BlueLou

2 hours ago, Jewel said:

GSA is one of the best places in the country to train for musical theatre. Its very difficult to get into. 

Great to know 🙂. I know very little about MT courses and how difficult it is to get into the different schools. Dd has now accepted a place on the MA in MT at GSA starting in September. 

Dd graduates tomorrow. She has opted to spend the next year diversifying her skill set. Does anyone know anything about GSA (Guildford), and specifically Musical Theatre there? 

Ds loves scholars and will be going into his 3rd (or maybe 4th 🤔) year in September. Martin Howland is fantastic and it’s great for the boys to have a male role model. I echo Pixiewoo’s comments about how fabulous they have been throughout the last year too. He put a couple of clips of the audition choreo on his Instagram - Howlyballet. 

I think in the past Northern have had a connection with some student accommodation and most non-local students stayed there, but maybe that’s not an option this year?? 

8 hours ago, HowMuch! said:

Difficult week here, reserves again. We’re not quite sure which direction to go in, but I’m suspecting it might be the end of the vocational route for us. There is a not-so-little bit of me who’ll be quite relieved to simplify things and return to simple Saturdays, and perhaps the return of some cash in the bank! There’s still the reserve list glimmer of hope, but I remain unconvinced that there will be much movement. 
 

Well done to all those children who gained places, it sounds like it was a very tough year so they’re well-deserved indeed!!!!! 

Have you considered Renaissance Scholars? They do fortnightly associate level classes in the Northern Ballet studios on Sundays and I believe applications are still open to audition for this September. Feel free to PM me if you would like more info. 

Any performance experience or notable achievements. Particular dancers/choreographers/performances that have inspired her, and why. Ambitions for the future. Also, I’d tailor it to the school in some way - why is your dd applying to Rambert specifically? Is the 50/50 split particularly attractive to her, and if so why? 

At that age I think they should be doing whatever they find fun and enjoyable. Let her try it, and if she likes it then happy days. You can start thinking about what’s beneficial further down the line, and even then there should still be space in the timetable for stuff that’s just for fun. 

On 21/03/2020 at 16:41, Pixiewoo said:

No live classes yet,  but Martin Howland who is a director of Renaissance Arts in Leeds, has put ballet videos on YouTube and is hoping to live stream soon. 

He's called it Howly Ballet.

 

Looks good so far.

Martin Howland is now live streaming excellent classes on Instagram (Howlyballet) every Tuesday and Thursday at 4.  

Dutch National Ballet live streamed a class on Monday and it is still available on you tube. They are streaming another class on Friday.

All of the info is sent to the dance teachers, who should then pass it on. 

Dd did 2 weeks, so did a bit of cooking in the shared kitchen and ate out a bit. They seem to cluster all of the dancers together at Liberty - the girls she shared a kitchen with were all doing the same summer course. There are loads of cheap places to eat nearby. When dd went there were a few of the full time students also doing the summer school and they were very friendly and took the visitors out to their favourite places a few times. 

Dd did this course summer 2018, when she was 16, and thought it was excellent. She stayed in the Liberty Living student accommodation that the full time students live in, as did most of the others on the course I think. 

My dd had a photo shoot with Hotography a couple of months ago. It was her first photo shoot, aged 17.  Would thoroughly recommend Hotography. Simon is really nice and has lots of ideas for interesting shots. It was a fun day and I ended up buying 50 photos because there were so many good ones! Very reasonably priced packages too. 

You could try rummaging around on the ucas page. There are loads of dance related courses at Universities, but mostly for age 18+. https://digital.ucas.com/search/results?SearchText=Dance&filters=Destination_Undergraduate

2 hours ago, NJH said:

which NCP  would that  be ? 

NCP the Markets  i've never had a problme with card payments 

 the  parking  directly by  Northern / Quarry Hill Ministry of Truth  building  is Leeds council and the card payment option rarely works 

Sorry - I meant the Quarry Hill one. It’s not NCP, it’s Council as you say. It is the closest to NB. I think i’ve paid to re-surface that car park over the years, but it’s still a bomb site. And the machines don’t work. And it’s expensive. But i’m lazy, so i’ll carry on parking there and moaning a lot 😂. 

If you’re going to park in the ncp next to NB make sure you have plenty of coins. The card paying option very rarely works and the machines don’t take notes. Not only is it expensive, they don’t make it easy for you to pay. 

I also loved this performance at Stanley and Audrey Burton theatre. My favourite piece was For an Instant. All of the dancers were superb, but if I had to choose just one that I couldn’t take my eyes off it would be Harris Beattie. The choreography in For an Instant seemed to suit him perfectly. 

I spotted you there Jan, and would have said hello but you were always occupied speaking to far more important people 😉. 

Last night, Sat 7th, was programme B. The stalls and first circle seemed to be full - I couldn’t see the second circle from where I was sitting. 

Also there last night. Amazing and uplifting performance. So much energy it infects the audience. Revelations (which is part of all 3 programmes) is particularly stunning. For me, a lot of contemporary performances are ruined by headache-inducing music, but that is certainly not the case with Alvin Ailey. 

It’s a lovely 20 minute walk along the river into Richmond, where you’ll find lots of shops, cafes, and a cinema. If the weather is nice there are lots of benches down by the river to sit with a book. Or you can hire a rowing boat! Some Sundays there is a nice little foody market. Kew Gardens is another 25 minute walk from Richmond, or just one stop on the tube. 

In my experience, some summer schools, associate programmes or workshops require a signature from the ‘regular’ teacher indicating consent. When this has been the case, obviously I have asked the teacher. However, if her signature is not required I usually don’t bother her with it. I know that she would be supportive. 

Advertised on Instagram and Facebook today. For dancers 16+ and in voc training or recentlly graduated, 10th August, at Sadlers Wells. Workshop 10-5, then a ticket to the evening performance. Maximum 30 participants.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/matthew-bournes-romeo-and-juliet-masterclass-tickets-62301892638?ref=estw

I think the problem for universities when looking at extra-curricular is trying to determine it’s true worth, hence why many people believe that they barely even read personal statements sometimes. The person in charge of admissions may well have no clue what goes into getting a black belt in karate, or a particular gymnastics award, or whatever. That’s where I think the tariff tables could come in useful, even if they don’t make points based offers - it helps to quantify certain non-academic achievements. 

My daughter (not the dancing one!) has a 120 point offer to study Primary Education starting this September. That equates to BBB. The offer specifies that at least 80 points must come from 2 A levels (i.e. BB or AC), but the other 40 points can come from anywhere. In effect this means that her third A level could drop to a D because she has 8 points from grade 6 Flute and 8 points from grade 6 Lambda Drama. If she had achieved a grade 6 in any dance discipline that would also have counted. 

It does very much depend on the Uni and course in question though. Most of the top academic universities still make 3 grade offers, although as Anna has said they still do look at the extra-curricular achievements and the tariff points must help them to judge their value - I’m guessing that your typical Oxford don would have little clue how much of an achievement a grade 6 in Ballet was if she didn’t have the tariff tables to give her some indication!

HowMuch! I think your dd is a bit too young at the moment, but it’s worth having Renanisance Scholars on your radar if you live near Leeds. 2-5.15pm on Sundays, fortnightly, at Northern ballet studios, half ballet half jazz, optional add-on hour of singing 1-2pm and optional pointe add-on at the end some weeks. It is very good, but I think age 11+.