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Kate_N

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Posts posted by Kate_N

  1. In addition to the recommendations (I'd second Nina Thilas-Mohs - Fridays at Pineapple as well as Sundays at Central) for a dancey Intermediate level, try any of Christina Mittelmaier's classes at either Pineapple or Danceworks. Her Sunday morning Inter class is gorgeous.

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  2. Wonderful company - do try to see them if you can. Richard C. is also very keen on working with young people & local audiences, so check for workshops etc to accompany the performances. He's based very near where I live, and often uses my local studio as a rehearsal space. I had the pleasure of doing a contemporary workshop with one of his dancers, and doing a bit of "Flying Low' work (which looks gorgeous & flowy, but is really hard!) 

  3. Thanks for the expert information @drdance I find as I get older, I need the kind of warm up you describe. My teacher has us gently jogging around the studio, with "high knees" and "hitting your bottom" with your heels as variations. We also do leg & arm swings, and rotational swings of the torso. 

     

    It has parallels with the warm up I do before a very strenuous gym training session (which includes heavy & technical lifts). 

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  4. Sympathies @alison I was having a day out in London on Saturday & travelled up from the deep West Country via South West Trains, with no problems. But my return journey was not so smooth.

     

    I was due to get a train at a particular time, and thought I'd go to Waterloo a bit early to have a snack & recharge my phone., only to see my designated train & the ones before & after were cancelled. So far, so usual.

     

    My big gripe is that when I went to the Information stand to ask how I was hoping to get home, the representative told me he had no idea. He was completely clueless, unhelpful, and dismissive.

     

    Now, I'm an experienced traveller & knew I could get back to Devon from Paddington on a Great Western train, but what if this jobsworth had advised people who didn't know this? I had to go to the ticket office to check that my Advance purchase South West trains ticket would be accepted on a Great Western train. I assumed it would, but the people at Waterloo should have known that, and told passengers. Grrrrr

  5. I think pianists get grumpy when

    dancers stand in front of them so they can’t see those dancing

    dancers lean on the piano

    dancers put their stuff on the top of the piano

     

    Ive noticed his mostly in adult classes at beginner/improve level where dancers haven’t been trained in class etiquette.
     

    Gosh I wish those who teach adults would sometimes educate beginners on class etiquette … (grumpy dancer writing)

     

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  6. 15 hours ago, JohnS said:

    the sylvan landscape of the valley below and then the ridge after ridge of fells to the far horizon, the fells known intimately from walks over many years. Photos are great and certainly help in compiling my walks log but for me they can never capture the magnificence of mountain scenery, the quietude of the fells, and the satisfaction of being at one with the natural environment, albeit shaped by mankind and in my opinion largely with care.

     

    Yes, yes, yes @JohnS I sometimes try to take a panorama photo from the top of a fell, but it really never ever captures being there. I still remember the first time I walked into a beautiful hidden valley on the walk between Rosthwaite and Grasmere via Greenup Edge (we'll pass a veil over completely losing the Waiwright-suggeste track from Greenup Edge, and scrambling my way down via Coledale Head and Coledale Tarn). If you know that walk, you may know the unnamed large col - I could just have stayed there all day - it was like being in an amphitheatre of mountains. I have that valley in my mind's eye still - and my first walk on that track was around 15 years ago.

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  7. 12 hours ago, Prancer said:

    My issue was more with the children and parents attending auditions at a particular school while telling everyone that they don't like the school and wouldn't accept a place even if offered.

     

    I think, in the ballet world, as in all aspects of life, people can say things. You don't have to listen, and you don't have to take any notice, or let it affect you. Why does this affect you so much? Just do what you need to do.

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  8. 3 hours ago, Pups_mum said:

    It is crucial that the journey is enjoyable in it's own right, not seen as something that has to be endured on the way to reaching the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

     

    This is worth repeating. It's so so important. Brava @Pups_mum !

     

    I teach young adults in the performing arts in higher education - only about 5% of them will "make it." So we are bound to ensure they get an excellent education in all sorts of ways, with 'transferable skills,' knowledge, ability to collaborate and work with others in a professional way,  and most importantly, a reasonable and rational understanding of themselves as people, and their strengths & weaknesses, and what they can contribute to whatever they turn their hands & minds to.

     

    And those so-called "soft skills" of communication, performance, hard work etc are very very valuable, whatever young people end up doing. A good education in the creative & performing arts is a precious, valuable thing.

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  9. 1 hour ago, DanceDaddy said:

    The toilet in the dorms was covered in #%^* when we did a tour a few weeks and that’s when the school knew that  prospective parents were coming in.

     

    There is information on this site about the RBS. However, a recent discussion started to get personal. Moderators are volunteers and have to be aware of legalities around public discussions of individuals.

     

    And perhaps, preparation for boarding is teaching your children basic hygiene, and care for their environment, and respect for others around them, so children don't leave lavatories messy ... 

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  10. I suspect that non-UK non-EU citizens may find it even more difficult than UK citizens to obtain EU working visas. It can be very difficult for nationals from various countries in Africa and the mIddle East, for example.

