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

Hi Pastel He could create a FB page and 'befriend' dance schools on there, have a stall at dance competitions, set up a website to promote the costumes he makes, create flyers, advertise, eBay, etc. I know my DD's lyrical team are sourcing their costumes from America as there don't seem to be many UK suppliers in the market.

My DD's school don't offer dance at either GCSE or A level, much to her disappointment. However, she is doing Performing Arts GCSE which she absolutely adores (and is currently on track for an A* next year, fingers crossed!). Unfortunately the 6th form don't do Performing Arts A level, only theatre studies which she isn't very keen on doing. Luckily we've got two of the highest performing sixth form colleges in the country not far away and both seem to have really strong offerings in dance and performance arts alongside the more traditional subjects. I think we'll be visiting a fair few places for DD's post 16 studies

Swanprincess I'm sure your Dad wouldn't pay for classes and summer schools if he wasn't proud of you or thought your dancing was a waste of time. Sometimes parents can't find the right words to express how they feel especially if it's a world they're unfamiliar with. My husband was a bit the same with our DD as she's academic too and would prefer her to go into a more traditional type of career. However, he can see how much she loves to dance (she does around 5 hours of lessons plus 3 hours assisting in class at the weekend) he's come round somewhat and was even googling how to sew on pointe shoe ribbons the other week! Chin up lovely x

Oh my gosh! Anyone getting a yes for upper school auditions must be exceptionally talented but how wonderful and special for your daughter to have achieved this in such a short space of time. Truly inspirational! xx

Well DD now has her first pointe shoes and ended up with Grishko 2007's. The joy on her face as she went on pointe for the first time was a sight to behold I took myself off outside and had a little 'moment' because she had a number of hip operations as a baby so to see her up on her toes was so emotional for me.

The fitting went well but she doesn't have her pointe shoes just yet as there's another pair that the fitter wants to try her with before making the final decision which are due to be delivered either today or tomorrow. So far it's looking like it will be either Grishko 2007 or Grishko Triumph. All being well she should have them by the weekend - the excitement continues

There is also UKA Dance who also offer a graded ballet syllabus amongst other things which my DD is taking her grades in. I don't know how this differs from RAD but they are validated by CDET and their grades carry UCAS points.

My DD is being fitted for her first pointe shoes tomorrow and she is beyond excited! She's 15 so is older than probably the majority of those moving to pointe work but she's no less excited

It's easy to think that London is the only place that has high quality dance provision and you forget what you have on your own doorstep DD did the summer school at LIPA last year and absolutely hated it which was a real shame as she'd been so excited about going.

Thanks to everyone for the lovely welcome. I haven't heard of either Kate Simmons or Nazene Danielle's schools but will have a Google. Added: I didn't realise Nazene Danielle was Dance Dynamix! One of DD's school friends goes there (she was also in the Jennifer Ellison programme but the less said about that the better!)