ScottishDancerMum

We had a meeting today with E's teacher, and picked "Kindome Dance" from Tangled for her ballet number, and "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" for her tap number. Teacher's happy, child is happy, mum is happy Thank you all for your fantastic suggestions! I'll be saving this thread for the next time I need to search!

All the ballet ideas were shot down as being too slow and not lively enough. Help!

That's pretty - I've not heard it before! I'll put it on my futures list So, here's our short list so far. I listened to all the options I'd found with E last night, and she culled a bunch of them... said they were too boring. Sometimes I wish I was better at dance so I could do this myself, but alas, I can't make her dance to songs she hates! 1) Love Them from Star Wars, "Across the Stars" ** E's favourite, as she's a SW junkie at the ripe age of 7. I'm just afraid it's a bit dour. 2) Improvised Piano Version of Albioni’s Adagio (from movie “Fame”) 3) Theme from movie “Cocoon” (main theme starts at 1:14) 4) True Colours (piano instrumental) or (guitar instrumental) I'd be grateful for opinions, if you have time? I'm taking these to her teacher this afternoon to see her take on them, and we can make a decision and finally get going. I'm all set to do my editing on Audacity (I have instructions now!) so that's my project for tonight. Her tap number is going to be "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" (a kids game show from the 90s with a very catch acapella theme song). This tap number is for an older group, but we're working on a solo version (different choreography). Her teacher suggested Good Ship Lollipop, but I was thinking it was 1) overused and 2) a bit babyish for 7. I'm just hoping she doesn't veto it completely - I wanted her to see the video as it's obviously worked as a tap song before (the group won).

I watched this last week with my daughter, and could envision all sorts of little girls going en pointe wearing their boots and school shoes! But anything that helps inspire a love of dance has its' benefits.

Okay, I installed Audacity, and am now picking through the instructions. An online friend told me she used to use this in high school to make ring tones.... I guess I need to find a talented 14 year old to pick through this for me! I'm looking forward to learning how to do it myself - it would save a lot of time and frustration in asking someone else to put what's in my head onto the track!

She's 7, PupsMum. I'm grateful for the help! I have a pretty broad music collection but I don't have the familiarity with ballet applications. I've also considered the theme to the movie Cocoon, and Saving Mr Banks. I also adore David Foster's Piano Concerto in G (the movement starting at 0.22 sec). Plus Canon in D, but I think that would also be on the “overused” list. Also, does anyone know about editing software? I don't really have a clue about such things, or where to start.

Thanks Sarah x. That's exactly what I needed to know. Our teacher is not familiar with the current competition scene... She thought we should use something from the Nutcracker. I'm thinking of using the theme from The American President instead, but I need Teacher's blessing first

In trying to pick solo music for E's first competition, I've run across an old favourite. I first saw it in a figure skating competition many years ago but have always loved it. Although it's been used in a Frederick Ashton piece (Rhapsody) and I was wondering if it was too well-known for a competition piece (she would not be doing pas de deux so the choreography would be very different)? I was told here to avoid "typical" ballet pieces, but is this a typical piece? Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini Here with Baryshnikov/Collier and here with Polunin/Ryzhkova Many thanks for reading x

I'm another Central Scotland mum who'd love to know some mobile fitters, if you might be able to pass names on?

Good luck, Anon!

Thanks for asking this - I was just wondering how to do this!

I ran across this web article about song choices - it had some good ideas! https://hobbylark.com/performing-arts/Awesome-Talent-Show-Songs

She's 7, and would be dancing novice Juvenile.

That's all great advice - thank you! I didn't get to stay to listen to all the ballet performances at the comp we went to a few weeks ago - I should have taken notes! This is just to offer to our teacher in case she picks something well-known ballet. I know she knows best, but still.... I have a huge collection of instrumentals (I was a soundtrack junkie in the 80s and 90s), but will keep in mind that sometimes the themes aren't really right for children. There's a few I love, but wouldn't be right at all. Will keep pondering Would love themes from movies be considered inappropriate for this age group?

I have another competition question, if you'll forgive me yet again... For the ballet divisions of competitions/festivals, is the music typically classical? Are non-classical pieces allowed? Does anyone dance to pieces with lyrics, or is that reserved for lyrical divisions? Any pieces to avoid? (i.e., ones that the judges hear and think "oh heavens, not this again!" I understand it will be her teacher's decision, but she's not been to a ballet competition in a decade or two, so it's all in the preparation!

That is brilliant! Congratulations to your girl, you all must be so proud!

Got it I can get the bun high, but not flat yet!

New to this... Why would the buns need to be flat for classes?

Good luck, Wee Bean!

That article seemed very sad, with all the intense pressure and early injuries. That 11 year old who wanted to quit because she didn't win? She was a lovely dancer, yet somehow something has gone wrong there. Winning can't be the only thing. There has to be a happy medium somehow. We recently visited friends in Wisconsin, USA, and they were telling me the pressure about getting 4 and 5 year olds into local "travel teams".... for dance, football, gymnastics, soccer, whathaveyou. Trips every month, with the cost of buses, hotel stays, comp fees... not seeing the rest of your family several days a month. My friend said it was hard to find a dance class for her daughter that didn't have these kinds of expectations. She wanted a basic intro ballet education for a 6 year old, not a "Dance Moms" lifestyle. She's still looking for a better fit. I was hoping that this might give my daughter a chance to perform, and to work on something other than her dance class material. She sees the other girls competing in Highland, getting trophies and going to events on the weekend, but she's limited to dancing group numbers every 18 months in the school recital. She wants to try harder things, and if we go into this with an open mind and no illusions about winning, I think it could be a good experience.

I've been looking at costumes all afternoon and am still very torn. I'm trying to keep to the budget of £30-45 for her tutu, and while I'm not scared of embellishing a plain outfit (I'm a nail tech... usually there's no such thing as too much glitter!), I'm just nervous about how much is too much. I PM'd Flit and Float as she's from the same area and may have some idea about local expectation.

How much is too much? The one she likes has sparkle, but I didn't think it was OTT... http://ids.co.uk/dulcet-sequin-tutu.html Thanks for the heads up. I don't think we are planning on S&D, for a while anyway. We're just going to start with ballet and tap. But I'm grateful for the advice if she changes her mind (we watched the Senior S&D on Sunday, and she didn't realise the dancers would need to sing too! She's not a bad singer, but she's much shyer with her singing than her dancing) I think this is wonderful advice - if we go with this, we should both have a better experience than making it all "do or die". It's supposed to be fun! I'm so glad I landed here... I feel like I'm in very good hands

We seemed to lose a bunch of posts here after the shutdown last night.... I'll thank everyone again as I did get to read them all beforehand!

Thank you, BlueLou... you are right on that point! I'd want the adjudicator to see my daughter and say, "hey... nicely done!" and not "nice tutu... too bad about the feet!" And thanks for the point about the ribbons. She normally wears Bloch leather ballet shoes for class, but I saw a few girls wearing satin ballet shoes instead. And she's never worn ribbons yet.

I completely understand the artistry and hard work involved in these beautiful costumes... I'm grateful people like you still practice the craft, despite not being paid what you deserve! In reading about them this weekend, I saw that one 10-layer tutu can take 120 yards of tulle and net. That's a LOT of tulle, and a lot of tiny pleats and tacking and teensy-tiny stitches. They are works of art. My concern is the underlying "requirement" that a very young dancer would need one just to compete in the Juvenile level. It's like getting to drive a Ferrari when you've just gotten your learner's permit. Please keep up your hard work It makes me wish I'd learned more about sewing.