Ruby Foo

Questions can range from how many nights / classes do you do? To pets or favourite dancers / ballets, favourite academic subject. How do you think you’ll like boarding? Have you been away from home before? Tring especially like to know you’ve picked Tring because you really want to go there! So having thought why you would like to train there in particular would be useful. It’s more of an informal chat about your home life, hobbies and motivation for training to be a dancer.

I completely agree with the above advice. In my opinion at 6 yrs old, a child should have plenty free time to relax and socialise and do stuff like Rainbows/ Brownies. They already have a structured day at school so it’s important for their brains to have time to free play where they do whatever suits them. We have first hand experience of the teaching at Tring Park and I can’t praise it highly enough. The associates come very highly recommended too. If it means your child gets more space during the week then I can’t see why she wouldn’t go ahead.

If you look through the threads for RBS Intensives you will find surprising results of places being offered/ not offered /wait list etc. Students who have been a no suddenly getting a place, students being offered Summer but not Spring, students being offered both! and students who are waitlisted for intensives for a couple of years suddenly being offered a WL place! So don’t give up. Having said that, there are far more international students at the summer intensives and not so many from UK. I think a lot of European students celebrate Easter in a big way or their holidays don’t match ours and don’t apply for the Easter intensive. This might leave more space for UK students. I’m not sure how many in a class at lower levels but from experience around 18/20.

We bought the Recovapro half price ( still expensive) from a physio center who were selling them off because there was a newer model. I emailed them several times to check how ‘used’ it was first. 3 years later and it’s just fine. You can’t beat a regular sports massage but this works great on problem spots and I was even told to use it on my Retriever by the vet -to boost cell stimulation in her elbows.

A massage gun is very effective and it’s right there whenever you need. My daughter used hers every night ( most students had one) whilst training and still uses it now, as does the rest of the family ( for niggles after running and tennis). I think you need to research the best gun for best performance. Sports massage is obviously great and probably better for serious, long term issues but it’s expensive, often hard to book appointments just when you need and then there’s the travel.

https://pointemagazine.com/grooming-and-sexual-abuse-in-ballet/ Not sure if this has already been posted but an important read for all ballet parents.

I agree. Applying for a day place seems an advantage. There are only so many beds! We have done both boarding and day and she preferred day.

Sorry, I just remembered - you can apply for scholarships for all the intensives.

Just to add, it might make your Dd feel a little more at ease and confident if she’s been working in certain studios before ( at an intensive )or she’s had certain teachers who may also be taking the audition class, but that’s just a personal thing and definitely not a requirement to do well in an audition. Some students say they get a feel for the school by doing an intensive and I guess there may be something in that but personally I think intensives are a very different beast than actually training somewhere.

I don’t think you would disadvantage them at all by not attending the intensives. The schools have plenty opportunity to see everything they need to see in the auditions. There are sometimes 1 or 2 students from RBS intensives who are invited to attend a private audition or given a straight offer of a place and no doubt other schools too may note an interest in a particular student while at an intensive. But the fact you have not attended an intensive will not make any difference to your Dd in the audition.

There are also many in the USA that take students into Graduate year. But maybe that’s too far and too costly. San Francisco, Ellison, Joffrey and National Ballet of Canada are just some.

I think you would be looking at schools that offer a 3 year program. In our experience quite a few are interested in looking at a very competent ‘company ready’ 18 yr old, but places are few at that stage and rarely given unless exceptional. ESB and NBA in Amsterdam and Princess Grace all accept 18 yr olds if you are what they want. It’s definitely worth applying on an individual basis.

Paris Conservatoire Dutch National Ballet Academy European Ballet School John Cranko Brussels International Ballet School Princess Grace Berlin State Ballet School Think a video is required for first stage but some will definitely want you in person for the final. We have experienced EBS and have knowledge of NBA if you want to pm me?

http://EllisonBallet.org Ellison have, what looks like a great preparation summer programme for potential auditonees including a variations intensive.

Thank you for your correction Sophoife.

Hi balletmania, Obviously you feel that something is missing from your classes otherwise you wouldn’t have posted! I’m sure the classes you’ve described will be helpful in many ways. As you are heading towards professional status, classes can be expected to be very fast, at a professional level because by this stage you should know what your issues are and how to think of them and work on them independently. They are also easing you in to audition practice and professional life. However, you are not professional yet and still have time to work with a teacher who can guide you and maximise your potential in this important year. There’s no easy answer to your question because both would be equally important. Having a mix of different teachers, some who focus deeply and slowly on technical skills and some ex professionals who work at a fast and furious pace will benefit you. If you have to choose then I guess you need to ask yourself if you have important issues that need help ( who doesn’t?). Maybe you could take class with a teacher that’s invested in you ( there’s a strong relationship between teacher and student) while doing the odd guest classes with an ex professional at Danceworks or similar ( not sure if you’re in uk) Quite apart from the benefits technically and artistically of all this, it’s deeply disrespectful of any teacher to take class without involving the students in a personal way. I know it happens far too often, especially at the highest levels, and I would say these are not teachers but dancer’s taking a class.

