MAK

Casting 26th June Rehearsals 6th-10th and 13th - 17th Aug Dress rehearsal and performances 22nd - 25th August

Me too. Had completely forgotten about rehearsal venue. I did have it confirmed that casting/photos is definitely Tues 26th June (as inevitably we have clashes 😱).

Really good news on all fronts @junedancer 😊. Tbf the minimum age was only officially reduced to 13 and quite late in the day. Dancers were expected to be working at RAD Intermediate level or above I believe. I'll definitely be looking out for future workshops. Dd really enjoyed being challenged (in a good way).

I think it's probably always worth asking if you have a dd or ds slightly outside the age criteria but dancing at the required level - the worst that can happen is they say no, but you might end up with a positive response. We enquired for dd for the recent Easter Masterclass as for once we had no other dancing commitments that day. She was just under the stated minimum age. We received a very friendly and prompt response and dd was able to attend and very much enjoyed the day (and in fact the minimum age was reduced shortly before the course took place anyway). Good luck for tomorrow!

I was also thinking about you yesterday after the issues with summer school. What fantastic news, you must have performed brilliantly - congratulations!!

Thank you @ImgyA 😊

I have one dd that has been accepted and another on the waiting list (for the junior summer school) so they don't accept every applicant immediately.

When our dds attended they rotated the rows after each exercise so it seemed fairly even. We had also been given advice to show that you are enjoying yourself (smile!) and the old one: "wrong and strong" 😉

Great post @hfbrew! The more I read depressing news about cuts to Arts funding and this more recent article about schools refusing to authorise leave for exams, the luckier I feel that my dds attend (different) secondary schools where creative arts are thriving and achievements outside of school are celebrated and welcomed. To date I have never had an absence request for a dance or music exam refused. For ballet, over the years we have probably had an equal amount of exams across school days and weekends as we are fortunate enough to have access to facilities large enough to allow for the latter. Our dance school Head also tries very hard to be accommodating when arranging the schedule, especially where she knows some schools are less supportive. A number of years ago, when DD1 was starting on the competitive gymnastics path (before focusing on dance) the Head Coach addressed parents' concerns about the impact on academics of training so many hours. He explained that in his experience, in many cases, the focus and drive it took to become a top sportsperson often went hand in hand with the achievement of excellent academic qualifications. He noted that many of his gymnasts were highly organised and used training downtime, e.g. when away for competitions, to study. On the other hand, for those children who find school tough and haven't yet found their niche within the curriculum, I would have thought that the opportunity to demonstrate achievements in other areas such as dance, sport, music, including through the taking and passing of exams, would be highly beneficial to them.

Amazing news @margarite, congratulations to your dd. Looking forward to seeing her dance at EYB 😊

Not always practical but we were advised to try as many shops as possible. Bloch, Dancia, Capezio and Freed are all within walking distance of each other. I believe you need to make appointments in all but Freed which operates on a walk-in basis.

Just coming back to let you know that DD1 had an excellent fitting at Dancer's Boutique in Amersham - the longest one we have had to date and certainly the most choice in shoes. She has ended up with a pair of Grishko 2007 pro-flex and so far they are going down very well, hurrah 😊

My two did a senior audition recently but I think the junior audition takes the same format. The children are given a number to wear based on when they arrive (ie first there gets number 1) and then they are arranged on stage in rows of ten. The teacher then teaches an exercise which the group will perform in front of the panel and once that exercise is complete that row goes to the back and so on. Sometimes the rows are staggered so that individuals can be seen better and frequently the exercise is danced one row at a time. Parents can watch the whole audition and you find out at the end if you have a place. My dds really enjoyed the audition and are very excited about rehearsals and performing this summer. Good luck!!

Hi @Sabri. My daughter is attending but during one of the Junior weeks. Hope you have a great time!

@Peanut68 I have just seen on FB that the new Leeds scholarship audition date is 15th April. I guess they will send emails to affected parties too.

Thank you @Bluebird22 and @Cara in NZ, good to have some brands/makes to add to the list for consideration. It really is quite a minefield with so many options. Dd1 is starting to work out what feels right but can be quite shy so she can be tempted to say something feels ok when it doesn't. I suspect a lot will come down to the fitter. By the sounds of it there are definitely shoes out there that will fit her better than her first two pairs, she just needs to play Cinderella for a bit! Thanks again, I'll let you know what we end up with.

Thanks @Anna C, v helpful. Yes she will still be growing so it will no doubt mean more changes in styles in the coming years. She was put off last time in Freed as the order was made for a double X fitting, which I didn't question at the time because I was firmly in the hands of the fitter, and only later realised when reading the accompanying literature that these would be more suitable for a wider foot. Dd2 was fitted in Freed and hers are fine so proves your point. Thanks again 😊

We are about to embark on the mission of finding a third pair Pointe shoes for DD1. Her first pair (Bloch Amelie) never really sat quite right and always slipped at the heel. Her second pair (Freed) are too wide around the foot and don't support it sufficiently. Ideally I'd have liked to get to Just Ballet but Wisbech not practical for us at the moment so we will aim to trawl round all of the London shops during the hols. Does anyone have any recommendations of shoes that have worked for a foot that is medium width, fairly square (2nd toe marginally longer than big toe) and low profile (has to work hard to get an arch but low risk of going over!)? We will still make sure she tries a full range but would welcome suggestions. She tried a Grishko 2007 (not sure of specific "model") on Saturday but I suspect the shank would be too hard for her to get a nice shape and she'd end up frustrated. Thanks in advance!

We had both Course B Week One emails on Friday in the end, exactly four weeks from the submission deadline: a yes for dd1 and waitlist for dd2 so much excitement in our household. Good luck to your dc for Course A, hopefully the wait won't be much longer.

Funnily enough one of our emails arrived shortly after I posted (typical) and I'm going to be a live test of the theory that yeses get sent out first since we don't have an email for dd2 yet 😉

Has anyone heard from ENB yet for Week B?

I don't think the deadline has passed yet? Scholarship auditions for London are this Sunday (11th) and Leeds 18th March so forms would have to be in quickly for those. The summer school application deadline is 6th April according to the website.

We may well not do but there are two weeks of school holiday before rehearsals start and a week and a half left after the performance. We actually had to go for this one, partly for the location but also as rehearsing outside of summer hols would be impossible due to other (mainly dance) commitments 😉

Looking forward to meeting you and some other members of this forum over the summer!

Success for both dds today also, plus managed to get there safely and back, added bonus! Caught the end of the junior scholarship audition when we arrived, there looked to be some very accomplished dancers in that group. @margarite were you at the Junior or Senior audition?