SMabbutt

Due to illness I have 1 ticket available for BRB Nutcracker in Birmingham tomorrow, 9th December. It is for the 1pm matinee in the  middle circle left. I'm not looking for payment just someone who can use it. Would need to meet at the door.

My daughter-in-law got Mazurka, walting lady and polonaise. We're coming from Nottinghamshire about an hour and a quarter away. 

We got a yes! Totally amazed and so happy. 

Thank you Beanerina. 

Same. I'm  beginning to wonder if they only tell people who are successful. 

Thanks. I can stop checking so much. The callback over ran and my dd didn't get the information about how long it would take so she's been fretting over it. It's a long shot for her anyway. There looked to be some beautiful dancers from watching them warm up and pirouette. Good luck to your dd.

Does anyone know how long it takes to hear after the call back audition? I'm think that as we haven't heard anything yet she probably didn't get in, but it would be good to have some timeframe as I'm getting asked on an hourly basis.

We are also looking at this. How many rehearsals were there? Is it at least 1 a week or does it vary and increase nearer the performance?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-50097644

I don't know if the link will work but thought it was wonderful to see. 

11 hours ago, alison said:

AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!  What is it with websites at the moment?  Seems every time I change site at the moment I'm being asked to (re)approve my privacy settings   And the defaults you're being asked to approve vary so widely: some have virtually everything set to OFF, but others set everything to ON, and hope you'll just click on Accept without bothering to look any further.  Sneaky.

The websites I hate the most are those where you don't have an option to turn everything off. I just back out and refuse to use their services.

I think as well as struggling with the medium the classes are delivered through, be that zoom or video, there is also the frustration of lack of space and suitable floor. It's hard to keep up the motivation if you are dancing in a very restricted space on a less than ideal floor, in our case carpet.

3 hours ago, balletgremlin said:

Results have finally come through. Everyone did much worse than expected, especially performance wise. The girls are all great performers. Maybe it didn't shine through on the camera. None of them got a distinction and even the merits weren't all that high.

That's a bit worrying as my DD did her intermediate by video. We should be getting the results soon so at least the wait will soon be over.

23 hours ago, Fonty said:

I just thought I would say that I still haven't seen any yeast anywhere.  Not since we went in to lock down in March.

 

Anybody any idea why that should be?

If you shop at Asda and they have a bakery you can ask for fresh yeast there. I know my local Asda does this as I saw someone asking last week. I'm not sure if Sainsbury's does the same.

On 09/05/2020 at 17:21, BalletMumOfOne said:

My daughter uses the 1m x 1 m portable floor From here In her bedroom Approx £50 https://softfloorkids.co.uk/category/dance-tiles/ 
it comes in separate click together tiles, So you can buy the length/width you need It has rubber/plastic backing And edges , and has wood affect surface, so doesn’t ruin carpet beneath but provides a sturdy base to dance on, this was fine for barre work and practice for ballet, and great for tap too, It does slide on wood flooring, but we bought the harlequin practice mat and she now uses this on top of the soft floor in her bedroom to give a smoother surface to turn on, but I’m sure a piece of Lino would do taped down with some floor tape 😊

I was looking at the softfloor but I'm concerned that you had to put another floor over it for turning. Is it not a good turning surface for pirouettes etc?

Was that the professional one or the cheaper version? I've concluded we need to take the plunge and invest in flooring but we have carpet 

On 09/05/2020 at 17:28, Mumofballetmaddaughter said:

My (teacher) daughter,  like Peanut was also advised against using the flooring over carpet but as she couldn't find any other reasonably priced solution decided to go ahead and order the multi dance flooring in a 2m x 2.5m size. She's really pleased with the quality of it and it does give some sound proofing too. It moved a little when she first used it but she has since been using some double sided carpet and rug tape (no residue) from Amazon and this is holding it completely still. 

Was that the professional one or the cheaper version? I've concluded we need to take the plunge and invest in flooring but we have carpet over floor boards. I don't want to spend more than I have to but equally want to be sure it will be useable.

