Kate_N

It may also help to think about stretching your ankles, rather than just pointing your toes. That helps you get the best line through your calf, and also helps you get higher on demi-pointe.

Brava! and Toi toi toi for the show.

I love emboité turns. Really lovely feeling of moving and turning and jumping, all at once. I prefer them to some big jumps.

Yes, indeed. A city that is never not exciting!

And I'd have to disagree with the "terrorism is real" comment. Children in London are far more likely to be hurt by a motor car, than a terrorist attack. Children travel across London to go to school every day. The UK is an extremely safe country. And we have proper gun control.

Home-schooling is far less common here: all children must be in school until 16 (GCSE* exam age), and then they must be in education, work, or other post-compulsory education (eg apprenticeship) until 18. In central London there are a number of choices. The London Russian ballet school has been mentioned. You might also look at the West London School of Dance, run by Anna du Boisson. She also teaches every day at Danceworks, which runs an International Ballet programme - taught by excellent teachers (I do their open classes). I see the children on Saturday - they seem busy & very well taught. Michaela de Prince is a regular guest teacher to their summer school. http://danceworks.net/teachers/anna-du-boisson/ http://www.danceworks-academy.net/ *General Certificate of Secondary Education - the standard national qualification for 16 year olds.

Yes, fair point, Richard!

OFF TOPIC - Having spent 30 years in HE in 3 countries teaching people, many of whom will go into teaching themselves, in a variety of degree programmes (BA, BEd, BC[reative]A[rts]) give me a subject specialist over a raft of teaching qualifications any day at the high school/college level. But to wrench the thread back on-topic, I wonder if when people like Ms Dean set up, apparently without formal qualifications, then the actual work they do & results they achieve have to speak for themselves more than if there is a set of qualifications? Also to say that the kind of coaching Ms Dean does is - as far as I know - reasonably normal/common in the business. My favourite ballet teacher/bad boy, Renato Paroni, is well-known as Ms Rojo's coach. Most dancers coming up to taking on major roles will have coaches =- either privately, or provided by their company. Sometimes dancers have lifelong professional relationships with their coaches.

Well, I'm not so sure about this: I've been taught by people with no obvious formal qualifications, and I've been taught by people with certificates etc. One of the least effective teachers I studied with as a teenager had her RAD Solo Seal and teacher's certification, but had never danced professionally, and indeed never ventured past the small town we all lived in. She was not really a very good teacher. By contrast, another teacher in the town had danced professionally around the world, and his studio produced professional dancers (my sister was one of them).

Samuel Beckett: "Fail again. Fail better." I do think some of the speculation and critique here is quite inappropriately personal. We really don't know what goes on in other people's lives. What if Ms Fogarty or Ms Dean were to read some of these posts? And I suggest again people look at the training of Daniil Simkin - similarly hothoused & danced in many competition, now enjoying a rich and fulfilling artistic life working between 2 of the world's best companies. These are dual choices and I think it's difficult to draw broader conclusions about training from them.

I'd say we should be very careful to make any assumptions - particularly when there's the implication that somehow these young people are morally failing. Maybe Ms Fogarty simply burnt out? Maybe she had a change of heart? Maybe there is an injury she just doesn't want to speak about publicly? You might look at the career of Daniil Simkin - he was 'hothoused' in a similar way as Ms Fogarty, and dances with ABT, and is just going to the Berliner Staatsoper.

I would have stayed on to do Renato’s class, but I had tickets for an art exhibition that I wanted to see before it closes. The Unilad thing was Ms Scarlette teaching a complete non-dancer (and I mean completely) to do some ballet moves, as part of a competition to be Britain’s most boneless man. It’s apparently going to be an advert on the Unilad website. I can’t wait to see it. Not.

Meant to say, in case I sound rude or unappreciative of Ms Scarlette's class: it was lovely & graceful, with a lot of emphasis on correct alignment & getting on your leg. Some quite tough stuff using flat foor & demi-pointe balances at the barre, and at the centre. Flowing port de bras in the centre. But a truncated class because the 1st 20 minutes were taken up with filming something for "Unilad" (a noxious lad-style sexist organisation), unfortunately. We didn't jump or move across the floor, other than an adage temps lié. But the centre work was graceful & dancey at the basic beginner level.

