Cara in NZ

joyofdance: Festivals/competitions are (I think) an added extra that no-one *needs* to do. For my (rather reserved) DD, in her 2 years of competing they have been good for giving her more opportunities to perform and learn about expression. But other DC don't need this and already understand what is required. I certainly don't think you need to do them for a possible dance career. We have had pretty good experiences at competitions here in NZ. As my DD doesn't play sport, I tell her that being in group dances is the closest she gets to playing a team sport

For boring old RAD exam work, where they want the kids to practise expression, the favourite instruction is "Look charming!". I don't think any of the kids have any idea how to do this, however!

I've really enjoyed reading this thread. Like many of you, we started out when DD was five, one half-hour ballet class a week. Eight years later, she has seven ballet and two Pilates classes a week, and we have dropped anything 'optional' so this is the minimum (ie for her RAD studio and Year 8 in 'Scholars' JA scheme). Sitting RAD Intermediate next week. We have had to add in weekly physio this term as her knees need strengthening – it costs more than private lessons! And she is getting braces on her teeth, which we will pay in fortnightly instalments for 18 months (don't know if you can get this on the NHS but in NZ it's all private and costs £4,000, gulp). Her tutus are all 'pre-loved' (eBay), and I am selling all her outgrown leos and costumes. She says she doesn't want to do any summer schools (ours are in January) as this year has been so full-on, plus she is doing a big Australasian competition next Easter. My other two are older and have left home, thankfully, but my husband is a nurse and I work part-time from home so it's not easy. I don't think there is any funding available for dance training here, sadly.

DD has quite a lot of fine hair and 'just' uses (lots of) hairspray at the ponytail stage to get it smooth. I often think that if anyone lit a match in our car, the fumes would quite possibly ignite. Still looking for a brand of hairspray with a nice smell too!

At DD's 2-week RAD Summer School, for the performance they were seriously told they needed a 'cowpat bun'

Our local dance shop also has a fitting fee, but it seems they only charge it if you don't buy a pair of shoes. So I guess it is their answer to people going for a fitting to get the right size so that they can then buy them online. You can't really blame the shops! Edited to add: DD started at 11 in Bloch Sylphide (standard for beginners here), then tried a pair of Heritage. She's now nearly 13 (been en pointe for 18 months), and has settled on Bloch Aspirations. Until she changes her mind, of course

Demis are the same as pointe shoes, just without the hard shank along the length. So both demis and pointes are just satin at the back, with the drawstring running around. That's what tends to rub if you have it too tight. For RAD, teachers tend to recommend demis before starting pointe to get kids used to the feeling of a block at their toes and also to make them work harder at articulating their feet. For the IF exam they don't have to wear demis and there is a small amount of pointe work. They wear demis for their Intermediate exam, until the pointe section. (In another NZ difference, I have never seen anyone wear satin practice shoes. They look so flimsy!)

Snowflake, DD's class have to wear demis (aka soft blocks) this year for RAD Intermediate and they all HATE them, so I hope your DD isn't the same, after looking forward to them! I suspect they have been spoilt after wearing split-sole shoes that conform to their feet easily. DD outgrew her first pair of demis and flatly refused to be fitted for any more. Instead she took her outgrown first pair of pointe shoes, which still fitted when the Ouch Pouches were removed – de-shanked them and squished the box in a door frame. Apparently one of her teachers recommended this. So when you are a little bit further along and have a pair of old pointe shoes, this is an option as presumably they are already the right width for her feet! (AND no cost involved!)

I had an interesting chat yesterday with a retired male ballet dancer who travels around teaching. He did RAD growing up in the 1970s, and I was asking what you would have to do to fail, as the RAD website has a tiny failure rate of about 0.1%. He said for one vocational exam (Elementary? Old system) he was in the exam with one other boy and he caught his eye during an exercise and they both started laughing and couldn't stop. They were told they had failed, and sent out of the room. So now we know!

Just resurrecting this thread after reading this article on 'a career in the corps'. I do appreciate her honesty! http://dancemagazine.com/inside-dm/magazine/a-career-in-the-corps/

So do you think I should be ordering B width from the UK too?

That's exactly the same as my order, Loulabelle! It was the best price. Only problem is that width fittings are different – over here there is A, B, C, D but Move and Planet Dance only seem to have B as narrow, C as narrow-medium, and D as wide. So she is wearing B width if I source them in Australia/NZ, but C if I get them from the UK. It's all mad!

I do think we are a bit of a 'captive audience' – eg Bloch seems to be by far the most popular brand for pointe shoes. There's only limited stockists in NZ, and we can order from Australia but some (eg Bloch) don't ship outside Australia, and others charge £10 so it's not a great improvement in shipping cost even that close! The NZ$ is quite strong, especially compared with the pound at the moment – but some cunning websites (eg Next) list their prices in NZ$ even though you are ordering from the UK, so they aren't affected by exchange rates!

