ballettwoshoes

Well lo and behold, I've just received an apology for late reply, and told I am to get a full refund. Well they can't be any fairer than that, so well done Bloch.😃

I ordered an item from Bloch, sadly it hasn't been delivered. I did get a picture of the package from the courier, showing it half in and half out of the letterbox. (what proof is that)

I have tried contacting Bloch numerous times, phone, message, facebook etc, but haven't had any response whatsoever. Has anyone else had these problems regarding communication with Bloch please, if so what was the outcome?

Has anyone auditioned for LRBS?

I've been watching a family of Buzzards for the last few days, I presume it's a family without me being an expert. There seems to be two parents and three young birds, I find it very relaxing watching them come fairly low, then just soaring up on the thermals with hardly a flap of their wings.

It seems there were an awful lot of DC that were offered a boarding place at Tring without funding. What would have happened if by some ridiculously high odds, all their parents could have afforded to pay the fees? Would they have had the room to accommodate them, or do they know most won't be able to afford it?

Oh I see, she was invited to the ISTD awards last year after getting very good marks in her Intermediate exam, so she must have only just been old enough. I realise they don't really mean that much in the ballet world of course, but we just go along with what her school enters her and her dance friends into.

Is it on a par with the RAD exams, as my DD is taking her Advanced Foundation in a few days, and she is 13 1/2?

The other thing to bear in mind is that EVERYTHING that your child does is judged, not just the final performance of the enchainement. DD has always been told by her teacher that even when marking / rehearsing the enchainement for the first time, she should do so as fully as possible, with the best possible technique, rather that the 'minimal movement' shorthand marking that she might do in a normal class.

 

If you say to your DD that it is like a very long series of the 'free work' sections that she has done in every ISTD ballet exam, she'll probably have a good idea what to expect in terms of content. In Grade 4, IME, the teacher will still do some demonstration as well as names for each step, and is also likely to stay on stage for more of the time. Last year's grade 5 was a little disconcerting as the teacher basically spoke through the steps and then pretty much disappeared while the competitors did them, then reappeared for the next enchainement!

 

Oh, and the grade is arranged  are in strict height order - basically the first number and the last number in the grade will be the shortest, then the second and the penultimate, all the way up to the tallest in the middle (DD is always one of those, although she's very young for her grade). Imagine every competitor from the entire grade ranged across the stage - the idea is that they form a perfect wave up from the shortest, to the tallest, then back again. So tell your DD not to worry if she's completely separated from friends or others from her dance school.

What would be regarded as very young relating to her grade PT?

Just a thought but does a dancer from the EU, get any sort of preference over a dancer from say Japan or China etc etc, with the same talent, at a company such as The Royal Ballet?

Well, I know that employing people in this country, we need to give preference to EU citizens, if they are qualified for the job. In my field, we work very internationally, so sometimes when I'm selecting new staff I have to choose between an EU citizens and a US citizen (rarely is the EU citizen a UK citizen - we are just not training enough people in my field domestically). I remember once it was very even between two applicants - we wanted them both! HR stepped in and said that if it really was so equal between an EU and a US candidate, the preference was with the EU candidate.

 

If there is an exit from the EU (OMG I really really hope not), then we will all need passports, visas, and work permits to work beyond the UK, and the US candidate could have been employed over a non-UK EU citizen. 

 

And any EU citizen studying in this country will pay Overseas student fees (currently around £12,000+ pa at universities) while any UK citizen would have to pay OS student fees everywhere else in the world.

 

Disastrous all round for an increasingly globalised world, I'd have thought. And that's only thinking about those in education and young workers, not even thinking about the 2.2 million UK citizens retired into other EU countries - far more than other EU citizens who've come to the UK ...

Yes Kate you have listed some very good points for not wanting to leave the EU, but unfortunately there are probably as many to recommend leaving too. This is really not the place to talk about it, but if there's a black there has to be a white of course. My own opinion is, if we do stay in there has to be many changes, which unfortunately will not happen, so it's a really tough call. I just hope the people of the UK, will spend a little time studying the pros and cons before deciding, and not let their hearts rule. It might not matter of course, as some experts suggest the EU as it is now, will not be around in ten years time. 

So it seems the answer to my question is yes. It probably does become clearer after a while, thanks for all the replys.

Well forget about a future Darcy then, how can someone be offered a place, and then not make the funding final? That's the bit that baffles me, I apologise if I am missing something.

I've been reading this post with interest, am I wrong in thinking that some of these schools don't always get the most talented dancers? I mean those that can afford to pay the fees for their DC without having to attend funding auditions seem to have an advantage, I know it's a cruel world but there could be some future Darcys etc missing out.

Just a thought, but I wonder how many more Andy Murrays and Heather Watsons there are out there somewhere. I personally think there would be many, if the game could be introduced to the working classes somehow. There's a lot of parents who wouldn't be able to afford to borrow £30,000, to gamble on there son/daughters success, as in Judy Murrays case.

The school has a great past, but it's not the best in the Hull area at present. I did wonder if the tv and newspaper plug, was to attract more students. It would be interesting to know just when the last student gained a place at White Lodge. It was nice to see Kevin O'Hare on the telly, reminiscing the past at the school.

 I think the Royal are fair and give everyone a shot to apply weather they are associates internationals or from another dance school.

Of course they do, they get £20 for each application. It's the selected ones that are being questioned.

Really enjoying reading about all these amazing achievements. Well, we have one final to look forward to next week at Elmhurst.

 

Sewing, hoping and dreaming... Just had a thought that all of you successful White Lodgers will be watching your DC in Nutcracker at ROH before the year is over. How amazing!

I don't think they will be taking part in Nutcracker this year Firefly, not too sure why at this point.

It's not as simple as that pdq, some young and maybe not so young dancers, mature a little later than others, not only in body but in ability too. It doesn't mean if a ten year old is better than another ten year old, they will always be, regardless of the  training they get. 

Going back to a previous post I cannot understand how the teachers of a child at a vocational school who is having problems with their feet (which was eventually sorted by a change of pointe shoe) did not recognise this. Are children given no guidance on foot wear at vocational school? I would have thought they would have had a designated person to help with pointe shoe fitting etc(not necessarily only employed at one school) but someone who could be turned to for advice and who would know the children and their feet a bit!!

 

After all they are the trained ones in their fields and whose expertise people are often paying a lot of money for......they should be able to recognise that a childs foot problems was shoe related surely!

 

This too frequent assessing out is one of the things I personally dislike about some vocational schools.......and especially in year 8 after effectively less than a year at the school! Their initial selection procedure should be more robust than that.....even allowing for a bit of adolescent growth spurt. It almost feels like a waste of a child's time ( and some parents money) then.

I know that it is pointless for a child to continue to train in something that it is becoming obvious they are unsuited for but they should be given more than a year in my opinion.

If they didn't assess someone out who was not up to it, it would waste a year of another dancer who was. I know it is very tough, but we all know the score when auditioning for vocational schools.

It must be very worrying for some parents and their children during appraisals, but on the other hand there are many parents out there who's children didn't quite make it, who would willingly swap places.