DanceMomma

Congratulations to your dd Discomonkfish!!

Thank you to all the wonderful parents whose daughters were at the Elmhurst audition. You all had dd's that made my dd feel comfortable and part of something very special when she felt so uncomfortable and out of her depth! Your children made a very stressful situation enjoyable and memorable regardless of the result! She enjoyed being asked all about Texas as she was worried she would be made fun of. Now if only the results weren't by post!! Still delivered pony speed here. It could take another 2-3wks to get our results by post. I really hope they take that into consideration and email us. Anyone else an overseas applicant? Good luck everyone!

Yes we are set on the UK as that is where we will be based and it's hard enough to send her to boarding school without it being in a different country. Hence I will be returning to live in the Uk with both my dds while my dh finishes his posting in the US. Dd will have to go to private school as we aren't eligible to even apply for a state school place. Even though we have a return date, our house to live in that we pay all the council taxes on, we are considered non resident and not eligible for state school places. In our borough that leaves only private schools (2 places left) and as my dd isn't hugely academic we may as well try to go for a private school that offers a dance program. I wish it was all more straightforward than it is but unfortunately that is the cost of having lived out of the UK for 5 years. It would also be hard to go from the level of training she is currently receiving to something that potentially could be much less. She currently dances 6-10hrs a week. When they have performances the rehearsals the that up to easily 12hrs a week with homework on top it makes a very heavy load for her. I am hoping a vocational school will be more balanced for dd. I am so thankful that she has been offered the final audition at Elmhurst and we will be able to visit a few other schools while we are over. Abbots and Bromley and Bede's are both possibilities.

Sorry I've not had time to check for a bit. Thanks again for all the info especially on YDA. My dd is only 10(11 in July) and having lived in Texas for the last 5 years, she has no street sense at all. I got the travel times from google maps for train/tube/bus. I can't imagine dd would manage an hour commute before and after school and time to get homework done at her age. I could see in a couple of years though so I will keep it in mind. In the meantime we redid a load of video and applied to Elmhurst and have been invited to final audition. Now just have to cancel a non refundable family ski holiday and book flights to UK! This is going to cost a heck of a lot of money for just a chance. We aren't eligible for any funding either as we haven't been residents in the UK for the last 2 years.

Thanks everyone for all your replies. I'm afraid YDA won't likely work for us, even though its in London it would be at least a 1 hour commute each way, I think this would just be too much for dd at 10/11. I also have a 4 yr old that I will have to be getting to and from school so I think we really need something with a boarding option. We have also been in the US for almost 5 years now so dd has absolutely no street sense. I am going to speak to Hammond and look at some of the other schools mentioned so thanks again for all the information. I'm looking forward to seeing some of you at WL week 1.

Thank you! Looks like Legat is for 13+ Looks like she would have to join St Bedes prep until then. At least we are starting to get our heads around the options and not all is lost.

Thank you! I'll look at them too.

taxi4ballet- Our house is in Twickenham, Richmond Borough. Funny enough but only about 15minutes from White Lodge. We would absolutely consider boarding because I can imagine how full their schedule is and less time commuting would be a benefit. Also Dd excited by the idea ???? I will get in touch with Hammond and look at the other options too. Thanks again, keep any suggestions coming! I need all the help I can get.

Thank you both! It's a bit stressful just now trying to make sure we can be as proactive as possible. Any advice is so appreciated. I'll look up those schools right now and see what I can find out!

My Dd has not gone past preliminary auditions for Tring or Royal Ballet but we need to find a school for her for year 7 when we return to the UK this summer. I don't know where to look to ensure she can still train for ballet. We currently live in Houston Tx. My daughter dances with Houston Ballet, has a junior scholarship where she is often taught by Stanton Welch (and has performed in the Houston Nutcracker as Head Party child. (really not trying to brag just trying to give some perspective on her ability and training level, we have no RAD exams levels) We had to apply for places in the UK by Video and to be honest I really didn't have a clue what I was doing or what the schools expect, I filmed it all on my iPhone as it was the best I could do. The HBA didn't help with the audition videos so we were lucky to have the help of another ballet teacher at another studio help us (cost a fortune!) but that teacher also doesn't know what the Royal is looking for. My dd has studied Cecchetti style for the last 5 years. Dd is doing a 3 week summer intensive in June with HBA, and then the week 1 of summer school at White Lodge. In the meantime I'm trying to find a school that she can attend that still has some dance offered or will at least have a schedule that will allow her to still train. We can't apply for state school places as we aren't current residents in our house, in Twickenham. So we are looking at private schools but when I search for schools that offer dance only the RB, Elmhurst, Tring and Hammond come up. We have applied to Elmhurst too but we don't expect much. Too late to apply to Hammond I believe.

Thank you Sam. I will send an email too, yes I'm getting concerned about getting flights, time off school, time off rehearsals for Spring Show, also auditions for next years Nutcracker! So much going on and biting my fingers waiting! Good luck to your dd also!

Thanks Kiwimum6 and Lisa O'Brien. I'm scared to call or email in case I ruin her chance????

Hi Sam, thanks for the reply and congratulations. Can I ask who the email came from? Just wondering if the same person that sent the ss email. Not sure who to send email tool. Yes need to book flights but also need to worry about signing commitment forms here and upcoming auditions for upcoming shows.

Anyone else still waiting? My dd is an international application because we are currently in Houston with DH's job but expecting to repatriate this summer. I've been lurking for a bit but didn't want to say much because of being international. We were suppose to hear by end of January. We applied to Tring also and that was a no. We have a yes for RBS Summer week 1.