Dancing Kitty

Royal are accepting candidates from overseas but they will have to abide by the UK quarantine rules so yes I am imagining wait list places might well become available.

21 minutes ago, TwoDancers said:

Sorry, I was replying to an earlier message that you had replied to and quoting the original poster not you!

Confusion all round, I think - glad it's all cleared up. 😊

6 minutes ago, Anna C said:

 

Dancing Kitty, I think @TwoDancers thought you were Mum of unicorn dancer, because you answered TwoDancers’ question “how do you know” (the children are seasoned performance professionals) which TwoDancers was asking Mum of unicorn dancer. 

Thank you @Anna C  I have to say I was a bit confused as to what had happened. 

1 hour ago, TwoDancers said:

You are making very big assumptions and speculating and generalising un-necessarily here - I can’t even begin to work out how you can say that all those children are “seasoned performance professionals” - honestly?  And so what if they are?

I am beyond baffled.  
How about we simply say well done to the children and wish them good luck at whatever school they may be attending, vocational or otherwise.  That old mantra - be kind.

I am sorry but I have obviously either misread or misunderstood something in the posts.  I was in no way taking anything away from the achievements of those who have places at WL or any other dance school, vocational or otherwise, for that matter.  I thought I was answering as to where the information about what training and experience dancers have was coming from.  To quote me as having said that the children are "seasoned performance professionals" is so far away from what I believe.  A child starting in year 7 at vocational school is only at the start of a journey and regardless of their prior learning and experience will go back to basics and schools are looking for someone with potential.  Apologies if I have offended anyone.

1 hour ago, TwoDancers said:

How do you know this???? 

 Social media: teachers and pupils are all posting results.  

The farmers' market will be open if you are there on a Friday.  Plenty of places for take-way drinks and snacks and a M&S food.  Off the High Street and down a lane so not so easy to find but it is there and handy.  Would recommend Espresso Lounge for good coffee and cake.  They are at the bottom end of the High Street between the Robin Hood pub and the car park.

24 minutes ago, Yrosered said:

Hi, does anyone who attended last weekend's auditions have any tips for covid friendly Tring? We're staying at the Premier Inn the night before but of course, no food is available including breakfast. Did anyone get takeaways delivered and what did you do for the 2.5 hours of the audition with no cafes etc open? All tips gratefully received!

If the weather is good you can walk to Tring Park.  You reach it from the Natural History Museum car park.  The path leads you over the A41 and up into the park to the south of Tring.  It is up hill and will be wet underfoot so take boots or good walking shoes at this time of year.  The views are lovely and you an look back down on the school, if you go far enough.  There is plenty of time for a really good walk and it's quick enough to get back down in time for pick-up wherever you end up getting to in it!

15 minutes ago, The red shoes said:

I think it was 12 of each last year but I could be wrong... or maybe that was Elmhurst ? 🧐

There can be up to 30 in each year group but that may be as a result of taking additional numbers as they progress through the school.

3 minutes ago, Milzmam said:

Can they get MDS at 16 or only Dada? 

Funding policies for 6th Form state it is a DaDA however I am sure someone on here in the past have said that their DC got an MDS.  Hopefully recipients can confirm either way.

1 hour ago, Busymum said:

Tring definitely do remove MDS from pupils and have done before the new Co Directors of Dance came into post. 

They don't do it that often but definitely do but they don't come as a shock. Support and advice is given in advance and from what I am lead to believe they would know by October half term to give them time to audition elsewhere if they couldn't stay without the funding. All pupils on the dance course are assessed in the same way and you never know who has an MDS and who doesn't.

This has happened since the new Directors took over too but as you say notice is given and there is an opportunity to improve before the eventual withdrawal of the scholarship.

1 hour ago, sunrise81 said:

Elmhurst do seem to assess quite frequently. Dd gets an assessment showing where she is at, and her end of term report was quite detailed. They always say that they will have conversations with you if there are any concerns re progress. But dd is only yr 7 so that's all we know so far.

1 hour ago, Ms Sunshine said:

My dd year 8 at Elmhurst has had no girls leave in her group since starting year 7. Only one girl and one boy added at the start of year 8. 

20 minutes ago, Farawaydancer said:

Elmhurst have changed their assessment system completely in the last 18 months, and it’s a definite commitment to offer five years now, unless there are very major issues such as very long term injury. 

