balletbean

On 16/04/2022 at 20:41, Dancers Dad said:

Unfortunately, it seems their contract is written in total awareness of their own incompetence! 

 

'for any reason'...

 

3.2 We reserve the right at any time or times during the Length of Stay to move you to alternative accommodation (which may be in a hotel) for the purpose of carrying out emergency repairs to the Room and/or the Flat and/or the Property or if we consider it necessary or desirable for any reason, to include to avoid difficulties between tenants or for the better management of the
Property PROVIDED THAT:
3.2.1 you are given reasonable notice (except in emergency);
3.2.2 the alternative accommodation is of substantially no lesser standard than your Room/Flat; and
3.2.3 you will occupy the alternative accommodation on the same terms as those of the Tenancy Agreement, including the Rent payable.

Mmm. Interesting. 
I have read it as :- 

emergency, which the move most certainly isn’t 
Whilst I can see they do include the line ‘if we consider it necessary or desirable for any reason’ I think planned refurbishment is a stretch too far. They know the tenancy contract dates the onus should be on them to plan around those dates not ignore and override them. 
I’m interested to know where they intend to accommodate the tenants for up to 6 weeks of their tenancy agreement. And will they cover costs involved in the move.
Certainly won’t be a hotel for that length of time either and their ages as many hotels won’t permit it without an over 18 present. 
I feel this might be the right time for an email to the CEO 🤨 
 

1 hour ago, Dancers Dad said:

 

I haven't had time to read the contract yet but will do this weekend. It's very poor. Either a) they knew this would happen and chose not to say and therefore gained booking through false pretences; or b) are so incompetent at planning that they didn't know this would happen. Don't know which is worse. Thanks for the offer of the CEO's email address. I shall do some investigating and come back to you if dissatisfied thank you.

 

As for all the other posts about people looking forward to next year - it's lovely to hear. These hiccups come along but they are hiccups only, and my daughter has loved NBS this year.

Unfortunately I would put it down the B.
As this turfing pupils out isn’t new to them. NBS pupils seem to catch the brunt of it all as their term finishes so much later than the majority of the Uni students. 

4 hours ago, Linfeng said:

I'm 18 and moved to London last year. I've been doing ballet for nearly 14 years but I never got a chance to be trained seriously before. 

There weren't many good teachers in my hometown and most kids quit ballet before the age of 12. So I had to train with primary school kids until I'm 17. My flexibility is fairly good as an amateur dancer, I can do over split on both sides.

It might sounds ridiculous but I'm the first one to take the Intermediate Foundation exams (in 2021) in my city. I got a merit but I'm not really satisfied with the result.

 

I'm not planning to take ballet as my career, but I still want to try something like pre vocational training before I'm too old. However it seems like all these classes have an age limit. Some accept 18 years old but that might be too advanced for me.

 

I tried many adult classes but they are very different from classes for children and teenagers. I can't learn a new technique in details and the teachers usually don't really care what are the students actually doing (compared to children's classes). 

I don’t know where you are in London but if you can checkout BASE Dance studios. The Ballet classes in particular run by Charise Logan. An amazing teacher. Passionate, engaging, encouraging about teaching ballet with sound technique in a very thoughtful and constructive manner Charise also looks at the wellbeing of her students. 🩰

You can checkout her Instagram page which is under her maiden name of Charise Renouf. Definitely worth a try. ☺️

13 hours ago, Dancers Dad said:

 

Unite not covering themselves in glory atm tbh. I've said before how helpful they can be - usually individuals rather than the whole org - but we had an email the other day from Medlock telling us that our daughter will have to move out and into another property for the last half term so they can complete their refurbishments. Needless to say, I've sent a long email back with a lot of questions... 

Oh my goodness they are still doing that!! I thought they had stopped with all that messing about after last summers fiasco. My DD had to move out of Parkway Gate for the last two weeks! Yup. The entire pack-up, clear out and move into Medlock for just 14 days. Was supposed to be a week earlier (so 21 days before the end of contract) but fortunately the Deputy at NBS stepped in and pushed back the get out date to enable the show to go ahead without the girls having to pack up. 
I do have the CEO’s email address if required. It did work on another matter covering the end of term. 
 

ps if you signed a contract for a particular Medlock flat, double check the wording (I’m sure you have already) as there was no clause in ours that allowed them to force a move for their convenience but only worded due to fault of the occupants or for a structural issue affecting Health & Safety. 
 

11 hours ago, mum5678 said:

Hiya, not very helpful update I’m afraid! Megan showed us around but couldn’t confirm NBS exclusivity of flats, although did reiterate that they make every effort not to mix and the expectation was that NBS would only be with other NBS unless they had requested otherwise. On the plus side, the new decor is fab - rooms look exactly as per the new website pictures and kitchens very smart too. Think it’ll be lovely for them to be in when it’s all new and shiny! 

