Peanut68

I cringe at the dance school name here the Shimmer & Shine School’…. Of course it is….!! As bad a name as the trend for children’s nurseries to be named something all cutesy & sickly! (Sorry to be so bah humbug….)

I’m sure this & future books will be a big hit but do feel it follows a real ‘painting by numbers’ formula far too prevalent in new young peoples fiction today….all IMHO

On 09/04/2024 at 07:05, Adagio123 said:

I did wonder. We have only ever had “waiting list”, never “short waiting list” but everyone seems to talk about this so was confused. Good luck to anyone with that offer as its horrible being in limbo not knowing if it will happen

This has long been a topic of conversation on this forum; the terminology used! In the past after placing on more RBS waitlists than seems possible (I shudder to recall the amounts of money spent on applications over the years for JA’s/MA’s/SA’s/WL & then US/AA’s plus then Summer & Easter courses….)

We’ve had no’s but then also ‘waitlist’ or ‘short waitlist’ & then the particularly intriguing one was along lines of ‘Directors Select Waitlist’ which sounded the most promising….Nothing came of any of these until got an Adv Assoc offer from one such waitlist after Upper School audition…but that was during Covid so it was a no go. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

Did have one yes for an Easter course….so got to live the ‘Royal Dream’ for a few days at least (bit of a damp squib if I’m honest….but at least it’s that box ticked & I enjoyed getting to touch the famous Fonteyn Finger on the bronze statue in the hallway at White Lodge! But there are much more satisfying, enjoyable & progressive courses out there offering better qualify of training & better value for money IMHO…) Good luck to all!

(I reckon the admin might be having fun making up terms for waitlists….but am sure it’s all the same. Sure there may be a pecking order on this but also it will most likely depend on who leaves/declines place & they will offer to same gender/similar age)

Are these available still? Could be interested… thx

Is this sold? 

Thanks to Lynette H who - on another page finally solved a mystery I’ve agonised over for years about a clip of dance I was moved by that was regularly shown on very late night ‘fuller’ tv on BBC2

Apparently a DVD was released but no longer available but I’d love to have a copy in this format if anyone has a duplicate to sell? A download is possible which I may do too but would like good old hard copy too! 
Thanks in advance 

As I’d prefer a DVD I’m going to pop a ‘wanted’ post on the Fir Sale/Wanted page here
thanks all again! 

4 hours ago, Lynette H said:

Young Men by the Ballet Boyz ? A group piece set in the first world war, later made into a film. It was shown on the BBC. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0834qvd

Yes yes YES!!! This must be it!!! Thank you so much Lynette H…. Years of agonising over the mystery solved I think! 

Does anyone know of any way to watch the whole footage of the full length piece? I’ve only ever seen the clip used as late night filler in BBC2 but still get goosebumps remembering it. So absorbing & moving. 
Thank you again! 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ballet-star-survivor-steven-mcrae-041459761.html

 

A friend sent me link though I see our ever hot mods there first & it is there in links - thanks! 

Wishing both well….

not necessarily related but topical….

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ballet-star-survivor-steven-mcrae-041459761.html

I see this is already in links too…

What would make sense from this would be reciprocal events from the other schools… though starts to be expensive I guess - especially if schools tend to select the same few students to fly off…though maybe that could be a criteria….they can only select each student once so maybe more/all of a cohort gets an opportunity! 

I think I came across this….& (wrongly it seems) had assumed it was yet another ‘hey dance parents, pay yet more money to travel & stay away & probably a fee to attend too to get the chance to do a class where you might be seen by Directors or people who could possibly offer you a job’ competition masterclass thing. Lovely to hear this was not necessarily so. So, was it POB or an individual approaching specific schools with an invite for then to send  x number of students?

That sounds - for once - a good ballet initiative!  

Another one??? Really?? Not for me I suspect….

Could it have been created by a dance troupe similar to Stomp I wonder? 
The uniforms worn were very much reminiscent of British WW1 soldiers….a few moustaches & hairstyles very typical of the period too

Wonderful….but still not it. The piece I seek was very much a group piece. All male…. Probably 8-10 dancers. Lots of what I think is termed contact & release (??) & ‘organic’ lifts. 
I can’t be the only insomniac out there who saw this?? 

Can someone enlighten as to what musical thus will be? The Times link goes to todays news….I’m rather late reading this thread! 
thanks in advance 

There’s so much I want to see coming up!! 

Oh Lord…. Just tried searching on YouTube using ideas such as ‘BBC dance film world war 1’

Cannot comprehend how this listed such awful options as pole dancing, utterly abusive  stretching for dancers, a woman talking about sex addiction & I can’t even say what else…reaffirms why I do very little online stuff…and the phone I use is s child hand me down so thought it had controls to prevent dubious stuff???? I despair 😩 Why do YouTube clips just start playing too?

