I don't find that a problem - it's more like going to theatre!

You are attending ballet classes, taught by an experienced and qualified teacher, I hope? If so, then trust to the process. Ballet is a slow and steady training regime. 

For pirouettes, as a student, my thinking is about  training the retiré movement (in the US they call it passé) on the flat at the barre, so to develop strength in the supporting leg side, thinking about my relevé, so I can pull up strongly on demi-pointe, and spotting so I can control the turn. The glute muscle in my supporting leg is my focus on training the relevé into retiré. The turn is the last thing I think about!

Outside of class, you could do simple strengthening exercises for your ankles: holding gently to a barre (or sofa or chair back or stair bannister) stand in a careful parallel position, and rise up on both feet to demi-pointe, checking that your middle toe, ankle, knee, and hip are all in line. Do maybe 10 repetitions to start, working fairly slowly. Then the same movement on one foot, then the other. Again do slow repeats, being careful about alignment.

On 29/11/2020 at 20:02, Bunny said:

We have had some rather unpleasant experiences over the years at the hands of parents attempting to undermine other parents and children in an attempt to make themselves and their own look better.

Thing is, the body, ability, and talent will always eventually show - either to advantage or disadvantage. And parents who try to undermine others for the hope of 'prizes' will be stymied by this eventually. You can't buy a place at a really good vocational school (UK) or pre-professional programme (USA).

On 14/11/2020 at 08:26, Colman said:

there’s  something about the 2D projection on the screen that throws me off more than usual. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I tend to ignore the orientation of the teacher because, I agree, it is really hard to follow - So I have to go back to all the schoolbook training of croisé, effacé etc ('the 8 positions'), and set it to myself as a mental exercise to work it out (have to think fast to get it). Ballet choreography in the centre is usually pretty logical - one foot after the other - and I'm really impressed by the ways that various teachers are creating centre exercises which move through lots of stuff, but are doable in small spaces. 

Seems to me, it's pretty clear from this thread that neither version of arch "enhancer" has a place in ballet! 

Apart from anything else, I'd be worried that the "chicken fillet" version of enhancer would slip or otherwise indicate its presence.

On the 19th century stage, it was not unheard of for male performers to pad the calves of their tights, and for women to pad their thighs and buttocks, but tights then were knitted cotton or wool, so much more solid anyway. And more performers, not just dancers,  wore tights - men especially, in tragic roles.

2 hours ago, Colman said:

One thing I do find is that I have real trouble with is directions on centre work.

One of my Zoom teachers is being really careful with teaching us the 8 directions. It's great! It's stuff I learnt doing Cecchetti graded work, but it doesn't often get taught in open drop-in classes even at a basic level. 

But if you know croise devant or efface devant etc etc, and if you're secure about turning en dedans or en dehors, then it really helps. So we're learning this stuff through drills & by rote.

Two of my Zoom teachers say that one of the advantages of Zoom is that we have to learn the choreography - we don't have people around us to subconsciously copy or follow, and they're right! I think I"m getting more confident about just doing things with no mirror & no-one to follow out of my peripheral vision.

It's not either/or.

Good friend of mine - a Southerner through & through - is an avid follower of non-League football, and nuts about opera. Although he's a stupid fool about ballet ...

Travelling Ballerina, thanks for your thoughtful postings. 

I am trying to find silver linings in the current mess here in the UK (other countries do seem to have managed better ...) and one of the silver linings is that I now do ballet class every day of the week, bar one (I do floor barre that day which is v relaxing). I am learning from teachers I am familiar with, and at various levels of advancement. I am learning - I know I've improved since March. 

A few gaps - petit or grande allegro has virtually disappeared, and I've given up bothering about multiple turns - good clean singles are enough. But when I can actually get back into the studio safely, those will return. 

One of my teachers (who is strict!) has said that actually she can see more on Zoom - I know that the corrections I get are really specific and hit the spot. I miss hands on corrections, though, but increasingly teachers weren't doing those anyway. Another teacher, whose class I did only occasionally, I have come to really love working with her - and she says she has come to like teaching on Zoom (she didn't like it at first).

So for someone living 2 and a half hours' travel from London, and 7 hours from New York, it has been an unexpected blessing of this dreary year of lockdown to be able to classes with wonderful teachers. To be honest, it will be really difficult to have to give this up ... My regular local studio is a gorgeous lovely place, but the standard of classes is much lower (my teacher is fantastic, but most of the other students are very basic beginners).

Not syllabus classes, but for Intermediate level (open studio level descriptors):

I've been Christina Mittelmaier's Zoom classes throughout lockdown. She offers a Beginners/Improvers on Mondays (not for complete beginners - more like a New York Advanced Beginners level), an Intermediate class Friday mornings, and now an Intermediate/Advanced on Sundays. Ms Mittelmaier is a wonderful kind and nurturing teacher. And she has watching & correcting us on Zoom down to a fine art.

You could also look at Steps on Broadway - I do Noriko Hara's Intermediate level classes (when the 5 hour time difference means they're not at midnight!). Ms Hara worked with David Howard and her classes preserve his beautiful flow & line. They are also very lovely to dance, and Ms Hara is absolutely so sweet & encouraging. She really gives everything to her students.

You can find their classes by googling - not sure if it's OK to put commercial links here.

7 hours ago, Emma northmore said:

I am truly dumbfounded and quite upset that when we, Didy and I, just wanted to provide hope and insight after these difficult months- that its not being taken for what it is.

I'm so sorry that you've been upset - I too was a bit shocked at the implications & suspicions being expressed by some posters. Your passion for teaching, and your expertise & generosity shine through.

Toi toi toi.

On 01/11/2020 at 10:06, bangorballetboy said:

People who say “myself” when they mean “me”.

Oh yesssss! that is one of the things that irritates me. I suspect that people think it's more "proper" or correct. But it just sounds like Hyacinth Bucket-speak to me. 

I like George Orwell's essay on writing & speaking direct clear straightforward English. The use of "myself" instead of me, or - perhaps even worse - "yourself" instead of you, just sounds so faux posh. 

Your DD needs to look at working destinations of Dance Science graduates. I doubt that such a degree would enable her to work in therapeutic rehab style work - wouldn’t she need a specifically health care-related degree such as Physiotherapy? 
 

The studio owner of my lovely local studio was a professional dancer then studied Dance Science at Masters level. So it seems to be a very good degree for training dance teachers. My teacher is excellent but I’d go to a properly qualified physiotherapist for rehab.

I’ve  just looked at the Wolverhampton  Degree in Dance Science - it mentions graduates “going on” to train in physio, rehab, massage therapy etc. So she’s looking at Bachelors plus Masters on this sort of path. 

Toi toi toi!

Thank you for saying that, @coniger - you're more eloquent & polite than I could be ...

For better or worse, the UK is a country where there has been a very long tradition of buying educational advantage (fee-paying academic schools of all sorts, for example). In my view, if we accept this system, I don't think we can pick and choose which opportunities for this sort of purchase are OK, and which are not. And to direct this personally against some respected & expert teachers & coaches seems to me to be somewhat close to breaching the ethos of this forum.

Is this the place where I can admit that I have an enduring crush on David Mitchell, and this article makes it more intense ? 😍

Indeed, Tulip! I saw it go on when I was a teenage ballet student - my sister (who went on to have a very successful career in an excellent company) was particularly targeted by such comments. We ere talking about this the other day. 30 years later she still remembers the hurt of the envious comments. 
 

I think that’s why I find some posts on this thread a bit uncomfortable.