We're still waiting as well. DD did Intermediate by video submission so a new experience.

15 hours ago, alison said:

Are you sure?  Won't it depend on the terms of their contracts?

Surely they can furlough the staff like any other business and claim the from the government job retention scheme. If they are going to claim then it doesn't seem at all justifiable to refuse to give a refund. I know things are tough for business right now but it is equally tough for many individuals and families.

There was some advice about cancelled or postponed events here https://www.which.co.uk/news/coronavirus/ if this helps.

On 24/03/2020 at 08:38, Lisa O`Brien said:

My son Sean is working. In the main pharmacy in Newry. He said up until a few days ago it was just insane in there. At one point the Pharmacist was literally screaming at customers to stay back as they were surging forward into the shop. Now they are only allowed in two at a time. He said it's a hell of a lot calmer and less stressful now. They have not long been given their protective face masks though. Couldn't get hold of any for weeks. 

We had a local pharmacy saying they had people being abusive when asked to keep a proper distance. Utterly disgusting behaviour which was rightly denounced on our local covid 19 support site. 

Shopping seems to be calming down about at most supermarkets locally. My main problems is trying to buy for 2 households as my parents are in their 80s and told to self isolate for 12 weeks. I would love to be able to just go to one shop and get everything done once a week but with the shortages and buying limits it isn't possible. Today it took 3 shops to find everything they needed and most of my list, which means I am out the house and potentially spreading the virus more than I would wish. Still it's nice to spend time with my 14 year old DD, even if her homework is beyond my comprehension when she asks for help. I feel like I am getting an education trying to help.

This may sound like a silly question but what size would I need to buy to make it worthwhile for my DD to use? 

4 hours ago, Mrs Brown said:

I am not clever enough to do this - mine will just have to stay up and do it live!!!

I'm not that tech savvy myself but I've had a trial run with a random Instagram item and it seems fairly simple. I just hope it goes right on the night and I have enough memory to store the file. It's great to have the option to follow online classes and thanks to everyone who has shared a link.

As it's a bit late at night I had a look to see if it was possible to record an Instagram live stream. Apparently there are programmes to do this so I'm going to try Mobus. It might make it easier to follow if I can get my DD to show me how to cast it to the TV.

On 05/02/2020 at 21:27, Moneypenny said:

At the end of the day, there is only so much support that a school can give and their influence is limited, it is the student who has to do their research, apply to the companies and chase the tiny possibility of a job all over Europe and the World. Until your child goes out there and experiences company auditions you have no idea just how brutal they can be, just how disheartening it can be and just how few ballet jobs there actually are. There are indeed many auditions, but you often have no idea whether there are actually any jobs going. At cattle call auditions hundreds turn up and at invited auditions you can be lucky to get past 10 minutes of barre ... which is pretty tough when you’ve paid hundreds of ponds for flights, hotels, train fares etc. It makes me shudder just thinking back on it all. The auditioning goes on for months and months, competition is fierce and whilst some will walk into jobs, rejection is very much the norm. Plan B’s and C’s are definitely a good idea ... as sadly I do not believe there is a company out there for everyone, there are simply too few jobs and many incredibly talented dancers out there.

Interesting that according to a BBC report on work permits post Brexit that ballet dancers are in short supply in the UK. 

"A list of shortage occupations would be kept under review by the MAC, the government said.

Jobs currently on the MAC's Shortage Occupation List include civil engineers, medical practitioners, nurses, psychologists and classical ballet dancers."

Try entering "poster the name of the ballet and ballet". I did this for Sleeping Beauty and got one possible print. You could also try entering a role or dancer's name.

9 hours ago, angel said:

My advice, if you a near Nottingham, would be to visit  https://www.gedlingballetschool.co.uk/

 

My experience has been that it is not about how much ballet you do but who teaches. 

I would definitely recommend the school. They have students at associate schemes and who have gone on to vocational training. My DD does ballet and contemporary there. The teachers are lovely and we have found them to be very supportive.