Jose Martin from Raw Talent is wonderful at advising and filming Company Videos because he knows just what the Directors are wanting ( not too much or too little). Sarah Toner also good.

The Grand Audition ( Barcelona 2024) would be a definite. Many Company Directors attend these ( list on website). Usually, there are a couple of these auditions per year - one in Western Europe and one in Eastern Europe. Not sure if this is still the case.

Best of Luck to your son! Basically the competition is crazy so try to apply for as many as you can. Making sure you prepare your audition video well in advance and the solos. Needs to be super professional. Sometimes they want a specific solo. Looking continually on instagram at the Companies will let you know when the auditions take place. Most seem to be from November to April. Some that have been recommended to me are all the Scandi ones - Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Hungarian, Prague, Houston. San Francisco has a great junior company as does NBC (Canada) Scottish Ballet, Northern and ENB of course. There are lots! Especially in Europe and Eastern Europe. Paris Opera invite lots of auditionees but only ever take from Paris Opera. I would beware of paying to become part of a junior company which seems to be a thing now. There seems to be lots of bad experiences from this.

I would agree with this. If your DD needs an extra class with reminders of good, solid technique then great. If, on the other hand she needs something extra and special then a private lesson with a fabulous teacher would be more beneficial in my opinion. I guess it depends how far you have to travel as to what makes financial sense. There have only been a couple of girls to my knowledge over the years who have gone from senior associates to RBS and they were both already training at vocational schools. I guess it will depend what she’s looking for. From past experience, the audition is fairly basic, with nothing tricky and some stretching, splits 3 ways. etc. There wasn’t any pointework, but that may have changed.

My dd stopped dancing earlier this year due to injury. She left ( RBS) with 1 A level age 18. She managed to find a college in London to take her ( free) to do 2 more A levels in 1 year. It wasn’t easy to get in ( 2 A levels in a year is a lot of work) and she needed to sit an entrance exam and an interview for both subjects. As one of the A levels is a science, she has set up a tutor session online once a week or as needed. The tutor session is about 1/3 of the cost of a ballet private lesson in London! The college move at pace and there are high expectations of the students. Seems to be working well so far. She’s already sat one ‘mock’ exam and passed with flying colours but she’s extremely motivated to do everything needed to make this a success. The last year has been a huge trauma so it’s great relief she researched and set this whole thing up herself.

I think an attitude of ‘ I’ve no idea how to sing but I’m going to give it my very best shot’ and performing with a sense of fearlessness and confidence counts for a lot. It probably counts for more than having a magnificent voice because having a fearless and ‘ I’m happy to come out of my comfort zone once in a while’ is a wonderful transferable trait that is immensely helpful in the dance world where adapting to new styles, choreography, ideas, teaching styles is all important.

I’m afraid that is not true. The degree is through Roehampton but it’s unique to RBS. In third year, much of the work is done in the studio and therefore you cannot finish it anywhere but RBS. This is what we we’re told by RBS

I also want to mention how important this thread is. There are many threads on this forum that offer amazing, positive and useful advice. We have used it for years and years and grateful thanks to the moderators for making it all happen. The issues on this thread are equally important if not more and have been hidden for years due to legal reasons. Now we can finally discuss what has been going on behind closed doors.

2 points stand out to me from this thread Firstly the issues that cause / have caused distress, both in the immediate and long term are often not always obvious to students or parents whether they are in training or working towards it. For example- imagine if a student was told ‘you can participate in these classes but the teacher will not be looking at you or correcting you. Do you still want to participate ( and pay) for this class?’ Or ‘ You have been accepted to US but you don’t have a good body for the course. Do you still want to accept?’ Or ‘ You look physically this way but the teacher would prefer if you look physically different. Are you willing to change’? Put this way, the issues are no longer hidden and the student has a choice. But the issues ARE hidden and no student or parent can possibly know what will be revealed as the training continues, when or to whom. Secondly, the issues described here, which are students experiences of the schools discussed in the Panorama program, stretch over many decades. Back to 1980.’s I think. Perhaps even further back. I find it extremely worrying that the very same issues are being raised again and again right up to the present day. Schools have definitely improved in some areas over this time, that’s for sure and yet these issues that leave a debilitating impact on students ( and families) are still as prevalent as ever. What conclusions can we draw from this? That the tradition of Ballet Culture ( taking in all that means including companies / international traditions) can’t adapt enough to fully protect children? Or is it simply not willing to ? Protecting pure Classical Ballet ( and weirdly the fashions of physique that surround it) may deem more important.