Ruby Foo

My advice is to find yourself an incredible couple of teachers who will nurture and work as a mature partnership with your son or daughter daughter at the very highest level. Giving them as much as they give. And with mutual respect at the heart of everything. It's perfectly possible to do but not at all easy. There are lots of wonderful teachers out there who can replicate that training with lots of planning to add in pas de deux, Pilates, Contemporary, Strength and Conditioning etc. but you will need money, and pots of it! Its a gamble... and you may be one of the lucky ones who incurs no issues at school. You may sail through and have a very rewarding experience as many do. The training is incredibly tough but amazing if you can cope and are lucky to be seen positively by the teacher.

Being assessed out, and all that means, both negatively and positively, is just one dimension. The stress and pressure are only just beginning for those staying on. Overseas students being taken in in yr 10, quickly becoming favourites due to their much advanced ability, do not necessarily make it to Upper School and even if they do, can find themselves falling out of favour and being shunned for the new student just beginning. Just because you are in Upper School does not mean ( whoever you are and wherever you came from) that you are free from a particularly nasty and underhand, verbal and emotional abuse which can leave you broken and in tatters. This can be sustained for a very long period of time and lead to students suffering mentally and physically. This shunning process is often done in the cruelest and subtlest of ways ( so there's little movement for complaint) and leaves perfectly able students (a fact backed by other professional teachers) feeling completely broken and that they should give up thinking of a career in Ballet. All this can happen in lower school too of course, but there's a general sense that once you reach Upper School, you've made it. Hope this dispels that myth.

I think it would be fair to say that certain vocational schools are like magpies. They see something they like and take it. Before long, something prettier comes along and the original is replaced. This continues throughout the whole training process which undermines the word 'training'!

Exactly Peanut! Well said!

I am 170 cm and take size 39. I have never thought of my feet being small and it never crossed my mind in dance training either.

All shoes will usually need a Demi pointe broken in before wearing. Freeds are typically fairly flimsy so understandably don't need much in comparison to the Russian makes which are generally much tougher to break in. It will really depend on the back she has chosen and how she likes her shoes. From what you've said about her type of feet and taking a general shoe, I would gently manipulate the backs in the correct places so they are easier and more supple for her to work with. I would recommend a 3/4 shank so the heel of the shoe won't need anything. Don't flex them too low down or they will bend in the wrong place giving the feet a broken line. It's just slightly above the natural arch that you want to flex. I suggest asking your teacher to show you, unless she's dead against it. Manufactured very flexi backs won't need much at all.

Have you tried Merlet split sole? Some very professional dance students wear these. Dancia Covent Garden should be able to offer a good fitting for these although we have had mixed fittings there in the past.

Congratulations to your daughter! Becoming a JA is a lovely step to having some detailed ballet tuition under the guidance of experienced teachers, plus meeting other friends who are interested to do more ballet. It doesn't mean you need to go any further than that. It can stay as something special and extra that she does purely because she loves dancing. Plenty children will decide quite early that they want a career in dance and see JA's as a stepping stone to Vocational School to meet those needs. Equally, plenty children will decide to wait to make that decision and plenty will want to keep it as a hobby. There are many children who are accepted to vocational school, having never been a JA. Being a JA is a wonderful experience but it's not a golden ticket to becoming a professional classical dancer. There are many possibilities and choices and upsides and downsides to them all. My advice is to listen to your family values and not get caught up in anything you are unsure of or feel uncomfortable about. Oh, and enjoy every moment, in the moment, 😊

Another recommendation from me for Kerry and Jose. Both superb teachers and lovely kind people.

A Russian student in my daughter's year group( age 15) SI, had a fringe and wore it down for everything including the parent watching day. They didn't seem to mind at all and as far as I know she was never told to change it. It actually really suited her. I would say it's fairly unusual to have a fringe down. Maybe you could call and check?

Some other options might be Anna du Boisson at West London School of Dance, Masters of Ballet Academy or Nicola Moriarty at Woodside Ballet Academy.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/london-junior-summer-school-2022-registration-209973094177

I think the RAD junior summer school is still open until the end of today! Its non competitive but good teachers.

I'm intrigued by this. Do you mean leave the establishment they are currently receiving the pressure/ abuse? Or leaving the profession altogether?

There are many dancers who don't have those incredible arched/ big instep feet. But what they have instead are flexible/ workable feet. In a class at a top vocational school I would estimate just over a third will have the banana type feet while the rest have a good pliable foot that has some instep and arch. A pliable foot can be worked on with the correct exercises to develop and strengthen. The foot is always developing and changing anyhow as the training progresses.Without seeing your daughters feet it is impossible to tell where she would be on the scale of possibly workable or a definite not possible for classical while still being suitable for contemporary or other genres. A completely flat, inflexible foot with no instep would not work for classical. What I have noticed is that many yr 7s have the banana feet but by upper school there is very few.

I find that incredibly insensitive of the RAD. When putting pupils in for exams we were always taught to arrange them in suitable groups - children with other children of similar ages or maturity as far as we were able. No wonder you felt the way you did afterwards.

