Ruby Foo

Can you possibly explain further the ‘creaky’ feeling in your ears? I’ve never heard anyone describe this before when doing turns, so am intrigued. For sure, if something like that is bothering you then the tension will set in and freedom of the head/ neck/ area will be constrained. Spotting will be impossible.

You’re Dd definitely didn’t fail!! Through everything she does she’s learning and watching and gaining vital experience. Sometimes it just takes more work ( in the right areas of course ) and can take several attempts to get to where she wants to be.

I would be experimenting with loosening all the different elements of the hamstrings especially on your weaker leg. They are pretty complex and people tend to keep doing the same old stretches which tend to target only one particular area. One session with a physio would be able to help you. It doesn’t have to be a dance physio if you are clear at describing what you want to achieve, but cost is always an issue. Hamstrings would be in relation to the other suggestions other posters have put forward as it’s rarely just one fix. Its one of the most challenging positions to achieve and if it’s any consolation a friend told me she was on the barre behind a very famous ENB principal whose devant was anything but perfect as far as the hips were concerned!

Private lessons/ workshops are one thing, but for most associates, you need the permission and signature of your teacher/ dance director.

It is not current school policy to allow any extra lessons/ private/ associates. The pupils concerned were exceptions to the rule and had special permission which was hard fought.

Tring do not allow any associate classes. Not unless their policy changes with the new administration.

Couldn’t agree more peanut68. Being in the same establishment for too long can lead to a sort of apathy for both students and teachers. Nothing like a change of scene to re- energise oneself. The downside of this is the funding issue, I guess.

I totally get your point and yes, it’s very easy to use the ‘ brand name’ without it being thoroughly deserved. However trying to ‘measure’ the standard is fairly impossible to do. Exams sometimes give us some idea of a certain standard being reached but we all know they are not conclusive evidence. Darcy Bussell is the example of this having achieved a pass plus for her first Professional exam ( the marks used to be pass, passplus, commended, highly commended, honours) Would hate to think of ballet taking the route of some academic schools where being top of the league tables is the main goal. Destroys the meaning, enjoyment, artistry of learning anything! How can you possibly measure that certain ‘something’ that makes a dancer a dancer and not a sports person. Most vocational schools, have their fair share of good and less good teachers and are a mixed bag of desirable and less desirable. Just because one will be more likely to take you through both lower and upper school does not necessarily mean you are of a better standard or more likely to find employment at the end. Many of the students I trained with had, at some point, been assessed out of another school. After the initial shock, most went on to have successful dance careers in classical work. And is finding employment the absolute measure of good standard? As many people have mentioned there is the journey to consider. Then there is the element of taste. What one artistic director loves another hates and so on, not to mention how the different personalities of the students will do well at one school and not the other and vice versa.

Sorry to hear you’ve had such a rough time. We have always used Desitin for healing and dry skin. It’s an American nappy cream but is much more effective than the British stuff. It’s not amazing for massage as it’s quite thick but works wonders. You can get it online.

Firstly, there are way less than 18 female students in the class. Secondly, as posters have already described, nothing is straightforward in the dance world, from yr7 ( or before) and through that uncertainty and upheaval comes strength, persistence, creativity and experience, all of which you will need in bucketloads if you are to eventually be part of a company. Not being accepted to upper school as a natural progression may be a confidence crusher to begin with, but over the long term it can be a blessing and give you the extra experience you need. Finding new schools/ teachers who motivate you more and see different qualities and potential in you and enable you to push yourself onwards and upwards, can lead to a more creative and mature dancer.

Has she tried Freeds c pro ‘ special’? It’s a lovely shoe with loads of support and a fairly high vamp to hold in a large instep. A lot of professionals wear them, I believe. Beth at Freed is good for fitting if you happen to be near London. Downside of Freeds... they never last long enough!

Personally, I felt it was highly inappropriate to single out an individual pupil in this way and highly irrelevant too!

