balletla

There's a rule that says if you get distinction in your exam you can take the next one a year early and you can take it in the year that you turn that age, so 13 year olds can and do take Adv 1

Krispy Kreme is everywhere at the moment. They are totally delish. Probably the same as Dunkin Donuts though. How much different can an Americal donut be? We need an American to give us their opinion

Yes but you have to pay to be a member so in my experience, you only end up saving a couple of pounds

Never had Dunkin Donuts. Are they better than Krispy Kreme?

Isn't that the point though? I thought that these new exams are supposed to take longer to achieve the strength and technique required for the standard and are designed to be taken at an older age. At the moment there is an expectation that the next exam is taken a year later than the last one and we regularly get 13 year olds getting distinction in Adv 1 with an expectation that they will take Adv 2 a year later, which they are clearly not ready for.

Yes the vocational exams are meant for vocational students i.e. those that aspire to a career in dance, wherever they study.

Yes I missed out a word - i meant to say 'nobody else' at that level. I saw that there were a couple of Elmhurst girls demonstrating Adv 2 but as with the other levels, they probably wanted a few different people to demonstrate. It's not that they aren't able to do Adv 2 at these schools, it's just that only a few choose to do so either because they are not eligible (i.e. haven't done previous exams) or they have too much on and don't have the time.

This was made last year when Anna-Rose was still at RBS Upper School, so she wasn't a company member then. All the other students are from Elmhurst who have a long history of demonstrating the RAD syllabus. I assume they used Anna-Rose to demonstrate some of the Adv. 2 because there was nobody at Elmhurst at that level? Don't forget it is entirely voluntary at vocational school and many stop after Adv 1, so there was probably only a tiny number of students to pick from for Adv 2 who were available. It doesn't mean it's too hard for anyone else. RAD Advanced exams are only meant for vocational students anyway.

Just saw this link on Facebook: http://sab.org/winterterm/admission/auditions_for_11_to_18_year_olds.php Find it fascinating that auditions are on 3 September and if successful, you are expected to start the NEXT DAY on the 4 September. Doesn't give you much time to prepare. Have I missed something? Also interesting that you are expected to have previous ballet experience at 11, unlike RBS.

Unfortunately it sounds like your DD is suffering from being 'new' at this school. Often a teacher's loyalties will be to long-standing students and they will not put themselves out for newly arrived students who have not shown loyalty to the school over years. It sounds like your best bet is to investigate the RAD intensive. I'm not sure if they still do it but they used to do a week's intensive and then enter you for the exam at the end of it or something like that. It also sounds like you are focussing exclusively on this exam and syllabus but there are many other valuable training opportunities out there. RAD exams are not that important. I understand that RBS will no longer be doing them from September and I have heard that Elmhurst may stop doing them as well.

Congratulations! Lovely news

This happens to me all the time - at least once or twice a month. I don't seem to have any other psychic powers though unfortunately or I would have won the lottery by now

Hi Ribbon, welcome to the forum. I have sent you a PM regarding your Username. I would not like people to confuse our posts!

I agree Bruce, I don't know what they were thinking. The only small possibility that has been mooted is that they haven't been overly happy with some of the pieces that have been choreographed for them in recent years because the choreography has been done for artistic effect, rather than specifically designed to show off the students' talents to the best of their abilities. Therefore they decided to do it 'in house' this year. I agree with you - everyone should have a chance - but we know that at a public performance such as this, the school will put the dancers that they perceive as best in the lead roles e.g. Annette Buvoli who is joining RB got the lead role in La Destinee. What I find odd is that 7 out of 14 girls have been chosen for Upper School. I assume that is because - in the eyes of RBS - they are the most talented? Therefore it seems odd that one of them wasn't chosen for the lead role. None of the other year 11 girls who didn't get into Upper School were cast at all except this one girl who was not only cast, but got the lead role. Given your view that the choreographers should be free to pick who they want, are we to assume that the choreographers (in this case, two W/Lodge teachers) disagree with the decisions about who has been chosen for Upper School?

Oh dear, I'm afraid this just epitomises everything that is wrong with today's education system. Lessons judged on pace and making sure that kids are 'enthralled and engaged' so that they don't lose focus after a minute or two - poor darlings. Goodness me, how did we ever cope at school without teachers who were trained to be entertainers so that our precious little minds didn't wander and we didn't get bored!? No wonder these kids can't get a job in the real world. Imagine if I lost focus after my boss talked to me for more than a minute or two and I got bored because he doesn't enthral or engage me or work at pace and keep me entertained? Lots of children benefit enormously from the focus and discipline provided at ballet lessons. You can still be a feisty dancer if you are focussed and disciplined; it doesn't go hand in hand with being badly behaved and rebellious.

