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Confuddled

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  1. Confuddled
    Can anyone point me at a website / book / anything really that explains what ‘good alignment’ means in ballet? I’d be so grateful - apparently dd needs to work on her alignment, and I’d like to have some idea of what that means. She seems pretty confident that she knows, but can’t explain it to me!
  2. Confuddled
    Yup! The dads at the ballet school dd goes to who don’t even try to learn to to do buns really go down in my estimation. My own husband can do a very decent bun, and the only reason he can’t (yet) do Heidi plaits is because I’m the one who watched the YouTube videos and had a couple of practice goes. I’m certain he’d manage them fine if he did the same. Back on topic, I think a water spray (I use a plant mister) and a smoothing (rather than detangling) hairbrush really help, but dd still can’t do a high ponytail (let alone a neat, tight one), so it’s a work in progress.
  3. Confuddled
    So sorry to hear this, I commented on your other thread and was crossing my fingers for your dd. Hopefully next time!
  4. Confuddled
    I was sufficiently annoyed at the lack of clarity about prices that I e-mailed the Advertising Standards Authority about them. I got back an e-mail saying: ”We’ve considered your complaint carefully and all the issues raised. We will keep a record of it on our system and take your views into account if we receive more complaints about this or similar issues. We will also take your complaint into account in our regular proactive ‘intelligence gathering’ sweeps, where we analyse a range of information – including complaints made to us – to spot significant or emerging issues, which we might want to tackle. While we won’t be taking any other specific action on your complaint at this time, I want to thank you for contacting us. Complaints like yours are extremely important to us as they help us to build a picture on the issues that we should tackle.” So if you really feel that you were misled about prices (which is how I felt, quite apart from the poor customer service) it would be worth contacting the ASA to help them build up a picture.
  5. Confuddled
    She did enjoy it (more than I did, I found it nerve-wracking watching). She hadn’t done a big audition with parents watching before, but she had done a couple for our local youth ballet (which is organised differently, and has far fewer children auditioning). If your daughter likes performing / an audience then I would have thought she’d be fine. It is pretty hard if they’re not picked, though, as there’s nowhere to hide. At least getting a letter or e-mail later they can have a cry in the privacy of their own home and then put a brave face on it later if necessary. I was ready to make a quick escape if she hadn’t got in, as she wouldn’t have wanted commiserations / questions from the friends she auditioned with.
  6. Confuddled
    Sugarplum - I discussed moving schools for over a year with my dd, before she actually made the leap. It was the right decision - she’s much, much happier at the new school and got on to an Associates scheme she would never have known about at the old school - but it did have to be her decision. I talked about it (A LOT) with her, and she dithered, and was worried about losing her friends etc. It’s actually worked out well, as she see’s some of her friends from the old school at auditions / youth ballet, and I’ve arranged a couple of play dates, too. My top tip, would be to see if the potential new ballet school has a summer school. It was by doing two weeks of summer schools (run by two different local ballet schools) that dd realised how much more fun and relaxed (yet still high quality) teaching could be, and she chose one of those ballet schools. She would have been happy with either - we ended up going with the one that had the timetable that worked around her other commitments.
  7. Confuddled
    My daughter just did her first EYB audition - I’d say the things we didn’t realise were: - that they don’t allow any warm up gear (cardigans etc) even though it was freezing, some children had to come off the stage to hand spare clothes back - that it goes on for ages (go to the loo first!) - that there are lots of children so there’s a lot of waiting at the back or in the wings in a pack with 100 others, until it’s the turn for your line, and you need to keep your ears open for your number (and definitely remember your number!) - that at the end it’s just ‘stand up if your number is called’, and those are the ones who get a place. Good luck!
  8. Confuddled
    For a show - but I may have misunderstood. I’ll check when I next see her teacher. And thanks for the tip about the flame - I would so have let it touch the ribbon...
  9. Confuddled
    Thank you all! Yes, it is ballet shoes, not pointe. I had done a search on here but I obviously didn’t do it very well! I will have a look a that video. And buy a lighter (or would a match do as well?). I was hoping for one that showed both elastics and ribbon, as I’m not sure how to do the two together - presumably you do ribbon and the back bit of the elastics in the same place, with the ribbon sewn on first?
  10. Confuddled
    I have to sew ribbons (and criss cross elastics) on to a pair of shoes for dd, but I’ve never done ribbons before. I’m OK on the elastics, but I’m not sure where to sew the ribbons, how long to make them, what do to about fraying ends etc. Is there a good YouTube video someone could recommend? I don’t trust my own random googling to find one that’s actually right - I’ve seen some ballet bun YouTube tutorials that were definitely not what our dance school expects.
  11. Confuddled
    Congratulations to all - DD got in, too. She’s assuming she’ll be cast as a cygnet (she will be a short just 10yo, working on Grade 4 by then) - anyone know whether that’s realistic?
  12. Confuddled
    I’m actually in Wimbledon, and nothing is settling so far and there are only the usual Monday morning minor delays on the trains. So hopefully it will be OK.
