Peanut68

When I first saw the campaign & I think subsequent launch from (a few?) brands of a range of skin tone co-ordinating tights & shoes it hit as I had never really thought about it before....& that disappointed me about myself & my ‘industry’ as it were. Glad things are catching up & if shops won’t/can’t hold enough variety of stock then I guess the online retailers will win the business....but come on dance brands; make sure your stockists know what IS available & provide them with samples /colour swatches of shoes & tights to ensure all store customers are included & they can at least see what’s available & for stores themselves to be able to place speedy orders - even if needs be in small or one off quantities.

And also about having a good selection of images in studios representing all ages/genders/communities/ethnicities.... actuslly it is amazing to think we need to think this but must confess, most studios I’ve been in could do well to look to add in these policies....

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Sorry for my typo....should read analogy!!

Just saw this opportunity that might be of interest to those graduating... https://www.thepointeastleigh.co.uk/artists/gradlab/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=grad_lab_callout&utm_campaign=grad_lab&dm_i=2MI5,1LDBB,9AY0CD,5EGYM,1

Just saw this opportunity..... https://www.thepointeastleigh.co.uk/artists/gradlab/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=grad_lab_callout&utm_campaign=grad_lab&dm_i=2MI5,1LDBB,9AY0CD,5EGYM,1

I ‘liked’ your post above Glidsade as totally agree re: oversolits snslogy....but I actually was grossed out by it too once I clicked the link 😱😂

That spelling makes sense with the chicken story so I’m laughing at my very British spelling earlier 😂

Tring I think do also have another programme caed Kick start for Boys....not 100% sure of content but think it’s possibly a monthly ofr once a term day with ballet & other dance genres & a mentoring approach? Possibly even free but I might be wrong....Am sure someone on forum will know more from having a DS attend! There’s also a boys only bursary (Paul Watson bursary?) that I think can help fund boys at Tring ‘extras’ like short courses/days of dance....

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Hi BalletBoysDad & thank you for your response....& for not taking any offence in words I proffered from a distance! Its great that your son loves ballet & has found a ‘happy place’ - especially important for our youngsters of whom so many just do not find that (& worse) in day to day school situations....And the many activities & disciplines he leans through ballet & dance - physical & mental & relationship building - will help him build a lifelong foundation of multi transferable skills plus the immense joy of dance, music & artistry! He is lucky to have supportive family (& teachers too it sounds like) so I wish you all well! But remember to maintain life/ballet balance as it can start to be a bit like a chore dictating everyone in a family’s timetables/finances etc.... (I did also forget that often not all associate schemes are weekly but may well be fortnightly or even just once a month) Explore all avenues & be guided by where your son feels happiest....& of course getting 👍🏻👍🏻 up & feedback from those on this forum with first hand experience will be useful too! (My DD had happy experience of Tring CBA back in the day....many years ago now....but I do recall it caused family agro with the costs of the course & travel & time away with resultant impact on rest of family life....& pretty sure it was just once a month then!) We parents can just source & research & try put opportunities their way to nurture & support our offspring as best we can! The future is theirs..... Good luck all!

Two associate schemes? And on one day? And at such young ages? I know excellent training is one in a series of keys helpful to unlock future porontial but so is a happy childhood & family life. Best focus surely should be in finding an excellent local teacher to work with as close to home as possible (I think one mentioned moving to Midlands so am sure lots on forum can recommend teachers) I write this with no intention to criticise anyone, merely I know that sometimes it’s easy to get swept along on a magical carpet ride where it feels as if the mantra is a constant must do more/must do better/must belong to prestige schemes/ must do what X child does/ must also do what Y child does etc etc Just my own very humble musings.....

Oh am loving this Chuckers story.... though picturing a top ballerina being faced with a dozen chickens, I’m wondering if they wouid be alive or pot ready?? And then imagining rather pot bellied dancers on stage as all full of chicken the day after a sell out show 🤣

Thanks Pas de Quatre.... though almost wishing I’d not asked as the spitting analogy sounds a bit yuck! Mind you, guess it’s like the acting world with ‘break a leg’..... wish a bad deed to hopefully guard against it as a sort of reverse psychology? I naively thought the Toi thing was more a post performance accalade along the lines of ‘get you!’ So is it more a pre performance saying not post? Have heard lots of Bravos (on my rare ROH visits & at cinema viewings there often seems to be one gentlemen shouting Bravo with gusto!!) but guess I’ve not heard the triple Toi shouted in the auditorium now I come to think about it 🤔 So, the Chuckers (chucked?) that ENB Dancers (others too?) day ore performance.... does that have an equally unpleasant meaning used as an omen for good luck? so much to learn!