It's hard to compare, Sarah – I lived in London 1987-98 and NZ always seemed very cheap when we visited. The distance always used to make a big difference, so freight/shipping etc has always been a problem. Lots of our imports come from China now. The internet has made a huge difference for us – but if we order more than £100 internationally in one order, we get charged duty. So you can't bulk buy with other people and just have to keep paying shipping. I have tried getting free UK shipping to a friend there, but she paid almost as much to send it on to me. At the moment DD is almost 13 and 5ft 2 but still only has size 2.5-3 feet so I don't want to stock up on pointe shoes... although I just had to buy another pair in this size ready for her exam at the end of Aug (got them from Planet Dance). I get her costumes either from our equivalent of eBay, or from the US/UK and am just grateful I don't have to make them myself!

I don't know – but the shoes we have bought from both the UK and Australia/NZ all say they are made in Thailand

Yes, Janet – the exchange rate is very good for us at the moment. But even at its worst, £30 would not be more than NZ$80. So the mark-up seems to be at least 50%. I can only think it's freight cost... perhaps they are made in Thailand, sent to the UK, and then back across the world?

Ha, Sascis, I smiled when I read your last sentence! Many of the people on this forum are parents of 'serious' dancers. My DD is 12 and doing a ridiculous seven ballet classes a week plus two Pilates (plus a weekly physio session for her weak knees). If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be not to get caught up in the 'ballerina dream'. Yes, when they are little they all want to be 'ballerinas' and yes, it's fine to encourage them if it's something they are enthusiastic about. But it snowballs and can become all-consuming, which is where the dramas come in. If you can keep it all in perspective, you will manage it all much better – so rather than comparing your child to work out how talented they are, you say to them: 'Yes you work hard and you love it so that's great and we'll support and encourage you. But only a few people make it a career so let's remember there's lots of other things in life that are also important and not get too focused on ballet?' I use this approach now when DD is comparing herself to the 'class star', and we always talk about other options in life. So while she is little, just keep it lighthearted and supportive. Ballet is a hard enough taskmaster without emphasising that part when they are little.

Resurrecting this thread... over a year on and DD is now wearing Bloch Aspirations. If I order two pairs at a time from the UK, it offsets the £17 shipping cost a bit. But what makes me a bit cross is that they all seem to be made in Thailand. So why are they £30 (online) in the UK and £60 in Australia/NZ (same price online as in shops)? No wonder people buy internationally online when the local price is double. Last time I looked, Thailand is pretty much midway between us and the UK so it's not a distance thing!

That's a good video for a fashion look, but I doubt it would last more than a couple of pirouettes! No pins, no nets, no clouds of hairspray???!!!

Gosh, I would be scared to do anything like this in case the Balanchine Trust's wrath descended!

My DD's contemporary solo was choreographed for her by a young man in his final year of full-time contemporary training, and is so appropriate for her – to an old Simon & Garfunkel song, it incorporates lots of new stuff for her (she only did ballet before this): floorwork, parallel, different uses of torso, turning 'off balance'... at competitions some adjudicators love it, and some don't. But it is often a welcome 'quirky' and 'lighter' break from the angsty stuff in the rest of her class.

I was thinking about it too, and after watching the contemporary section at a recent competition, I actually think it could be about the sort of music they use. A lot of it is quite 'dark', eg an 11-yr-old dancing to a song called 'Hanging Tree' and simulating putting a noose around her neck... so perhaps it depends on how age-appropriate the music is as well as the type of movement!

'Rises' on one leg or two are great for strengthening and alignment, which helps everything. My DD started doing them when she was 11 as preparation for pointe, so they are a great foundation exercise for all sorts of things. She should hold on to something solid with one hand and do them in parallel, with knees in line with feet. We were told to use your age as a guide, so she could do 8 on each leg to start with. (It's not complicated – just going from standing with feet flat up through to the highest she can stand on tiptoes and down again, slowly and with control). Can even be done while watching TV

My DD started contemporary when she was nearly 12. I'm glad she didn't do it earlier – to me it is more about learning solid ballet technique before you start 'breaking the rules', so you are still protecting yourself from injury.

DD is in demi-pointes this year but we didn't worry about getting fitted as they aren't supporting her body-weight. She only wore them for a short time before she was able to mutilate a pair of broken pointe shoes, but if they are just to get them used to having a block at the end of their foot, I wouldn't fret too much about it. It's not half as important as the fitting for the first pair of pointe shoes!