annaliesey

I hadn't even considered the time tabling/handing over money aspects and how attention could be biased to the "haves". But it doesn't seem like that. I could be wrong but from what DD says it appears more likely attention having to be given to newbies regardless of whether they are a "have" or "have not" as they need the time sand attention more when they first join a grade or have skipped into a grade and the teacher is very keen to welcome, encourage and keep them We do on the other side of things have older /longer serving pupils who have stuck in grades for a lot longer than others as presumably not ready to move up and they have probably done more than recommended hours. I know its only a guide but still difficult to understand how this works to the advantage of some but disadvantage of others

Wishing your daughter a speedy full recovery regattah

If it hadn't have been for this thread http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/8454-ballet-training-insight-days-with-birmingham-royal-ballet/?fromsearch=1I wouldn't have known about these taster sessions DD had a fantastic time today and actually ended up doing two sessions because she loved it so much! Thank you for sharing opportunities like this

a related question is the "recommended hours" and whether they are meaningful or to be ignored! I think the lower grades had something like 80 hours for grade 1 etc and at one class a week it would be two years per exam but I often hear of students doing an exam after a year so I wonder at the purpose of this recommendation too

Wow so many helpful comments .. Thanks everyone Petalviolet I did have as chuckle remembering some mum drama that occurred with a skippee of primary grade! My gosh that can be the biggest sin and I'm sure the mums of the teeny ones can be more fierce sometimes!! But the comment you made about being a bit envious is true not from other children but from other mums which is crazy as she just happens to have spent a lot of time dancing. If she had spent 8 years learning basketball she'd probably be quite good at that too! Who knows? The difference between pure talent and someone who just works hard is something I don't understand when it comes to ballet so I just leave that to the teachers. What I definitely have seen and overheard though are comments along the lines of "better than you" when someone skips a grade or goes straight in at a high grade. Usually it levels out though as that person tends to stay in the grade for a long time. All in all I'm not fussed as long as DD happy with what she's doing regardless of what anyone else is doing. I completely sympathise with the commercial aspects of running a profitable dance school, that must be very tricky hfbrew! Things changed for us too when our dance school moved into own premises about 2 1/2yrs ago. Suddenly a lot of our classes went from 4-6 to about 12 average! Some of our mums moaned big time but than was softened by more opportunity for other classes such as stretch etc As much as I support the teacher and school I've just learned if I don't like something then I can't expect them to change but rather do something else. For example I took DD to a taster day at Birmingham Royal Ballet today and she absolutely loved it! Things like this are pretty easy to book and do in the holidays

Meant to say Katymac that that sounds like it was a good plan At our school they tend to get assessed then go into one class/grade only In my DD's tap class there was an intake of 4 teenage newbies purely because they only wanted to do one term because they were involved in a production with another organisation where they were going to do a bit of tap Our dance teacher must be patient!

JulieW you're right there in terms of early stages at least even if she's not going to be a professional dancer she certainly seems focused on a career in dance somewhere. (mind you, my DS wanted to be Indiana Jones at that age!) I think it's just making some classes a bit frustrating and a bit tiresome. She came home recently saying she had been really pleased to have nearly finished learning one of the syllabus dances in the class only for them to stop and do other exercises because some newbies weren't getting something and she's been looking forward to practising the dance the whole way through She's just huffing and puffing a little bit to me but would never shoe feelings in class or to her teacher. By the sounds of it she hasn't had to as her teacher has seen an opportunity to change things about for everyone's benefit. It's just me that's questioning how there can be such a variation in how schools address exams/grades/skipping grades/new entrants/whether to have exams at all

Funny you should say that Jazzpaws as she's auditioning for one in May and if she gets accepted we are really hoping it will give that little bit more

Thanks everyone Her teacher bought it up in conversation with me recently saying quite honestly she was having a bit of a dilemma as on the one hand, she is delighted to have had an influx of teenage ballet newbies but on the other hand, having such a variety of skill and personalities in a grade class makes it difficult to teach. She has decided to run technique classes for grouped grade equivalents and not put the newbies into the graded syllabus classes until she is happy with things because she realised it slows everyone else down. So frustrating though as it goes on so much across all syllabus styles and DD went through a bit of an unlucky patch where modern, tap, jazz and ballet all had influx of new students that hadn't done that style before and whilst she was pretty relaxed about other classes she has been getting really frustrated in ballet specifically She and I both realise it's just how the cookie crumbles and it's always gone on after all people have to start somewhere. There's a school near us that only does the odd number grades (1,3,5&7) and there's other schools we know of that usually do overlapping grades (1&2, 2&3, 3&4) etc but we've always been told that even though it's allowed it isn't a good idea otherwise the result is likely to be gaps in technique. It seems odd that even though it might not make a difference later on for vocational or post 16 courses, what is the actual benefit of all these years and time and money?

