Pointetoes

We are still waiting to here from them, I am imagining it will take them a couple of weeks.

A few of DD’s friends were very anxious/worried/scared about this, so we had a succession of sleep overs before the first school residential. The understanding was that they could go home at any time day or night, none of them did and it successfully broke the ice on residential. Some children simply love going away and some don’t. My non DD would avoid going away at all costs until she was a teenager where as went off at the age of 5. They are all different.

DD had an awful time with Freed. At the fitting she was being told a shoe fitted beautifully and we both looked at each other and asked to try another size/style etc. This carried on with the fitter consistently going back to the original pair. Thankfully DD is experienced enough and brave enough to walk away. The main issue we had was they couldn’t understand or get their heads around the fact that she only has size 2.5/3 feet even though she is 17 They were insistent that her feet were bigger ( they are not ); and therefore the shoes kept twisting. We now stick with Dancia.

Saturday rehearsals usually start at 2pm and Sunday at 12 noon,

Regarding leotards - Miss Lewis has a problem with the colour purple, it actual makes her feel very ill. This doesn’t mean girls wearing purple don’t get in because they do,at the last EYB audition DD purple was the colour of a local school, the majority of them got in despite wearing purple but if you can avoid it then do for Miss Lewis’s sake more than anything.

A friend of DDs has just been offered a place for September, so I really hope things haven’t changed in the last couple of days.

Good luck to you all today, remember to smile, smile, smile And congratulations @ArucariaBallerina a perfect way to end your week.

Have a look at Just Ballet. If they don’t have that sort of thing I am fairly sure they will know where you should be looking

DD is auditioning this time next yr for 18+ and I know we are looking at four figures for all her audition fees, travel etc

They do take into account that the first few rows have longer to learn the steps and rotation does mean it isn’t always the same row to be seen first. Smiling is very important, they want to see performance

DD tends to simply write a thank you card, in many ways says far more than a gift and takes a lot more effort and thought on the pupils side.

A Mother’s gut instinct is usually right, so so pleased you got your credit card out. Wishing you all masses of luck.

DD is going to give it ago,not expecting to get in but going for the audition experience.

Premier is in May. All EYB staff are very excited about it and DD is hoping it will be her swan song with them. I know it has been “planned” for a long time and I have no doubt it will be well done.

Totally agree, I was really relieved she pulled the blinds down for most of the first session. I think the problem was the age range......I felt that the younger ones and Parents were not necessarily there for the right reasons. At no time were we asked about filming etc. DD said she did say she doesn’t really like the venue because of the windows and parents being able to view. It must have felt like being a goldfish at times today.

DD has secured doubles and is heading towards triples. She thoroughly enjoyed herself today.

I think DD is hoping for a miracle or something along those lines 😀 In reality she is hoping for a confidence boost

Pictures - DD is also going tomorrow 😀

DD took a Vocational exam at RAD headquarters last week. We were lucky because both her classes were very small she didn’t need any extra coaching unlike her previous vocational exam but I had to pay for both of us to get to headquarters, lunch etc. Her exam was 1.5 hrs long and she was taken up to the warm up room 30mins before hand, so that left me with 2 hours to drink coffee and get her food/ hot chocolate for after her exam because I knew she would be starving. As yet I haven’t been billed for the exam but it’s about £130, slightly more than Grade 8 music exams, which musical DD put on her UCAS ( she is off to study music) Its an expensive business and she missed a full day of college. The exam period was for 3 weeks, we were able to put down days we were unable to attend. Headquarters are good in that they look at where you are coming from when deciding your exam time. DD take all her non vocational grades at her dance school, which because of classes all day on a Saturday request examiners during the week.

DD didn’t get into EYB until her 3rd audition and then it was from the reserve list. She is very grateful it didn’t happen instantly. I think it was harder for me than her but it made her want it even more and work hard. She only ever audition as a senior and has gone on to perform with EYB 5 times now and is now at vocational 6th form.

I will just throw this into the pot .......... .... both DD and musically DD took their ABRSM music exams at their respective independent schools. The exam would spent a couple of days in school 9-4 doing exams. The students arrived 30 mins before hand to warm up etc, after their exam they woukd un wind and then head back to their lessons. These exams always happen during term time, not one parent or teacher stops the children attending their exams. At one point DDs school was also used for ballet exams, again no one complained. Taking dance/music/ LAMDA exams in the evenings is crazy, the children would be exhausted. I totally agree with Pictures, it takes the same length of time to get ready for a music exam as a ballet exam.

We know DC currently in Tap Attack and the staff including the founder. It is a very high standard, they work hard but have a great time and regularly win events at the World Championships. Your DC has nothing to lose by attending the auditions as it will be great experience.

LAMDA is the one exam DD did in the summer term of yr 11, only because we knew it was going to be weeks after her last GCSE. She still didn’t get her normal result because she was quiet simply exhausted after all her GCSEs We did start the grade 8 discussion in December of yr11 so we were able to say March of yr 11 or December ( we knew they wouldn’t want her to take it t that late because of vocational 6th form . Pictures that is really awful.....

I was very instant that DD last year didn’t take any dance exams during her GCSE term. You should already have her GCSE exam timetable, I would take it in and discuss timings with her teacher.

I used to simply inform the school when my DD or Musical D would be away from school......I never had any problems, they were always fully supportive.