Dancemum67

My DD had a trial at Elliott Clark and whilst she ended up staying at her current dance school, she would have been very happy to move there. All of the teachers were fab and the principal in particular was a big hit with my DD. Also the parents of the younger dancers (my DD is nearly 17!) were extremely friendly and welcoming. One of DD's school friends goes to Nazene's school and has secured a place at Urdang. Rare Studios also has a good reputation but I only really know about the street dance classes they offer and Studio 76 has an excellent reputation too.

Base Dance Academy in Ormskirk is a really good dance and theatre school. They mainly teach the UKA syllabus for dance grades and also have competition teams for street dance, contemporary, and cheer dance with acro teams in the pipeline. http://base-dance.com/

Hi Ballet is king My DD is also 15 nearly 16 and has been on pointe since early April. She's similar to your student as she only returned to ballet about 12 to 18 months ago after a long break, although has been doing other genres in the meantime. Her ballet teacher assessed the class for suitability to go on pointe and DD was amongst those who was given the OK, whilst others who had been doing ballet longer weren't allowed as they weren't strong enough. I was surprised it happened so quickly but DD has taken to pointe like a duck to water and after her latest performance her teacher told me that she was the strongest in her pointe class . So what I'm trying to say in a long winded way is that older teens may be suitable for pointe without having years and years of ballet behind them! The attitude of the shop owner is pretty vile to be fair, I'd stop using them or directing your students there. D x

DD's dance school use UKA's Uni-Ted awards for the little ones. They cover a variety of dance genres not just ballet.

Another vote for Bunheads knee pads. My DD uses hers for contemporary and acro and they stay in place!

I think 2dancersmum has hit the nail on the head, but it's hard to strike the right balance between treating her like an adult and letting her sort it out herself. I hope you get it sorted Katymac x

Hi Katymac I feel your pain! My DD is coming to the end of year 10 and has so many demands on her time both in normal school and her dance school it's a wonder she has the time to sleep! Normal school just don't seem to understand or appreciate how much dancing she does outside of school (5 hours of lessons plus a further 3 hours of teaching the younger ones at the weekend) and think that she should just drop these classes as when they say to accommodate rehearsals for their own school production and GCSE Performing Arts work! I can understand the teachers of her more 'traditional' subjects not understanding it, but it's the Performing Arts staff who are the worst for insisting she drop everything to accommodate them! I suspect I may have to keep my lip buttoned for most of year 11 I'm just not sure I'll manage it

Thanks for the heads up. My DD is 16 later this year and can still apply for a card even though she's non-voc and doing GCSEs. I haven't told her yet but she'll be over the moon

Oh my gosh! Such fantastic news SP all of the congratulations in the world to you xxxxx

I really enjoyed his performance too. It was maybe a little too gymnastic in parts but I do think he has 'real talent' and with training could have a very bright future indeed. He comes across as a lovely young man too.

Are you looking specifically for Prescot or surrounding areas too?

My DD is still just about on her first pair of pointe shoes but I'm planning on getting them framed for her once they've 'died'. Hopefully it'll be a nice memento for her to keep.

Just caught up on the first two episodes and really enjoyed them both. The camera work on the hip hop final left a lot to be desired and I do think this detracted from the competitors performances. Unlike others who have commented I was in awe of the hip hop finalists and I know just how technically difficult some of their moves are as my DD was a competitive street dancer so I've probably had more exposure to this particular genre than a lot of forum members. Harry Barnes was a worthy winner and I look forward to seeing his performance in the grand final, however I do think that Jacob will be hard to beat as he's such an incredible dancer.

I've still got a few years to go before DD goes off to university (she wants to be a dance teacher rather than go down the vocational route) but I know how much I'm going to miss being a Dance Mum (of the non-Jennifer Ellison/Abby Lee variety ). I'm trying to make the most of it while it lasts and chaperoning for as many competitions as possible.

The costumes are for competition and you're awarded marks for costume apparently (DD has only recently joined the team and not competed yet). I can't sew for toffee (being diagnosed with RA at 21 years old soon put paid to that!) and we clearly don't have any other parents who are handy with a sewing machine either, so we don't have much choice really