Kate_N

Most people are not wholly symmetrical, and most people actually have slight differences in length, shoe size, etc, but not enough to notice. However, the extreme requirements of ballet technique (extreme in relation to everyday movement needed just for living, that is) sometimes show up the asymmetry of our bodies. You know the kind of thing - whether someone is a right or left turner, for example, or I find that my left leg goes higher and with less hip movement than my right, because my right side is stronger. 

So it's probably about learning to work with it, and ballet can actually help in learning how to balance out bodily asymmetry. I know a professional dancer with a mild scoliosis & something like a 2cm difference in the length of her legs. Ballet keeps her spine straight!

And I echo DrDance re pointe work - it's not for everyone, and in my view, it's far better to work really really well on demi-pointe, than mediocrely (or even badly) on pointe. I've seen too many adult dancers who can't get over the block, and really sickle etc, when on pointe. 

But as others have said, you can purchase 2 pairs of pointe shoes each in a different size, and you may also have to think about how you use padding to help even out as well.

I have one a bit like this in black: the lace is pretty solid and covers up my (aging crepey) arms to over my wrists. When I wear it, I get compliments about it (the only design fault is that it's quite difficult to get out of!):

Long sleeve lace leotard

(Can't find the original, but it's like this one).

I also have this one, which is plainer, but elegant, because of the wide line across the shoulder & neck. Although I find the heavy velvet seam at the shoulder can sometimes make it look as though I'm hitching up my shoulders (even more than I actually do):

Velvet two-tone leotard

This also looks fun, but I haven't worn it:

https://www.dancedirect.com/uk/product/lulli-mesh-long-sleeved-leotard

It can depend on how much you want to pay: there are lots of custom-design leotards available by mail order from the US: Yumiko is the famous one, I think.

What AnnaC says - very wise. After discussion with your parents, maybe they could lead the conversation with your teacher  Some things you  or your parent/s could say to your current teacher:

* that you are interested in a serious study of ballet and you are concerned that as a late starter, you have some catching up to do

* you are aiming for a good Associates scheme, with a view to being ready to audition for vocational school at 16

* how would she advise you to prepare to the best of your ability?

* is it possible to add some more or longer ballet classes with her? (I noticed you're doing very short classes which would be OK for 8 or 9 year olds but you need to be building stamina towards a full 90 minute class)

* If it's not possible for her to offer more/longer classes, is there another teacher she could recommend to supplement her training? Make sure you are clear that this is not about leaving your current studio.

You could ask about whether she thinks you will get in to a vocational school, but no-one has a crystal ball, and I really don't think that's a helpful question to ask - or rather, the answer you receive may not be helpful. 

Maybe the teachers on this forum could also help with rehearsing with you a constructive conversation.

Yes, TheOther51, that's been my experience - particularly in the area Arucaria lives in. I think she's going to have to enlist her parents' help for a serious talk with her current teachers, and some Associates classes.

3 hours ago, BlueLou said:

but I think there is a gap in the market for non-syllabus dance, especially for teenagers. It seems that there are a lot of 12/13 year olds who give up because they don’t want to do grades and exams any more, but they would still love to dance.

Yes, I agree - there are also many, many gaps in the market for adult dancers, to get high-quality serious dance training, outside of the metropolitan centres of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham & London.

Oh, my home town! As an adult, I had trouble finding more than one ballet class a week - unless I did classes with children, but it's not ideal & a lot of studios don't like that. So I did about 2 or 3 contemporary classes, and extended my skill set. But if you want to train seriously in ballet, that's not such a great option for you. 

It is difficult to find more than 1 class a week in Lancaster. can you supplement with an open ballet class at Ludus Dance? A wonderful facility - I used to do class there a lot. It's a very safe caring place.

Ludus Dance Open Ballet class

You could also ask them if there are other schools or studios in the area. They're the local Dance Exchange, and it's part of their role to encourage dance in the community. There are also some studios in Morecambe, although I'm not sure that they are serious ballet studios - or could give you the training to get to a serious standard. Here's an example:

The Dance Factory, Morecambe

Also in Lancaster & equally central as the Ludus Studio (above the Assembly Room market) is Laura Sandham school at the Storey Institute:

Laura Sandham School of Dance but I don't know the quality. There's also Turning Point Theatre Arts

You could also work your way through the websites, phone numbers & reviews here:  Reviews of dance schools in Lancaster

In Carnforth & Halton: Taylor School of Dance

I think there are also dance schools in Kendal, which is an hour on the bus.