I think it is 5 girls and 10 boys. Happy to be corrected.

I think the students get support with their applications/ photos / videos and solos to apply to other schools. They are supported in the time off they need to attend auditions. Lower down the school, help is given for summer schools if photos/video is needed or a solo, which is more than can be said of some other vocational schools. However, the summer school needs to be one approved by rbs. Can’t comment on counselling.

Maybe, during the period that ballet was trying to re- energise itself, looking more towards contemporary influences and post Balanchine, and with dancers now appearing from Russia, that foreign dancers appeared more exotic and appealing?

Also, just to add to the above, it might be useful for you, for your Dd’s teacher ( not associate teacher) to ask for feedback from Mr Annear. They are happy to give a small amount of feedback from a final although you may need to be patient.

You can take comfort in the knowledge that your Dd obviously shows potential to get to finals and that a ‘no’ can sometimes be incredibly beneficial in terms of finding other experiences/ routes/ to get there in the end. My Dd has had some no’s and some yes’s and looking back, she is incredibly grateful that it wasn’t necessarily a ‘yes’ first time as she had to think more creatively, work harder and have more persistence, not to mention the wealth of different teachers and their expertise she’s experienced along the way. Even a ‘yes’ first time, is just the beginning of an long and incredibly up and down journey. Good Luck to your Dd for the future.

I think sometimes it depends on which center you are auditioning for as in some centers the 4/5 and 6’s are altogether. Also there is quite a variation in studio space between the different centres.

The ‘returning’ student has trained in UK for the past 2 years, auditioning again, along with everyone else, having spent less than 1 week at RBS. Therefore 2/3 are British trained.

If you’re Dd enjoys doing safe stretching in the holidays, then why not? Agreed. My Dd hadn’t even started dancing at 8 and hadn’t a clue what flexibility was. Happy days, sigh.

Would totally agree with the above. Your Dd is way too young to be worrying about stretching and technique during the holiday or to benefit from doing so. She can keep active through swimming or gymnastics in the garden or anything else that’s fun! Summer holidays are about resting and having fun in the fresh air. Some local ballet/theatre schools do a lightweight summer school which wouldn’t hurt, but believe me, you should make the most of it and create those dance free memories while you can. By 10/11 there are plenty of summer schools to choose from and then there’s no going back!

If your husband has not seen round the school and you have questions to ask then you maybe should call the secretary and ask if they can accommodate you in that request. From experience, there was a ballet class straight off ( parents could leave) and then a small talk( 5 mins)about how many scholarships the school had to offer. Some people were then asked to go to physio and others could leave. Hope that helps.

It’s a complex question. Is it because we are a small nation and the right bodies/ talent is small in comparison to Australia/ USA / Russia? iI feel this argument doesn’t really stand up when you look at France, who’s population is not too dissimilar and, as I pointed out earlier, Paris Opera doesn’t seem to have the same issues Then there’s the training, I feel there is quite a bit of discrepancy between the way parents UK want their child’s training to be ( slow, safe practice), what most UK teachers desire for the training of their pupils and then what Directors worldwide want at 16. There are of course plenty of dancers out there who have come through the slow, careful route and now have a successful careers, with bodies intact ( or relatively so) but it must take more time, reaching a peak around 18/19 rather than 14/15. I have no personal experience of PO, but in interviews, I have read that it is a tough place to train and not particularly pleasant.... (welcome to be corrected on this point). Just trying to work out why it works over there and not here.

I am not disputing that there are obvious issues with the low number of lower school pupils graduating to upper school. If we compare to Paris Opera where most ( not all) seem to go through the whole system. However, I feel your account of acceptance of international students is a little biased. There were 3 new students accepted into yr 9 last September, all British and not competition winners.

As far as I remember, it was a standard ballet class - barre, centre work / adage, pirouettes and allegro. Nothing else. It was slightly more challenging than the first audition. Some people were sent for physio afterwards.