BlueLou

Scholarships - dd didn’t have to attend the funding auditions to be considered, we just have to send off a form. It will be in today’s post, but I don’t hold out much hope as it asked for income details. I couldn’t return the form any sooner as it required year end figures, and we need to reply to Rambert by 11th April (with £500 deposit), so fingers crossed that Laine deal with admin quickly! The number on offer varies each year. Miss Laine seemed very keen on ballet as ‘the basis of all dance’ and stressed that everyone did an ability streamed daily class and that there would be opportunities for the more able to have more ballet in their timetable. Obviously not enough to pursue a classical career, but maybe enough to keep dd happy!

She was offered a Dada from the first audition ‘with no requirement to attend the funding audition’ . Sadly we can’t accept it as we are above the threshold

Her ideal careers would be, in this order - 1) dancing for Matthew Bourne, 2) dancing classically anywhere else, 3) dancing any style anywhere! Laine has more success stories in the Bourne direction, it seems that neither Rambert nor Laine get many/any other classical contracts, Laine seems a clear winner in category 3! She is drawn to Rambert because ballet and contemporary are her favourite styles, although she does enjoy all styles and singing too. In my humble opinion she is better suited as a dancer to Laine though because her real strength (as a potential employee) is in her diversity. At the moment she is thinking mainly about the next 3 years, but I’m older and more pragmatic so I am thinking about the ‘what comes next’ rather than just the joys of the 3 year course - I think she will be more employable coming out of Laine.

Dd is faced with a decision between Laine and Rambert. She slightly preferred Rambert, but employment prospects seem to be better for Laine (although mostly non-classical, they do have 3 graduates in the current run of Bourne’s Cinderella, including the lovely Cordelia Braithwaite). Does anyone on here have any experiences of Laine that they could share? Does anyone have any knowledge of Rambert graduate destinations in 2017? We are yet to hear from RCS - which may muddy the waters even further!

I would think he’d be junior wherever he goes as most only accept children from 9 or 10 years old, so a 10 year old would be amongst the youngest there.

Hi Suvis, my dd first tried for the Northern CAT programme when she was 13. Like your daughter, she didn’t get on and she was upset. The following year she did get on, and 2 years later she has just received an offer from Rambert. So your story can end well - just keep going!

My dd attended the York Scholars summer school 2 and 3 years ago and loved it. The atmosphere was very friendly and I got the impression that everyone was welcome. Which is why I have booked my 11 year old ds onto the course this summer. He has only been dancing for 18 months and is also grade 2, but I think he will enjoy it! https://www.yorkshireballetscholarshipcentre.com/summer-school/

If your daughter wants to specialise in ballet, then any older than 16 would reduce her chances quite a bit at many colleges. If she is leaning more towards contemporary or MT, 18 is fine As for finances - what will be better for you depends on your family income. If your combined income is above about £90k you are ineligible for a Dada and so would be better off with a degree course as they are cheaper (capped at about £9250 for UK students) and you can get a student loan. If your income is lower than £90k you are eligible to apply for a Dada, which is a means-tested award on a sliding scale depending on income. In that case it’s worth trying for one of the colleges that offer them, although not everyone who is offered a place and is financially eligible will be offered a Dada. So, for example, Central offer a BA which is £9250 per year for everyone irrespective of income, and everyone can get a student loan. Whereas Laine offer a level 6 diploma which is £17775 per year, can’t get a student loan but some applicants will be offered and eligible for a Dada to reduce the fees. Good luck!

Anyone heard back from the RCS London prelims last week yet? Getting a bit twitchy again!

I think the grades are usually just a guideline as a lot of applicants (especially those aged 11+) don't do grades as part of their training. It may be that your daughter is grade 4 standard even if she is not in grade 4 classes yet. To be honest, competition is fierce for ybss, so chances are not great for most of us, but it's always worth a try! You just have to make sure your dd understands that it's a long shot! 🍀

What you are describing sounds quite similar to the Northern Ballet CAT programme, so it might be worth trying to chat to someone there to see if they might share some wisdom. Good luck 🍀!

Same here! We opted for London thinking it would be more convenient. However I didn’t know it would be in Battersea (not near a tube station), and so late in the cycle. I think panels are pretty experienced at applying exactly the same criteria to everyone though, so fingers crossed and good luck!

Just had a look at the RCS summer school on their website, and for the seniors it says ‘age 15’. Does that mean strictly age 15, or 15 and over? I have emailed them to ask, but got an automatic response saying that they aim to reply to email queries within 7 days - thought asking here might be quicker!

How many ‘nos’ has she had, if you don’t mind me asking Ballet12345? Even the dancers who get yeses usually have their fair share of nos too! Most of dd’s friends are applying to at least 5 colleges and all of them would be very happy with just the 1 ‘yes' at the end of the day. Keep going - and good luck!

Emailed Central - got a very quick response - she’s through to finals

Believe me - I've checked every folder! Everyone else's seemed to be around lunchtime. Maybe it's because dd was one of the higher numbers, so if they are working through the list in numerical order ......

Anyone else still waiting for Leeds CSB result?? Dd's 5 friends have all had emails (some yes and some no) today but we've had nothing yet. It's going to be a long night!

Northern Ballet (Leeds) are live-streaming a romantic duet from Jane Eyre on Facebook on Valentine’s Day. https://northernballet.com/jane-eyre/valentines-day-livestream?utm_source=Northern+Ballet+newsletter&utm_campaign=a07fb38ae4-Valentines_email_2018_02_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3c3bebf4a1-a07fb38ae4-202255365 I’ve tried to give this thread a suitable title to add any other similar links to in future!

Hi Jete. Dd auditioned at Rambert a few weeks ago. There was a very informative talk for parents and applicants at the start, then parents were taken on a tour and there was plenty of opportunity to ask questions. There was a ballet class (with some pointe, but not much) and a contemporary class (with a short creative exercise at the end), each just over an hour long. Dd really enjoyed the classes! There was a panel of 7 or 8 watching, plus a physio wandering around looking at them. There were about 30 in the audition. About 6 were asked to stay to perform their solo. They did stress that nothing could be inferred from whether or not you were asked to do your solo - that would appear to be true, as dd was not asked to do her solo but has been recalled to finals. Good luck!

We stayed at Crown Plaza Kings Cross when dd did the October dance days at Central. Very nice, and it has a pool . Lovely restaurant there too for a convenient meal the night before. Dd loves a steak and said that the one she had there was one of the best! 10 minute (if that) walk to Herbal Hill. Dd always prefers the night in a hotel nearby option. I think we would both worry too much about possible travel delays etc on the day. She is a good sleeper anywhere, so we have a nice meal, early night, good breakfast, and she arrives refreshed and ready. Good luck

My dd’s school (private sector) actually suggested at the start of year 11 that she spend her PE lessons in the library catching up and doing homework as her form tutor had noticed that she was starting to struggle a bit juggling her school workload and all of her dancing. They acknowledged that she was obviously already doing plenty of physical exercise anyway. Obviously we gratefully accepted the suggestion and she has found it very useful!

Absolutely! We’ll be having a go too! I just meant that she won’t be 'missing out’ by only doing 1 week because most of them probably only get to do 1 week anyway

It’s very difficult to get a place on this summer school, so I suspect that many of those who ask for 2 weeks only get offered 1. Also, the cost of 2 weeks would put a lot of people off.

I know of a boy who was offered a year 10 place for Elmhurst this year.

Just spotted this - Bodyworks in Cambridge doing a free day for boys 14-21 years on 17th February. Contemporary, jazz, commercial and singing. http://www.bodyworkcompany.co.uk/news-and-events/#audition