Can you commute to Manchester? A colleagues' daughter was a serious ballet student, and did class in Manchester several afternoons/evenings a week at (I think) Dancehouse at the The Northern Ballet School . There's a direct train to Manchester Oxford Road railway station, and it's a very short walk from there. You could do homework on the train (it's about an hour).

You could also look at Kate Simmons  in Warrington. It has an excellent reputation.

Edited to add: the differences between examination syllabi are negligible: if it's well taught it's all good ballet. You'd have to get used to a battement glissé being called a degagé, and different names for arm positions, but it's not a huge thing. Your teacher may be concerned about style or QUALITY of teaching at other schools. Maybe have a conversation with her about this, or ask your parents to do so? Let her know you would like to be able to do more than 1 class a week. At your age, 3 classes a week would be ideal. Can you make those up by doing lower level classes?

The thing about flexibility is that it's useless unless you have control and strength. And those are the tricky things at 10 years of age! Realistically, at that age, extensions at a maximum of hip height (or 90 degrees), properly turned out, with correct alignment, will look far better & be healthier for the growing body than the "six o'clock" penchée. And what will look beautiful is a growing sense of line - that elusive aesthetic we're all working towards. 

Slow and steady ...

Surely the answers to all your questions are not black and white - neither wholly one nor the other, but a balance? And that balance is going to be down to a series of decisions made by the artistic leadership RB. You may agree, or not, but they are the leadership, with expertise & wide knowledge of the international scene. 

The problem with "nationalism" in ballet is that, as you say, it's an international art from its very foundation. In Britain in the ballet-mad 1830s, the stage was dominated by French, Italian & German dancers. If we start to look at nationality and localism, we wouldn't HAVE  the "nineteenth-century classics" - and anyway, hasn't the international mix been very fruitful? An French-Russian working in Petersburg for the Russian Tsar, using a largely French movement vocabulary made a ballet seen all over the world, countless times.

So I'm not sure what you're asking really? New work will always be risky, and the new is more scary than the familiar. We can sink into the familiar, compare this Coppelia with that, think about the Paris Opera Ballet Swan Lake in relation to Graeme Murphy's re-make for the Australian Ballet (for me, both were a revelation), and so on. New work challenges us to se differently.

And then there's the view that the RB is not the sum of British dance - there are the BRB and ENB to start with, as well as many many small companies really breaking boundaries & new ground - Richard Alston, Jasmin Vardimon, Charlotte Vincent. If all an audience sees is the RB, then new works may be less attractive - if what one generally sees is a variety of dance, then the categorisations you're seeking in your questions may be less urgent.

Thanks! I'd love to revisit the classic Cecchetti work, but it looks as if it's a course for teachers & ex-professionals. 

Is that the recreation of Maestro Cecchetti's "Six Lessons" - gosh, I'f love to do that. But going into a pirouette from a grande plié in fifth ? Hmmm. I used to be able to do that, but it'd take me more than a week to recover the skill!

For staying in London during University vacations, you can book basic single rooms in Halls of residence. Try "University Rooms". Generally around £45 B&B

16 hours ago, Pas de Quatre said:

Most overseas dancers don't take exams at all.

Indeed. Or in this country! The 2 professional (now retired) dancers in my family took no exams ...

Here's the link to The Place ( Iwas on my phone last night):

http://www.theplace.org.uk/summer-dance-courses-2017

And thanks to whoever mentioned the Laban summer school - it looks wonderful! I'm very busy this summer (let no-one ever tell you academics have "long holidays") but maybe next year ...

Also, if you wamnt to combine a week of ballet with trave aer several well-regarded adult ballet summer schools in the USA - if you google "Sun King Dance" (or look for it on FaceBook) I think you'll find the information. SunKing are are the best known, but there are other ones - I think Boston Ballet runs an Adult Ballet student summer intensive as well.

The Place holds several weeks of intensive classes for adults. You sign up for a series across the week. You could also build your own summer school by attending classes intensively at a big studio such as Danceworks. 

