AmieDancer

Thank you all so much! I'm very excited and will definitely be checking out local dance classes☺️ Also thanks for the student room link- it's extremely helpful!!

Hi everyone, I realise that this is a VERY old thread but I thought that maybe some of you would be interested to know the decision I've reached. After completing my UCAS form etc, I am very excited to have received an unconditional offer from UEA (University of East Anglia) to study English Literature which I have now accepted☺️ Thanks to all of your help, I decided that an English degree would be best for me as at UEA I am still able to participate in a huge amount of dance which will allow me to keep it up! I'm also now looking into going into English teaching which was something I had never considered before. So basically I just want to thank you all as you were all extremely helpful!

I took mine on the 26th November and am still waiting for results! Hopefully they'll come soon as my teacher has results from the lower grade exams that were taken on the 28th November at our dance school but not mine that was done at HQ.

UPDATE: so I went back to Dancia where I purchased my pointe shoes and I told them about my problem with my big toes. We sat for a while trying different types of padding and different combinations until we found a solution: I need a spacer in between my first and second toes to straighten out my big toe and stop my weight from being on the corner. When going on pointe with a spacer, I no longer feel any pain whatsoever and last week I was able to complete my whole 30 minute pointe class properly with very minimal pain for the first time in years. I am over the moon that I can now dance properly in pointe shoes! Thank you to everyone for their help☺️

No I never had them before I started pointe work. I usually try on about 3 different makes and then a couple of styles and fits. I've tried on Bloch, Grishko, Sansha and Gaynor Mindens but only ever worn Bloch or GM. That's a good idea, I will definitely do that. I think I need to spend more time in the shop trying on the different makes and styles as they always feel different in the shop to actually wearing them!

Yes my shoes were fitted with padding which could be why. I just tried on both of my pairs of pointe shoes (Bloch triomphes that I no longer wear as they are too small and my current Gaynor Mindens) without any padding and I noticed that only my big toe touches the bottom. My second toe is fairly long and so curls under a little bit but the other three toes are nowhere near the bottom. Could this be my problem that the box shape is wrong for my feet?

Thank you so much for all of your advice! I will definitely make an appointment with a podiatrist and hopefully that will help. That's true, I haven't considered that. No I've never been able to dance en pointe without pain which is annoying, although my first pair of pointe shoes (Bloch ones I can't remember the style) were quite a bad fit for my feet which caused me pain. My gaynors that I have now are a lot more comfortable and support my arch better but my toes still hurt

The nail beds of my big toes are really rounded which causes the edges of my toe nails to dig in and give me an ingrown toe nail when I go en pointe. Because of this I can barely stay en pointe for 10 minutes without padding as it causes me a lot of pain. I have tried various things such as cutting the nail straight across but none of it worked until I found some single gel toe covers. They provide my toe with some padding which stops it from hurting as much, however recently they have got holes in. I went to buy some new ones today and was told that wearing those plus ouch pouches was too much and it would mean that I wouldn't be using my feet correctly so the lady at the shop wouldn't sell me both. I don't know what to do because I can't go en pointe without them! Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you so much for all of your ideas and thoughts! Going for something personal definitely seems to be the best idea, so I think I'll write her a thank you note or card and probably make some sort of photo collage or something☺️

Those are such lovely ideas, thank you! I have quite a few pictures and videos of us together from shows and during class etc so a picture album/memory book would be a good thing to give to her. Engraving the iPod is a nice idea as well, I think she would love that! You've been really helpful, I now have a much better idea of what to get her so thank you!!

So next year I am leaving my Ballet school as I am going to university. My Ballet teacher is my biggest inspiration and also like a second mum to me so I want to get her something really special. I am willing to spend quite a bit of money if needs be which is why I'm asking early! I know that she likes chocolates, wine etc but I don't feel that any of that is special enough. She has two young children that I get on really well with and who both adore Frozen so I could get like a family present maybe? I also know that her iPod that she uses for class music is extremely old (like the IPod Classic that isn't made anymore!!) and it keeps freezing up etc with a slightly damaged screen, so maybe something along the technological route? I'm really not sure what to get her! Any ideas?

And at my school, the Grade 3s are around 11/12? It depends when they started.