I’ve just looked at the new pictures. Wow, what a makeover they’ve all had since last summer. Looking so fresh and welcoming. 🙂

I have noted though that the delightful Aztec pattern curtains haven’t changed.  The curtains are paper thin. Whilst my DD was there a couple of us mums bought black out/thermal lined curtains to hang in their bedrooms, just stored the old ones until end of term. Certainly made a difference. Managed to recycle those curtains later on so not wasted either. 
 

Just on a side note. Looking at the pics the kitchens aren’t new. They may have received some TLC during the decorating stage however, it’s well worth packing a screwdriver in your belongings as some cupboard/drawer hinges do require a little attention over time during the academic year just based on their age and general use. DIY option can sometimes be more convenient than requesting maintenance on some occasions. 
 

☺️

15 hours ago, Hairpinseverywhere said:

Yes my DDS flat is her and the others are uni students as they opened it up almost immediately after DD booked in!!

That’s is strange as uS have always ensured that NBS pupils are not sharing with Uni students unless explicitly requested. There is a duty of care due to their ages. There was a mishap one yr where a 21yr old male Uni student was placed with NBS girls. A few choice words over the phone by us parents soon saw the poor chap relocated. Before he even had chance to walk in the door. 
I do have the email address for the CEO of uS if anyone requires it if they have concerns over duty of care/welfare at Medlock of the younger NBS pupils. Contact does produce results  where all other avenues have failed 😉

4 minutes ago, Shellym said:

Hi,

 

im taking my daughter to her first pointe shoe fitting tomorrow.  I know it’s going to be super expensive but I just wanted to know any hints or tips. She’s been on Demi for a few months and her teacher said it’s time to get the full pointes.  I just don’t want to get ripped off with unnecessary stuff but want to protect her feet from any damage.  Can you let me know must have accessories ( I know about pouches) we’ve been going to this shop for the last 9 years and they have a fabulous range.

How exciting for you both. It’s a big milestone to reach. 
Simple things to remember before you head off. Ensure toe nails are not too long. The shop would normally provide tights or socks but in this current climate I’m not so sure so take a pair of your own. 
Your DD must speak out. Whilst the fitters are qualified and experienced there’s still no guarantee so it’s important your DD speaks out during the trial in movement etc. They will feel weird but it’s a fine line between a snug fit and a pinch that can make all the difference. Only a dancer can really tell the difference. It’s so easy to be caught up in the excitement of the experience and not want to speak up if the box is catching the little toe for example.

You will obviously need ribbons and elastic and of course the pouches. Along with needle and thread/wool for darning. 

Be prepared that her first shoes may only last a matter of weeks. Not because they are worn out but that her feet can change shape as more pointe work is done. So what was a good fit at the time might not be so in a few weeks. Be also prepared to try out different makers during this period. Feet change shape and the strength of foot develops. 

Initial outlay may appear higher, just like the dreaded September new school uniform moment but as the pouch and darning threads etc aren’t just per shoe your next shopping trip won’t cost as much. You can also reuse the ribbon if you are careful.
 

However, we kept DD’s first ever pair of pointe shoes as a momento. So didn’t reuse the ribbon on that occasion. 

Care of shoes is also important and can be overlooked ie buried in the bottom of a dance bag between lessons as life can be hectic. Try to teach your DD to leave them out to air dry at home after each lesson. Will also reduce the risk of the tell tale odour that pointe shoes seem to develop over time. 
Good Luck. 🩰

8 hours ago, LinMM said:

That’s good news at least. 

Thank you. The mum was found sheltering in a church. ⛪️ We appreciate the dangers aren’t over but still incredibly grateful for her and the young lad’s confining safety through these very challenging  times🙏🏻 . 

21 hours ago, LinMM said:

Oh really sorry to hear the Russian Army has got over as far as Izmail as that is west of Odessa. 
I have a Russian friend who has family in Odessa and is very worried about them now as it is a projected target being on the Black Sea. 
I hope the young man is okay and can get out into another country very soon all such a terrible and unbelievable tragedy 😥 

 

Update today was that the young lad has been in touch and that he is in a safe place. No confirmation where just relieved to hear the news. The missing mum in Mariupol has been found safe.  🙏🏻🇺🇦

9 hours ago, LinMM said:

Oh really sorry to hear the Russian Army has got over as far as Izmail as that is west of Odessa. 
I have a Russian friend who has family in Odessa and is very worried about them now as it is a projected target being on the Black Sea. 
I hope the young man is okay and can get out into another country very soon all such a terrible and unbelievable tragedy 😥 

 

I also pray for the ongoing safety of your friends family in Odessa. 🥺🙏🏻🇺🇦

On 19/03/2022 at 15:58, LinMM said:

For the young man in Izmail the good news is that it’s fairly close to both Moldova and Romanian border if needed a hasty escape. 
I don’t know whether those young Ukrainian men told to take up arms can stay near to where they live or are sent to other places. 
Izmail is a long way South West so with a bit of luck the Russian forces won’t get over that far now but anyway fingers crossed. 
Already a young dancer with the Kyiv Ballet has been killed all very sad. 
I can’t look at pictures of Mariupol any more it’s too distressing what is happening there. 