I had to post this question as i find it quite irritating that some students can either go straight in at a grade or skip grades altogether. Surely this makes a mockery of having grades in the first place I don't have a problem with individual people who need to start somewhere and trusting teachers decisions but the irritation comes when DD complains classes then slow down in pace Has anyone got any thoughts on this?

Glad you found somewhere hellogoodbye To the person asking about cambs I can recommend a few in Cambs but depends on if you want purely ballet or other dance styles too and where abouts in Cambs you want

I'm a bit old fashioned and have bought flowers .. Yes they are expensive for what they are but my dd absolutely adored getting flowers via stage doors as felt like a ballet star! It wouldn't have mattered what they were just that they were flowers But I did also manage by pure chance to find and buy a little jewelry box with wind up turning ballerina with swan Lake music when she did swan Lake at EYB

I had an email from RAD app developer the other day in response to my complaint and they have applied a fix and the videos I've purchased all working perfectly now They've said they'll refund the one I requested a refund for without quibble but I have to do it through iTunes/apple My dd really likes using them compared with DVDs as so useful to watch from phone or iPad

we used to have a watching week at the end of every time where invited in to sit and watch the whole lesson. As the school has grown, we've shifted to trying to do a recital/showcase partly due to lack of space but also because so many parents couldnt make it and it was a bit upsetting for some if nobody had come to watch them. I used to love the end of term watching weeks as its a time to see the teaching in progress and how the children are progressing but thankfully we've had no calling out or fighting .. We've sat there nice and quietly without phones

Oh dear it's horrible for them when they think they've done something not as well as they could have The way things have been explained to me in the past is to relate to the categories on the back of past certificates where it lists things such as knowledge of syllabus, technique, musicality etc and whatever it was that went wrong might effect marks in a particular category but not much impact overall if that makes sense

I've done this the other way round .. Football mum first and dance mum second Standing in the bitter wind and rain pretending to understand the offside rule! Listening to football managers who explain players need to "play for their positions" and the best players make the team / get more time on pitch. When I look back now I wonder how parents and football managers got in such a tizz as the ballet world is far more harsh, competitive and ruthless by comparison!!

I think it's what people do with that training that counts regardless of age. There will be personalities that are more focused and hardworking. Confidence and emotion must come into play somewhere too. I've seen some 8-10 yo that are 'better' (use that word subjectively) than older girls but then obviously there are older girls that are 'better'. Some people tend to measure 'better' by exam marks but that's a bit difficult as depends on how examiner marks on the day. I'm not sure how you measure better really

Interesting comment about costs You can understand tensions with associate classes if they are just marketed as such by competing dance schools. It must be difficult for teachers if associate classes are not perceived by them to be particularly credible and an excuse to poach serious/best students

Thanks for the likes I wrote this at about 2am one evening when my husband kept me awake with his awful snoring when he had a cold haha

Thanks Mrs Brown. She's 10 and I've just been discussing same thing with Katymac as maybe I'm feeling like this because of what dd has been doing in silver and now gold jazz but has got stuck in a group of slow students at G3 modern. Her teacher has recognised this and invited her to take g4&5 modern concurrently starting just recently. I think when I first started this thread it was because I'd seen a load of modern dances at a festival for range of age groups in competitive environment but just thought the style looked a bit old fashioned across the board in terms of modern. I could appreciate the lyrical styles and jazz but struggled with the modern I saw as it just left me thinking it might not be such a worthwhile use of time and money that could be better spent pursuing a different syllabus instead

