BlueLou
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Everything posted by BlueLou
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Dd attended a Central Dance Day last year. Most dancers there were auditioning the following day. There was a Q&A for parents at the end of the day. The overwhelming majority of concerns raised by parents were to do with living independently. The man from Central pointed out that the dropout rate is zero, or close to zero, every year, so obviously the students are doing just fine. We parents will still worry though! It seems that currently most 1st years at Central live in Liberty Living student accommodation which is just over the road. I presume when Central relocates, most will live in the student accommodation within the new building (although nothing to do with Central). At least they all seem to stick together! Dd will be applying this year.
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15 year old dd is slightly irritated that 10 year old ds will ‘have it easier’ by way of competition for opportunities than she has had, but it won’t touch her confidence - partly because she is old enough to rationalise it, and partly because she is a particularly self-confident girl. Boys may well have it easier in some ways (less competition for opportunities), but in others surely they have it much harder (defying the stereotypes). Ultimately, professional male dancers have had to work every bit as hard as their female counterparts regardless of whether or not they had a bit more help ‘getting on’ when they were younger.
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Royal Conservatoire Scotland Personal Statement
BlueLou replied to Pointytoes22's topic in Doing Dance
For what it’s worth, I think that once a decision has been made you have to believe that it is the right one. Don’t look back, no regrets. RCS is on my dd’s shortlist, so I will read any updates you post with great interest! Good luck!- 57 replies
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I have every sympathy with your mum! I hate taking dd's photos! I have picked up some good tips from this forum though - for example the photographer should be seated as the angle is more flattering, and take a burst (especially for the dreaded developpe) so you can choose the best one. Worth searching the forum 😊. Good luck - and be kind to your mum if she gets stuck with the job (it's no fun!).
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I think the 5 applicants per place may suggest better odds than you actually have because some summer school places are taken by current full time RB students who are encouraged to do the summer school as well. Selection is based on info in the application form as well as the photos - e.g. how much training you currently do and at what level. A high proportion of places seem to go to students at good overseas vocational schools.
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We just had one delivered from Planet Dance. They were on offer from Dance Direct so have sold out - twice the price from Planet Dance but at least they have some. It is a lovely leotard! https://www.planetdancedirect.co.uk/Dans-ez-V-Leg-Microfibre-Camisole-Leotard
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I know audition leotards have been discussed before - I remember reading about them in the days when our need of one was too distant to bother making notes! Searching ‘audition leotard’ draws a blank. So, what are the preferred choices of leotard styles and colours? To what extent does one choose a leotard to stand out? I’m thinking high leg, not black or blue…….
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These are the audition dates from the Elmhurst website https://www.elmhurstdance.co.uk/Audition-dates-1.html I am sure that antm is right, there was something about not everyone being invited to prelims, but that paragraph seems to have disappeared!
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Oh no …………….. the dreaded developpe photo again! I remember the good old days when I thought it was just about lifting your leg up as high as it would go - but no, got to think about turnout and relaxed arms and not grimacing and ‘alignment’………… We also have a mercifully short list - dd has 2 schools that she really really wants to go to, plus another 2 that she might want to go to so we’ll apply! Back-up is local 6th form and then adding a few MT schools to the list for entry at 18. Deep breath, and here we go ……………..
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Until the end of year 6 dd did 45 minutes each of ballet, tap, modern, and festival dance classes in the local village hall, plus gymnastics. Then it all took off! In year 7 she added on 2 hours of associates ballet, which increased to 4.5 hours in year 8 (plus Easter and Summer intensives), then another 3 hours of open classes in ballet and modern and a fortnightly 3 hour associate class were added in year 9, and finally CAT programme in year 10. Starting year 11 next month she will be doing a total of around 20 hours dancing a week. She will be auditioning for vocational schools this year. So the point of all that is ………….. I think an hour a week is fine when you are 9, but probably needs to increase at some point. Exactly how much training is ideal, and at what age, depends on all sorts of factors - how far they want to go with their dancing, how good the training is, natural talent. And then you have to balance what is ideal for them with what you can manage…………
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New to the ballet world and have some questions.
BlueLou replied to AshleighA's topic in Doing Dance
Zerina Mastin’s book is excellent on this topic https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Nutrition-Dancer-Zerlina-Mastin/1852731354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501088084&sr=8-1&keywords=zerlina+mastin -
Dd just back from 2 weeks at Ballet West. She really enjoyed it. Did ballet/rep and contemporary first week, ballet/rep and jazz second week - she thinks it’s jazz again for week 4 - loved the jazz teacher, very lively and taught them a fab routine! Some of the current students are around rehearsing their genee entries. Several of them performed their solos for us during the Friday afternoon show. Dd says they were in a couple of classes, but not many, but they were around to chat to. The solos were very impressive - all en pointe, but many felt quite contemporary/modern, which I liked. Apparently they are hoping to build some nice new studios.