You are en route to being a true artist Tango Dancer! Toi toi toi! Btw....Confession.... I’ve no idea what the Toi thing actually means; please someone enlighten me, thank you! 😁

Gosh DDDriver, I would never have thought about these things.... but actually wish someone had pointed these out to me in the ‘early’ days prepping for training. We did follow the vocational boarding route from a young age. It worked mostly as the logistics of accessing good training were impossible We are rural, far from London with rubbish transport routes. Local training at more recreation (albeit excellent) focussed school not offering enough extras or any private lessons or enough serious peers to help spur one another on. Yes, training was out there but the family dynamic was not helpful; the hubbie would’ve balked at majority of attention focussed on just one child plus the travel/costant fees etc & wouid not have been acceptable. Nor would he have understood getting the suggested extras DD driver cleverly suggests at a young age....he’d get it for a 16 year old aiming at a rugby career....just not age 10 dancer! And we all see how it’s thd early years really that are so pivotal in so many things. A funded place at vocational was really only hope to access & afford what I hoped would provide all that plus sound academic education, a happy peer group & more settled existence for all the family. And yes, in the main it has. However, I think the almost weakest element is possibly all those DDDriver mentions as necessary.... and I saw often day pupils who still accessed ‘extras’ were getting better all round & often those who had family able to juggle ‘normal’ school with the regime you suggest also seem more advanced & are successful at Upper School auditions. And of course look to the Internationals.....but remember that sadly finances play a big part too.... generally those trained like the Inters & the Inter families tend to be from the highest earning demographics on the whole..... Hindsight is a wonderful thing.... A Cost v Benefit analysis wouid possibly have been a useful thing to have done back in the day 😂 Whi knows if decisions/finances would’ve been made/used thevsame way? i think I do view Upper School as a whole new beginning not really a continuation of training - even I think if they stay st same establishment. Will be interesting to follow journeys & compare outcomes down the line from the different ‘paths’ they took..... god luck to all!

Below I copy the text I last posted in the other thread with link about the floor we bought...possibly is same one from Lemark (& possibly was around £20 more sort delivery charge?) but ours did arrive quicker than a week from order.... ‘We are using over carpet.... I called & discussed at length with supplier ‘Dance and Stage Flooring’. No flooring product other than like a spring wood panel system would be recommended over carpet (this company soon doing, Harlequin already do -but hugely expensive) I felt after discussing it was worth buying something to try as better than current dire surface! We got the thicker (it’s quite solid & heavy, not squishy) ‘premium ballet mat’ (2m x2m size c£124 with delivery) Our ‘carpet’ is very thin, no pile, without underlay so more like a carpet tile straight into concrete floor. If I had thick pile carpet with lush Cloud 9 underlay I’d be less sure placing over this would be a good/safe solution....rather would be tempted to try roll up carpet from an area large enough to provide at least a barre work area (2mx1m minimum is think needed) Wouid still then but this shock absorbing floor rather than the thinner if it’s into concrete. If wood underneath then the cheaper thinner options probably fine. DD likes the surface. Huge improvement to her working environment; able to do turns & pointe again now. Wish I’d got 3m x 2m....live & learn! Good luck! https://www.danceandstage.co.uk/premium-practice-ballet-mat (It or similar might be available from other stockists too - see back in this thread - hso could shop around...but I felt happy buying from a firm specialising in dance floors as I’d expect more ‘support’ if there are any future problems) Good luck!’ Hope the above helps!

Totally agree with you Jan! It takes ballet away from artistry & pushes it into the realms of acrobatics.... If I want to see extreme body stretches & contortions than I’ll go to the circus, not the ballet!

I’m definitely going to remember the Ballerina roses! Maybe even as gifts to myself 😉

On another recent thread in this section.about gifts (I think it was about gifts for male dancers) there was a lovely candle company with some dance themed labels scented candles that look lovely! Based on Eakring in Nottinghamshire I recall....

I can see both sides to this one! Fairness is what’s needed & actually I do think that video exams cannot be judged exactly the same as a ‘live’ exam. I think - just as with GCSE & A’s - that there ought perhaps to be an element of teacher assessment/mock exam results (as in my experience most schools do hold a ‘mock’ ballet exam with a stand in ‘examiner’) with predicted grades & teacher expectations taken into account to help.

I think we are all becoming too familiar with the word ‘meltdown’....if it’s not the the kids it’s me in my household 🤪 To be serious though....this is just such an impossible to predict situation & I wish all well navigating the challenging times ahead xx

Well, in theory..... but if you add up all those fees????? Plus the fact that ALL eligible UK resident students (so could include many Euro students? Happy to to be corrected...) will be offered NDS government funding which is means tested & very generous. Much associate scheme funding comes from again extremely generous support from well known arts supporting foundations - it is on the website. Bursaries you mention are quite possibly going to those outside this criteria....overseas students? Those super talented with multiple offers where an ‘attractive’ offer may secure the student fir the school? Of course this is only supposition in my part....more transparency from all government funded schools I think would be a good idea!!! My sympathies to all arts organisations who have quite simply had the rug pulled from under them. I suspect some will be more robust than others....and RBS I am sure will be in less danger of closure/reduced services etc than the vast majority out there. Just my own musing OPINIONS expressed here....

Fantastic to see the world of ballet has such an elequont & proactive spokesperson in Baroness Deborah Bull!

Possibly a contentious comment here....but with RBS Soring cancelled & Summer possibly in the balance... should applicants get the £36 each course application fee refunded? TBH, pretty much any other course/institution I would’ve dream of considering this but the Royal a) no doubtedly get more public subsidy than any other dance training institution & b) year on year thousands of us parents fill their coffers with these extortionate fees for them to merely look at photographs.... The return of those £36 fees I’m sure would be very welcome in these difficult times where to maintain dance many are having to invest in flooring/barre/online classes/tech to view these on etc. I do think it wrong frankly to pay merely to apply to any course, though I do appreciate there is a certain amount of admin required. The course fees charged to attendees I am sure could subsume these costs. I’m equally quite sure that for the £36 application fee, actual auditions for those that prefer could be budgeted & surely provide a better & fairer way to select attendees? Plus give many more the opportunity to experience the Royal in some small way..... Just a thought!