SissonneDoublee

2 hours ago, Anna C said:

Sometimes the heels slip until the shoes are broken in properly (although dd’s first couple of pairs were outgrown before they were broken in!).

I was just about to say exactly this! Especially with a first pair. She is likely to underestimate how much breaking in they need. I also second getting her to do the ribbon sewing, even if it needs a bit of a retouch... my 11 year old DD is so proud of having done her own, without much in the way of sewing experience before that!

The lessons are in Covent Garden, in Floral St, so there’s your first bit of good news! I think in CG you can request if you prefer 32 weeks or 26. My DD did 32 weeks at a different centre and loved it. It was a big commitment, time-wise and financially, but was worth it in every way. I think the 26 week class is a completely separate group, so you wouldn’t be missing weeks as such, but I know that my DD progressed massively on 32 weeks, and I wonder if this had been reduced to every other week the benefit may have been less. Hopefully someone from the CG centre will be able to advise if it is possible to move to the more frequent group as your DD gets closer to MA/ full time auditioning in Year 6, in order to give her the best chance... it is, as you say tough competition at that stage. JAs was a fantastic experience for my DD, and she (and I) made friends for life there, as well as finding her path in life. Dance is tough, and ballet maybe even more so, but it is so much a part of her that she wouldn’t have been able to bear NOT to!

Congratulations! Fingers crossed for you. Elmhurst is a lovely, lovely school.

My DD didn’t wear her leotard, but did wear the tracksuit. Her JA teacher advised us to wear a flattering, simple leotard and a waist elastic. The students wear a tank-style leotard (not strappy), so we used this to guide us.

37 minutes ago, Irishdancemom said:

Hi,

Can anybody tell me roughly when Elmhurst Summer School dates get released. Don’t see anything yet?

Thanks

I think it must be soon, we did application photos along with lower school ones last year, so must have been October-ish. Elmhurst is a lovely summer school. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

MA1 is Year 7s and maybe 8s as well (DD had a place but didn’t take it up) and is on a Saturday afternoon (from 2:45pm) in Covent Garden.

The forms we have filled in have required photos of specific dance positions, rather than headshots. We have always booked a private lesson with DD’s ballet teacher to take the photos under supervision to make sure the technique is spot on in each pic.

42 minutes ago, Pups_mum said:

Or, in my humble opinion, even more important than length of career is length of healthy life. As a health care professional who has seen the  long lasting effects of even inappropriate regular footwear, my heart sinks when I see such young girls on pointe. Maybe some people do believe that the gains from early pointework justify the potential permanent damage to a child's feet, but I can't agree. I do however understand the pressure as between constant begging from my DD and persuasion from her teacher, I let my own daughter go on pointe a little sooner than I really wanted to, and I really, really should have known better! I can only imagine how much stronger that pressure must be if you are in an environment where it's the norm and you are told that your child must be able to dance well known classical variations en pointe by the age of 9 or they are doomed to failure. I fear that the increased publicity for this type of thing via YouTube etc will increase pressure on other students to follow suite. 

But the adults involved need to protect the children. It will be a rare 10 Year old who can truly grasp the  risks and be willing to forgo excitement and possible great success in the here and now because of potential health problems at some indeterminate time in the future. Teachers, parents and governing bodies need to make that decision for them.

My youngest child is a keen cyclist. There are still pushy parents and obsessive coaches in that world of course - it's not perfect. But there is a lot more protective legislation. For example, the maximum size of gear allowed for racing is age dependent, and strictly enforced so no amount of pleading from the child for bigger gearing to help them go faster makes an difference. Nor can a coach persuade a parent that their child is special - stronger, more advanced, more promising than everyone else - so that it's OK to move them onto harder gears. Nope, it's non negotiable. Turn up at a British Cycling approved race on a bike with the wrong gears for your age and you won't be allowed to ride. Makes it much easier for everyone and helps prevent children from injury. I'd like to see the governing bodies in the dance world take a similar stance.

All England Dance and all the qualifying festivals associated do prohibit pointe work before 13 years of age. If only more teachers and parents took heed of this outside the festival context. While preparatory work is fine before this, it seems like a sensible rule of thumb for more extended dancing on pointe.

