dancefanatic

Yes it will. She will be put with the appropriate group as RAD classes are not run by year group if that makes sense. And question away! There are a few Elmhurst parents on here and we’re all happy to help as wasn’t that long ago we were in your shoes.

Congrats to your DD. The normal Y9 timetable includes 2 hours ballet Mon-Fri, 4 hours academics every day plus a further 2 hours dance Mon-Tues. Friday afternoons they have enrichment time & non-leave out weekends RAD class on Saturday mornings. Classes start 8:30 and finish around 6pm except for Fridays when they finish at 2:45 for leave out weekends or 5pm otherwise. Hope this helps.

We’ll see you there BalletShoes5 as my DD has a Y4 place! Congrats to your DD too

Thanks Tatasmum and I'm sorry your DD had a No but equally pleased that she's taken it well. As we all know, No's are more the norm and really only mean not yet. Good luck for the rest of the journey!

Results from last Saturday’s auditions are filtering out. Amazed that my younger DD has been offered a place, particularly as I felt she is rather young & perhaps not ready yet! But what do us parents know? Do hope there’s more good news for forum DC coming out

My younger DD also auditioned yesterday. She’s 7 and first ever audition. Super proud of her as she went off happily with the rest of her group and came back still happy. Like your DD Tatasmum she thought the session was only about 25 minutes, certainly not longer than her usual class length! She’s now anxious for the results whereas I am in denial about them. Just hoping she’s done well but also not sure following her elder sister’s path is what she really wants, even though she says it is. Oh well, time will tell. Just happy to see Elmhurst showed their usual level of warmth & care to the little ones that i’ve seen at vocational level auditions & summer school in the past.

Elmhurst senior summer school emails are on their way for all those waiting.

My DD got a straight No from Y7 & Y8 finals, only to be offered a Y8 place from summer school at Elmhurst - she’s now Y9. So yes it definitely does happen. Sorry, meant to quote Balletboy3’s post!

Moneypenny I do agree but an AD forging connections with worldwide companies does, provided he/she also spends sufficient time within the school with all the students to ensure their training meets, if not exceeds, industry standards/requirements/etc, will help graduates as ADs from the companies will have a good knowledge of the school and the standard of its training. I feel a good AD needs to do a bit of both, external promoting plus internal promoting/encouragement and so on. An AD who is completely inwardly focused on a school and students with no industry connections is not serving his prospective graduates well. Likewise an AD who is completely outward forcusing to the detriment of the school's students and graduates is not serving the school's best interests either. An interesting conundrum really. Glad I don't have to do it!

I feel the AD at my DD’s school knows all the students, even though he does travel a bit too. I know when he is in school he often watches classes through the windows, is at all prelim auditions & finals, fills in teaching if a teacher is off ill, is st school performances etc. In fact my DD says he knew her name before she even became a student. I know this doesn’t means all other parents would agree with me but I think he does a good job and is trying to get the school’s name out there worldwide which can only help future graduates when looking for contracts if the school has a good reputation.

Depends on the year plus what they have in the year above put they can take up to 15 of each. However this isn’t always the case as I think the Y10 are (or were) 15 girls & 5 boys. My DD’s year started as 15 girls but now down to 11 for a variety or reasons and the boys’ numbers have also fluctuated up & down.

My DD is at vocational school (now Y9) and it is strongly frowned upon at her school for students to do extra classes, particularly at half terms and weekends. There are always those that do them but the ethos of the health & well-being team, which is supported by the AD, is that the students need rest and downtime as they do so much at school. In fact, you are supposed to get permission from the AD for all extra-curricula classes and no more than a maximum of two weeks summer school and then only with permission. We certainly can't afford more than a week in the summer and it certainly hasn't done her any harm. In fact she made a fantastic improvement from last year's appraisal to this plus those bad habits she may have had prior to attending the school are being sorted. She does do stretching and other flexibility/strengthening work when home but that is all. Please don't feel pressured either by your DC or what you think others are doing at the school. Rest is vital for all children, particularly those who do so many hours of dancing and conditioning during their usual week. Finally, congrats to your DC on being offered places, they have done fantastically well as the competition is very fierce.

