Myth Australia

This is from the competition rules in answer to Mimi66 re: jury members "The competition jury's decisions on the selection and the finals in Lausanne, as well as the distribution of prizes, are final and irrevocable. If a jury member is associated with a school or has worked closely with a candidate, he/she does not have the right to vote for candidates coming from his/her school or the candidates with whom they have worked." There is another jury member who has been working with four of the candidates.

I agree with what Lucinda has written above. To add to this many of the dance students that travel to competitions abroad, dance at eisteddfods in Australia competing in several solos e.g. classical ballet, contemporary and groups/troupes mostly from a very young age. The eisteddfods (competitions) are often every weekend for about 6 months of the year. The students are coached 1:1 for these solos frequently more than an hour a week. It is not uncommon in Australia for a 10 year old to spend several afternoons in a dance studio and every Saturday throughout the school terms in training. Most dance schools offer holiday programs and some have compulsory holiday classes for either competition training or exam technique. The requirements for Distance Education are minimal compared to that of a child in regular school program. They are not rigorously monitored and many students (not all) fall behind in their school work with little, if any, demand from the educational authorities to ensure the student is meeting a minimum standard. The class sizes are generally small for ballet once the students require 3 or more classes of dance per week as well as private lessons as it is expensive to pursue beyond the basic years. It therefore attracts only those who can afford it. There are dance programs in some schools that offer general training. There are very few boys involved in dance and it is not uncommon for a boy to be the only male in his dance school. Therefore, once again, receiving continuous 1:1 training from a young age. Even at vocational level the class sizes for boys are significantly smaller than the girls classes. A dance school in Australia can run a vocational dance program with as little as two students. Again, I agree with Lucinda, little thought is given to their social/emotional development and the students learn to connect with other dancers through competitions and social media. I hope this gives a bit more insight into why Australian dance students generally do well in competitions abroad. In summary, loads of 1:1 training, many hours on a variety of stages often from an early age, much more exposure to 'Open classes' and the types of classes they have in ballet competitions, loads of training in facial affect, history of the performance piece and how to engage with the audience. A very interesting discussion and from what I gather, the students training in dance in the UK do not have this kind of exposure.