MAK

Hopefully they'll resend with the attachment when you call them Caitlin_dance. The dates would definitely be helpful although I'm still working on the basis that getting a place would be incredibly unlikely.

You are right. I did have that email and there was no attachment.

No but I think the detailed one might only come out 7 days before the audition. I did look for an attachment though!

New dates for the 2017 Production (May Half Term). Now clashes with some of the All England Regional Finals not to mention JA auditions ????

I guess it's a decision that needs to be considered very carefully on a case by case basis. It's great to see from so many of the comments that many schools (luckily for us, this includes ours) take this approach. Dd may be taking it well but it took a while for her to accept the reasons and is why articles such as this can be really helpful as support. It's interesting to link this with another post on this forum about height and how on average the population is getting taller. Girls are developing/maturing physically earlier on average than in the past too (again, dd is an exception here!). I wonder whether this means the temptation for some girls to start pointe earlier is even stronger? Anyway, it's great that at least this stuff gets discussed as it helps me as a non-dancer learn a lot.

Legseleven, that's exactly the approach being taken for DD. To be fair, the majority of her dancing friends go onto pointe around the age of 11, but they have all been dancing since an early age, most have been an Associate since 8, and importantly have physical maturity and strength. Dd is learning the variations on demi-pointe and even though she is the only one in the class doing so, she is happy and trusts her teacher ????

Oh my goodness, 8?!

Thought some members might be interested in this. I have a small DD who is a "very young" 12 and her teachers and I luckily are of the same view. It can be quite hard when the dc feels it's a sign of dance quality rather than physical readiness! Articles like this do help. https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2016/royal-academy-dance-alumni-warn-parents-en-pointe-young-children/

Is that Victoria? (The white cat in Cats). The favourite cat of DD1. I hope she achieves her dream and in the meantime Royal Caribbean is such a brilliant cruise line.

Tulip your daughter is going to have the time of her life ????

Thank you Anna C!

We are fans of the "dog poo" bun in our house. It does get quite large when using more than two strands but can be very pretty! ????

Your post has put a huge smile on my face today! I am so impressed, Grade 6!! Thank you for sharing Dormouse ????

We had a great experience at Freed for DD's first soft blocks and there is a lot of variation as they use different makers. DD was v happy ????

Alison that is certainly the case in the UK. Both my dds were competitive gymnasts a few years ago (and still train for fun now) but after a while their coach decided they wouldn't be suitable for elite level specifically because of body type/shape. They had the flexibility but in her view not the fast twitch muscles. In the past, where the gymnastics you would see was based more on grace and elegance and less on power and highly complex moves then their body type would have been more suitable apparently. What was tough (character building?) for them at the time has turned out to be a blessing in disguise as they can do more dancing abd performing as well as doing a few hours' gym a week. If they had carried on at the previous level they would have been expected to train for 20+ hours a week from the age of 9. I totally agree with other posters here. It is lovely if you are in a position to let your daughter try a range of activities that she enjoys initially. If she does show promise in one or more, in my experience it really won't be long before she is invited to do more hours/classes as teachers in all areas are always on the lookout for new talent and then managing multiple activities, especially if you have more than one child, becomes more of a challenge! Good luck and hope your daughter has a lovely time ????

DD1 has progressed really well in her first year as an Associate at Central. The only disappointment is that Rebecca Howell is leaving to take up a full time post at RBS as she was fantastic. I'm sure the replacement teacher will be of high quality although not sure who it will be yet.

The teachers at the dance school did know it was LLF to be fair in early July. Come to think of it I think it might have been another dance related thing that I found out about when on hols in August! Sorry Flora11!

Think it was mid August last year...

It's a topic that comes up from time to time on this forum and I think I've worked out that my personal discomfort is around the fact that for many sports, for example, certain physical traits are going to have clear advantages. My petite DDs won't be professional basketball players that's for sure. However, you could have the most exquisite dancer that we could end up never seeing perform because she or he doesn't fit the mould that is considered aesthetically most pleasing (by some companies) and the idea of having to say someone has not been chosen because they look wrong rather than are not good enough could certainly lead to issues. Having said all that, it's great that there are well known exceptions from time to time and I'm also well aware of some specific requirements that make sense such as having Corps dancers of similar heights etc. Hopefully if schools and companies are open and honest about their criteria that is at least a start.

Luckily just height! :-)

Lord help my kids if that's the case! In all seriousness my shape changed significantly after having kids and getting older and bears very little resemblance to the one I was blessed with in my twenties and early thirties. I am short and my husband is tall so that wouldn't help much either. Of course there are other cases where future height/shape might be much easier to predict :-)

Ps sorry that was nothing to do with NB

I worked on a cruise ship for five months in between jobs (not as part of the entertainment team). It was a brilliant experience. Hard work, long hours and in my case, not lucrative, but great fun and a wonderful way to see the world. I made friends with dancers and singers (as well as other crew members) from across the world and I have already encouraged my young DDs to keep dancing (and in their cases singing and acting when time allows) to give them at least a shot at doing a cruise contract later in life.

Fantastic!!

Wow, what an amazing post. You must be so proud Annaliesey. I hope this reaches lots of people.