Thanks to @TYR and @Michelle_Richer for information about Ms Ballantyne's classes. I took her class on Sunday (even though Renato Paroni was teaching later). It was a really wonderful class - I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a lovely flowing stretchy juicy class, with some really beautiful choreography. (waves to Tyr - we passed as I was leaving and you were entering the studio at Central - ready for Renato's class: I hope there were some good jokes!) It wasn't a beginner class - you needed to know the basic technique, but it wasn't one that was so complex in choreography or so fast that you lose technique (you know that sort of class?) and I leant some interesting things about dynamics in the tendu and grande battement and really taking up space. It was just what I needed after two days of sitting down. And a bonus was that there were only about 12 of us - so we had tonnes of room in that lovely big upstairs studio 3 at Central. I think as I get older I'm "collecting" interesting and different approaches to technique - and Ms Ballantyne's class was like that. Gave me lots to think about, and I want to do it again! On the theme of trying out new teachers, I also tried out Karis Scarlette's beginner class at Danceworks yesterday - it was a very basic class, and I think that rather coloured my view. Ms Scarlette is utterly lovely & charming & funny, teaches really well, but I didn't find any moments of "oooh!" as a new way of looking at the same old same old (although she gave me a smart correction of my abiding bad habit of my ribs flaring). Not helped though by a tiny studio. But it was a nice gentle stretch after a day in meetings. But the level was basic, and although I'm a great advocate of going back to basics all the time (I certainly need to!) I didn't gain any new way to think about those basics in the way I always do in Hannah FRost's or Adam Pudney's classes.

You're very lucky to have found that!

In my adopted home town (county town across the border from your county) I always had trouble finding advanced enough ballet classes, without resorting to dancing with the teens. It's great you found a teacher to take you on for the vocational syllabus.

Thanks for this @Michelle_Richer - if Ms Ballantyne was teaching the Intermediate at ENB, then I'll be OK.

Just watched your interview: lovely! And I've been itchy for going to a concert for some music in the last week (I may just go to Evensong in the Cathedral) and your comment on the music made me realise what I've missed are my ballet classes! That's where I get lots of beautiful music. My studio is on a summer break ... But I'm working in London on the weekend, so will get my dose then.

Thanks! As a former north Lancashire resident (borders of Cumbria) and deeply deeply homesick for Borrowdale at the moment, I'll lap up discussions of roadworks in Keswick! Haven't been up there since Easter, and if I think about it too much, I'll start crying. Off to the iPlayer.

Congratulations! @The_Red_Shoes If you were comfortable with the problem of being identified, could you say when the interview was, as it'd be lovely to be able to listen to your interview on Radio Cumbria via iPlayer? Many congratulations!

But do we actually have evidence (not anecdote or feeling) that a) overseas-trained students are 'replacing' locally-trained students? b) that internationally-trained students aren't trained in the 'slow and steady' mode?

But we didn't!!!! Margot Fonteyn had a very long career - we had her for a very long time. And everything else that @Pas de Quatre says. And - in response to part of the discussion above - remember how young she was when she started. As were many of the Diaghelev dancers, and the early Sadler's Wells ballet. Ballet changes - I could write a long long post (well, it's because I'm writing a book partly about this) about the way ballet has developed from concert dance in the 1830s and 40s - bodies, choreography etc etc etc. One thing hasn't changed: it was always an international art form. Dancers travelled, and audiences all over Europe (and then the US) marvelled at the latest 'Italian" or "French' or 'German' novelty in ballet. It was a novelty and - for example - Elssler's fouettés were front page news. Because - apparently - no-one else had done them before. I think @Pas de Quatre's comment sums it up for me:

Ahhh, thanks Tyr. I like Nina's fast class pace, but if REnato Paroni is back, I'll do his class - for the jokes as much as anything. May see you at the barre!

Just that, really. I"m in London for work Sunday & Monday, and was thinking about dropping in to a class at Central School in their adult programme. If Renato Paroni is not teaching, I'd rather try another teacher (I am "collecting" teachers). Ms Ballantyne looks like a really interesting teacher. Any comments on the level of class, or its feel? Of course, if there's any info about whether Mr Paroni is teaching, please let me know! ... I love his classes and will go to his, but usually there's a substitute teacher.

A really excellent point! I think the anxiety here over attrition rates & standard of training is probably the same the world over.