I wish the Ukrainians could see just how much support there is for them though. Even in sleepy old Saltdean many houses are now are flying the Ukrainian flag. 
 

Thank you. Sadly, we do know that the Russian army are already on the streets of Izmail. The young lad is in hiding trying to avoid them. 
I am so sorry to hear that the young dancer has been killed. So unnecessary 😢
The other young dancer in the company whose family live in Mariupol has lost contact with her mother who remained in the city. Having initially thought she had left with other family & friends. No one has heard from her for the past two weeks despite their best efforts. Hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. 😢

So distressing to watch the news I too struggle to watch. 🙏🏻
We also have many Ukrainian flags being flown and one even on our Government main offices. 🇺🇦

On 16/03/2022 at 18:38, glowlight said:

Firstly - congratulations on your offer at Northern and for getting through to the second round for Rambert.

 

I definitely think you could call Northern and ask if they could extend the closing date for acceptance.  Explain the situation that you have a second audition for Rambert.  Explain that due to your financial circumstances you can't afford to lose the £50 admin fee.  I don't know about Northern, but I have heard of other institutions being flexible on acceptance dates.

 

I probably wouldn't say that you will only accept the place at Northern if you don't get an offer for Rambert - but I'm sure you could phrase it along the lines of, you want to be able to make an informed decision once all your auditions are over. I think there's a good chance they will be open to this.  At the end of the day they will want you go make the right choice for you.

 

If not - maybe you will have to bite the bullet and pay the admin fee rather than risk losing your place.  

Good idea.
Easier if Rambert are actually offering a different qualification/course than Northern then that could be used when communicating with the school. Rather than asking one school to waiver a fee whilst waiting to hear from another if they are offering the same course/qualification.  If that makes sense. 

On 10/03/2022 at 10:35, balletbean said:

I appreciate we don’t generally share photos on this forum but felt I wanted to share - throughout all this darkness there is light. 🩰
A local photographer who travelled to Poland with Aid from home captured this young girl practising whilst sheltering in a rescue shelter near Mielec 🇵🇱🤝🇺🇦
 

A little update. 
The young girl featured has been identified. She is a 15yr old European Ballet Champion having previously represented her country. The Chairman for the DWC (Dance World Cup) is now working closely with his contacts in Poland and other neighbouring countries with the hope of setting up a programme to allow this young lady and others like her to continue with their training (not just ballet but across most genres) during these unsettling times for them all. 🇺🇦🇵🇱🇷🇴🩰

A tip for anyone checking out of uS accommodation this summer.
 

Speak to the staff very nicely and they will lend you the use of their parcel bucket type trundle. Fits the lifts perfectly and will reduce the amount of trips back and forth to bring the stuff down.  Absolute game changer.  
 

5 hours ago, Mjdb said:

Can't believe it's been almost a year since this thread was started! More so that our dds & dss are not so far off the end if their 1st year at NBS! 

I'm sure somewhere in the thread that storage was mentioned but had a quick read but can't find it. Maybe I'm going mad !! Do any of you have info on storage companies used in the past? 

Even though we are only 1hr 40 mins away by road --- dependent on wether the M6 is having a good day ..or not! my dd has enough stuff to fill a 4 bedroomed house! she just might need these things, I'm wondering if storage is the way to go for us? 

Any info would be greatfully received.

Thx Mj

Hi. We used SafeStore on Cheetham Hill and ‘Grey Panther’ provided the service to lift and shift the goods for us. Multiple companies offer discount deals for students many dropping flyers off at NMH. So well worth keeping an eye out for them. 
‘Grey Panther’ even collected from storage and returned all items to in-time for our return in the Sept. An absolute blessing. No running around once in Manchester. It was all there waiting for us in the living room of the flat. 
Some storage companies offer the use of their own vans at an additional cost. Safe store don’t but work closely with Grey Panther on a regular basis so felt safe for them to arrange times for collection etc. 

Best packing advice. Don’t worry about  boxes. Pain to carry and take up too much space during the actual packing/unpacking process. We used the large checkered laundry bags, bought in a pack of 10 off Amazon. Easy to store afterwards and reuse the following year. 
 

Good Luck. I was always surprised (shocked) at how much they accumulated each and every year 😬🙄

23 hours ago, Fiz said:

@balletbeanI really hope he’s safe. He sounds such a lovely person.