Traumatised…. Might need to go down a safe ballet rabbit hole now to watch nice things! 

Thank you ajf - That sounds like you were moved in same way as I was by this piece… but it definitely had  I’d say a minimum of 8 male dancers…& my gut had said Akram Khan;- the use of sound did have similar vibes to his Giselle now I think about it…. But the mystery still not completely solved…! 
Hmmm…. Just found a link to this on Sadlers Wells…and suggests the original piece was expanded to more dancers & sounds very similar in description but the trailer doesn’t seem the same…

Is this ringing any bells with anyone else? 
I used to stay up late night after night to watch it! The clip was intertwined with clips of nature programmes/current affairs etc etc! Quite likely this was about 15-16 years ago
 

It was not 5 soldiers as far as I can see …. In fact, I now see I’ve watched that online before when I was Googling to try find the piece! I found 5 soldiers an equally stunning piece too. The ‘late night’ almost used like the testcard piece was not modern army dress…I definitely think it was to be representative of WW1.

I don’t really recall it having music… more percussive sounds from feet on ground/sand & body on body noises & shouts - not actual drill calls, just sounds reminiscent of them. It was utterly compelling. 
Is there something in Rambert repertoire perhaps? 

7 hours ago, Mary said:

I think there are some encore screenings on Monday?

No link on ROH website - cinema listings now just Swan Lake & later ones….

On 12/04/2024 at 09:32, Irmgard said:

Alessandra Ferri will be performing in the June performances at the Metropolitan Opera House.  She told me about this back in November and she is listed on ABT's calendar of performances.

Yes it’s my fantasy ticket purchase!! I’ll keep buying my lotto tickets…

Gutted I missed getting to either cinema screening…

Was ‘Five Soldiers’ (or it’s precursor ‘10 Soldiers’?) a piece that was shown on BBC2 late late nights as part of a repeat of several snippets of programmes that filled the void between last late night programme & the next day several years ago?

I regularly stayed up to watch & rewatch & found it mesmerising & so moving as it evocatively portrayed the nightmare that was trench warfare of (I think) the First World War. It was so visceral & included vocal sounds from the dancers. I’ve never been able to find exactly what it was… I’d previously thought maybe it was from Akram Khans  ‘Dust’ but I’m just not at all sure it was (never saw). Definitely felt the trench warfare soldier scenes in Rambert’s ‘Peeky Blinders’ drew (well) from this.

I’d love to be enlightened if another forum member knows & id really love to view the whole piece….

Thanks in advance! 

Lots of female dancers have same problem & it’s been discussed so you may find info from a search…

I also know lots prefer to use stirrup tights where they can as this leaves the heel free….is this an option? 
Hairspray or Róisìn spray (Bloch I think sell this) sprayed on heel & shoe can work well too.

Good luck! 

Good points Emeralds - esp. the comparison with music & dance students. Yes, generally all students quite likely learn in a group a few variations/solos but there is too often the ‘chosen one’ (or a very few) who then get extra individual coaching & chosen by a school for comps. Otherwise it’s individuals having to source & pay for the extra one to one coaching they need & deserve to compete. 
All worthy to suggest costumes can be cheaply sourced… true…. But I’m the most part seeing things on YouTube etc all looks pretty dazzle dazzle & £££ to me…& I can quite likely see dancers feeling less confident if they find they are not so professionally attired as the majority…. This similar comparison happens over photos/showreels with some clearly able to afford more of this than others. Sure, you perhaps only need those few hood shots but again, when it’s a quick look over, you need to look your best & that’s likely going to be achieved by high cost pro shots. And also applications often state photos/video must be less than 6 months old so this required regular updating. The more money you can sling at this the ‘easier’ that element is. And whilst these things do not necessarily make fir a better dancer, I’d hazard a guess it certainly aids confidence for sending out those applications. 
This is where I do think a pure open call is in some ways preferable but then only if there truly are jobs to be offered at the end of the process….

I suspect - just as in the rest of employment world - all jobs must be seen to be advertised & active recruitment put in place even when there is already an in house candidate could be promoted or a desired candidate that can be headhunted. This is pretty much employment law isn’t it? 
But I do think that the process should stop at written applications/photos/videos/

online interviews if no actual dance jobs will ever be offered. Sure, dancers may do anything to get a chance just to be seen & have that chance to show what they can do to maybe be remembered for a future job….but it has to be transparent to make a cost ratio benefit analysis before spending money/time to attend! All IMHO

For the record, have no personal experience of any overseas comps myself or as a parent but know of experiences of others. Very mixed reports as to the cost v benefit of these….and it requires an awful lot of input/support from either teachers or parents or both. Not every dancer is fortunate to have this backing them sadly.