SissonneDoublee

Perhaps it was more that the changes taking place at puberty were an indication that the body was growing into a shape that was not suited to ballet? One of DD’s RBS JA friends was told pretty much this when she didn’t reach WL finals. When DD started Year 7 the girls were all at different stages of development and several showed signs of puberty at that age. It wasn’t a problem for any of them. The Health and Wellbeing team treat the absence of periods beyond a certain age as an indicator that something may not be right. The weigh-ins are conducted in a way that is very low-key and the children don’t seem phased by them. Such frequent checks mean that any signs of eating distress are picked up on quickly and dealt with before they become serious, and having had DD home for an extended time the only worry about her eating is that she will eat us out of house and home! They get through huge amounts of energy each day, and are always reminded to fuel their body appropriately. The focus is on being strong as well as balletic, and you can’t achieve this on a minimal diet. I teach in a secondary school, and often see teenagers with signs of eating distress but I have no worries about how the matter is dealt with at Elmhurst.

You mention a full time/ vocational ballet school... don’t you already receive written reports and appraisal feedback? We receive a written report after a term and then another after appraisals have taken place, plus a parents’ evening appointment at another point in the year. They give feedback on her ability in the different aspects of dance (similar to the things marked in a ballet exam), response to corrections, artistry, attitude in lessons, plus ‘next steps’ to work on in the immediate future to develop their work. This level of feedback is extremely valuable, and absolutely what I would expect when we are talking about full time ballet school. Dance has at least equal status with all the academic subjects, more really, as it’s the reason DD is at that school and boarding 120 miles away from home! A regular school wouldn’t dream of missing maths off a school report (for example).

Wayne McGregor gave a talk for Elmhurst students during lockdown, and has been in several times working with upper school students in the last few years. Carlos Acosta was the guest speaker at the summer show gala last year and had only just taken up his post officially at BRB when lockdown started, but there is already talk of a project with the school. Their involvement with the school is definitely active

I think the schools talk to them in very realistic terms about ballet as a career path. Boarding at vocational school is an amazing experience in itself, if it is what the child wants to do, and even if it doesn’t lead to a career it still enriches their life while they are there and gives them a wealth of transferable skills. If your DD wants to apply, and has the resilience to handle any disappointment that may come her way, and you are able to make it work if she is successful, you could try and see what happens.

The All England website gives a good list of well-established dance festivals. It’s normally here (https://www.all-england-dance.org.uk/nominated-festivals) but is being updated to allow for changes due to Covid-related cancellations this year. The website also has information about rules that are followed at all the linked festivals, including time limits for dances depending on the number of dances, age etc. Groups are fun, and a nice introduction for dancers new to festivals, but more difficult to arrange rehearsals. Trios and quartets are easier from this point of view. Solos require more confidence, but the dancer can practice at home more easily. If there is a festival relatively near to you, going to watch will give you an idea of how it runs and the standard at each age group. They are great fun and build confidence and performance skills as well as giving students a chance to stretch their skills.

The full-time students also use the studios on a Saturday morning, and the dining area is used by both groups, so if they followed the current model it would be difficult to keep them apart. They may well be waiting for further guidance before coming up with a plan. It’s reassuring to see that they are so cautious, especially when it would involve increasing the number of people on site considerably on a Saturday.

The skirt is so beautiful! DD barely wore hers, as the teacher at her centre didn’t use them very often with the Year 6s, but they are gorgeous!

I have an almost unused 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. £35 for both

The results for vocational places are always later than other secondary school offers, even without this. We accepted a place at a non-vocational secondary school for DD and then gave our place back when her place at vocational school was offered. (In actual fact we handed it back later than that, as we waited until after induction day so we knew she was sure!) 16+ offers at normal sixth form are only confirmed after GCSE results, so not a problem then, but finals could be even closer than normal to GCSEs in 2021, which sounds stressful!

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I think the allowance is attached to the child rather than being a pot of money available to the school... we use up any left-over annual budget to buy bigger sized dance uniform (ie trackies, tights etc) to use in later years, as DD is still young and doing limited pointe, which then frees up future allowance for pointe shoes, if that makes sense?!

Are pointe shoes not covered by the MDS funding? At sone schools there is a uniform allowance that covers a generous chunk of the expense...

Yup! In theory the lovely floors at DD’s vocational school mean you don’t need to from a traction point of view, but she likes the pronounced edge that it gives the platform and it extends the life of the shoe too, so I help DD darn hers (she can do it, but it takes her ages, so she does ribbons and I do darning).

Ballet Boost operate more like a local dance school in a lot of ways, albeit a selective one. RBS, Elmhurst and Tring (for example) have the challenge of making sure the provision for their full-time students is in place, and this involves a lot of the same teachers. Online lessons are exhausting to deliver, and videos/ activity packs might be the best way they can realistically cater for associates when they have a full-time school to operate at the same time. Future plans need to be part of the consideration when choosing which schemes to pick up or drop. The vast majority of girls at Year 7 WL finals are JAs, though not all of course, and they do help prepare children to take the audition.

The waiting is just beginning! Before you know it it will be applications for Year 7, then annual appraisals, then upper school applications... 😂

Oh my word! At least DD’s class were shown the angle of the ribbon in the shoe! It was so tempting to drive straight up to help (a 4 hour round trip) but it’s such a rite of passage for them.

Pointe work initiation was slightly different at DD’s school. Pointe was on the year 7 timetable from day one, and their first lesson consisted in a fitter from a dance shop seeing all the girls for shoes. Very exciting! Then they were handed ribbons and shown how to sew them and told they would need to have them ready for the following week’s lesson. Panic and tears, and some very kind help from the older girls later, and they all had ribbons in shoes on time! They took the lessons gradually, although some girls had done pointe before starting at vocational school. Knowing how to sew is such a useful skill for anyone starting in September, as that was one of the most stressful events of the entire year!

Did the audition video include the stretches that they normally include in the live auditions? If these take place fairly early in the recording that might be a point where they decide whether to keep watching. I imagine that if a child doesn’t fit key criteria, they wouldn’t watch the full half hour of video... Fingers crossed for everyone! Hopefully you won’t have to wait too long.

Absolutely! Not to mention the children with turbulent home lives who would be afraid of this being exposed for their classmates to hear, even on an audio-only lesson. It’s not as simple as schools just not bothering.

It simply isn’t accurate to say that ‘many state school pupils are getting nothing at all’. It is true that there is no ‘live’ provision, for all the reasons that I set out in my earlier post, but pupils have been set work since the beginning of lockdown, in line with recommendations. You must be able to see the difference between teaching in a state school and teaching dance classes, surely?

Schools have to consider whether all pupils will be able to access the learning if they go ‘live’. Households with more children than devices would find their children rapidly falling behind. Add to that the safeguarding minefield for teachers and students: seeing into each others’ homes, the ability to take screenshots or recordings of classmates and teachers etc etc and you can see why so many schools have said ‘no’ to live lessons. Schools deal with a much broader selection of children than dance schools, and have to ensure that everyone is safe. Being inclusive as a state school means that everyone needs to be able to access the learning. As a dance school, you already limit your cohort to one that can afford after-school activities, and are not legally obliged to ensure access for all.

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Russian Pointe make canvas split soles in different shades of tan. They look really good.

Huge congratulations to your DD! She has done so well to secure a contract in these difficult times! What a lovely move from her vocational school to support their graduates, too.

We are keeping everything crossed that they are able to return in September. In the meantime, though, the online provision is fantastic. DD is making progress in dance and academics with daily live lessons for both and we have no concerns about either. She just really misses her friends and actually being there!