Ruby Foo

It certainly doesn't mean that your daughter doesn't have a good chance of getting into RBS but a lot of this is down to confidence and physique. It all depends who's there on the day and can come down to minute details. If it's a no, then it doesn't mean much at all, just that somebody else had 1mm more in something. It's tricky for young students to understand that, I know. When a child is super confident then they tend to show themselves off and their work to their best. Let your daughter know that she doesn't need a school to tell her how lovely she is and to go in and show her self in her very best light. Have lots of fun, listen carefully to the teacher and music, lots of smiles and enthusiasm, stand tall, eyes up and have lots of fun being a jellyfish or whatever it is this year. Everyone seems to enjoy the audition a lot! Making sure your daughter knows she'll find joy in dancing whether she gets a place or not is key. Because that's the truth - JA's is not everyone's taste and it lasts just a few years. My daughter got a straight No from her first associate audition ( not RBS) she was very disappointed but later went on to become a RBS full time student. For better or worse . It's all swings and roundabouts. Good Luck 😊

I recommend Jose Martin Ex ENB He teaches from a studio in Beaconsfield, but has also used Arts Educational studios. He knows exactly what Directors are looking for in a video construct and is so patient and professional and pays attention to every detail. He did a wonderful job for my daughter. You will find his details under ‘Raw Talent’. He also danced in San Francisco and Canada so knows that scene very well.

Very exciting Tiaramum! Wishing your daughter lots of joy and success in her new school.

I’m sure this is true. I’m merely pointing out our own experience in a certain European country. I can see how difficult it all is for young people who are trying to push on with their lives and make the best of themselves and their training, whether you live in UK or Europe. Our experience was the feeling from some that it was hassle that they could do without.

I will PM you

You beat me to it Peanut! Are these stirrup ballet tights? with the toes and heels cut out? They shouldn’t fall off with stirrup tights. If not, can you replace with stirrup tights? If not, a lovely mixture of roisin and hairspray might work. You can buy a pack of roisin for violins online and crush to make a nice sticky goo. Or buy the one suggested above. Or sewing a piece of elastic at the back of the shoe ( same colour as tights so it doesn’t show!) This is what you do with pointe shoes. Find the seam at back of shoe and sew a goodthumbs width from the seam on either side. The elastic will sit high up near the ankle.

This was for a student visa and not a working/ residency permit. In some European countries, a school college must be accredited by their government in order for non EU students to apply for a student visa. For a school to be accredited by their government, they must prove they are taking a certain percentage of students from their own country. Some schools prefer not to do that.

Americans, Canadians, Australians all have varying ways within the law of obtaining a EU visa. Not particularly easy and a lot of form filling and cost, but possible. Many of my daughters friends from US and Australia had managed to do this. This option is not possible for UK residents/passport holders. Believe me, we fully researched with a lawyer. This is for a visa longer than 3 months allowed.

Not a company as such but I do know that some European schools are less and less enthusiastic to take on British students since Brexit. That was definitely mentioned to my daughter when she was in Europe. It’s not only the visa issues but also a rumbling grumble that UK chose to make things so tricky. It’s not just in the Ballet world but in employment in general. A friend’s daughter has had great difficulty in getting a visa to start work ( not dance) in Spain. They are giving out far less visa’s to the Brits than before.

I think this year, in particular, seems harsher than any previous. I have noticed that in 3 top schools in Europe and UK, who are producing gorgeous dancers, there are far less gaining contracts than in previous years. There’s the global economic crisis of course that’s having a huge impact but now we have the impact of social media too which is making the situation far worse than it ever was in my day. We have everyone from parents, teachers, students, ‘Big Business ‘ feeding into or feeding off the frenzy of social media and creating an environment which is not helpful. It creates a worldwide false impression that with this teacher, this school, this summer school, this leotard, this photographer, this amount of money -I will get a contract. This is the difference between then and now.