How early? If it's before 7am, I'd say stay at the airport - there's a Costa coffee in the Departure & Arrivals halls at Birmingham International. For early morning, you'd need to go right into the city centre- I'd say your best bet is a chain in New Street station, or around the markets (quite near New Street station).

For Elmhurst, try the university campus - it's only about a 15 minute walk along the Bristol road. And pop in to the Barber Institute (but it only opens at 10am) - a lovely way to spend 4 hours ...

Ha ha ha, Trog. Can't help but agree ...

When I lived in BOurnville, I was coming home from work along Mary Vale Road - a long road leading from the Pershore to the Bristol road, and just as I got out of the station to the pavement, I encountered a Police tape, and had to go several blocks around before turning back into my street. They'd found an unexploded hand grenade in a house about 50 doors down from mine.

My father can remember hearing the bombing of Birmingham, from his grandparent's country place near what is now Solihull. It's not surprising that bombs etc are still being found all over the city.

10 hours ago, LinMM said:

I think someone asked about the standard of the RAD workshops

the ones Imhave attended have been around Intermediate standard or say between grade 5 and grade 7 level ....nothing too advanced so in that way fairly similar to the ENB ones.

That's very helpful, Lin. I found the recent ENB workshop class quite easy (although my broken toe & grouchy Achilles tendon  begged to differ on that day) - or at least well within my conmfort zone. It was a lovely class - really well pitched to quite a diverse group in terns of technique & experience. - great teacher! I do wish I were closer to London, or at least nearer to the classes I used to do at DanceXchange. I feel I'm losing some of the more advanced skils I had because as we all know, constant practice is needed, so maybe I'm going to have to be brave and take an advanced level class at Danceworks next time I'm in London.

I like the ENB workshops, as it's fun learning the repertoire, and developing a sense of the timing and musicality that's sometimes easy to miss in shorter combinations. I once did a great workshop at Ludus when I lived in the NW, where we learnt the Big Swans from Swan Lake. First, the Petipa version, and then the Matthew Bourne version. Really interesting!

Ah, I see! I thought you meant one ticket, but getting off earlier than your designated stop - which has been stopped as a practice. The train ticketing system here is crazy isn't it? That a ticket for a destination further than the one you want to get to, can sometimes be cheaper!

Actually train operating companies can pull you up on that, and refuse you permission to leave a station which is not the one on your ticket. They've become wise to that ruse. And Redditch station is only served by the London Midlands CrossCity service - Redditch is literally the end of a one-track line from Longbridge (former Bournville resident writes - very familiar with the Lichfield Trent Valley to Redditch line!)

The only way to reduce my fare to New Street is split my ticket - at Bristol and Cheltenham. It's fiddly but I save up to £30 - but the cheapest I can ever do the trip is around £29.50 one way, off-peak. The deal with ticket-splitting is that a train has to make a stop there. And if you want a booked seat (I'm always working so need a seat, table & power point) it gets very fiddly!

Yes, CrossCountry aka Modern Robber Barons.

By the way, re finding workshops etc on the RAD website: I found it quite easy. There's a drop-down menu at the top of the RAD home page "Learn to Dance". You can then navigate to the Adults' classes from there either via "Adult Classes" or "Find an Activity." When you follow links under "Find an Activity" you get more information and then they will lead you to the Eventbrite site. Hope this helps.

Yes, Colman, a train ticket from Devon to Birmingham is usually around £29 to £35 each way (and that's by splitting tickets & buying a long way in advance).

I'd like to do the Giselle one, as I'm writing about the ballet and its place in the history of concert dance for a book I'm researching. But getting to Birmingham early enough on a Sunday by public transport from the depths of the West Country is the challenge!

Quote

Then we had her invitation advanced ballet class yesterday and the teacher asked to speak to me at the end. Apparently DD is saying she's unable to do the exercises, and then does them no problem at all - rinse and repeat for each one. She's also lost the ability to point her toes or turnout as well, yet can get her legs flat on the floor in froggies (I'm not entirely sure how froggies work, but apparently this was significant). They're really worried about her and what is going on.

But she is only 7. So they (and you) could relax a little bit about her progress. Sounds like she needs her confidence bolstering, and gently reminding that she is very capable. I hope this is just a blip!

Actually, that information is locatable on the RAD website - well, certainly I found it there, and the links to the Eventbrite site.