Pointe-less

I've just dropped her a quick message and she said that when her dd got offered a place in year 8 the letter did say that audition dates for MDS recall audition would be sent out upon receipt of registration fee.....so maybe they have changed their offer letter and removed the mention of funding recall?? I would call the school and ask. Hope this helps

My friends dd has been offered a place for a higher year and she received no info on MDS either but had assumed that it was because the older ones don't get recalled to funding audition, but maybe they don't give info to anyone before receiving the deposit and financial statement??

Congratulations to your dd mummy twinkle toes, if you don't mind me asking what year is your dd applying for?

Hmm this us getting confusing ????

Maybe the principal got her numbers mixed up then?? Could be very misleading/confusing for those at the audition yesterday!! ......unless the error is mine and I've misheard the figures?? Was anybody at the audition yesterday that could confirm??

Hammond audition were told yesterday by the principle that cut off was £250k for MDS unlike Dada which she said was £90k.

It wasn't just for year 7's, My friends dd auditioned today and they tell me there was a mix of years 7,8,9 and 10 boys and girls. Good luck to all ????

How lovely!, Well done ROH staff you have revived my faith in humanity, people do still care about one another after all!

Definitely the elephant in the room!! But I couldn't agree more!! I have posted on the forum before with regards to a friend of mine who's dd had made finals and even got offered an unfunded place but never managed to snag an mds, she is from a low income family and they really struggle to afford her dance lessons, she doesn't have privates, can't afford to take exams and paying for auditions with travel and overnight accommodations often leaves them short and my friend feels that it is their lack of income which has held her dd back. I believe I may have even wrote before that she once told me that the whole ballet system is still favourable to those with more money as you have to be pretty special to secure a mds so unless you are a naturally gifted dancer then in reality you need to be able to afford good quality lessons and as much training as possible to reach a level worthy of gaining funding which just isn't at all achievable on a low income, so instantly you are a disadvantage if your parents have low incomes. Obviously this isn't always the case but based on people we both know with mds places it also isn't too far from the truth either. And all that is not to say that children from low income families can't gain mds places and im sure they do, but she believes that low income families are at a disadvantage. Oh and another thing she mentioned was after dd being offered a place at Hammond she had to pay something like £150 deposit to accept her place at the funding audition, which she felt was totally unreasonable as she was applying for funding because she couldn't afford the fees and so to be expected to find £150 at such short notice was ridiculous, something else that might put low income families off auditioning in the first place!

And here was me thinking I was the only one to notice the "masterclass" epidemic

I don't think festival or exam marks hold much weight in terms of truly rating a child's potential. I have a friend who's daughter consistently scored high 70's to low 80's in her exams and low to mid 80's at festivals, and was often beaten by her friends scoring high 80's to low 90's, yet she had multiply vocational school offers for both year 7 and 8 with funding auditions and a bursary offer whilst none of said friends got a single offer!! Don't ask me why or how but they obviously liked my friends dd, so after that I realised that vocational schools obviously just want what they want and that's not necessarily a high scoring festival/exam dancer?!

Oh ok that's interesting to know thank you Hairbelles!

Another question, sorry!! But does anyone know what the older years do whilst year 7&8 are doing the NVR test on audition day? As on website it only says the test is for the year 7&8 so that would leave an hour for the year 9&10's with nothing tI do? Thanks

This makes sense, so the highest overall scores get the MDS, but maybe not so good for someone who scored really high in one area but not so high in others? There is so much to take in when it comes to vocational schools and auditions haha

Oh how naive of me but I didn't know that MDS was based on Classical!! Based on this can I ask what solo have people's DC done?? Is ballet the way to go?? My DD is just a hobby dancer but with having a few friends and family apply for the big 4 year in year out it has made her consider whether she should take things more serious!!

Wow snape that is a great help thank you, can I ask what year your dd is in? Also when do they start pointe and do you know what sort of level they need to be for a year 9 entry? Are they still looking for potential or is it more ability by then? Thank you again for your reply!!

Not sure if this has already been covered in a different thread or not but I was wondering if anyone could shed some light onto additional costs when accepting an MDS funded place at The Hammond? I don't mean the parental contribution as I understand that this is personal to ones circumstances, but anything and everything else that anyone can think of would be a great help to try and shed some light on the true cost of having a child at vocational school! Thank you

Thank you sarahw and congratulations to your dd, what an achievement!!

Does anyone have any idea on what the likelihood of a funded year 9 place at The Hammond is like, also been told that year 9's don't get invited to funding audition, is this true? And if so does anyone know why that is?

Sorry if a daft question but how/when do you use these foam rollers?

Thanks pictures

What sort of performance opportunities did your dd get to take part in lildancer96 if you don't mind me asking and how did your daughter get on there? Did she enjoy the classes? Thanks

Thank you for the replies everyone, and pictures I had noticed on the DanceXchange website that it said the scheme was on Sunday's, and that is what made me wonder about hours, I can't see them getting in 15/16 hours like BlueLous dc does if they only attend one day a week?!

No I haven't thank you Anna C I shall have a read now xx

Hello all, I know there are other threads here and there with info on about the schemes but I'm posting to ask for as much info as possible on anything and everything to do with these schemes as I don't know anything about them at all really, an before googling I wanted to seek advice from people who may have first hand experience! I just want to know everything really, especially for the contemporary at the Birmingham centre, what hours are involved, are the classes held in the same place each week, do all the different age groups train together, what exactly do they do? What are the performance opportunities like, costs involved, is everyone funded or do you audition for funding as with vocational schools, do you have to reaudition every year? Just basically anything you wish you had known before starting. I know there's a lot to take in there lol but thank you for any advice offered