Sending lots of virtual love and hugs and strength to you Michelle. I’ve never read this thread before yesterday, but it sounds like you are having an extremely challenging time of it. Hoping you get through it all super quickly and successfully and get back to your beloved ballet asap. x

Are there any glaring issues with her pointework? Any problems that her teacher is working on with her? If everything is going smoothly and there’s nothing major then I would suggest you get in touch with Sarah Toner who could possibly arrange some weekly lesson online. I wouldn’t normally recommend doing pointework online but as you have no facilities near you and Sarah is very experienced and a wonderful teacher who can work equally well from a screen as she can in real life, then this seems a plausible option. It will give her the extra she needs and Sarah coaches / has coached many students through the vocational process so she knows the standards. TBH the pointework in vocational schools in the UK up to yr 9 is not what it should be in comparison to what students overseas are doing, so she’s probably hanging in there. Our experience in vocational was that pointework class was often the first thing to be cut if there were rehearsals/ performances ( even rehearsals for a carol service in one vocational school!). There is also nothing major in the audition- it’s very basic. Where she will see a difference is actually at vocational yr 10. This is where everything changes because the overseas students just arriving look like professionals in regards their standards of pointe. They are completely comfortable executing the most challenging combinations en pointe with strength, accuracy and consistency. It’s not the cheapest option I’m well aware but you’re in very safe hands with Sarah. sarah@sarahtoner.co.uk

Absolutely true, Peanut! The variations ( 2 learnt) were taught as a group. The time was then divided between them all to see them individually. They ‘ran’ them one after the other in a big rush to get through them all after class and there was absolutely no corrections or individual help whatsoever. After my daughter left vocational, she worked properly on the variations with a couple of teachers and the difference was insane.

Probably repeating a lot of the excellent points in the previous post. It depends on quite a few things - The quality of her classes at the moment. (We are presuming the associate class will be super beneficial but we can’t take that for granted). Whether she feels too comfortable in her current classes and with her teacher, and is not being challenged? Or challenged enough. What she is looking to do in the future? Is this just for interest and fun or Vocational school? If so which vocational school? Around year 10 in vocational schools, the standard changes/ is upped considerably (understatement ) especially in the top classical schools. This is the point in the UK where we see a large proportion of students appearing from overseas, Its always good at this age to have a different teacher and perspective and to dance with other dancers other than the ones you’re used to- no matter how good your own teacher is. A different teacher sees different strengths and weaknesses which can be helpful. And being out of your comfort zone just a little can be beneficial. What does your daughter really enjoy? Obviously Ballet is key, but the joy of dancing has to be a priority and if she prefers other styles to Ballet then why not indulge in those and become a more versatile dancer? Maybe she could drop one of her usual classes and do associate’s instead? There’s plenty students who haven’t done a single associate class who have achieved what they wanted to. I guess it’s about personal choice and time management. Making the most of yourself and your time.

If Graduates are finding it difficult to settle in a Company, so much so that the audience is affected, then surely the training, especially in the arena of performance experience must be lacking? If the Company cannot afford time for a certain percentage of Graduates to settle in then there must be a lack of vision in welcoming the forthcoming talent of the future. No wonder there is stalemate.

Sorry, forgot to mention that it would be perfectly acceptable to go to another school to learn a different style of dance- one that her own school doesn’t offer, say jazz. She could possibly do competitions that way. I would definitely speak to her own school about your intentions beforehand though.

