glissade
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Posts posted by glissade
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17 minutes ago, Anna C said:
Absolutely; any art, sport or skill studied to a high level make a well-rounded person with all the qualities glowlight mentions. If I remember rightly, my dd was asked about her ballet at her Oxford interview. I know of other Advanced dancers who have gone on to Oxbridge - some who did associates, LCB, EYB etc but who always intended to go to Uni, and the level of ballet they reached has always benefitted them.
There can be downsides to full-time training and we shouldn’t forget the longterm effects these can have; both physically and emotionally, not just injury but body image problems/eating disorders/mental health problems/bullying and all the issues associated with lack of inspection/accountability in schools, particularly upper schools which aren’t obliged to be inspected. You don’t need to be at full-time training or even Associates to take ballet to a high level purely for pleasure, without the pressure of trying for a career, and this might be a better route for some students. I certainly don’t regret the time and money spent on Associates, summer schools, EYB and so on - they all gave dd so much.
Yes - all of this. Separating high-level attainment from a vocational career in teenage years is def valuable.
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Yes, definitely. And it's very specific and helpful!
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Just reading this article in the Guardian .... https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/sep/07/side-hustle-essential-how-covid-brought-dancers-to-their-knees
Makes me wonder .... lots in there that resonates.
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On 27/08/2020 at 20:56, pointetheway said:
Latest news on how itv investigation led to the closure of a well known vocational ballet school. This is an essential read.
if anyone has further information about this school or any other schools please check my posts for contact details or message me directly.
Together we are making positive changes for safer dance.
No comments here please (moderators you may wish to turn off posting). This is information only. Hit like and get this shared!
Thanks for the link. Shared
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If your daughter looks on it as, "Which auditions do I want to experience?" rather than, "Which vocational school do I have a chance of getting into?", then you'll be on the right track ......
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I think I was responding mostly to Tulip's comment - "I just feel that there is no point in trying to tell people, because it’s so difficult not to tell the truth without breaking the rules" - and feeling frustrated at how individuals are able to abuse the power of legal threats to gag their victims ... and wondering whether fear of that threat leads to an over-interpretation of the forum rules perhaps (although I do understand the point about individual circumstances being identifiable even when the poster isn't using their real name). My post came from exasperation at the imbalance of power really, rather than a criticism of this forum!
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I don't understand why it isn't possible for somebody to write: "In an un-named school, this happend to my child: xyz"
If these anonymised stories were available, then perhaps others wouldn't feel so alone, and others again would know what to watch out for. It isn't a question of naming and shaming - it's about doing the best that is possible with the resources that are available.
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18 minutes ago, drdance said:
The trouble is - no one will put their head above the parapet and shout loudly enough that things are not ok. While there are lots of wonderful dance teachers out there, there are also some poor students who have been bullied, mistreated and worse. Where do these people go to report this when it’s not technically illegal? Bad practice needs to be a thing of the past but unless people can report it, it will keep going.
.... which comes full circle back round to the question, how can people dare to raise their head above the parapet when they are threatened with legal action and effectively silenced?
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3 hours ago, Anna C said:3 hours ago, Kate_N said:
But if someone is buying something, especially something as expensive (in many ways, not just cash) & precious as a child's education, it really is a purchaser's duty to do due diligence ...
Again, I agree, Kate; this is obviously easier when all the information - including previous pupils’ or parents’ experiences - is freely available though, and for various reasons, that’s not always the case.
Exactly this - if information is censored, how is it possible to know??
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1 hour ago, Bunny said:
Is it just me that feels this is a slightly unusual question by a relatively new member of the forum? I apologise if I’m off the mark but it seems a little bit inappropriate. Perhaps I am a little over sensitive/paranoid but I have seen many dodgy questions asked on dance costume selling sites and the tone of this post seems off to me.
No, you're not the only one 🙂
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3 hours ago, maddhead said:
If people don't discuss these things openly the perpetrators simply get away with it for even longer. If forums like this can't allow open conversation, what is the point of them? When threads are removed due to pressure from parties that have the power and the money to threaten legal action, that is not freedom of speech or democracy. Anonymity is of course necessary in many cases, but that doesn't mean a situation or issue can't be discussed, without names being mentioned.
The moderation on this site appears to sometimes be in favour of those who others are trying to expose. If people have issues with a particular school, or person in that school, they should be allowed to openly discuss their concerns - if they feel it relevant to name people, so be it. If those named have nothing to hide then there shouldn't be a problem. If they get their solicitors in to shut down any negative publicity - doesn't that ring alarm bells? Just saying.
I wonder how long this message will be allowed??
I struggled with this too until I realised that the admin don't have any choice - they have to shut down/remove these posts because they would lose their livelihoods if they didn't. This just isn't the right forum .... that's all.
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On 07/07/2020 at 19:06, Pups_mum said:
Oh yes, I hate the "you can be anything you want if you try hard enough" ethos because it simply isn't true - we don't live in a Disney movie!
I know people who say that kind of thing are often just trying to be encouraging. The same goes for the oft told stories of people who "made it big" in their fields despite having major disadvantages like being a late starter or having the "wrong" physique. Those stories can be very inspiring but what people often forget is that those who make it against all the odds are usually absolutely exceptional in other respects.
It is a fine line to tread as one thing that is for sure is that if you don't work hard then you almost certainly won't succeed but I think young people trying to enter any particularly competitive field need to be realistic.
