Peanut68

Loved reading this & it did give me a chuckle as I do find myself ‘head dancing’ in the theatre quite often….realise I find my neck & head dancing along & following the dancers movements & lines…. Regularly get told off by my offspring!

Just a thought I’ve had for a while…. I do see value in Mirrors in dance studios to help with understanding placement/corrections etc but I do question them being a constant presence. Maybe studios should have curtain options to have occasional mirror free lessons? Our local school pull curtains across mirrors a few weeks before exams & for exam sessions too. This does also show who truly does know syllabus as it is very easy to cheat look across & see others in mirrors for steps etc. And right from primary kids do increasingly seem to be aware of how they look & how they compare & - sadly - they do all see ‘perfection’ online etc & you see pouting & preening from a really early age! For older dancers again no mirrors force them to truly learn for themselves & not rely on others so much & it stops some of their pouting & preening & constant leotard leg line hiking up (!!) too. And also draws the facial expressions to be more inclusive & reflective of performing for an audience & not just to themselves! It also free dancers up to truly ‘let go’ & allow their joy in their own dance to fly! Less playing subservience to the best dancer in the class too! I’d think a 50/50 split mirrors/no mirror would be hugely beneficial in very many ways!

Up to £450…. Is that per week?? 😱 I’ve often wondered if you could actually stay in a combination of hotels/Airbnb’s premier inns /travelodges etc cheaper as at least you wouldn’t pay for holiday periods or any nights you went home (assuming family in UK) Plus think of the loyalty scheme points/air miles etc!! They’d probably cover the costs of one week in 12!

I can identify with that little cheat too!

I had exactly that same issue….on one leg more than the other. I always put it down to it being my less naturally arched foot so I just couldn’t ‘get over’ as easily…. Only now I realise it was actually all about strength & my having favoured the ‘good’ foot had meant I’d actually just strengthened that leg & allowed my poor one to get weaker! It was doing the ‘relatively new’ (& definitely new to me!) single leg rises in sets of 8 turned in & turned out at end of barre section of class that identified this! The good leg was a total breeze…. Agony the other! And as I’ve got a little stronger, they have become easier & actually I find the ‘bad foot’ releve is far more ‘over the arch’ than ever before… so, it’s not the foot that was the issue but the leg muscles… Just to add…. Haven’t done any pointe since inter exam about 5 years ago & sadly my ballet level & quantity significantly dropped over covid times & has never really recovered…. I attended a 2 day ballet retreat a year or so ago when not at my fittest - loved it but it did almost finish me off as I (stupidly) tried to dance as if I was at my Inter standard & fitness level! Also hadn’t realised the negative impact carrying a significant amount of extra weight is clearly having on my body….Would love to do more again & am especially aware to work on my weaker leg! Ok, I need to stop feeling sorry for myself & get on with setting some health & fitness goals again!

I do hope that by performance time the few who seemed intent on having their legs higher than everyone else were reigned back in!! Any Corps de Ballet fails when some dancers insist they are soloists!! I love the visual gentleness of this style (that completely belies the actually immense skill & energy required to make it look thus!) & the sheer prettiness of costumes & lighting…. Like a Degas painting!

Congratulations on your achievement!! 👏👏👏👏

A great post En Avant - thank you! it also got me thinking about teacher training & maybe it’s time the training bodies look to see if their fast track training of former professional dancers is perhaps not in anyones best interests anymore. How can a course that’s only perhaps six weeks or mostly distance learning replace the more intense 3-5 years? No wonder so many former pro dancers now teachers lean on their own historical experience & seem to in many cases replicate the training they themselves had. And so an unhappy legacy persists…. Just to add…. Some former pro dancers are excellent, safe, current & nurturing in their teaching practises - even sone deity no formal dance qualifications. I do think that we cannot assume a great dancer always will make a great teacher…. How many of us would consider ourselves to be a great driver but wouid recoil at the responsibility a driving instructor takes on….

