Peanut68

Thinking I might go for a forum name change to ToffeeAppleXXL!!!🤣😂😭

Ha ha - have thought about this but worried about poppers unpopping!!! Of course could always remove poppers & sew up to be in effect a leotard..... fantastic suggestion Anna C!!!

I’m sure when my son was 5 in the the ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ phase of life he could’ve scheduled all this better 🤣 Toot toot!

What about for the shorter bodied dancer? I find to get the ‘width’ required then I’m drowning in length....just imagine a toffee apple....that’s me!

My my, that all sounds crazily complicated....I used to take a train from Newark to Nottingham to school many many years ago.....happy memories of wind in hair as hanging out of doorways, playing with tennis balls in the guards carriage & leaping on & off moving trains.....those were the days 🤣 And in case I already dint feel old enough.... I can visit my local heritage railway & travel on those very same style carriages.... ah, the joy of that scratchy geometric 2 tone blue fabric!!!

I constantly despair....& have basically been wearing the same Speedo swimsuit under a baggy t-short for years now (other than when I did my Inter exam at RAD HQ.... I was not a pretty sight in navy cotton camisole....compounded by then being in exam with 2 skinny Minnie’s aged 12 🤣🤣😱😱) Have tried on sizes large, XL even once an XXL in dancewear shop....always leave cubicle with severe depression generally! And I’m not THAT big in the real world....size 8 Asda jeans & size 12 Tesco tops.....just nothing is very firm so needs a bit (a lot) of ‘clever contouring’ but not st Herve Leger prices 🤣 There is no allowance in currentvdance wear ranges for baby tum, a DD+ (where DID they come from???) bust, or the sneaky side boob or backfat! Yep, tell it like it (oh so sadly) is!! And trouble is if you don’t feel comfortable or feel you look remotely ok then it’s too easy to ‘just miss class today’ or ‘sod it, I look crap anyway, might as well have cake!’ ....& so situation gets worse! I keep trying to promise myself a shoooing trip to Just Ballet as reckon Shiela may well be able to help from her massive range of stock & great knowledge.... I’d love to see an (affordable) range of Real World Woman sized Ballet Wear (not funky fitness as I’m sure that must be catered for bearing in mind all these new body positive tv ad campaigns!!) So go Balletgremlin!! This Balletogre wants a leotard!!

Oh I so agree with that! Total disaster policies with no foresight & no future proof planning whatsoever....unlike the fantastic Victorian railway & engineering pioneers who’s vision created amazing trusted bridges, sewers, tube & train tunnels & routes still relied on today! We should’ve added to these rail links over the years, not removed ‘capillaries’ & ‘veins’ which then missed the point of complete country connectivity! The only error? Politicians!!

Good news email arrived - wk 1 scholarship!

Anyone else still not had email result from audition &/or application?

Spray a little hairspray on heels to help prevent slippage & also you can spray the ticker in ribbons & knot to help prevent them coming undone.....although maybe not needed for regular class when you may need to quickly be able to put shoes on & off!

Better ribbons &/or elastics are in right place & you are secure, comfortable & happy! A few marks or stitch holes of former positioning would never notice from on stage or even be noticed by fellow dancers..... I’m sure if you look closely at many a pros paid I’d shoes they may be unsightly with glue marks, knife scrapes, blood stains & goodness knows what! They are tools of the trade after all!

The elastic you are using looks rather ‘heavy’.... you might prefer the look of the ballet tight coloured mesh elastic (they may sell this in other skin tone colours now also?) Definitely tack on & keep moving & re-tacking until you feel placement & tension is right....then sew firmly in place (then take photos to remind you when you want to see next pair in case you forget to keep old shoes as guide!) Make sure you do all this with tights on if you will be wearing tights (I note you are bare footed in photos) as they may make a slight difference in elastic length needed. As far as shoe fitting/getting over the box, your teacher is the best person to work with on this. good luck!

Thank you Janite & orher kind posters you share the info they find!

Must confess to not being a user of social media (other than here if course!) nor YouTube.....thank you to posters of links for technophobes like me to piggy back on!

Re: The Cellist....Quick Q - is the music all played live or are there actual segments using actual du Pre recordings in the ballet? Have really enjoyed reading everyone’s reviews/comments.... almost like a guilty pleasure & I must confess I feel like ie cheated for an exam....& now regret it a little! I can only get to cinima screening (🤞🏻I make it to this) I kind of wish I’d gone in ‘blind’ as curious to know if Id have easily picked up on some of the (more debated) elements such as what the set & corps at tunes represented. All sounds clever imagery....but I hope not clever for clever sake.....sometimes this can appear a little too trite & force feeding? Loving the fact that debate on this forum has already stirred me up before I’ve watched a single step! Am avoiding now looking at any pictures/clips so I can immerse myself with the ‘whole’.... if only it were in the actual ROH but ever grateful for the live screenings - lucky us!