The Aveda Botanical intensive repair is good especially if you sit with it on under a hot towel ( microwave) for a while. It is much more the thing NOT to scrape your hair back these days. Some vocational schools are being much more proactive in changing hair positions, not putting your hair up too early and sitting in it for academics, and encouraging a slightly softer look than the gel/ egg head, purely because of the damage and fall out - literally.

I recommend checking out Sarah Toner school in Finsbury Park. Sarah does a class for 14- 24 yr olds who don't want to be vocational but still want to be challenged. Sarah is lovely and technically focussed. Sure she will be able to accommodate your needs.

It was the same for us. Missed a year of her education. There's no allowance or exceptions from the vocational schools unless they decide themselves that an already existing student should repeat a year.

Maybe the first hurdle would be, what do people want to watch? what would motivate people to part with their hard earned cash? Not easy at a time like this, when many people can't even afford to heat their homes. Only understanding this, would lead to running a completely sustainable company, not so reliant on grants and funding and sponsorship which can never be guaranteed. Traditional companies are struggling. Thinking out of the box in the way that someone did when they realised we didn't need expensive estate agents to sell homes. Maybe something more interactive where the audience are in the driving seat. Something different and risky and courageous, but without giving up the core values of dance.

It definitely won't affect her application so don't worry about that. I would give them a phone and check they received the other photo and email. Not sure if they are on Easter holidays now, so maybe check when back after Easter.

Well done to your Dd for being able to complete her exam. She will have gained so much more than a mark ( whatever it may be) going through that experience. Finding it within herself to do what was needed, when everything was against her, is what every professional dancer will come up against in time. Whether it be carrying on in a performance through a malfunction of the music, costume, nerves, lack of rehearsal, an injury or because you've just had traumatic news given to you etc, it's a sign of strength and creativity to be able to see it to the end.

Sorry, meant to say 3-4 Not three quarters, which would be nice but definitely not true!

Applying for yrs 9 and 10 in my opinion is the best option both from a dance and mental health perspective. From a dance perspective, the new candidates are full of vitality, eager to begin their new life, full of determination. In contrast to the students who began in yr 7 who can be a little worn down and jaded by that time. From a mental health perspective, it's relatively obvious. The students starting in yr 7 will have had 3 years of the dreaded assessments hanging over them... it is a niggling worry that youngsters don't need if they are to produce their best without fear. They have also had to deal with leaving home very young age and all that entails, which is huge. On top of that, they will be dealing with favouritism and other confidence busters. How to get to a year 10 standard without the whole family dying of stress, exhaustion and bankruptcy? I know for some people what I'm about to suggest would be completely out of the question financially, and for that, I apologise. I can not solve the bankruptcy problem. Firstly, you need an extremely good and patient dance teacher who can offer 1st class training which builds in hours and standard. The teacher should be well versed in the very high standards needed for a yr 10 entry. This teacher may be able to offer some free or discounted tuition once the lessons become a daily event and they are hopefully onboard. Hopefully the school might offer Pilates or other strength training or, at least be helpful and supportive in finding contacts. The school needs to be close enough to enable the student to incorporate travel and the time to deal with the increasing academic work load, otherwise the student will be exhausted. Second, a private lesson teacher ( once a week) who will give a different perspective. Maybe try to locate a RAD or ISTD examiner who offers private lessons or an RBS associate teacher. Some people will prefer an ex classical company member for lessons but caution - not all great dancers are great teachers! Whoever you choose, the student should feel it's really pushing them (in a good way) towards their gaol. These lessons will be costly, especially around London and you may have to travel a fair distance to find someone special. Associates will help to measure up the standards and competition and are also a valuable weekly lesson but I much prefer a long one to one lesson with an excellent teacher if having to choose. Summer / spring intensives will be very important to keep the international cohort in mind. Trying to get some intensives overseas would be a bonus because internationals are very, very strong en pointe. There are some cheaper ones around. My Dd did a RAD intensive in Italy and it was a very high standard but very reasonably priced. It also opens your eyes and mind to different teaching styles and keeps you on your toes. It's easy to get locked in with the same teacher, which is very important as a base in the early years, but different teachers pick up on different areas needing attention. Being creative with the training, changing it around and up and applying for scholarships and a reduction in fees wherever possible is the way to go. There are intensives all over France, Italy and Sicily, and Scotland which are excellent and much cheaper than going for the big flashy ones. We stayed in a campsite and combined it with a bit of a holiday. These are just suggestions. Everyone is different and will have different ideas of how this can be achieved. Although, it's incredibly difficult, it's not impossible. 3/4 new British students in RBS upper school were home trained in UK.

Such a wonderful post Notadancema. I would also add, try to take your dc out as much as possible if you can. Know it's so tricky when you live far away. You can always ask for special permission- a family birthday etc as an excuse to get them out. Sometimes they get so addicted to being in that environment it's difficult for them to understand there's another life out there and that's so important for their mental health.