  13. Confuddled
    Thanks! I don't know how I missed that! I've worked out the sizing on the extra petite and it's (at least) 10 cm bigger than dd, so I think that's not a goer, unfortunately, so I need to find child sizes.
  14. Confuddled
    If you get a chance, could you link to one for me? I've been looking but all I've found are pale pink (which is pretty much the only colour she absolutely refuses to wear).
  15. Confuddled
    So I've had a really frustrating e-mail from the Sansha shop (they won't honour the prices on their website, or explain why they added tax on to children's clothes, or why their prices don't add up to their total) and cancelled my order. But now I can't find the fleece unitard in child size 10-12 anywhere on the internet. Nothing on ebay, and Amazon is out of stock. Dd really wants a Sansha one, as that's what the other girls have. Does anyone know of a real shop that I could phone up, that might order me one in and post it to me? Or something that would look just like it? I'm going to have a look at all the other brands suggested for next time and see how small they go, but for this time she's got her heart set on the Sansha one.
  16. Confuddled
    I hadn't thought of buy XS or size 4 - have you got any idea what that equates to in children's sizes or heights? It's a good thought but she may still be too small. I'm not sure if she knows about being a black or blue base yet. Although she has strong preferences for colours in clothes, they're mostly of the 'not pink' variety.
  17. Confuddled
    Yes, I'm currently trying to make this term's diary work. I've found three serious clashes so far, but I"m sure more will appear as people send me details of timings. Trying to balance things between siblings is hard, too.
  18. Confuddled
    Bother, it'll have to be Tuesday then.
  19. Confuddled
    Yes, I checked out and then realised they hadn't used the discounted price advertised on their website but the full one, had charged me a hefty P&P fee, plus a handling fee for an under £25 order (which it wasn't) and added tax (which isn't chargeable on kids clothes). I should have noticed but was trying to oversee bathtime at the same time. I'm going to ring them on Monday - it should have come to about a third less than they charged me!
  20. Confuddled
    Aha, and it's on sale, too! The sizing chart looks a bit odd - it has 130cm for the 10-12 year old one, when most street clothes are 130cm for an 8 year old. Does it really come up that small? Thanks, all! That's given me a lot of ideas of the sort of thing to look for.
  21. Confuddled
    Dd was very nervous about starting a new class earlier this week, and it turns out that she feels the odd one out turning up in her standard home clothes (usually a long sleeved dress, as it's easy to take off and she can wear tights and leotard underneath). Apparently all (I'm taking 'all' with a pinch of salt) of the other girls have Sansha dancewear. She does have the Bloch booties but rarely has a chance to wear them as we walk almost everywhere and they're not suitable for walking outdoors. I think the girls who turn up in those must come by car (and have some parents with miracle parking skills, or else a high tolerance for paying parking tickets!). Can anyone suggest one or two pieces of clothing which I could get her to make her fit in a bit better? It can't be anything tight on the legs as she hates the feeling of leggings over ballet tights. I've asked her to have a look and suggest some things, but she seems overwhelmed, other than saying that the brand is important.
  22. Confuddled
    This is fantastic advice. I'd also add that going to a trial class is good, but a if a ballet school does a summer school then that's really helpful in working out whether it's a good fit. I know summer is a way off, but a whole week really gives your dd a chance to see whether she gels with the teachers, what the other pupils are like, how seriously they all take it etc. I know some schools don't do summer schools (or not for older children), though. I knew dd had found the one when she bounced out happy but exhausted.
  23. Confuddled
    Has anyone spotted the details for this year (auditions times, where the summer school is going to be held, dates etc)? I've had a quick look at NYB's website which says 8 Jan on Facebook, but there's nothing on Facebook as far as I can tell.
  24. Confuddled
    I've got the rehearsal dates for Wimbledon, if you still need them: REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE DATES 2017 Wednesday 27th June casting & Photos (After school) Monday 6th – Friday 10th August (5 Days) Monday 13th – Friday 18th August (5 Days) In the Theatre Thurs 23rd August ( Eve Rehearsal 6.00-10.00pm) Friday 24th August Dress Rehearsal/Eve Performance. 2.00- 5.30pm 7.30-10.00pm Saturday 14th April Mat & Eve Performance 2.30 – 5.00, 7.30- 10.00pm What I really want to know is the rehearsal venue - apparently the school they used last time was awful and they didn't want to use it again, but from a logistics point of view I could do with knowing whether it's walking distance / bus-able (which dd can do by herself) or whether if dd got in I'd have to sort out transport for her and (depending on lift-sharing arrangements and space in the car) childcare for my other child. I have to start planning summer childcare pretty much straight after Christmas, as things get so booked up.
  25. Confuddled
    Does anyone happen to know, how does it work if the performance is in the school holidays? Do they rehearse solidly for the two weeks beforehand? The one local to us will be school holidays, and I'm not clear about how they run those, from the thread, and would like to know if I'd be knocking out two full weeks, as we're going to need to fit in some serious 11+ prep, too. And I'd quite like a family holiday, though that's very much bottom of the list...
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