I began RAD grade 7 in September 2014 and I took my exam yesterday. I only had an hour a week class for it but I was more than prepared

Yeah I think that's what I'm going to do, I've just got to wait a bit and see what feels right. I also need to visit the universities to get a feel for them all and hopefully that will help me to decide! I know that my mum didn't go to uni because she did vocational nursing degrees however my dad went to Manchester and then Warwick for post grad which is why they want me to aim for an academic course as they know I will probably be able to get the grades. I never auditioned for any vocational training as I was too old by the time I realised that I loved dance more than anything so maybe it might be better for me to do an English degree?? Thank you, it's nice to know I'm not alone! I think I'm going to do some more research and then let the answer come to me. Good luck to your ds!

Thank you so much for all of your answers, it's nice to know I'm not the only one being told this! I really really love English and I think I would enjoy it as a degree but dance is my passion and the one thing I can't live without, which sounds so cliché! Having an unpredictable career scares me a lot as I like to have everything planned out and I really don't want to end up in the position where I'm not earning any money as being a ballet teacher is only a part time job, but dance is what I love.

I haven't thought of that, kcoom75, I will look into that thank you! I think the reason I'm finding this so difficult is because I feel that whichever option I choose, I will be letting at least one person down. If I choose dance, I will let down my mum, my English teacher, my best friend and everyone from my past schools that have told my mum I'm 'too intelligent' to do a dance degree purely because I'm predicted 4 A's for my AS Levels. But if I choose English, I will let down my dance teacher at college and my ballet teacher who I look up to more than anyone and who really wants me to do dance. Having to decide is literally driving my insane and I really don't want to let anyone down!!

That's what I thought too aileen; I googled some masters courses and some of them said you required a 2.1 degree in English or a related subject whilst others just required a degree. I'm not sure how difficult the masters in English would be if I haven't done the undergraduate degree though.

Wow thank you for all of your responses! I've never thought about doing an MA in English actually- only the other way round! I shall definitely look into this. Thank you Sue Brett, good luck to your dd as well! Warwick is one of my top choices for an English degree so it's good to know that there is a lot of dance there! I will have to make my decision shortly though as we have to apply in a few months.

Ooh that's a good idea! I'm off to ballet in a bit so I shall ask them tonight, thank you!

I will look at that thank you! Yes I'm at Advanced Foundation level at the moment so that would be a good idea actually. I'll do some research into places where there are good RAD ballet schools and see which universities there have courses I like. Thank you so much, you've been really helpful!☺️

Thank you everyone for all of your help! Kate_N thank you for your advice, it sounds like getting an English degree and then private qualifications from the RAD is the best way forward so I am definitely going to do my research into universities in the cities you mentioned. I think this will give me the broadest range of options and I will be able to do both dance and English. Invisiblecircus I'm not 100% sure yet, but I think that I would prefer to teach ballet lessons outside of school time as ballet is what I really want to focus on. I don't think I'd mind teaching dance in school but yes there is the behaviour management aspect of it which, with secondary school students, I know is not easy! Thank you for all of your help☺️

That's good to know, thank you picturesinthefirelight. I'm slightly leaning towards getting an English degree and then doing the Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies from the RAD in order to keep my options open and give me the best chance of getting a job.

That's what I was thinking and whilst I do really enjoy contemporary and jazz, the GCSE/A Level spec is quite frustrating at times! My parents also think that that would be the best option as I would be able to teach both and I would have something to fall back on. However, I can't ignore the part of me that says to just go for the BA (Hons) Ballet Education degree at the RAD, which is what is causing all my doubts about what I actually want to do! Pas de Quatre: yes I have noticed that there are hardly any schools offering qualifications in Dance which is a shame and which is why I'm worried about the job opportunities. I think the English degree would set me up for many jobs however I'm still worried as to whether dance employers would prefer someone with a degree in dance over someone with a degree in an unrelated field?

So could I do the BA at RAD and then their PGCE to enable me to teach ballet as well as dance in schools? Would this be something that would make the job prospects any better or not really?

That's what my parents think as all of my ballet teachers either have multiple jobs (which I don't particularly want because of the travelling etc) or they've set up their own company, which again I don't really want to do. I know that in the BA (Hons) in Ballet Education you do study contemporary dance as well, but I don't think you're specifically then qualified to teach it. So if I did a PGCE after a joint honours degree, could I still teach Ballet? I would really love to do the RAD course as it's completely dance/ballet focused, but I don't want to end up with either a job that pays very little or no job at all! I just don't want to go to a university and be disappointed by their quite low standards of dance courses as for most of them, you don't even need any real experience.