There’s a whole load of reasons why some dance schools do festivals and competitions and others don’t. Usually a dance school becomes fairly well established before deciding to to do ‘extra stuff’ like festivals and comps. Some schools find it enough work to do exams once a year and maybe a show the following year. It all depends on how well established a school is, how many staff and pupils they have and hours they are able to rent studio space. It’s a whole lot of work to do exams in Ballet (sometimes 2 different styles and syllabus), Jazz, tap etc, plus shows and then competitions on top! Competitions require time to rehearse, costumes, music etc. and although many dances are handed down through the ranks and through the years, it’s still a lot to organise. My own school changed completely once we started doing competitions. It became increasingly complicated and produced a two tier divide between those who did comps ( a clique) and those who didn’t. Some schools just don’t want that type of ‘competition’ to stand in the way of children finding joy in their learning of dance where everyone is benefiting from the same tuition. Although some will argue, that for those competing, there is added joy and benefit. Although most schools and students are super friendly about the competition type stuff, there are some who aren’t. On the positive side, competitions provide legitimate performance opportunities and build confidence in pupils. It’s also a great deal of fun. Some pupils really need that and yet others seem to progress well without. You can always go to your local Festival to watch which is a great learning experience in itself. There’s a lot to be learned from watching others. Why not approach your school and ask if there would be any possibility of entering in the future? Maybe they will offer their opinions of why they don’t do them.

I think the reason the 2nd experience ( senior) seemed a little basic was due to a very large percentage of overseas students ( all from same school) seemingly having just started intermediate level. Therefore the classes seemed tamed down to accommodate. I can’t imagine it would the same situation every year. There are also good contemporary classes and a West End show ( optional)

How advanced is your daughter and what is she looking to get out of it? My daughter did this twice. First time she was 12 and not at vocational school. She loved it a found it very useful. It was well organised with excellent teachers and there was a mix of students, some going to vocational and then many from overseas who had not had so much training. The second time she was at vocational and did it because she had an injury and knew it would be good but very basic classes that wouldn’t aggravate her injury. Again, it was well organised and friendly. Mainly the other students were beginner intermediate level and the classes were excellent, but basic. Based on our experience only, if your daughter is looking for a lovely, friendly summer school with very good teachers, then I’m sure she’ll enjoy it. The studios are lovely! However, If your daughter is advanced standard and looking for super advanced professional classes that push her then this is probably not the summer school for her.

I would go for So Danca canvas. They seem very light and flexy. Leather would be the worst, followed by satin. Grishko do lovely canvas shoes but no idea if the full sole is flexible. You can always roll them up tightly (as in a full arch) and put an elastic band round over night.

Falke 8 invisible deluxe tights at John Lewis? Wolford nude 8 also John Lewis. Both expensive but very natural looking.

Is there still such a thing as a family GP? I don’t think any member of our family has ever seen the same GP twice. These days you feel super lucky to get an appointment at all with anyone.

Back in 2021, my Dd got her acceptance email 10th May. Not sure if that’s helpful as everything may have changed since then.

I don’t believe you can be confident unless you truly ‘feel’ it from within and it’s authentic. If you think of occasions when you feel confident, it’s usually when you feel super competent and comfortable or maybe you just look amazing. It’s pointless people saying ‘ you need to be more confident’ because if you don’t feel it inside then it can never work. If she’s generally a quiet, humble type then she may be overlooked by the teachers. And feel trapped by her peers. Maybe try and ask how she feels in class generally. Does she feel super competent or if there’s something worrying her, whether it be her peers or her dancing ( or her teacher). Obviously if she does feel competent among her peers then there’s some reason her personality and performance is not translating to her teachers. Can she take her competency ( lovely technique) to another level and proactively seek attention from her teacher? I would ask for a little help from the school. It might be as simple as the teachers paying more attention to her. Does she feel more confident away from her vocational school and the people in it? At summer school? Can she remember times when she felt very competent and wanted others to see how good she is? Maybe she can look out some piccies of when she felt really good about herself and get her to tell you why. Can she conjure those same feelings in class? I would definitely get to as many performances as you can so she can see how much larger than life you need to be on stage -every class a performance. Sometimes these things sort themselves out with a change of school, different environment and teachers. I can definitely empathise!

All the ‘ technique’ is packed into very simple exercises which are manageable to do and age appropriate. The teachers are generally very nice and supportive. It’s more about learning the right way through repetition and good teaching.