We’ve just found out that the young lad is in Izmail, in the region of Odessa 🙏🏻

1 hour ago, Fiz said:

@balletbeanI really hope he’s safe. He sounds such a lovely person.

Thank you. I’ve just spoken to my DD and the latest news they have is that he’s still in his home town (still unsure of the actual towns name) but he did say that he has to watch out as the Russian Military are on the streets  😥. 

59 minutes ago, Fiz said:

A young lad (19yrs) sent my DD very generous Valentine gifts as he was smitten by her (even though there was an obvious language barrier) before ‘popping home’ to Ukraine for a week to see his family before starting his new contract.  Despite their best efforts no one knows what’s happened to him . 😞😢Is there anymore news about this poor boy, @balletbean? I confess that this story has haunted me.

Thank you but sadly no news at all.  Which weighs heavy in our hearts with both myself and my DD. We can only but hope and pray for that he is in a place of safety. 🙏🏻

I appreciate we don’t generally share photos on this forum but felt I wanted to share - throughout all this darkness there is light. 🩰
A local photographer who travelled to Poland with Aid from home captured this young girl practising whilst sheltering in a rescue shelter near Mielec 🇵🇱🤝🇺🇦
 

6 minutes ago, Tiaramum said:

 

Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to reply and that’s reassuring! That’s what I imagined it to be like but wasn’t sure. 

That was great to hear about the support offered. I would certainly do the same if I was a Homestay provider.
However from friends experience it does appear to be up to the individual home stay provider to decide how much inclusion & support within the household is offered, rather than a general acceptable standard across the board.  The 16yr old that we know of stayed with a family who had very young children. They were obviously welcomed into the home but besides their room with meals they were left to sort themselves out, incl the ‘commute’.  Probably as a result of the parents being busy with their own children through no one’s fault just one of those things. 
It would be wise therefore to double check the family dynamics incl any pets within the household (especially if not used to cats/dogs etc) of any Homestay provider you are considering. 
 

5 hours ago, Ballet-taxi said:

They have quite a few of NBS students and I got the feeling they were keen to have them as students! Think the 16 year old NBS students are well behaved and good residents!!! 

So…we just took the chance and booked so just have to hope all works out!

Staff at Medlock and then next door at Parkway always commented that the NBS pupils were Courteous, polite, disciplined, quiet 😉 and exceptionally well turned out even at 8am every morning as they leave the building!! They also commented about how well they look after their flats (there are occasional inspections) where stars are awarded and little gifts are left as a way of saying thank you  🍫
 

Always lovely to receive a compliment. 

37 minutes ago, PointeMeTheRightWay said:

Thank you, thats very helpful. just hoping that we dont have to leave securing the accomodation to the last minuite. Fingers crossed.

Please take some comfort that uS are very understanding where NBS pupils and their funding is concerned. Also NBS offers of funding come through before most Uni students in their first yr seek accommodation. However don’t leave it any longer than necessary. 
As previously mentioned by others uS do offer the opportunity to book a room then if funding cannot be secured it can be cancelled for NBS unlike other students. 
Always good to look around but please go with an open mind. 😉. 🤞🏼

On 25/02/2022 at 18:20, alison said:

There's just been an interview on Radio 3 with one of the BBC's new generation artists, a Ukrainian violinist, who went to Kyiv to play a concert and is now stuck there because no men between the ages of 18 and 60 are now being allowed to leave the country because they're expected to stay and fight.  Heartbreaking for everyone there.

Sadly there are many other stories similar to this😢. A young lad (19yrs) sent my DD very generous Valentine gifts as he was smitten by her (even though there was an obvious language barrier) before ‘popping home’ to Ukraine for a week to see his family before starting his new contract.  Despite their best efforts no one knows what’s happened to him . 😞😢

1 hour ago, Jewel said:

I have no personal experience of RBS but Student Finance is applied for on a year by year basis.  if a student does not continue into their final year usually they graduate with a Certificate of Higher Education (Year 1) or a Diploma of Higher Education (Year 2)

Aah thank you. The Student Loan scheme is very different from the funding scheme in my jurisdiction. Always keen to learn about others. 🎓

On 01/03/2022 at 20:38, Birdy said:

RBS has officially changed their program. As of this year Upper School students are assessed/have to audition again during their second year if they want to stay for the final year. It seems unfair to students who were told they were being accepted to a 3-year Bachelor’s Degree program when they were initially accepted. My daughter knows two young men who were recently told, at 18, that they will not be invited back for the third year.

Gosh, that’s harsh but was the decision based purely on their skills as a dancer or could there have been issues arising on the academic side of the Degree?  Like other Uni students who ‘fail’ their year end exams. 
 

On the subject of finances. What happens if a pupil has taken out a student loan for the BA course but now finds themselves (not by choice) being unable to return and therefore complete their final yr?