Is it just me or is anyone else feeling uncomfortable about some of the negative media portrayals of ballet at the moment. Anything from the Bolshoi saga to the latest tutu wars seems to be generating negative press. Or is it as the saying goes...'no publicity is bad publicity'? I also feel that a lot of ballet in the media recently has been generated by ENB's more overt approach to courting the media. Barely a day seems to go by without yet another article featuring Tamara Rojo's comments, some quite unhelpful I feel. I am also shocked by ENB's recent tweet of the The Independent's headline "That's a right royal mess the Royal Ballet has got itself into". This smacks of smugness and point-scoring and perpetuates the idea that there is rivalry and war between ENB and RB. In these cash-strapped times, I don't think it's in anyone's interests to doing anything other than pulling together.

I now have it on good authority that all the year 11 girls in Youth Concerto got into Upper School EXCEPT the Japanese girl given the solo role in act 1. I don't wish to debate the merits of whether she should or shouldn't have as I don't think anyone except RBS would be placed to say why or not. However what I do think is very odd is that the role was given to her and not one of the other 7 girls who actually did get into Upper School? Yes it was a shame about the girl in 6.1 who tumbled. Unfortunately she did the same thing last year in her solo as well, so she must be feeling bad.

The first piece "Youth Concerto" was performed by years 10, 11 and 6.1 and is the only piece that involved the lower school. The first movement was year 11 (with some year 10 supporting roles), the second movement was 6.1 and the third movement was a combination. Without wishing to re-open the debate about foreign students, it was interesting that the girls main roles for both years went to Japanese students. I think I am also right in saying that the solo role for the year 11 piece was given to a girl who hasn't been accepted to Upper School, which seems odd when there are other girls who have been. There was another girl in the first movement who seemed to be placed as the second main role and she performed beautifully with real connection. The music was heavenly and all in all it was a very pleasing and enjoyable performance which really showed off the talents of those three years. The rest of the performances were also super, but I agree with Lin; Esteban Hernandez was incredible and truly a joy to watch. After the interval, there was a piece called 'La Destinee', choreographed by Mark Annear from the RBS staff. To be honest, I found this a bit long and the choregraphy a bit repetitive but it did a great job of showcasing the talents of Annette and David and we will see more of them at RB next year. Defile as ever was wonderful and I only wish they did it twice as it is all over in a flash. All in all a lovely performance. I also noticed some famous names in the audience - Marion Tait and I think, Tamara.

Oh OK.... I didn't realise it was a one-off. Congrats to your DD. Hope she enjoys the Genee.

Well done Lildancer96, but I am confused. I thought these RAD scholarship awards were only for children who are not at vocational school??

I have known them make quite a few offers to UK students for year 11 places over the last few years. I know two girls personally and one turned them down but the other went and still did fantastically well in her GCSEs.

I can't believe what some children are allowed to watch, but the whole of society is becoming more extreme and when you realise what these kids have access to on their mobiles at just a couple of clicks away..... And has anyone read any so-called 'teenage fiction' recently - stuff that is written for 14-16 year olds is totally unsuitable and is probably being read by those much younger. So Mayerling is probably tame by comparison!

Is there only one promotion opportunity a year? So if you don't get promoted now, you have to wait a whole year to try again? How odd if so. Imagine if it was like that in normal business.

Such a shame. In my experience, the teachers don't really know what goes on with the girls at a detailed level. There was a girl at my DD's school who used to smirk and laugh at the girls who were considered good and tried hard. It really affected the confidence of one girl who then deliberately started to not try and not be praised, just so this girl and her couple of cronies wouldn't laugh at her. The teacher had no idea what was going on and became really concerned about the girl, but if course no-one would tell her the true story. My DD had told me what was going on and in the end I had a quiet word with her parents. Still don't know if it was the right thing to do or not.

Just picking up this from another thread on DaDAs and the press release on the BRB website. One of the dancers at BRB has announce she is leaving to train as a midwife. She went to Elmhurst and has been at BRB for 5 years as an artist.I think it's great that she has been able to make this decision and I wish her the best of luck. I guess what I am wondering though is what would I be thinking as a parent if this was the situation with my child. I would be sad that after all the emotional investment in the world of ballet over the last 13 years that it would be coming to an end for both my child and me. I would be more concerned about my DD though - how do you cope from dancing every day at that level, to virtually nothing overnight? If ballet every day is all you've known for your whole life, how do you make the adjustment mentally and physically when you stop?