Confuddled

Well, she loved it and bounced out grinning - we have to wait and see now.

Lisa - yes, the audition letter specifically said tights. I had to ask on here what 'transition dance tights' meant, as she's never worn them before. Her dance school requires socks until they've done Grade 3.

I can take her old leotard and ballet shoes (though they're on the knackered end of 'well-used'), and I've put in the spare packet of tights I bought. We have a massive over-supply of ballet socks, so I can take a spare pair easily. And I have added the bag of hair supplies and three different types of spray/gel.

Don't think she'll need a towel, though apparently tights are much warmer than socks (she tried them for a lesson). I'll have a google for local coffee shops.

Thanks - have just added mini sewing kit to the bag, and I've already got snacks and water bottle. Book is a good idea, as I'm leaving plenty of time so we might be quite early. Is it expected that you leave them there and not hang around? It's two hours, but I had assumed that it wasn't OK to leave the premises.

My daughter (7yo) has her first ballet audition tomorrow. I've got leotard with belt, tights (huge excitement over those, as she usually wears socks), new ballet shoes (luckily she's just growing out of the old ones) and am planning to use lots of gel and hairspray to get a neat bun tomorrow. I also have hair ribbons for her bun (as advised by her ballet teacher). Do I need anything else?

I've just ordered the Bloch ones, as 'picky' is a good description of how my daughter can be. So hopefully she will like how they feel. Thanks! It's just a whole new world to me. Even the audition time slots aren't done in ages but in Seniors, Mids and Juniors and I don't know what those are! Luckily it doesn't matter as she is right at the bottom of the age range so she has to be a Junior - but I'd hate to google and then get it wrong.

It's for the Surrey Youth Ballet. She is only in the Grade 1 class, and they have socks. Grade 2 is also socks, and maybe 3 as well, though the older girls I see going to other classes definitely wear tights.

That's brilliant, just what I needed. Thanks! Is there a particular reason for tights rather than socks? I'm going to do what the instructions say, but would it be a disaster to turn up in socks?

My daughter is going to her first audition, and we've just had the details through. It says she needs tights (ideally 'transition dance tights'). I have no idea what these are! She's only ever worn socks. I've done some googling, but wondered if anyone could recommend me a pair? Should be pink (I assume, her ballet shoes are pink) and fit a small 7yo (she's about 121cm). She can also be fussy about seams and how things feel... I'd be so grateful for any suggestions.

I know very little about ballet, but I do know about bras. Bravissimo will be great, but if what they suggest is too expensive you can always take down the size and reference number and go away 'to think about it', and have a google for cheaper online prices for exactly the same bra. Brastop, eBay, Amazon etc often have discounted bras. Bravissimo also have a 'wedding' selection of bras with no straps, adjustable or clear straps etc. I don't know how supportive they are, though. Debrnhams is also worth a look, if you're small backed, as their 28 back sizes (in the Gorgeous range) are more like 26s, and so on up, so you effectively get more options in the smaller back sizes. I personally think that M&S bras aren't very supportive in the larger sizes, as they seem to design them for smaller busted women and then not scale up the support when they make them larger. Plus they will probably try and sell you a bra which is six inches bigger around the back than you actually are (they have this weird old-fashioned measuring system).

Thanks! She desperately wants to, and is clear that this will be a harder class and she won't be the best (she currently does two Grade 1 classes a week), so this will be a step up and with older children. I have no idea what auditions or plans her ballet teacher might have for the future - she's always super busy and rushed so I never feel able to ask questions. Anyway, the crucial thing is that dd enjoys it. Since she's so keen we've agreed she can try for a term and see how she gets on. If she's too tired or not enjoying it, she will stop. As for other types of dance, unfortunately the timings don't work with her current classes and it's all much older children, so unfortunately that's not a possibility. She's not very sporty at all, so I am keen to encourage a form of exercise that she enjoys and is likely to stick with, and that's another consideration. Thanks for all your advice!

I had such brilliant advice about summer schools, that I thought I'd post about another dance conundrum that's just come up. Again, I'm coming from a position of complete ignorance about ballet and dance in general. My dd is 6, and currently does 1.5 hours of Grade 1 each week. Her ballet teacher has suggested that she (and a few others from her Grade 1 class) should do a Grade 2 class as well. The idea is to make sure that they would be ready for auditions, if they progressed sufficiently, in a couple of years. I have no desire at all for her to be a professional ballerina (she has different ideas, but I think 6 is too young to know and anyway, I suspect genetics is not on her side), and I don't want her to over-strain herself. So I really don't care about being ready for auditions. On the other hand, she loves dancing and really wants to do the extra classes, just because it's more ballet. Would there be any downside for her (I can live with the cost and the logistical hassle for me) doing this?

I found a local ballet school that I didn't even know existed already has details for its summer school on its website. It's only about ten minutes walk away and it's a whole week of ballet, jazz, musical theatre etc which she will absolutely love! It's odd. I knew about three local ballet schools, but once I started googling I found several more that I'd never heard of. Thanks so much for all your helpful suggestions.

Legseleven -Yorkshire is a long way from us! But I'll have a look at the others you suggested, thanks for the info. I'm always reluctant to ask her ballet teacher, as she's so very busy and always looks completely stressed out, so it's really useful to have a big of extra information. Pictures - that would be ideal, do you know where they would advertise? I've checked mumsnet local and various local websites.

I knew it was more than wanting to wear a pretty tutu when she sat through a whole ballet, entranced, aged not quite three. We had assumed we would need to take her home early... Anyway, the RAD summer courses look good - I need to sort out logistics and childcare, but if I can then I think we will go for it. I'll also email the ballet buddies email address and see if they have anything suitable. She's doing ISTD rather than RAD (just started Grade 1), but I assume it would be fine to do a RAD course and it wouldn't cause any problems?

I'll have a look, thanks! We've been to one of the My First Ballet performances - dd was a bit cross that I wasn't the 'proper' Cinderella which she had watched (again and again) on TV, so since then we've just been getting the cheapest restricted view tickets for £8 at the ROH whenever they have a suitable ballet on. She liked the workshop before the My First performance, but it was geared to children who hadn't done any ballet so it was more that she liked being on stage than the dancing, as there wasn't very much of what she thought of as 'proper ballet'.

I am a very confused mum to a 6 year old who is super keen on ballet. I know nothing about it - I have never done any sort of dance. She is desperate to do some ballet in the holidays, but all the googling I've done suggests that she needs to be a bit older to do summer schools, and it's all about auditions and being really good. Is there anything for her age group? It would need to be in London, and I'd want it to be fun and not competitive as she's very young. Does anything like this exist? I've found local drama groups that do a week of workshops ending with a little show during the holidays, which she loves, but I haven't found anything of the sort for ballet.