It is the complaining to the institution first that is so often the problem… so often students & parents are too scared to do so whilst their young person is there - being taught, being housed, being cared for by the place you wish to complain about. It’s almost impossible to feel strong enough to do so & then once you’ve left it’s almost just a sigh of relief & move on & get on with your lives. Guilt that you’ve not complained enough is awful & guilt that you’ve thus given perpetrators the feeling they got away with it or indeed did nothing wrong afterall & - worse - knowing they may well continue. Sorry for my weaknesses

Is it even OFSTED for private schools?

This Taxi & indeed so much more…. Ignoring parent emails Ignoring pupil emails… (if they don’t respond to the email does that mean it’s never acknowledged that there is a safe guarding issue???) Amd true life real time experiences shared by posters like RubyFoo merit immediate auditing of that institution. BalletP makes some very interesting & valid points too;- yes, reality checks are needed but I like Ruby Foos suggestion that it should be a contract between school & pupil to aim for a mutually beneficial goal. This could create a framework for an open dialogue & a feeling of safety for a pupil to speak out to be heard. But only of course of this contract has real structure with outside observers/auditors

Just that…. I suspect the ‘private practise’ that private schools would fall into gifts a ‘get out of jail free’ card as it were….

I too have often wondered at the qualifications/regulatory bodies that so called school nurses belong to…. My suspicion is that independent schools can quite likely employ anyone in the capacity of school nurse much as they can employ anyone as a teacher. No qualifications are legally needed though of course one expects that they would necessarily have them & that schools would only employ suitably qualified/registered staff in any capacity. I certainly found at one school a great many nurses seem to be from overseas…. Do the qualifications match up I wonder? Would there be any redress/oversight available from UK nursing bodies for these staff? I’m told someone is a nurse & I believe that’s what they are…. Based on my child’s experiences I seriously question the suitability of sone of these staff & time again I think I would’ve asked a few more questions of the school on the suitability if these people in role. They wield much power (eg. could sign you off dance) & act under a veil of ‘student confidentiality’ (well - when it suits them…) & actually I felt there were sone slightly on a power trip to create drama/add to their own self importance/ ruin kids lives… It felt gossipy, totally inappropriate, no real ‘nurse’ care & no accountability save to the senior leadership team…. And therein lies ever more questionable behaviours & practises….

As an ex Elm from the 1980’s era a while back I thought it’d be interesting to see if there weee any ex alumni groups out there….found one on Facebook with a photo including recognised dancers of my year group (clearly the mid 80’s in shiny catsuits & ankle warmers!!) The make of the group? The Elmhurst Survivors….!! says it all…. And I thought everyone but me was having a great experience there!!

One of the ‘big four’ seems (bizarrely) missing from the tv & radio programmes & litigation list but am pretty sure it’s pertinent & included within many peoples experience of bad practise (& no doubt sone good too to be balanced) in discussions here. As I’ve said before, I have very direct experience with 3 schools (but none of RBS full time training)

Interesting points…. Bet they look forward to the posh lunch & surroundings too! FYI - I seem to have reached a limit of reactions I can make so sadly am unable to add my click of thanks or likes to many posts above I should have liked to…

When my kids were 9 - even up about 15 - I could imagine writing a similar post saying it’s the parents role to ensure dialogue channels are always open & conversations are always frank etc etc…. But once mid teens you honestly - despite best efforts - can lose this….& worse, you may not even realise you have. New channels of communication open up to them & these may be far more influential than either you or they realise or want. And they can also then endeavour to hide the truth….keep up a level of confide in parents that makes you think all is fine….if I look back was I rather smug thinking I knew all there was to know? Yep, I guess shamefully I did live in a bubble of happy oblivion. And made easier of course by boarding & then even more so by lockdowns…. The other influencers? Varied & many…. And yes, teachers, other pupils, other non dance friends, people they are ‘friends’ with on social media - some they may actually have met, some just ‘famous’, celebrities, all might be Validated by others too as everyone at that age seeks affirmation from the herd. Distance can occur just by that whole teenage growing up ‘it’s my secret’ type of thing (remember that? I bet if we all look back we all have some little secrets from early adulthood!) So, do not take anything for granted. Do not expect that ‘however good a job you are doing now’ will mean all is fine & dandy going forwards. I don’t wish to sound judgemental or scaremongering but just say even with eyes wide open & listening in with volume up high you as a parent can & probably will miss occasional things of extreme importance. Sometimes it can even be a case of ‘brush it under carpet’ As an ‘it’s a phase’ ‘they’ll grow out of it’ etc etc. Or you just don’t have time/bandwidth/skills/tact to deal with it…. I know I didn’t. School of course is only ever one element & thus is reflected in whatever youngsters do & however & whatever they study. good luck all

