Zacharovitti

Well done to your DD Regattah!!! A well deserved yes indeed! In Italy we have an idiomatic sentence that sounds like this: 'behind a successful man there is always a great woman". I think in your case we should change the words "man" and "woman" with "daugthers" and "mother"! I know teenagers hardly recognize their mother's effort, but I am sure one day both your girls will see how strong and brave and supportive you have been for them in such a difficult moment and will be proud of you as all of us are now!

So glad to read good news re your little DD and to hear you are a bit more confident and positive. Thinking of you all the time... Thank you to justballet for the kind gifts!

So sorry for you Regattah. I pray for your little girl and for you. Be brave and take care. xxx

Good advise Billyelliott....as he spends hours watching horses race!!! I'll point it out!!!

Hy everyone, since I found this forum a year and a half ago, I have been reading the threads more and more, as I love to follow your DCs journey and I think that the mutual support given by this lovely community is unique. Even if I read it mostly at night and after finishing my mother/wife/housewife's duties, my husband and my elder son bother me saying that they are fed up with me being ALL THE TIME on my laptop, thinking ONLY of ballet, speaking ONLY of ballet and so on......!!! How do you ladies (and rare gentlemen) cope with it? Or it's only me????

Thank you! We are course B week 1. Hope to hear soon so that we can make plans for family holiday!

Jazzpaws, which age group was your DD in? BTW congratulatioms for the double yes! Did anyone else receive news from ENBS?

After the disappointing (third) selected waiting list at WL SS, my DD applied for ENBS summer course (12 years group) and for Académie Princesse Grace in Montecarlo. She has been offered a place at Académie Princesse Grace and is very excited to go! Did any of your DC attend this summer school? Do you have any recent experience of the school? Re ENBS we are still waiting for the letter: do they usually send it by email or by post? thank you for your help!

Congratulations to the 3 boys!!!!! Fantastic achievement! And to their always supportive parents!

Huge congratulations waitingmum! And yes, a very fun way to celebrate!!!! So sorry for the nos, I won't repeat what everyone already said, as I think you know it better than me! Just thinking that our DCs attitude is really amazing: the most of them react to the nos better than us, and move on quickly to the next goal, be it another audition or the thought that they can always try again the following year.... I think this is incredible: WE are the first to be deeply disappointed in front of a no, WE are the ones scared by their possible reaction, WE think they will not be able to cope with it......the truth is that our DC are much better than us, much more resilient and/or even blindly optimist if you like but........thanks God!!!

I really feel for you all, mums! The wait must be the worst part of the whole process, but at least you can be sure of your DCs talent, as they got so far! My DD tried for y8 at RBS but didn't get finals, so we are still trying to understand if she is talented enough to try for vocational schools..... I would like to be in your shoes, even with the stress of the waiting! Your DC have done so well and a no at this point doesn't mean they won't have other chances for a bright future! Good luck to everyone!

Chaperone, congratulations to your daughter! My eldest son would like to apply in the future (he is 15 now) and jokes with his sister all the time saying that succeeding in auditions cannot be harder than getting a place at Oxbridge!!! I must read him these posts!!!

Belljul, thank you for your wonderful post. It reminds us the importance to keep the whole process in the right perspective, to keep our feeling at the right distance and to see deeply the other side of the medal. Easy to forget while on the rollercoaster, thank you.

Another sad effect of the crysis.....but also another proof of the blindness of our government in thinking that culture and arts and specially ballet have no significant role for a future renaissance of our country. Italy has been the cradle of culture for centuries, as well as Greece, and it is a shame that hurts me to see the superficial, ignorant country we have become.....

Wow Pastel, so excited for your DD!!!!!

Congratulations vmmom! Big achievement indeed! Not easy to be accepted. I see you are located in Italy. Are you Italian? In that case, pm me if you like. We could share our experience here in Italy. Irishballetmum, I'll pm you later, hugs to your DD.

Swanprincess, last january my DD and me went to London to audition for RBS. She was very excited and didn't seem scared at all, while in Rome. We arrived the day before and had a full day of sightseeing, museums, cathedrals, etc. so she didn't think to the audition till the day after. In the following morning we took the tube to reach Covent Garden and she didn't say a single word for the whole journey. Arrived at the station she didn't want to get off, she said she made a terrible mistake to apply, etc. So I replied: "ok, let's go downstairs and take the tube back home. We can go to this museum or that church, or wherever you want. We won't tell anyone you didn't audition!". She shouted at me "Are you crazy? I have come to London to audition and I will audition! Let's go, I don't want to be late".......just to say last minute nerves !!!! Smile, breath and think that everybody in that room will be feeling the same....good luck!

Yes it is very encouraging, isn't it? When I talk to people about my DD's aspirations the reactions are mostly the same: people who don't know anyrhing about ballet close the dialogue with a bored "oh, great" but then think I am a bit naive, if not crazy. People who have some knowledge of the ballet world come up with a list of negative stories and try to put me off from supporting my DD. The worst is that my parents and my sister, who works in the industry of theatre productions, are doing this. All of them love arts and ballet as well, they go to watch ballet, but it must be for others, not for their grandaughter! Luclky my husband is very encouraging, even though I don't think he knows how hard and tough the ballet world is! He is a dreamer....even to much, so I have to balance between all of them, trying to let my DD follow her dreams but keeping her feet on earth!

CeliB I have been following this thread with interest and was really excited to "virtually" know one of the dancers participating! Huge congratulations to your DS and good luck for the future, that I am sure will be far more than just bright. Thank you for sharing with us the whole experience! Ellie, wonderful article about the McKay family. What a fortune to have four children all so talented!

Good luck swanprincess!

Wonderful post balletqs!! Few words but so inspiring! YEEEES KEEP GOING EVERYONE!

Fantastic news Lema! I am very happy for you. Good luck for finals!

Elllie, Sandsfoot, Invisiblecircus, Kat09, sarahw, irishballetmum, and all the others I forgot to mention, thank you very much for your support, your lovely words, your pm......they helped me a lot and some of your posts will inspire my DD.....thank you with all my heart.

Hy all, it's a no for y8 too.......and selected waiting list for summer school. It's the third year on SWL, so we have no hope anymore.... DD is actually devastated, even if she knew how hard it was for y8....She didn't cry, she just closed the door of her room behind her and didn't want to speak about it anymore.....Then she came out saying that she didn't want to go to her ballet class as it was useless, she will never go anywhere, she will never be a dancer, she will never have another chance.....Of course I tried to tell her what I have read and learnt from the forum and from your own experiences, but, at the moment, it seems to be worst: she said "these are only mums who try to console, we must be realistic mum, I will never be able to make it". I felt so sorry for her..... Then she prepared her bag and went to the ballet studio..... Congratulations to all the yes, I wish your DC all the best for their future, and for the "no"......I hope their disappointment could turn in strong determination to not give up.....

Just another silly question to add Happymum's one! (Everyone of us is trying to kill the wait in some way...). I was wondering if the judges were the same in all venues: in London we had Mr. Mark Annear (Head of Outreach and Access) and, if I'm not wrong, Mrs Hope Keelan (Artistic Teacher and Programme Manager WL). What about Manchester, Bath ecc.?