SissonneDoublee

8 hours ago, 2Graceko said:

That sounds like a good length - I’ll need to measure her waist tomorrow. Is that the max waist measurement? Thank you. 

There would be scope for moving the hook and bar a bit, I think. 

1 hour ago, 2Graceko said:

I’m looking for a Royal Ballet JA skirt for my (tall) daughter who will be starting in Y6. Please contact me if you have one in good condition to sell. Thank you!

I have the one my daughter used for Year 6. It was only worn for a total of about 30 minutes, as our teacher wasn’t especially into character!  (Skirt is 58.5cm waist, 63cm long)

22 minutes ago, meadowblythe said:

 

Things may/hopefully have changed since my DS was an Elmhurst Associate but just a word of warning.  He got a completely erroneous impression of the school and its dance training from his time as an Associate.  This was a while ago, but the vibe was completely different on a Saturday, even with the same staff.  The first year of full time education there was a horrible shock!

Is this recent experience? I have only heard positives about all aspects of life there! 

If you are thinking of applying to Elmhurst for full time training, their associate programme might give you more of an idea of the school’s ethos and possibly some valuable audition preparation. 

6 minutes ago, SJBallet said:

Oh I wish I’d asked this first now. I’d assumed all first position would be sized the same. 

 

Re the hair bows, obviously we buy the ribbon, I would have cut it to size but with the braided plaits they would need to be a clip wouldn’t they as there is nothing to wrap a ribbon round? 

They definitely come up bigger than the ISTD ones. DD was in an ISTD leo size 2 when she had the RBS leo size 1. There is also a size 0 for the tinies. 

We tied bows (little ones) onto bobby pins, and gave them a blast of hairspray to keep the bow fastened.

11 minutes ago, 2Graceko said:

Thank you for starting this thread. Does anyone know if the leotards come up small? I’m tempted to get a 3A for my daughter going into year 6 because she’s tall for her age.  But then again 3A is for age 12-14 which sounds a bit big! 

My DD started Year 6 in a size 1, and ended in a 2. They are baggy around the crotch if too big, so better snug! Also, hand wash them every time, as letters drop off if they go in the machine! We had to replace one that only had bits of ‘Royal Ballet School’ printed on the back by Christmas! I think they were trying to resolve the problem, so may be better now.

13 minutes ago, BattementBatty said:

I’ll go first.

 

Hair. When they say hair up bun or plaits do they actually mean plaits across head?

 

Does everyone buy the tracksuit?

 

Ballet shoes - split sole or full sole. I’ve not bought leather since she was about 5 so is there a particular pair that is preferred/ nicer?

 

I'm sure there’ll be more!

 

thanks. 

 

 

 

The start of a very exciting time! I miss our JA days. Plaits are across the head. (Easiest to do to high plaits with bands top and bottom and then pin in place. Bun net over the top, pin again and add bows) Everyone at our centre had the tracksuit, but it is not officially compulsory. Full sole leather ballet shoes with a single elastic. Enjoy!

18 minutes ago, Dancer123 said:

I did email and everyone has accepted their places so I guess that’s it for this year!!!!! 

We initially accepted a place, and then decided that boarding was something we could cope with so then withdrew our acceptance. RBS were absolutely lovely about it, and our place was offered to someone on the waiting list. Don’t uncross any fingers yet! Hoping that similar happens for someone this year.

As far as I know, all eligible students at White Lodge and Elmhurst are offered MDS, regardless of which year they join. At Tring and Hammond the funding is much more limited, especially for years other than 7. These are the only dance schools with MDS funding, but other schools (YDA and Moorland for example) have their own scholarships for some students. Once you get to 6th form, MDS is replaced by DaDA or student loans at a lot of schools.

You might find that your DD’s teacher can request feedback from the Elmhurst associates audition. This would give you a bit more of an indication. If there are other schemes locally, such as MIDAS, Ballet Boost or Tring CBA, you might be able to apply for a mid-year audition. Tring definitely hold auditions in November. Good luck!

2 hours ago, Vonrothbart said:

I would have thought JA auditions would take preference over All England, which sounds good, but.

But if it’s a duet, group or anything other than a solo, the DC would be letting others down. We missed an audition one year due to a clash with an AED duet. It’s disappointing, but the right thing to do. Other opportunities came later, and we have never regretted the missed audition, and the friendship was, and is, worth far more!

8 minutes ago, Dance44 said:

Fundamentally any organisation that can only attract three dance schools to enter more than one or two children in a area as big as NM is facing a problem.

If All England wants to be taken seriously it has to address the erratic and poor adjudication in styles of dance where  through no fault of their own the adjudicators knowledge is not sufficient.

Your points about distance, size of schools etc are plainly not relevant. We compete against other schools who travel further in those local comps than they would have needed too to compete in the Regionals. Because of previous experiences they just can't be bothered and advised us the same. The same advice I'm now passing onto others.

When awarding qualifying marks, the festival adjudicators don’t have knowledge of which school a dancer attends. Some schools have an exceptional track record at qualifying festivals, but this is likely to be linked to the choreographer’s ability to produce winning dances and the quality of training received. The dancers’ own expectations will almost certainly be higher in these schools, which may well add to their performance. Some schools attend a much higher number of qualifying festivals, which will also increase their presence at the finals.