I was very pleased to read the piece of work that my sporty son had done on goal setting at a recent online masterclass. A year or two ago I know his long term goal would have said something like "GB Olympic Team" but now it says "University First or Second Team".He is good at his sport, very good in fact, and he works extremely hard, but he is not going to grow to the height that a national level player needs to be, and that is more or less unsurmountable. He would certainly need to be a lot, lot, better than a very good junior to overcome that hurdle. There are those who will say that you should always aim for the very top but I disagree - you should always aim to be the best that you can be, recognising that not everyone can go to the Olympics or be a soloist with the Royal Ballet. So many things influence outcomes, and many of those are outside our control, especially physical factors.
The biggest danger of the "you can be anything you want to be" ethos is that when most, inevitably, find that's not true, then they will be left feeling either lied to, or that it is their fault - they didn't work hard enough or didn't "want it" badly enough to succeed. Often nothing could be further from the truth, and those beliefs can be very damaging.
Absolutely this
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As far as I'm aware, all RBS MA boys travel to London, and there aren't any mixed MA classes at any centre ....
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4 hours ago, Peanut68 said:
Sorry for my typo....should read analogy!!
I didn't notice that .... or the "oversolits" typo either!!! 😉
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18 hours ago, Peanut68 said:
I ‘liked’ your post above Glidsade as totally agree re: oversolits snslogy....but I actually was grossed out by it too once I clicked the link 😱😂
Sorry!!! 😂😂😂
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Personally, I'd be very happy never to see oversplits .... for me, they fall into the same category as eg being able to pop your eyeballs out of their sockets! When I watch someone dancing, I really don't want to be grossed out by contortionist tricks ....
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10 hours ago, Peanut68 said:
Totally agree with you Jan! It takes ballet away from artistry & pushes it into the realms of acrobatics....
If I want to see extreme body stretches & contortions than I’ll go to the circus, not the ballet!
Seconded!
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19 minutes ago, MAK said:
Thank you for this, I had been having the same issue for ages!!
I was frustrated for ages too!! The first time the heart stayed in place was a major event - I'm not sure my family appreciated my delight ....! Anyway - happy to have been able to help 🙂 x
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On 17/03/2020 at 20:26, RHowarth said:
Ps been trying to like posts on this thread but my likes always disappear once I leave the page.
I had that problem too! Eventually, I realised you have to click on the heart twice - once, to make it jump up; a second time, to confirm that you like the post. Hope that helps! X
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From my own perspective, individual stories and experiences do indeed help when I am asking for information to address a personal, specific situation. I wouldn't like to assume that isn't the case for anybody else asking questions also .....
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I've been a member of several forums (fora?) over the years, many of which have been constrained by legal implications. It incenses me, I have to confess, because I hate being censored and I absolutely detest having posts that I've spent time writing being deleted! I really can't emphasise that enough - I HATE being silenced!!!!
However .... I have also come, over my aging internet years, to appreciate that I don't always have the bigger picture, and that the legal constrainsts of the world in which I find myself play out online as much as they do offline.
I don't like that. In fact .... did I say this yet? ... I HATE being censored.
But ......... here's the big BUT. Living in the UK, I believe that in most instances I do have freedom of speech. That right is precious to me and I would HATE even more to be living in a country that denied me this in even the most basic of positions. I have also learned to appreciate that, on this specific internet forum, when we are told, "You can't mention such-and-such a school", it isn't because the moderators/forum have taken that stance for themselves - but it's because the schools themselves have said that they don't want to be mentioned.
Taking that perspective, I understand it as the schools in question saying that they would rather not be talked about at all than to take the risk of receiving either good or bad publicity in these forums.
I hope this is helpful, pictures ..... as I have also appreciated your posts greatly and would HATE to see you disappear from this forum right now when you still have so much that I want to talk to you about ..... xx
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Mammabear - could your daughter have said what she said in the spur of the moment and now feels that she has to stick by it? If so, is there a way you could help her to change her mind without losing face ....? I sometimes find that staying cool, unemotional and logical works best. Perhaps it might help her to write down a pros and cons list of quitting dancing at this stage. Sometimes, seeing things laid out in black and white brings a bit of clarity, especially if the 'pro quitting' side of the page contains little more than 'to spend time with a boy' ......
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I think a major influence has been the promotion of static poses as images over an appreciation of the expression of movement between these positions. An arabesque is beautiful because of what comes immediately before and afterwards ... how the position is reached and how the body transforms fluidly into a different position after moving through the arabesque. Instagram shots of high extensions, over-splits etc don't capture this artistic quality. Instead, they celebrate the gymnastic contortion and extreme flexibility of the dancer's body.
I think backtracking on this is likely to be extremely difficult, not least because there seems to be a genuine trend in vocational pathways of rewarding young dancers with extreme flexibility and high extensions. It is highly possible that the most successful students also have artistic expression and an ability to communicate through the art form ..... however, I'm not so sure that dancers with those two latter qualities would get very far in today's ballet world if they did not also possess outstanding flexibility and high extensions ....
Perhaps the horse needs to be put before the cart - ie. audience taste will only change if dance schools and companies are actively seen to be not only encouraging but also promoting safe practice and an appreciation of ballet as an art form instead of a gymnastic display.
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Gatherings of Over 6 Banned
in Doing Dance
Posted
My 5 children are now fighting about which one of them we have to kick out of the house 🤣😂🤣