BlueLou

1 hour ago, Pups_mum said:

True....but you have to be brave to venture into Hollister! I'm never sure whether I'm entering a shop, a nightclub or a perfume factory. Actually I think it's a very clever ruse to get disorientated parents to agree to buy almost anything in order to be able to get out quickly. Not to mention that you don't know what you've spent til you get to the till -  can't actually read the outrageous prices as they are printed in a tiny font and it's  virtually pitch black in there. Or maybe I'm just getting old....

Haha! I have suffered the indignity of bumping into stuff in the darkness! Now I go online - can see everything clearly and there always seem to be good offers 😉

2 hours ago, tutusatDawn said:

 

Thank you. 

Northern Ballet in Leeds.

 

Street Dancer, my DD would have loved to do the open day, but we have a family commitment that I couldn't change. ( we seem to miss alot of things due to DDs dancing! )

 

Does anyone know? Do the photos for Northern need to be 'proper printed photos' or can they just be on normal paper? Thanks.

I don't think there's a rule on photo quality, but I suspect the vast majority they get would be proper printed photos. You want to show the applicant off as best you can - every little helps! 

Northern associates do not have to attend the summer school. The CAT students do, but I'm sure an exception would be made in their first year if they had prior commitments. There are approx 30 in a class. They are strict on attendance and I expect you would be in danger of being 'assessed out' if your attendance fell below about 90%. Every applicant gets an audition. At 12 I think your daughter would be intermediate, which is 9-1.30 on a Saturday - ballet, pointe and contemporary. 

Rennaisance do not have a summer school. They are a bit more flexible regarding absences. Classes on alternate Sundays in ballet and jazz with an optional singing add-on. Everyone gets an audition - and it's free!

My dd has done Northern Associates, CAT programme, and Rennaisance - happy to answer any questions! 

I don’t think we’re allowed to talk about it. I’m sure an admin will be along shortly to clarify! 

You don’t have to stick to dance shops or traditional dance brands for warm-ups. Dd likes to wear joggers from Pink (Victoria’s Secret) or Hollister, and Ivy Park clothes from Top Shop (hoodies, joggers, shorts, crop tops etc ……). 

20 minutes ago, arabesque1 said:

I’m bracing myself for it!! Dd has only done one audition so far with an offer from Ballet West. 

Me too! Congrats on a successful start. We start on 8th Jan at Rambert! Have applied for 5 schools in total, so it's going to be a busy few months. No way am I attempting 'dry January'! 

Dd has a prelim for Elmhurst US on 10th January. Anyone any idea what the format of the day is likely to be? Would love to know likely start time and duration so that I can sort accommodation (if necessary) and transport. Also curious to know any details that anyone can share of the process - type of class (or classes), pointe, types of exercises, group sizes, that sort of thing. 

20 minutes ago, Princessballerina said:

Northern ballet are doing a boys open day ages 9 to 12 yrs on Sat 10th Feb for boys who love to dance

 

 

And it’s free! https://northernballet.com/academy/open-days

This looks interesting. Rambert 2 - a new opportunity for 'early-career dancers' - touring performances combined with an MA in dance, and paid a bit too! Auditioning in Feb 2018.

http://www.rambert.org.uk/explore/news-and-blog/news/worldwide-talent-search-opens-rambert2/

The talk is before the classes now. Talk at 1.15pm, audition starts at 2.30pm. I’m surprised they are looking at solos and doing physio checks after a preliminary audition, but I suppose the more thorough they are with the first round the fewer people will be recalled, which means fewer people below the watershed wasting time and money on a second round, so no complaints  

Anyone any idea how long a Rambert preliminary audition lasts?? The email explains that the end time is very difficult to predict as some are asked to do solos or interviews or physio checks, so they advise not making any plans for the rest of the day. But we have to book a train to travel home that day, so with a 2.30pm start time what would be the latest finish?? 

6 hours ago, Pups_mum said:

This is precisely the reason why my DD's options were limited to degree courses BlueLou. We are over the DADA threshold, and whilst obviously that means we have a good income,we don't have that kind of money lying around and couldn't afford to self fund a diploma course. Well, not without severely impacting on our other children anyway, and I don't see that as an option. Remortgaging would probably have been the most financially sound option for us had we decided to go down that route, but DD decided herself that she didn't want us to go to those lengths, and fortunately she ended up with a choice of offers on degree courses. But it's very difficult - I feel for you.

We have spent so long looking at courses and colleges, application forms, photos, audition dates etc….. that I’ve only just got around to researching finance! I had (stupidly) assumed that some form of bank loan would be available for diploma students who didn’t qualify for Dadas. We knew a degree course would be financially better, but thought a diploma would be doable somehow. Apparently not! Have applied for 5 courses, but 2 of them are now looking considerably less viable. This is all very trying. So glad my other daughter wants to be a school teacher …….

