amum/Cathy

Huddsballetmum my ds is at Warwick uni where he is heavily involved in the extracurricular dance scene. I’ve started a thread about extracurricular dance at university here http://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/16246-dance-as-an-extracurricular-activity-at-uni/

Pictures I feel for you trying to cram applications, open days and auditions into year 11. Dd has just finished year 11 and it was much worse than when ds did it, because the new GCSEs piled extra stress on teachers and pupils. It was a very difficult year for dd and I was on the receiving end of lots of teenage shouting. As far as I can tell, all her friends were emotional wrecks by the summer. You might have to anticipate this. The more you can organise, unobtrusively, for your dd, the better, I would say. The worst of the year is from Feb half term onwards. Best of luck to your dd whatever she choses. Cathy/aka Hecouldshine

Someone posted on another thread that their dd was researching universities with good extracurricular dance. I thought it would be useful to start a thread about it so dcs will be able to get a feel for the opportunities to continue dance at uni when they are studying something completely different. Maybe other people can post their dcs' experiences at various universities. My ds is at Warwick uni where he has done ballet, jazz, commercial/street, contemporary and tap this year. He plans to add lyrical to that this term, and will be teaching one of the ballet classes. This year he averaged 16 hours a week with the dance societies (Classical and Modern Dance, and Warwick Tap) and his actual degree only averages 10 hours a week contact time. He took part in a show each term, and they competed at 3 intervarsity dance competitions. I asked him which universities stood out : - Bristol, Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Kings (KCL), as well as Warwick, all did very well in a wide range of categories. Durham and Lancaster’s ballet is good, although I don’t know about their Jazz/Contemporary/Lyrical/Street. Loughborough uni are the most successful and they host the biggest competition. For 2 out of the 3 competitions I was able to watch them from the comfort of my sofa as they were lifestreamed. The other competitions he went to were KCL and Sheffield. Manchester Uni also run a good one. You can see where various universities placed at Loughborough here. https://www.facebook.com/lborodancecomp/photos/a.260281204422124.1073741828.237324430051135/263638487419729/?type=3&theater. It would be great to hear about other dcs continuing their dance at uni. I'm seriously thinking of going to the Loughborough competition this year - anyone been?

My son and I saw yesterday’s matinee performance with Jenna Roberts as the Princess (faultless, with beautiful lyrical arms, and she brought lovely girlish charm to the role), Cesar Morales as Aladdin, Tyrone Singleton as the Mahgrib, and Aitor Galende as the Djinn. Of particular mention were Aladdin’s Friends Feargus Campbell and Max Maslen, who had humour, personality, and perfect unison timing. Bizarrely, they are hidden by the Chinese dragon in the final pageant moment of the ballet, and we were unable to see them as the clapping started. Sadly, Morales was missing the personality and humour to match them at the start, and actually we didn’t feel he really engaged with any of the other dancers throughout his technically competent performance, including in his pas de deux pieces. Northstar you mention this ballet doesn’t deliver slapstick or panto, which is also fine by me, but I do think the title role needs to deliver personality and a comic touch in the first act order to be convincing. Also they need to show fear in the cave in the second, and then be able to fall in love and deliver us romance in the third. This is a role for someone like Robert Parker, and for us Cesar Morales was the wrong choice. We’re big fans of David Bintley ballets and always enjoy the junior male dancers in his choreography (particular favourite Beauty and the Beast). In this case, we felt the whole company was a little under-rehearsed to feel this – of note, the men got a little tangled with the Chinese Dragon, some girls made a few wrong turns, and my son was critical of dancers falling out of their pirouettes into hops. I should like to mention what a joy it was to watch Brendon Lawrence as an Emerald. Reina Fuchigami was confident and bright and sparkly as a Diamond, and epitomised what I like about the BRB – that they dance like they enjoy what they do! Perhaps a few more performances will give the corps de ballet the security of knowing their steps well enough to start delivering that in the first act, which was largely missing that feeling of magic and joy that I usually enjoy so promptly after the curtain opens on a BRB performance. I would like to see this again, later in the season but it’s unlikely I will get the opportunity. Still, it was a “missing” David Bintley ballet that we very much enjoyed adding to our “collection”.

I've yet to see him perform with them, but definitely planning it. His mother used to get us the Centre Pointe tickets - she came on here (or the forum's predecessor rather). She and Matthew were very encouraging to ds.

Definitely yes to Centre Pointe. I used to take ds to their annual shows for inspiration and to see Matthew Koon, who trained there before and after being a Billy Elliot, (and he trained with Northern Ballet Associates, before he went on to ENBS). I remember seeing a young Rhys Yeomans performing in their shows as well, before he went off to be a Billy, (and of course he's just won the ballet section of Young Dancer of the year 2017.)

