Colman

What are the fees like for non-EU students? 

Lots of paths are unlikely to lead to financial security in the obvious jobs: studying for the bar and doing any sort of PhD spring to mind. Anything in the fine arts.

Given the pace of change these days, I'd say you're as well off trying to make a go of what you want to do rather than trying to fit into a "safe" model that may or may not exist by the time you've finished qualifying. Obviously, maintain your fallback plans. You can do degrees or professional qualifications later if you need/want them. 

2 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

Hello Colman, has your edit button reappeared?  A couple of people had the same issue and they seem to be OK now.

No, as can be seen from the mess of the first sentence in the post!

My wife and U I been jumping on yoga mats on vinyl over concrete. In fact we’ve been putting the harlequin floor over a thick yoga mat, exactly as isn’t recommended. I wouldn’t do much jumping on it past the simple jumps on the spot and I certainly wouldn’t try to turn or move on the mat when it’s over a yoga mat but it hasn’t done our aged limbs any harm doing jumps as part of class four times a week. If anything I sort worry it’s too soft and I’ll be very careful transitioning back to the studio floors if we ever get back into a studio.
 

The other obvious possibility is dance runners or just doing jumps in normal runners, depending on what you’re trying to achieve: proper moving jumps really need a proper floor to be done safely. And lots of space anyway.

Just now, alison said:

 

Sorry to disappoint you, Colman, but it's due to the latest software update   The Edit function is now under the three dots at the top right of your post, for some reason which escapes me.  (Do you have anything else but Edit there, BTW?)

 All I get in my lair is "Share". No "Edit".

[Oooh, I'm too naughty to be allowed edit posts. I feel like a supervillain.]

I assume you're aware of things like the INYB and the other youth companies that seem to offer a fair amount of extra work and training in at least Galway and Dublin? Not exactly associates, but an option for wider experience. I think there might be one in Cork as well? 

We used to travel to RAD associates in Elmhurst (flying to Birmingham) from Dublin with our son until they stopped them, but that only worked because they were running adult workshops at the same time so whichever parent was with him could also dance. It sounds like madness, but if you got your flights right it was cheaper for us to travel there than some of the English based people who were travelling by train or car. (Of course, if it was the wrong weekend you might have to skip a week because the flight costs were insane.) They were doing associates in Belfast last year, but I think that's gone again.

I can imagine that clawing of the toes and excessive activation of the thigh muscles could be associated through a student holding all their leg muscles far too tensely in an attempt to point. So while it couldn’t cause overuse of thigh muscles it could be associated with  it. 

Yes it’s possible. I do a bit, though I’ve been neglecting it lately due firstly to an unrelated injury and then <gestures at the world outside>. 
 

 You need to build the strength and technique to do it safely, which probably means four or five of years of pretty serious ballet classes and it’s hard even then. It’s not just foot strength, you need to understand how to control  the rest of your body.

Shoes can be obtained, custom made to your size if necessary.
 

Doing sort of pointe work you see in ballets would take a lot more work. Years more. 
 

It’s not traditional,

some people and some teachers will resist the idea because they’re really attached to the traditional gender roles in ballet and it’s not easy or quick or painless.

We just got one: our vinyl is too slippy for pointe work. It’s a 2x1 slice of proper dance floor vinyl with the traction  you’d expect. Not padded at all: would be very careful jumping on it. 

We all have days with two lefts.

Ballet is really hard: I’m in my sixth year now, and just beginning to really develop the facility to pick up exercises half efficiently, and I’ve been doing a good number of classes for the last two years of so. It’s one of the things that the people who danced lots when they were younger tend to find easier than those of is who started later in life, so some of it may come back to you.

I’ll report back on how progress at over a 105kg goes. 😂

Though, to be fair, I think my ankles and foot bones may be about four times the cross section of more traditional dancers on pointe.

8 hours ago, Sheila Beelam said:

Oh and a well fitted shoe is a pre-requisite

And if you have doubts about the fit,

that’ll undermine your confidence. One of the problems for a beginner is working out what a good fit feels like.

I suspect a lot of fitters probably don’t have much experience with adult beginners. We had a lovely fitting session in Freed today which sorted out some of

my wife’s issues and magically got me a pair of shoes that feel as if they fit. I suspect the fit will need refining after I get some experience though. 

TfL are warning of exit only on all the tube stations near Covent Garden in the afternoon.

No, nobody knows. There's also a big Brexit related demonstration planned, I think, so I'd plan an early lunch or a bit of pre-show protesting or something if I were you. 

They had already decided that the tube action was a bad idea. A subgroup did it anyway. The joys of anarchism. Glad I'm staying within walking distance of all the places I need to go to when I'm over this weekend.

6 hours ago, loveclassics said:

Is watching ballet recorded 'live' from the ROH stage vastly improved by the Blue-ray format?  I assume that DVDs are on the way out and I need to buy  new equipment anyway but I don't find HD makes a major diference so is it worth going to a new format? 

 

Linda

Yes, sadly, to the extent I want to replace my DVD collection with Blu-rays.

1 hour ago, bangorballetboy said:

(ii) we don't need to go on and on here about it.

You must be new here! 

Incidentally, am I right to read the G6 notes as saying you only need to perform one of the three dances in the exam? 

And this nonsense has got to be depressing visitor numbers: you’d have  to be quite brave to spend on a trip to the ROH in November if you’re coming from outside the U.K. 

12 hours ago, The_Red_Shoes said:

I agree with NeverTooOld that it's harder getting flexibility and stamina

Harder, slower, but possible (unless you’re carrying limiting injuries or health issues, obviously)

1 minute ago, Redsam said:

Colman, yes I think we are a rare breed here. good to know I'm not alone.  

I’ve actually come across a handful in the last year. 

Lots of adults doing exams, even in Dublin. Three of our ladies did RAD I/F before the summer, some older than you, one grade 3, one grade 5, both older than you by some distance. I’ve ISTD 3 + 4 planned in the Spring and I’ve got a decade on you. (Also, hello other dancing male in Dublin. Not many of us …)