     

    While we are all getting used to the lack of freedom of movement in the EU, and that is difficult, we should be aware that a UK passport and/or nationality is still one of the more privileged national statuses to have. I see this all the time in some of my students who come to the UK from various Asian & Middle Eastern countries and the restrictions they can sometimes face when applying to attend conferences anywhere outside of the UK & Europe. 

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  11. Let's face it, the referendum was "hard to take" and subsequent government policies have been "hard to take." I suppose people can examine their own consciences about how they voted ...

     

    EU countries are only doing what is to be expected, as UK citizens are no longer EU citizens, and we face pretty much the same restrictions as any other non-EU foreign nationals.

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  12. Really good points @DVDfan I think the only way that change will happen is through education of parents and guardians about what is appropriate dance training and methods of training. And then how to effect change in a productive and appropriate way. How could parents change the discourse from complaining anonymously on a message board to actually dealing effectively with bullying? That would be an amazing conversation to have here on BalletCo. (And I write as someone bullied throughout my academic schooling at a time when you just had to put up with it). I'm sure posters could share resources, contacts, ideas for letters and effective challenges to mistreatment. 

     

    I'd hope we could we do this without the personalised comments (and some comments veering towards xenophobia) of the past? If we want this message board to remain as a source of good information, debate, and knowledge, we need to be mindful of the Moderators' workload and the legal position of this board. Message board Moderators (I am one on another MB) have to balance all points of view, and the health of a message board overall. 

     

    I really appreciate how the Mods here have kept the MB open to people's concerns, and safeguarded the conversations away from personalised comments, which only serve to undermine the reputation of BalletCo as a place of informed and genuine information, civilised discussion, which is always going to include differences in points of view, experiences, and opinions - heck, yes, even disagreements!

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  13. 12 hours ago, Ballet2101 said:

    ABT/JKO has the exact same reputation as a very slow boil training approach that is very safe and nurturing, but doesn't always create the dancers that make it into the Professional Training Divisions.  I think this is more common than you may think with the larger schools

     

    This chimes with US dancer friends’ experiences with SAB, where they “assess out” annually. I have one acquaintance who is a beautiful dancer (and now talented teacher) but was assessed out from SAB because he was deemed too short for a male dancer. And I know that the Australian Ballet School can be ruthless about assessing out, or requiring a repeated year, and the “pipeline” to the AB is not a given.

     

    And you only have to browse our US parallel site to see that parents of dancers in the US are just as concerned about these issues, and also go to some lengths to calculate how many “American-trained” dancers (whatever that means) end up in the leading US flagship companies.  
     

    Most of these schools, and the ballet companies are non-profits (a bit like UK charity status).

     

    What @Dance*is*lifesays is true: it’s a tough art, and unforgiving, like any pursuit that requires a very rare combination of genetics, facility, and desire for the work.

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  14. 18 hours ago, Angela Essex said:

    🤣 yes it’s gone up from £1 to £1.50 so a 50% increase - well above inflation 🤣🤣🤣

     

    Ha ha ha! Love this - I haven't managed to get to Hannah's classes for far too long! (work, blah blah blah). I'll try to join you all via online soon!

     

    Also, pre-Covid, Hannah's Beginner's class at Danceworks always started with a really good focused check in, including finding your arms in first position "As if you're holding a beach ball, not a beer" 

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  15. @Peanut68 you’re right that for most pointe beginners, hands on and live is essential.  There are some horror stories of classes and demonstrations on YouTube! You wouldn’t want any child or adult beginner in pointe work to study only online. 
     

    But I think @MissEmilyis quite an experienced dancer? And the teachers I mentioned are highly experienced and ethical.  And there is always the possibility of attending their classes in person as well.

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  16. Nina Thilas-Mohs has pretty much taken over Renato’s classes, and she teaches at Pineapple and Central. I love her classes, but they’re probably not the best for getting back into shape.  You could try David Kierce,  but his classes are so crowded, I find it hard to really go for it in the centre.   Hannah Frost is great for getting back to clean technique with no injuries. 

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  17. I had PF in both feet, but not at the same time, thank goodness! Both ties it was during exercise - the first was as I landed a really nice double pirouette. My doctor recommended firm supportive shoes with a bit of a heel - not trainers, but something like brogues, rather than a high heel.  I also used a 250ml bottle filled with water & frozen, as a foot roller. 10-15 minutes of rolling over the frozen bottle hurt like anything, but relieved the acute pain for a bit. 

     

    Exercises such as doming help. I also try to walk around the house barefoot (or in socks) as much as possible,  although a lot of people with chronic PF are aghast at going barefoot.

     

    Once you're over the acute phase, you need to stretch, stretch, stretch. The tiny intrinsic muscles of the feet, but also the calves - really long runner's stretch, with foot turned out, straight, and turned in. The stretching really helps, I find!

     

    Caveat: I'm not a medical doctor. This is just what's worked for me.

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