osmum

Those of you that are experienced in darning, how long does it take you?

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh the waiting... Good luck with decisions everyone luckily at this point we only have two, and that is hard enough. And a reserve place which dd will take if that comes up.

We have never darned Pointe shoes seemed to be too much effort. Early on we glued the suede patches but as now dd at 16 just trims off the satin as it gets messy. She didn't like the feel of the suede.

I was told by a friend once who has taught at very high levels such as Aus ballet, bejart that it is not always a good thing at such a young age to be on such programmes. Dd will be monitored closely and if not progressing in a certain way could look bad on her. Yes it has a lot of kudos to be on these programmes and yes dd would get a lot out of it but they can be expensive with all the travelling etc. I say don't worry too much about it as long as her day to day training is at a high standard, not learning bad habits that will be hard to break dd will be fine. Also don't worry about competition results, I read in an article about a recently retired principal from Aus Ballet that she never won a competition. Just be a supportive taxi driver.

Rambert for us being non EU/UK is £16900 plus accom & food also I am sure we have to pay 12 months health insurance to get student visa, return airfare Sydney to London each year as well as all the obvious extras, shoes, tights, travel. And I don't have a job at the moment...

First ballet I saw was spoilt by the women behind who thought it was ok to munch on very smelly noodles. We spent a lot of money to take the family including ballet mad 8 year old to see Australia ballet whilst living in Auckland. Went to the matinee because we thought would be better for young children not out late and all that. Complained to usher at interval who confiscated food, but then same ladies talked through rest of performance and wriggled and jiggled and drove us mad!!!! Next time matinee again was the chorus of coughing... Each time only a single cough but coming from all corners of the theatre reaching a crescendo in the really quiet and emotional parts of swan lake, seemed like it was happening on purpose. Never again have I wasted money going to a matinee though sometimes evening theatre goers are only marginally better.

Well done to the firemen! This is also firefighter related. In Palmerston North New Zealand at the Maureen Ax ballet school end of year concert, the fire alarm went off and the whole theatre had to be evacuated. The Regent theatre is a beautiful old 1000 seat theatre. So the fireries did there inspection and discovered it was all the hairspray being used in the dressing room that was being used set the alarm off. So the audience was reseated the girls told no more hairspray and the show went on.

A friend of dd's got a yes by email a couple of days ago but turned it down. Has decided to go to European school - much cheaper for her.

Lucky you Kat 09! Glad all has worked out for your dd. I can't wait till all is sorted here.

Looks like we are in the 'same boat' flutterby. At least we do have an offer at a purely classical school but dd would prefer Rambert as it is all things to her. I hope your deposit isn't too much. Haven't heard anything about reserves having to re audition, just that someone mentioned it on here. Good luck to you to.

This thread has been a little quiet of late. Just wondering if any 'reserves' had heard anything yet? Still waiting...

Not dd had an English teacher who was a very 'cranky old bat' always on at the girls in her class to work harder, make more of an effort, focus etc. dd used to 'float ' under her radar so escaped her wrath most of the time. At 15 1/2 dd left school to train full time and study by correspondence. On her last day in class Dodd told this teacher what she was doing ( nervously waiting for the criticism ) but he teacher was exactly the opposite, hugged her, told her how proud of her she was in taking such a huge step, wished her all the luck in the world etc.not what dd was expecting. Hope you have sorted things outanaballarina

I have such mixed feelings when someone gets a 'yes' I am very, very happy for them, how wonderful. But that yes also means that one less place to come off the reserve list such an agonising time.

Best wishes to you, your dd and big dd. Have you heard of floor barre? Just like doing normal barre but lying on the floor. It will keep everything moving in the correct way in between times when your dd cannot do regular class. I used to do it for a while, the class was full of mixed ability non dancers like myself, dancers like my dd and age range from young teens to 60! Might be worth seeing if there is anything near you would be good for your other dd and yourself

A couple of dd's friends are there and they are very happy. My dd auditioned earlier in the year an was a no . All of her group got a no. After the audition they saw Svetlana Z walk by so it was worth being there she said. They were told by someone that the school was working toward being the top school and we're only accepting the best of the best. If your dd wants to go there it would be an amazing opportunity for her if she was successful!

I've come to realise how important time out is for them. As 2dancersmum said 'time out and pampering. Gave dd the day off yesterday and we went to the beach (easy to do living in Sydney but hardly ever get there) seeing a nutritionist was also a good thing to do this helped the whole family looking at portion sizes, eating the right snacks, right combination of carb and protein -this has also taught her a lot about food, exercise etc for when she is on her own.

Firstly, balletqs congratulations on your baby! Boy or girl? Secondly, congratulations to your student. How nice it is for him/her to get a 'yes' straight off, instead of this agonising reserve wait. But at least that is better than a no! Hopefully we won't have to wait til August to hear DD is Australian so that will mean too late to accept. She has got a yes from a school in Brussels but we are unsure about it as it has only recently expanded into full time training. DD auditioned at Rambert during a tour organised by her school here in Aus. That was back in January. She has just finished a DVD so we are sending that off as well. Does anyone know if it would be acceptable to contact them to see what her chances are. I don't want to seem pushy.

Flutterby thank you for sharing all this with us. Re this comment: I spoke to the school who told me that they put waiting list places in order of when you auditioned and as I was the second day of auditions I am hopeful, has anyone else heard or been through this experience that could tell me what my chances are, I have places at other schools which I need to accept by may, but rambert is my first choice! Do you think that that means the earlier you audition the more chance you have of being offered a place? Rambert is DD first choice too thought will be a struggle to pay fees as we are not entitled to any help being Aussies.

Thanks 2dancersmum. As my dd is coming from the other side of the world we have a lot to think about and the sooner we can book flights the better, so cross your fingers for us.

Have a look at the Australian Ballet, they have quite a few males over 6ft. Adam Bull, principal, is 6ft 5in. Tell him not to listen to people, such an old fashioned perception. My dd at 5ft 91/2 needs him!! If we had listened to people saying that when she started dancing she would have missed out on so much joy... and tears.

Hi. I was just wondering if anyone has any information on Brussels International Ballet School. I live a long way from most of you and do not know anyone in the Euro/UK dance world to ask. Any info at all would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

My dd is on the reserve list, would anyone have any idea when the reserves find out? She is desperate to know. Is it a matter of waiting and hoping that someone doesn't accept their place?