Is the SW Insight livestream available to view on repeat anywhere? Thank you fir the well foresees reviews; I’ve never been to an insight (tickets always sold out - to ROH friends mostly I presume?) - are they often streamed & how do we get to know about them? I must say I think the ROH database & email outs are pretty poor; I never get anything about ballet , yet loads for Opera. I’ve updated & tweaked profile as much as allowed but still feel short changed 🙁

Other thing to bear in mind is living costs can vary hugely for each location.... eg. London will cost more to live though travel may be less if closer/easier. Weigh up all the pros/cons fir each course. Do a cross reference finance sheet... Good luck!

Have heard good things gs about Chichester..... no direct experience not know if some good dancers who have gone there... also Winchester (though not sure of focus of courses...)

Hmmmm..... this definitely needs campaigning about! Too many of the top uk schools take too many overseas students imho (full & higher overseas rate fee payers too mostly I expect...) They are wooed by the direct/close links with companies & I expect fewer would take these training places if it were harder to gain a work permit/visa to take jobs in place of UK dancers.... well hello??? I see a real win win here..... more jobs for UK dancers (or ones that in first instance can not be straight away filled from overseas applicants) could mean more UK dance students taken into the top places for UK training, in turn upping the numbers of high standard UK dancer graduates produced & so negating any need to say there is a shortage of UK dancers.... I hear the cry ‘but we need to be International & have the best from rest of the workd able to dance here’ I agee...so let the rest of the world offer reciprocal contracts to the best UK dancers. One in, one out, dancer exchange or loan programmes, guest artist contracts but we must ensure it provides the best home & International opportunities for our homegrown & home trained dancers - especially for any dance company/institution that is funded from any government (taxpayer) coffers.....Just my perusing spur of omens thoughts....

Reading of scenic Swiss train jouniea throughthd Alps & alongside Lakes is making me very wistful..... maybe I should’ve applied for this for DD not insisted on chaperoning!! Sounds lovely (but pricey....ah, there’s the rub 🙁) Lucky DC’s who get to travel - am sure all will make the most of the opportunities & hope they remember yo get their long suffering DP’s nice thank you gifts 😉

Please DM me if can help - thanks!

Happy to purchase separately - needed asap Thank you

I do believe the current Elmhurst Year 11’s have had to/will have to audition for places/funding. And presumably if Elm lower school have done their job well then their own pupils will be likely to be successful in gaining places.... that’s not to say that if they see better external candidates that they won’t prefer to give places to newcomers....Sixth Form intakes in many schools can often vary & increase in numbers - exp if living off site as opposed to school provided boarding. I’m sure it’s same at other schools too.... after all, White Lodge should’ve done a fantastic job that all their year 11’s would be good enough to join RBS Upper School should they want a place.... but past eveiermce perhaps paints a different picture? Auditions I do think are a big PR boost & even can offer a financial boost to schools!

Is this something we could’ve seen on BBC TVot will get to?

I’d add to the online issue.... is she feeling ever more negative or inadequate or not talented enough based on all the Instagram dance ‘stars’?? Note these are usually social media savvy over posters NOT pro dancers in companies with proper jobs. These maybe same age, with thousands of followers & be ‘influencers’ even monetising their ‘fame’ with free stuff (very rarely is it proper hard cash...) & they are only worth their following today.... as likely to be replaced tomorrow by the next new ‘star’. And who are these stars? Ones with parents who take it on to ‘manage’ their kids media image...or teachers...or photographers..competitions.... All trying to get some reflected glory/money....Or rather self obsessed individuals.... And what are the posts? The image they want to portray; how many takes to get that one perfect pirouette of umpteen turns? Not every time was ‘perfect’ or off the charts! In years gone by that flook multiple turn was just self satisfying & proof to oneself you could do it.... great if witnessed in class or by an audience, but it was none the less valuable for not having had 1000’s of likes & worse, the innane comments like your rock’ ‘yaaazzzz’ ‘go gurrlll’ & then the more troublesome ‘how did you get to be so good?’ ‘Why can’t I be you?’ etc etc.... a troubling picture can emerge.... Best advice I was ever given in life was ‘never see someone else’s success as your failure’ (& conversely ‘never see your success as someone else’s failure’ A grounding ethos.... keeps optimism levels up & ensures one remains humble & kind.... I am rambling & did actually say very similar things in another thread.... one in reference to marketing actually from a leading institution that in my opinion is rather skewed in its aim...& rather potentially damaging as it represents an image of ‘perfection’ few can emulate.... without the help of studio photographer shoot, video trickery, digital enhancement & retouching....Actually, that’s just it, with trickery & editing we can all look like that.... but we don’t when there living & breathing in front of an audience. Do we want real reality or Instagram ‘reality’ ??? I suspect it has also created much annoyance amongst peers & parents of that institution also.... I think this time is immensely stressful & overfilled with important stuff (GCSE’s, auditions, recalls, interviews, decisions) And social media does seem to mean they make snap decisions & snap comments.... far too much living in the brief snippet of Snapchat of other such video.... If I could UNINVENT social media I so would....hypocritical I know as I sit typing on here 🤣