That’s a very very interesting question…. And I wonder if once a pupil leaves they delete all records or is their a duty to retain them? I had once thought about this but decided at the time life was too short & unless we were going to seek legal redress & launch family into all that entails it was a can of worms best left to rot. And I did agonise as bringing to light our issues might potentially save others from similar treatment if the schools see their are consequences… but yet no….put head back in sand. Why? Because we all know this doesn’t stop just at the door of schools as who are these people with influence in schools? Former dancers with influence across many schools/companies/friends to choreographers, dancers, directors, members of boards etc etc The whole feels rather ‘old boys club’ rotten - just as seedy as we tend to think about the proliferation of MPs from Oxford etc etc

Well said dancerfifi! also we as parents (I shamefully admit guilt here) often think twice about reporting direct to school authority or to ofsted even when emailed pre-visits to do so. Apathy? Partly? Previously being burnt? Yes - seeing others go to effort to see no change & to then feel wrought with anxiety… worry that putting head above parapet might see kids be treated badly as a result? Have funding removed etc? Oh yes. And absolutely I speak 100% from personal experience

Totally agree - it really does also put a weight (no pun intended) of responsibility onto the shoulders of directors/casting directors/choreographers/ teachers in school settings as it’s about having the appropriate bodies paired to ensure safe, effective & beautiful reproduction time after time of the dance steps & lifts. Not simply pairing this person with that based on fame/box office appeal/favourites etc etc That’s surely where the tradition (now less obvious?) of regular pairings came about? They danced brilliantly together because they were well matched to being out best in each other! would just like to add how I’m troubled at some rather strident comments in defence of institutions with no mention as to their qualification to be commenting & almost trying to negate the programmes relevance (student? parent? Teacher? Part of said institution? Ever hopeful of getting a pupil/offspring into said institutions? )

Red shoes & Swanwings - I am pleased for you that you feel this way But -politely - I add doubtless they will witness others suffering abuse of various sorts…unless they train mostly privately & with perfect teachers….or wear blinkers & earplugs! My opinion….based on abuse aimed at me & others over 30 years ago & sadly seeing & hearing it replicated identically (& in many cases far worse with the so called ‘validation’ that social media piles on things from ‘successful’ influencers) on this generation of trainees too… To add…. One school’s experience was generally very positive but still not 100% perfect (there issues were mostly boarding & ineffective/mean houseparents & bitchy kids)

Exactly!

I’m certainly not more knowledgeable but my thoughts on partnering is that there is a suitable someone out there for all….companies can more widely reflect the real world with a mix of body shapes & sizes & yes this will mean a variety of weights that might need to be lifted. Science suggests therefore relevant muscle strength will need to be matched. It’s just gym sense not rocket science. And we all benefit from admiring artistry, athleticism, technique & dramatic acting from a wide range of people who closely reflect the real world bodies we all have

Thank you for clarification - although I think it was less the hiding a post that caused alarm but more that the thread was locked. I certainly wondered if outside PR influence had come to bear as previous threads with criticism of one particular establishment seem in the past to have suffered the same fate of being locked & thus preventing debate & opening a question in my mind that there does seem to be a power is that is far too omnipresent in the dance world if even here influence can close down debate. Now I understand from your post that this could indeed be any member & I am in no way intending to actually accuse a school - but I am musing as to this regular situation & the players. Afterall, any institution should surely be aware of this excellent forum & similarly I would expect they have their PR/Marketing/Admissions teams as well as lawyers all over it! And surely individual teachers too? And of course pupils & parents…. Just my personal musing with my marketing hat on. The old adage of no such thing as bad publicity does not always hold true. But one thing for sure those hiding will be found out eventually. Truth will out.

Love that you are fact checking!