A related question, rather than an answer (sorry Balletbean!). We were wondering about funding for those colleges which do not offer a degree, so you can’t access student finance for fees. We would not be eligible for any sort of Dada or means-tested funding, but could not afford (typically) £17k a year fees plus living expenses. Presumably you can get some sort of career development loan, but would banks be happy to loan tens of thousands of pounds to a 16 year old aspiring dancer?? And presumably the repayment terms are less friendly than student finance - i.e. it has to be paid back in full regardless of earnings?? 

Odd question, but any idea why they arranged them by height?? Or what sort of range there was? Dd is very conscious that she is a little taller than ‘ideal’, being 5ft 7 (and at 15 possibly still growing). 

I’m no expert, but my understanding is that neoclassical is a touch more modern than your traditional tutu stuff, ballet with a touch of contemporary thrown in. Have a look at Rambert, RCS (degree in Modern Ballet), and maybe Chantry. 

2 hours ago, Yorkshire Pud said:

2 hours ago, Yorkshire Pud said:

YOU - photos, applications, travel arrangements, personal statements, booking days off school, sorting revision sessions during school hours e.g by DC missing PE etc. Applications in as early as possible to avoid too many auditions/finals (if lucky) just before exams. Oh and lots of chauffeuring to and from training. Oh and work!!

 

DC -coursework, revision, exams, training. Try to attend training less and less as auditions/finals are over from around March time onwards.

 

I think I have read your DC attends the NBT CAT scheme? Please correct me if I’m wrong. Whilst they are quite strict on attendance they are great during GCSE year and will allow DC to miss as many nights off as they need for exam revision or if they are just too exhausted and need a rest😊

 

Good luck and enjoy doing it all together. It all seems like a huge amount of effort but I guarantee you will miss all of it once they are away at Upper School👍 

 

 

 

 

 

Thankyou! Yes, she is at Northern CAT. And they are very supportive and helpful. Too much stuff to do backing up at the moment, but I know that we'll get through it and hopefully one day we'll look back at plenty of good memories of this year! Half term now - time to catch up a bit, and rest 😊. 

School and training. Applications, coursework, mocks, auditions, GCSEs. Not liking year 11, and it's only just getting started. How do we make this work?? 

I think the trick is to stay a couple of miles away from where it’s all at. We have stayed in The Hilton Double Tree in Islington (very handy for Saddlers Wells) and next week we are in the Crown Plaza King’s Cross (handy for Central). Both are a lot cheaper than similar hotels in, for example, Covent Garden. It’s only a short tube ride, and I really like the tubes (I’m a bit of a geek like that - I actually want to go to the tube museum in Covent Garden whilst dd is busy dancing on next week’s trip  ). 

17 hours ago, Loulou said:

My DD has had to give an academic reference for Central and RCS . Her school are aware of her plans due to missing school for dance related activities and I wanted them to know it wasn’t just a hobby she was missing school for. 

Same here - dd’s school is aware of her plans and the extra-curricular demands involved and are therefore more understanding when her homework is late or she has to miss after school events. Also, I have already made them aware that she will probably need to miss some school days this year to attend auditions. Haven’t gotten around to applications and references yet - that’s a job for half term. We do have the photos ready though  

Haha - we posted exactly the same thing at the same time! Can you delete mine please Jan?

According to Facebook, Harris Beattie from Central won, and also won the audience choice award and the choreographic award. First dancer to win all 3 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Don’t know about a poster, but I have bought dd the Royal Ballet calendar for her wall for the last couple of years and that always has plenty of male dancers in it. 

They posted another live clip on Facebook later in the day as well - a PDD rehearsal for Little Mermaid  

Northern Ballet live streamed 10 minutes of their company class this morning. It’s on their Facebook page  

https://www.facebook.com/northernballet/

4 hours ago, Loulou said:

When DD did the Central Easter school , in the Q and A they told us the accomadation in the building where they were moving was more "high end" private apartments rather than student accomadation, they anticipated most students would still be accomadated in the liberty living where they are now and thought the walk would be roughly the same. If it is to be student accommodation that would be great. 

Just checked the website - they are ‘luxury student apartments’, starting from £265 pppw, which is pretty reasonable. However, they say they only accept over 18s. Maybe they will change that policy when Central move in downstairs! 

http://purestudentliving.com/our-properties/paris-gardens#1-3-bed-apartment

The ‘current’ accommodation  I was thinking of is literally a stone’s throw from the front door of the present Central building, but would be a bit of a walk to Southbank. It’s not actually a Liberty Living, just something similar. Maybe that’s not the one where most students currently stay though. 

http://www.herbalhillstudios.com/