Interesting to hear other people's stories We are currently going through a bit of a wobble and I'm thinking through different options at the moment I can understand the lack of recognition as it must be very difficult for a teacher to openly praise and celebrate successes when to the whole audience of parents it must seem as though it's the same few all the time. I know that successes end up with a barrage of "what about my daughter" conversations from other mums. Ive felt very sorry for our ballet teacher from time to time when I hear some of the conversations and pressure that she gets put under and honestly think some mums are outright manipulative bullies! She encouraged us to go for EYB first time around and was very proud and supportive but I saw a host of mums jump on her with "how come you told her to go for it and not us" and it became very uncomfortable with jealous mums Second time my daughter did EYB was a different story and to be quite honest I don't know how we stayed at the dance school because of things that were said and how my dd was made to feel. From the get go they wanted her to not do it (she's short and we all knew she would get a the shortest dancers parts which weren't that challenging) but my daughter absolutely loved the technique classes, the under studying and lastly the performance opportunity and begged me to do it. My 9yo dd was put on the spot to choose between the competition team and EYB and told if she didn't give up EYB (after we thought it was sorted and we'd paid) then she would be booted off the comp team. In front of a load of people my daughter said she chose EYB and got the response "is that your decision or your mums?". How I kept my calm I'll never know but I just shrugged it off and so did dd although we were pressured into having a sickie and missing EYB dress rehearsal for a comp to show loyalty! Since then other children have been successful in things and one girl is now doing LCB and the attitude has changed and settled into being more supportive thankfully. Where I'm at now is with being held back for syllabus and exams as things are just too slow for dd in an environment of waiting to move kids up in groups. I wish there was a different mindset for dancers who are genuinely aiming for vocational versus the dancers who are just recreational and don't want to work that hard. I'm utterly fed up with the pace and silliness at the moment and how all the mums are handled and am having a good think

I can sympathise with your costume designer/maker as I'm now recently officially in the costume design and making business! It's a hobby that just grew and grew and since it's something I love I decided in January this year to go for it. Tutus are different to all other costumes because really they are a labour of love and so difficult to make a profit from. It can take a week to make one and the cost of materials and working at minimum wage don't really work out at prices people generally want to pay it's pretty difficult to get decent net too. I've settled for only doing for family and close friends rather than try and be an efficient business in this area as feel it would spoil the enjoyment (even if I got quicker and that's even with using industrial machine that does 5000 stitches per minute!) Lyrical dresses on the other hand are fab and easy to make and can look so effective. I don't know why people have to buy from America .. Maybe the cost of fabric is less or the designs are more varied? I also love the character costumes as they can really come to life and tell a story and be part of the dance which is so rewarding. I hope your friend can set a realistic price and let word of mouth take it's course .. It's what happened for me (even excluding tutus for now) and I've had a lovely flow of orders all word of mouth via dance teachers and Facebook Good luck to him from me

shoes from the second hand box Cost me a pound Something to do on a Thursday afternoon It's only half an hour Social time with other mums Drink our tea and coffee Whilst our daughters made friends I'm not buying the uniform yet Borrow a hand me down outfit She wants to fit in And they all look cute in pale blue Next comes a kind of bun She says they've thrown feathers And had great fun Something about good toes And shows me naughty toes Peering around the door Watching the big girls You can come in and watch if you keep quiet My noisy girl is so silent and in awe Humming a tune for the dressing up dance Rushing to her pose at the end She's hiding to not get caught Her fantasy and belief so real Gosh it's exam time How did that happen She says she mustn't squash the fairies And she's serious New socks New shoes New hair pins Leotard and skirts washed Rosette on Yellow flowers in her hair She skips off holding teachers hand And throws me a grin New dances, New language Proud and beautiful she has a passion I hear her jumping in her bedroom No more karate or brownies She wants to do more of this We find the money Now she's wearing blue eye shadow She's herself in the lights Wants it to last forever daydreaming, marking things out Watching herself whenever she can Can't speak without spinning Can't stand still unless turned out Doing homework in the splits Admiring her six pack Twenty eight pairs of shoes I've kept them all for her To remember all the hours her good toes spent in them Her one pound shoes in a frame above her door Thank you for taking me mummy

Yes I did mean modern rather than contemporary. The modern my daughter does is kind of a bit disco-ish I've attached a link to one of the dances for istd modern grade 3 that she was using for practise before exam so you can see. It's private unlisted on YouTube so only watchable via the link. Hope it's helpful (edited to remove link) I've also attached a link to one of the istd gold jazz videos for practise so people can see the difference (edited to remove link) They both happen to be Isolations Maybe I just see things differently as a mum rather than the way student or teacher would see things but to me the jazz seems more beneficial / interesting / current which was why I was questionning benefits of modern theatre syllabus individually Also I watched some YouTube videos by searching "Janet cram awards" where people had posted rehearsal type movies and interestingly a lot of these are lyrical style (rather than modern) so that begs the question whether lyrical should be in its own syllabus rather than bundled in with Modern. thanks for comments

Thank you both I've just been on RAD website, to uniform pages and it shows low heel for grades 1-2 and then shows Cuban in grade 4 area so I'm assuming higher heel for grade 4. Although I'm sure she did grade 3 in lower heel!!