I'm going to try posting a link to a Facebook video clip of the RAD boys weekend. It's a wonderful sight, seeing all these boys. Apologies if something bizarre happens.

Ds had the most amazing RAD boys only weekend in Birmingham with Iain Mackay and Robert Parker in 2011. They were wonderful role models. This looks to be a very welcome fundraising and publicity drive to boost the scheme. I like the sound of the funds to help boys/men train as RAD teachers. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be anything concrete yet, but I’ve sent ds a link to the RAD website in case he wants a plan B after university. He is so incredibly immersed in the dance/ballet scene there that I wouldn’t be surprised if he was interested.

Thank you for the resurrection of this thread - went online to check for SW tickets and discovered it was coming to the Liverpool Empire in October. Plenty of good tickets still for anyone based up North......

Part of a conversation I was having with another member yesterday has disappeared - 4 posts in the middle of our chat.

Same when my ds was an associate.

Oooh yes. That was a useful thread!

Ditto Warwick where my ds starts next week. Lots of ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop and tap classes. The students running the societies include ex associates of Tring/Central etc and an ex All England tap champion. My ds may end up with just as many hours of class, if not more.

If I remember rightly you have a review appointment/telephone appointment with the JA teacher at some point this term. They generally ask about teacher/classes at home - or you have the opportunity to ask. They will certainly know of suitable schools if you feel you have to change. (Mind you ds was a RBS JA 11 years ago so things may have changed! He probably did about 1 1/2 hours a week - 2 ballet classes - back then). No need to rush the grades, as others have said.

http://www.planetdancedirect.co.uk/Wear-Moi-Condor-Leotard-with-Dance-Belt Ds found the collar slightly scratchy at the zip so we just stitched down the corner, which looks fine. He wears it to death he loves it so much.

The unitards are very popular. Wear Moi do a lovely 2 tone one. My ds wears a leotard that combines a dance belt, that just looks like a tight fitting T shirt - with dark cottons Lycra tights (stirrup) over the top and we see a lot of boys/young men wearing this Wear Moi leotard recently at a national competition. It comes in white or Black. I'll post a link to it in the next post, so that the mods can remove that post if it's considered advertising.

You know what, that is exactly what I am looking forward to. Sadly Ds is brilliant at sorting his own washing and dd, who is here at least another 3 years, is terrible. She runs out of clothes, scatters the dirty ones all round the house, then raids our drawers - even her father's, for clean clothes.

I'd love to but no adult classes locally and I have arthritis in my feet. I still have my last pair of pointe shoes - 30+ years old!

Pixie that sounds brilliant. Sadly the school closed this summer when the principal retired. I loved chatting to all the little ones when I haunted all the school classes to get them to sign the Retirement card.

Maybe when he finishes college he'll feel differently. They change their views on what they want to do so quickly at this stage. Six months can make a big difference.

That's a shame Lisa. I hope you can manage something at some stage. Are there any he might fancy over there?

Julie I remember your dd heading off to vet school! I'm sure she'll have kids going to ballet classes, you just have to inveigle yourself into her life - she'll be desperate to have you nearby if she's working as a vet! I hope your ds is enjoying his new career, but I'm sure you've had a huge change to cope with from your 2 stopping dancing. I'll have to check out the live feeds in our local cinemas. I know they do them but I've sort of been avoiding them - worried how I'll feel when I go. SAD!

OOh Lisa. I can see where you're coming from. Ds is working in a local shop and I wouldn't want him to hang around as he is for a whole gap year, for instance. I suppose I'd feel differently if he were still studying for something at the same time, or auditioning and training. I hope your ds gets on OK back at college next week. And have fun with the prospectuses. Are you going to any open days at these unis? We went to quite a lot, and it cost a fortune in travelodges and petrol, but I enjoyed seeing ds working out what he wanted out of a course and a uni. It was a privilege to accompany him on that journey, if you see what I mean. I hope you can manage the same.

Thanks Fiz. You sound to have had an even more brutal farewell with all those classes you were supporting them at. Musical theatre has also been important to ds and this year his school put on West Side Story - which he choreographed - including the ballet sequences, and that was just brilliant for him, and us, and his ballet teacher, when she came to watch.....so even more sadness nothing like that will happen again. Wail!

Thanks Pups_mum, We need to arrange a trip! Hull that is lovely - to have been made a meal by your dd before you left. I think Ds will be waving us off as soon as he can, then off to find pizzas with his corridor sharers. Sadly our dance school principal has retired. We're lucky that she waited until this summer but it was very poignant at her retirement party. Hopefully she and I will stay in touch. I think ds is the only pupil she has taken from Primary through to Adv 2. What is your favourite momento of those ballet days? Do you have one? Is it a video clip? An old ballet shoe/leotard?