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Hi Jijoploolop, the York Scheme has changed a lot for this year’s intake. It used to be a more classical programme, then they announced it would be closing down. From memory, they said this was due to lack of funding and the fact that there are now lots of other similar schemes in the region. Then they announced that they would not close down after all, but rebrand as a more general dance scheme. Certainly, in the past it was always highly regarded and had a strong faculty including Peter and Shannon Parker and Gill Caplan. Several dancers have gone on to greater things (I think Xander and Demelza Parish went there??). I believe class sizes were around the 30 mark. However, with all the changes, don’t know who the faculty are or what the class structure will be this year. I do hope they bring back their summer school though (cancelled amidst all the changes this year) - it was excellent. Edit - Just checked their web page - excellent faculty! Have come across most of them and all fab
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I would speak to your current dance teacher just as a matter of courtesy before looking elsewhere. If she isn’t offering the classes he wants to do she can hardly object.
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Dd will be at Ballet West next week too. She has never owned a pair of character shoes, so hopefully not necessary!
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This year my dd (15 now) has done 4 nights plus Saturday, similar to your timetable above but without the Sunday. She has found the Sunday off to be essential - she sleeps half of it, does most of her homework, then catches up with friends or watches tv in the evening.
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Dd is going to apply for entry at 16 (2018 entry) but has been advised that they tend to take more at 17 or 18 because they are more mature. Still, going to give it a go! Do you happen to know roughly what percentage of the intake are 16?
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Celb and 2dancersmum - very interesting that Elmhurst and Hammond accept older than 16! I assumed that as they were technically 6th form ‘schools’ that would not be the case, but presumably as they are private businesses they can do what they like Move It dance exhibition is a fabulous experience and I would thoroughly recommend it, but don’t expect to pick up much info on classical training. It’s more geared towards your LSC, Urdang, Bird, etc… type colleges.
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Funding is a big decider! DADA funding is means-tested. If you don’t qualify to apply for a DADA, or are not successful with your application, Tring is an eye-watering £34k a year (for boarders). Hammond and Elmhurst slightly cheaper. However, fees are capped to just over £9k a year (+ accommodation) if it is a BA course, and you can apply for student loans - e.g. Central, RCS, Rambert, Ballet West. I think 6th forms (Elmhurst, Hammond, Tring) would only accept 16 year olds. Central prefer entry at 16, Rambert (50/50 ballet/contemporary) seems to prefer 17 or 18 year old applicants. Ballet West seem to be fairly flexible regarding age of entry. Not sure about RCS.
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I’m sure that's not meant to happen in basketball!
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Advise your dcs to try long jump! Initially I was amazed that dd was winning at a sport, then I realised it was basically a modified dance leap. Jumping is definitely playing to their strengths
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Ahhhh, village gala season! Over the years I have watched dd attempt tap on a shiny gym floor (it was very tentative!), ballet on gym mats (far too squishy!), and acro on a lumpy field (heart in mouth!). Now I would just say no if she can’t perform the dance properly on the surface - it just makes her miserable that an audience has seen an inferior performance. Agree with taxi4ballet - is there another dance she could do instead?
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Yes, my dd (you know the one Pixiewoo!) did this last year for a year. She found it to be really worthwhile. The ballet classes, in particular, were excellent. The woman that teaches the jazz is very strict and shouts a lot, and her feedback is blunt to the point of rudeness at times which isn’t to everyone’s liking, but in terms of quality of training no complaints! There are some excellent dancers on the course (some that you will recognise from local comps). They are more understanding than most associate schemes about absences to attend comps and the like, although you still have to pay of course. Dd would still be doing Scholars if she hadn’t been offered a place on the Northern Ballet CAT, but 4 days a week at Northern, plus still doing 1 evening at local dance school, is enough for us! Anything else, feel free to PM. Congratulations on the offer!
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It seems to me that whilst there are far fewer boy than girl dancers aged 7-14, the vast majority of boys that do dance are very good. Whereas a girl might just drift along with the crowd (of girls), and subsequently become a happy recreational dancer, in general boys will only try and stick at dancing if they have a real passion and aptitude for it. It’s the boys who might just enjoy dancing at a recreational level that maybe need to be encouraged to have a go because they are missing out.
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Thoughts ………. there are lots of different levels of competition in the dance world, from the novice sections at a small local festival, to the open sections, to bigger festivals, All England qualifiers and regional championships. I think it would be unfair if a dancer who had just won a place at a voc school was entered into a novice section at a small local festival, but at All England regional finals I wouldn’t expect any restrictions. It is a very high level of competition, so I would expect many of the dancers there to have trained a lot (either at voc school or otherwise). Part of the point of competing at that level is to test yourself against the very best dancers out there.