By the time you reach regional finals, the balance of schools represented is the result of success at earlier festivals, rather than any bias.

Our experience of regional finals has only ever been positive. DD felt very lucky to be there, and loved the chance to compete at a higher level.

1 minute ago, TheDanceDad said:

Thank you for the info....seems that little glimmer of hope just got smaller

The odds aren’t great, mathematically speaking, but there were 8 new JAs in the Year 6 class, plus new students in the Year 4/5 class, and that is just one of the eight (nine now?) centres. Some of the DC will make it against the odds. The new JAs from our centre that were admitted into Year 6 were the higher proportion of those invited to WL finals. You just never know what will happen! Fingers crossed for everyone waiting on results.

3 minutes ago, TheDanceDad said:

I was under the impression that everyone has to audition again, even if they were a JA the previous year?

JAs keep their place through until the end of Year 6, except in unusual circumstances. Everyone has to reaudition for Year 7 places, whether MA or WL, and places from then on are subject to annual assessments.

49 minutes ago, Jane said:

Find them looking for graduate year students (yr 14) odd. I’m aware they took the occasional student into yr 13 or 14 in past from other schools but to actively look for them? Why do they need this cohort? Surely they should be concentrating on getting their current students experiences and dance jobs?

Graduate year an extremely busy and expensive year with all the travel to auditions. My Dd and her peers not given permission to attend some auditions as it would impact on end of year show rehearsals and now they have a touring ballet company so this will interfere on students ability to audition even more. 

And fees for a year? No DaDA available for one year. 

 

If the current Y13 is short of men, for example, this might be about forming a sensible company for the graduate tour.

I’ve used miscellar wipes very successfully... definitely try somewhere less visible first though!

17 minutes ago, Motomum said:

I wasn't comparing them, I was stating that RBS take a very high % of their existing associates onto both WL training and ongoing associates training programs. The exact figures are in their annual reports.

I think the 88-90% might refer to the percentage of WL students that were previously JAs, rather than the proportion of JAs that go onto WL or MAs. There are tiny numbers of places at Year 7 compared to the figures for Year 6.

On the other hand, my Year 7 DD is having the time of her life at vocational school. She is surrounded by like-minded people, children and adults, is being taught by world-class teachers and has an enrichment programme that makes her excited to wake up every morning. She may or may not grow up to dance for a living, but there is not a shadow of a doubt that right now it is the right place for her to be. The academics are at least as good as they are at the state comprehensive that she would have gone to, and in most subjects, better. The sacrifices mentioned earlier are all true, but DD is in the right school for her. 

Just now, Balletbabe said:

Well, it's funny you should say that, we've had the mds forms through today and from what I've read we won't qualify for uniform unless I've misunderstood it🤔 i might give it another read

Good news! You are covered for dance uniform, everyone on MDS gets the same allowance. It’s just low-income families that get help with the formal uniform. The formal uniform will run to about £100, although you should be able to pick up the pink t-shirt second hand. The skirt and blazer only changed this year though, so no second hand ones to be had yet. The big expense is the dance uniform, which they wear all day, every day, but we managed a full kit on the allowance and still have a (tiny) bit left 😄

Don’t forget the dance uniform allowance that comes with MDS. It covers you for pretty much everything you need for Year 7, as they don’t get through many pointe shoes. 

Y13 form tutor here. When mentioning extra curricular activities, it is important to talk about them in terms of the transferable skills learnt. Such as resilience, time management, teamwork commitment etc. Dance ticks these boxes brilliantly. This goes down well everywhere, RG included. Good luck with applications, everyone!

I gather that there was no reserve pool last year, as they re-opened the audition process in early May and held an additional ‘finals’ of sorts. I think students would have been told if they were in a reserve pool, so a straight ‘no’ would be unlikely to yield a place, although I might be wrong. I think the additional round had already been advertised by this time last year, though. A lot can happen in a year, though, and it is definitely worth trying again for Year 8.

HBBM my heart goes out to you. This is what we live in fear of as vocational parents, and we have so little control over it. Has your DD gone back to school today? It must be so, so hard for both of you. She did so well to get a place, so must have a huge amount of talent. If her confidence was through the floor when she auditioned for other schools, that will have really affected how she came across. Has WL given an indication of why she has been assessed out? If it is physio-related, that might make things more complicated for classical ballet, but dance is so much broader than just ballet. Regarding not returning for the summer term, it might require a doctors certificate (if anxiety?) as I think the MDS Ts and Cs might be problematic otherwise. Thinking of you both. SD

36 minutes ago, Proudmumofdd said:

Yes it does happen

we know someone who got an MA place from SWL and we know a little girl who got a summer course place at WL from SWL because someone dropped out last minute through injury

The vocational schools have their induction days next month, so there is likely to be a bit of movement on the MA waiting list after that as people feel sure enough to give up their plan B! Fingers crossed for everyone on SWL.

Congratulations! It’s a lovely lovely school! I think you will have an induction day (plus maybe a sleepover for the DC?) in the next month or so, and it’s a great chance for children to meet, and parents too.