amum/Cathy

Thanks 2dancersmum, Katymac, chaperone and taxi4ballet that sounds really helpful, I'll pass it on I don't know whether she would be interested in residential or non residential contemporary holiday courses so anyone's experiences of either would be welcome.

I'm posting on behalf of a girl at our dance school who is becoming interested in the idea of studying contemporary dance at college at 18. She has a very strong ballet training (advanced 1)and has done jazz and modern to a high level as well, but no formal contemporary training(and I'm always a bit vague as to how different modern and contemporary are in what they cover!) Anyway I'm wondering if anyone can advise on Easter/summer courses that would be suitable for her to learn a bit/catch up/try it out to see if a college course would be right for her? AND, could people recommend colleges to think about for contemporary courses? I know Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds is a good one to consider for those of us based up North (and I see they offer a summer course, has anyone done it?), and then there's Rambert and London Contemporary Dance............. that's as far as my knowledge goes!

Ds used to do Hammond Associates. They have 4 classes on a Sunday, for 3 Sundays a term. Usually there is a ballet class then a selection from musical theatre, jazz, contemporary, drama or singing. They are divided by age groups. The audition is a ballet class. Hope that is helpful

So sorry to hear about the injuries C4D. Hope you both recover quickly.

Just thought I'd put this link I came across this morning http://www.gponline.com/Off_Duty/article/1227233/gp-interview-english-national-ballet-doctor/

Thanks Alison. I shall make sure I'm in the queue in plenty of time. I'm long sighted so I've always done well in those seats. I love the acoustics up there as well. I have some gorgeous family heirloom opera glasses and the ROH is about the only place I feel they fit in

Thank you Bruce and John I think it will be an amphitheatre seat for the matinee for me then! Looking forward to it.

I find myself unexpectedly in London Saturday and want to queue for a day ticket. Please could anyone tell me how much they are these days? And are they still amphitheatre seats? ALSO which cast shall I go for? - Cuthbertson/Bonelli at the matinee, or Lamb/McRae evening? Which would you go for?

Amazon have started a 12 day kindle book sale and this is now £2.09.....if anyone interested!

Well I'm quite pleased about that as I'm off to a cinema showing of the Bolshoi Sleeping Beauty on Monday, with another balletco forum member and our dancing dcs. It would have a bit annoying to find it on TV 2 days later Looking forward to another chance to see the Matthew Bourne one again, and RB's DQ, but as there are overlaps and clashes with Strictly and Dr Who I think there could be trouble ahead Why put both on the same day?? Interesting that MB gets BBC 2 - is he considered more "mainstream" or popular, than the RB who get BBC4?

Oh I'm sorry. It's a tough long term and I can imagine that's set off a relapse/flare-up. Hopefully the quick recognition of what you're dealing with will make it a short episode. Fingers crossed that she's feeling a bit better by Christmas.

Finally heard the Nutcracker, which wasn't nearly as good as Swan Lake and the Firebird. I think we should write them another Nutcracker piece.....anyone?

You don't have to be, some Dads post, and teachers, even some agents. There are a lot of Mums from the Doing Dance section on here who post there as well. When the old ballet forum shut down we managed to get a separate dance section on NAPM, which kept us going until balletco started. There is a different feel on there and so people post different types of questions there - it's especially useful if our children are doing dance with musical theatre courses/careers in mind.

Sorry to hear about the bullying. I suspect that it would be extremely competitive going for a drama scholarship at a public school. I can post a link to one example as this is a school my parents taught at, where the drama is at an amazing level - and much of it extremely adult and serious. Some famous actors have come from this school. http://www.sevenoaksschool.org/drama-scholarship Sometimes you see threads about music scholarships for public schools in threads in the education sections of Mumsnet. It might be worth checking for old ones relevant to drama, or starting a new thread....

Thanks Janet, that's very helpful.

Please could someone who has already seen this production post how long the running time was? I'm trying to decide on trains for a Glasgow matinee and there's a looooong wait if we miss one particular train back. Thanks if you can remember

Well done on taking action Mary. Did you get a reply from the first letter then? The one about Seven Deadly Sins? I remember going to see Lynn Seymour in MacMillan's Anastasia when I was a teenager and being quite repulsed. Did anyone else on here see it?

Definitely see GP about the problem. Have you looked at the Snoring Society website? Really informative. http://www.britishsnoring.co.uk/? My husband used to be a heavy snorer but by using a mouthguard type device at night, that he bought online from a link on this site, we seem to have cracked the problem. He used to stop breathing sometimes - really frightening for me! Good Luck

Have signed. I feel so so privileged that my 2 children received 3 years of free musical instrument lessons at primary school. I don't think they would have agreed to lessons outside school at that stage (and all our money was going on dance and drama classes). They now both play in a school orchestra and when my son doesn't have the time to audition/ rehearse/perform on stage in certain productions, he opts to be a musician for them instead, which he finds immensely satisfying. In an ideal world all dancers would learn a musical instrument. When I watch my son playing his, I see the dancer in him still - he lives the music, performing it with wholehearted concentration (and a little sway, and some foot tapping ). We all spend a fortune on the dance lessons, so to have had the free start on musical instrument lessons was brilliant, but it was also the school timetabling it and expecting it of the children which made the difference for us. I wish current primary school children could benefit in the same way.

This sounds really good Katymac. Well done to your dd. Did you have to commit to the whole series of workshops? And how did you find out about them? My ds might be interested in future one off workshops, but there's nothing about the workshops on their website.

Thanks for posting the link. This is very watchable. Reminds me of the RB documentary a few years back.

Here is a link to details of, and various video clips from, the Glasgow 2011 production http://www.new-adventures.net/rebourne/lord_of_the_flies_glasgow_2011

This may be of interest to some boys on here, the opportunity to be in Matthew Bourne's touring production of Lord of the Flies. They are looking for boys/men ages 10-25, who don't need to have dance experience.... http://www.new-adventures.net/productions/lord_of_the_flies/getinvolved

Is says 10 and over on one of the pages. The course for students page. Would be interested in knowing whether New Adventures will run a workshop in Glasgow when they do Swan Lake there, but I can't find anything online

We too have found spaghetti bog in a Thermos brand food flask works well for ds if he needs a hot meal before/between classes. Avoid the Stanley Aladdin food flask that comes with a stainless steel bowl lid as it is heavy, expensive, and not nearly as efficient at holding the heat! Dh and dd make up a packet soup and then add cooked rice (can be from one of those microwave packets) to take walking in the hills. Very quick to do!