I found out from my elder DD (at vocational school) that she'd used one of her class mate's a few times as I refused to get her one. When I told her a few of the things learned from Lisa Howell's blog that particularly apply to my DD who has hypermobile joints, with a particular weakness in her ankles, she has finally seen that she's better off just working with her theraband. She's also going to talk to staff at her school for more advanced exercises to help strengthen her ankles and even admitted that she now wonders if the recent level of weakness in her right ankle might be due to overstretching ligaments when using the foot stretcher! As she's also had those wonderful (but horrible) banana feet since she was tiny, I don't think she needs a stretcher for her feet anyway! So thanks to all for the advice and links, really helpful

Elmhurst Junior SS is usually in late August for 11-13 year olds. Not sure if that is too young for your needs though.

My DD was one of those who didn’t get WL finals in Y7 and waiting list for MAs. She got an MA place offered in the June and then WL Y8 finals the following year. So don’t give up just yet, lots happens once all the finals take place, subsequent offers & acceptances. Good luck to all.

I used to do Scottish country dancing when I lived in London some years back - joined the Wandsworth Reels Society. You should find similar for adults in most towns & cities across the UK though so don’t need to go to children’s classes.

You can buy pointes with shorter shanks as my DD wears them. She naturally has very flexible feet that make that banana shape curve when pointed which results in a lot of extra fabric bunching on her heels. The 3/4 shank lessons the bunching, if that makes sense.

My DD auditioned last year (2016). She turned 12 in the June, auditioned a month later almost to the day. I expected her to be put in with the Senior group, particularly as she was also at the end of her first year as an RBS MA but Miss Lewis put her in the Junior group. One of the other girls from her MAs class auditioned, same year as my DD but birthday at the beginning of the academic year, and she was put in with Seniors. Both girls were pulled out for the scholarship group although neither were awarded one. I also felt that the parts were allocated on casting day irrespective of who won a scholarship or which group they auditioned in, as my DD got two lovely duet/feature parts in Sleeping Beauty and her MA friend got one of Aurora's friends. But if you're still unsure, I'd suggest you include a letter to Miss Lewis with your concerns and see what she comes back with.

My younger DD has done the opposite in that she’s moved from IDTA to ISTD for both ballet & tap. She had completed her IDTA Primary exams in the June, just before her 6th birthday and started at the new school the following September, going into Grade 1 for both. She was then entered for her Tap Grade 1 exam in March, going into Grade 2 in April. She is now 7trs 4mths and Grade 1 still for ballet, Grade 2 for tap and the youngest in her tap class & spent all of last year as the youngest in her ballet class. I was told by her previous teacher that Grade 1 takes longer to learn/master than the primary grades and certainly my elder DD was in Grade 2 IDTA when she started RBS JAs in year 6 (she’s now at vocational school). So I would say your DD is probably fine where she is.

Also the holiday schools are selected purely against the photos. Associate & full-time places require attending a preliminary audition in the first instance.

Happymum I've been thinking of you and wondering how you are. Big hugs are all I can send at this point. I know it will be hard but look forward to DS's extra weekend home this month that our girls won't get. And do lots of salsa!! Xx

I sent my DD off to vocational school last year with the gel spray as not allowed spreay only to find she doesn't use it unless they are doing a show or something. She just wets her hair down when she puts it into a high pony tail every morning but used two hairbands on it and then just does the hairpins and bun net before ballet classe. So I'd suggest sending you DD with gel spray anyway and maybe also practice putting it in a ponytail when dampened a little.

Congratulations! What a fantastic call to receive and an amazing opportunity.

Have you joined the Elmhurst Ballet School Uniform Buy and Sell page on Facebook as you might get more response there?

My Dd's JA/MA teacher is a fan of the Carla Arabesque Leo, although with the straps shortens & some of the front ruching removed. Beautifully high legged which helps make those with the long legs short bodies have incredibly long legs & those that don't look longer legged. She hated the children to wear their associate Leos as she suits the panel know who they are already.