Katia05

Auditions are coming up soon for Mid-Associates year 9/White Lodge lower school, and though by no means the main issue to consider, my dd had a question about make-up! On the info sheet it says no make-up. From anyone's experience, do the 13-year-old girls literally wear no make-up or can they wear subtle natural-coloured mascara and a little foundation, or how strict is it?! Any advice welcome.

Great piece, Cherilyn. As you say, such an important conversation and I would so love it to see the upcoming generations of dancers find role models like you.xx

Happy Christmas to all! Thank you for all the support and helpful responses on the forum this year!

Our dance school doesn't use soft blocks - they work either in flats or pointes. Is it worth taking the pointes for audition?

A 'no' for my dd. Next is Mids - at least for that one they can see the students in real life! Really puzzled how they pick from photos alone for the summer school. It would be interesting to see the photos of the ones who are selected!

Great to hear how resilient your dd is, and how positive the experience still was for her. Yes, plan B, C and D at the ready!

Ah that's so interesting to know! Thank you for giving some insight. We have no idea how it all works! Well done to your dd getting to finals - what an experience!

The Finals do sound pretty intense!! How many get through for this stage, and I can't imagine there are more than a couple of places available?

Thanks for the encouraging comments! Sounds like a great experience, whatever the results. I'll tell dd about the stretching! How many approx. were in each class for the audition? Hopefully it will all be good audition practice at least and a tiny taste to savour of the RBS!

Can anyone tell me if the Mid-Associate auditions are similar or different to the JA auditions? (Obviously a higher standard by now, but I wondered if the format is similar?) Do they do some pointe work too? Also, from anyone's experience, how many girls audition? My dd hasn't been a JA, so it's a very long shot, but she's keen to try so we applied. Now feeling a bit out of our depth for the January audition, so any tips or advice very welcome!!

Hi, is it RAD or ISTD syllabus? If following the RAD grades, children have to be 7 years old before taking the Grade 1 exam. The benefit of doing Primary is that it gives chance to develop a bit more musicality and appreciation of rhythm, types of music and how to respond to the music artistically, before the technical details take more concerted effort, but I can imagine she's keen to progress, and I would expect that a competent teacher could see her potential and how best to progress. Above all, though, I would make sure the technique is being taught correctly, as you can't easily 'unlearn' bad technique and even worse, it can lead to injury. In our dance school, new children who join at a higher grade are offered extra coaching lessons besides the main classes so that they can catch up and not suffer lack of confidence in their peer group. Perhaps that's something available to your daughter? Or maybe it's better to look at another dance school. Some schools put on shows or take part in festivals, where they learn performance skills as well as taking exams, and taking part together often draws the students together in a wonderful way. We changed dance schools twice over the course of Pre-primary to Grade 3, before finding the best school possible where my dd has really flourished, though had to relearn some basics in her technique as things hadn't been taught correctly at the first two places! Good luck, and I hope you can find a way to keep your dd motivated and enjoying ballet!

Nadya, I really hope you can find a way to enjoy learning ballet and feel part of a group. Thank you for drawing our attention on this forum to the issues of being a Muslim and participating in ballet. For the clothing, I imagine it is something you would both need to feel modest but also enable you to cope with the physical exertion of ballet - girls often come out of class sweating as much as if they'd run 5,000 metres! As for the attitude of other girls in class, I would trial some classes first and see where you felt most comfortable. Feeling accepted and encouraged by the others in the class will really add to your enjoyment of ballet. I wish you all the best and please let us know how you get on!

My dd auditioned and didn't get through, but she's been invited to a Masterclass just for the auditionees on 3 Feb with Fiona Chadwick (former RB Principal) - very exciting!

Does anyone know which year group is MA2?

My DD really enjoyed her auditions for JA though her feet are also not well arched. She didn't get in, but it was a great experience. They do look at feet carefully in the audition. But bear in mind that feet are only a small part of what they look at, and it's hard to know in the end exactly how they differentiate between the many very talented, beautifully musical and passionate young dancers they see on the day They also look very carefully at turn-out, arms, neck, their line, shape and musicality. Realistically we found there is a very slim chance of getting through, but go in with the idea of just enjoying every minute of the day and shining as best you can. Good luck!

Thank you - this is such a reality check for those of us with younger dancers!! It's easy to get carried away with dreams about White Lodge and finding a way into the RBS, à la Darcey Bussell route, when in reality there is a much bigger picture and such slim chance of making it through to the Upper School, let alone the company! Like you say, dreams count, but mental stamina and stability is helped sometimes by a realistic grasp of the situation.

Ah, looks like up to another whole week to wait then!

In London they told DD's class it would be about a week before they sent out results. Not sure if that means today, or Monday, or later next week if they're still looking at videos too ... Good luck!

Thanks, she's disappointed of course and RB remains the mysterious place it always has been! Fingers crossed for your DS getting in - looks amazing if they can do it.

A no for my DD. But she hadn't got her hopes up thankfully. Our photos were very amateurish. I do wonder how they can choose from just photos! But huge congratulations to all the yes-receivers!

Thanks for the encouragement, 2dancersmum!

Thanks, Janet, that's helpful. I'm still struggling to find anything about the main company - most on here seem to be about the juniors.

Hi, does anyone have experience of the NYB main company London auditions? My DD (12) is going to audition next week but we don't know what to expect, not having been before. The letter says bring pointe shoes if you've done pointe - DD has had about six months on pointe so we're not sure whether she's had enough experience yet. Does anyone know what they do with the pointe shoes at the auditions?! Any advice/insight very welcome. DD is very excited to go to Sadlers Wells for the morning, whatever the outcome!

My DD (also 12) received a no for the Spring course too and we're waiting on the summer school results, though not expecting anything much there either! She's yet to have any success at applying for anything RB, but we went to an Associates day at Covent Garden a couple of years ago and she really enjoyed it. Looking at the other girls at the Associate auditions last year, I think she was no different in terms of RB desired look or level of talent and flexibility, which was reassuring and gave her confidence, so I think sometimes it's just a case of keeping on applying if you're really keen - there really are soooo few places for all these programmes! And the talent pool is, of course, huge.

On the website it says applicants will be notified by the end of February. Good luck! We're waiting too.