Pasta salad worked well for DD, plus plenty of snacks and a packed lunch too! The rehearsal days are long, and they burn a lot of calories.

1 minute ago, PetitJeté said:

@SissonneDoublee Do you mean the pink shoulder bag? I did look at that. Good to know it would fit in all the essentials, will bear that in mind! 

It also comes in black, which is the one we went for. It is huge! Easily big enough to fit everything in.

1 hour ago, PetitJeté said:

Thanks, that’s good to know! I actually wanted to get her an RBS rucksack, but when I emailed, they said they didn’t know yet when the PTA will be in, and they don’t do online orders, which is a shame. We saw all the merchandise at the audition, but managed to just get away with a notebook! 

A lot of the girls in DDs JA class have the RB bag from the Opera House shop. They are not cheap, but very sturdy and big enough to carry the towel, folder, water bottle, shoes, etc etc and still have space for the tracksuit when they take it off! It has a good selection of pockets too.

The PTA have beautiful logo-ed RBS towels, so you might want to hold off buying a new one especially for JAs, as if your DC is anything like mine you will slowly accumulate everything that exists with a RBS logo!

1 hour ago, Medora said:

A more or less expected no for us, girl in London year 4.

 

Did anyone ever get a yes after years of no’s? Or should we not bother next year? Feels as if we should have gotten a wait list offer in order to feel optimistic about trying again...

Missed the deadline for Year 4 (so much more clueless back then!), a ‘no’ for Year 5, offered and alternative centre for Year 6 (best year ever... made lovely friends and a real turning point dance-wise) full time at Elmhurst for Year 7. A ‘no’ is definitely a ‘not yet’. If your child wants to keep trying, and is not devastated by a negative result, then it is well worth not giving up!

I have an almost unused (probably 30 minutes wear in total, maybe less) character skirt and an unworn JA white leotard (size 1... I bought the wrong size and hand-washed it but it was never worn). The skirt is 58.5cm waist, 63cm long, and was made by the official RBS dressmaker. £40 for both, please.

RAD lessons are included in MDS funding at some schools. 

An associate scheme would prepare your DD very thoroughly for vocational auditions, especially for the school they are affiliated to. RBS and Elmhurst both have associates in Birmingham. You may well find that it would be time very well spent, even if it causes your DD to miss classes at her regular studio. There is no need to be in Grade 6 by then, they are looking for a very solid basic technique, which may be compromised by rushing through the grades. 

3 hours ago, balletmum20 said:

Where abouts in the south east? My dd is starting in September x 

Congratulations to your DD! We are just north of Brighton... with such a distance, every weekend would be too much, but with a bit of lift sharing we might be able to manage more frequently than just exeats and holidays. I do agree about needing to be there for some weekends to establish friendships, though.

A Year 7 place for DD. 

43 minutes ago, mimi'smom said:

 Hi there

Congrats to your dd on their Elmhurst place! There is an Elmhurst Travel Buddies closed group on Facebook which parents use to arrange lift and taxi shares, train buddies etc mostly for leave out but at other non leave out weekends also. If you know any other Elmhurst parents they can add you to the group via the admin. If not, if you want to message me I can try to do it for you. There is also a very useful buy and sell second hand uniform group too! 

Thank you! I’m just working out how to send you a PM.

Hi, DD has just been offered a Year 7 place to start at Elmhurst in September, which is very exciting! The logistics of having a child boarding in the Midlands when we are based in the South East are really scaring me though! Are there any other families from the South East that lift share at weekends? At 11 years old I can’t imagine only bringing DD home for exeat weekends! 

We have a yes! An A4 envelope just dropped through the door. Excited, and a bit in shock!

9 minutes ago, DancingShoes said:

Last year we heard on the Saturday following the audition.

That would be quite quick for a postal result, but it would be lovely to know so soon! Was the audition on a Wednesday last year? 

Good luck everyone!

Could it be Dance Sport levels ie novice etc? 

1 minute ago, Vonrothbart said:

Yes but why would exam results make any difference to gaining a place at vocational school? What is her age group BB?

 

A lot of application forms for vocational training ask for the most recent exam results, and although the audition is certainly the decider, a strong exam result, along with other good CV items to make a dancer stand out, might be a factor in securing the attention of the panel.