That’s good to hear - Elmhurst definitely sound very supportive. 😊

Try Masters of Ballet Academy - they may still have places - or Ballet Boost have two audition prep days.

You could try London Junior/Senior Ballet in Chiswick - good access by car and public transport.  There is contemporary for the older girls.  They get a good number into vocational schools from Year 7 to Upper School.  You may have missed the auditions of this year but give them a call as they may have places in some classes.

Our reading of the situation is that London may move to a Sunday and Birmingham may move to another venue for some of the first term back and that some Birmingham classes may have to move to a Sunday.  This is so the Associates are not in the centres at the same time as the school pupils.  Other venues will still be on a Saturday.  There is also the possibility that if the venues are not open or have to close due to local lockdowns they will have to offer Zoom classes.  This is arrangement they are currently looking at for the first term.

3 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

Have heard that (individual?) current RBS pupil/s getting ‘invited to join masterclasses for ‘free’ which goes against what the webpage says - no concessions/funding - but who knows what’s genuine feedback? 
I feel sad for those who had gained places at intensives & feel that rather than making this an open to all money maker they should have honoured the success of those pupils & provided aN exclusive course just for them (my DC wouldn’t be amongst them btw, just feel those who succeeded should be rewarded!) 

Those who have places on the intensives have received a letter saying they will be invited to the masterclasses.

Everyone who had a place still has to apply  again next year except those accepted for Hong Kong.  This is in contrast to ENB who are honouring places as I believe are YBS.  Such a pity for those who had a place for the first time.

We have the thicker one - bought from another company but definitely the same flooring as they use the same picture.  It sits on a wooden floor.  It gives good support for ballet including point work.  Safe for pirouettes.  My daughter is really happy with it.

9 hours ago, ponklemum said:

Would anyone recommend either of these please?  
 

https://www.gaffatape.com/multi-purpose-dance-floor-harmony-professional/

https://www.gaffatape.com/foam-sprung-ballet-floor-sonata-foam-sprung/

 

Sad news but the rumours from two years ago have played out!  They will close for 10-16 year olds from the end of the 2021 summer term. They will still offer diploma and degree courses.

https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/coronavirus-italia-conti-to-close-junior-school-following-internal-review

That’s disappointing - we had two courses booked and no issues with either.  The first was a straight refund and the second an option to have a refund or take a place on a new date if it worked.  Thankfully the hotels we booked despite being pre-paid deals refunded us.  I hope you can get this resolved.

3 hours ago, junedancer said:

 

I had an e-mail yesterday about the cancellation of events at Southbank and today one specifically relating to Emerging Dancer giving the new date.  They will move all tickets to a new date, 22nd September, and if you are unable to make it you can get a credit voucher valid for two years or a refund.  The deadline for the latter two options is 6th June.

Thank you - yes I have my second email now also.  I am not sure however what to do as we may not be able to use all of our tickets on that date. We only booked as it was in half-term.

Southbank have contacted ticket holders to say that all events up until 30th June have been cancelled.  This means that ENB’s Emerging Dancer will not be going ahead but I have heard nothing from ENB. Has anyone heard anything?

42 minutes ago, Skintdancemum said:

Which centre is the offer for ? 

Will PM you?

Good news in our household to brighten up the day.  After SWL for both JAs and MAs and for this year's Spring and Summer courses a yes for SAs.  Not sure we can accept until we know the times but delighted with the offer.

4 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

In order to qualify to offer MDS the 4 schools have to offer chiefly Classical Ballet focus....

Hence lower school Hammond timetable is predominantly ballet focus. 

Tring Dance Course (lower & Upper School) is Classical Ballet focus & in my cross ref of all 4 schools timetables for years 10 & 11, Tring has every bit as much Ballet as RBS & Elmhurst. 

Thanks @Peanut68, we were obviously writing at the same time.  Glad my information is the same as yours.

5 minutes ago, SissonneDoublee said:

I think the link between MDS and classical dance may account for the disparity. WL and Elmhurst are specialist ballet schools, whereas the courses at Tring and Hammond are dance. The MDS descriptors target classical ballet, so the higher level of funding at schools where students have chosen to specialise down this route makes sense.

In the main I agree with you on this however the dance offering at Tring and Hammond is not the same.  Tring have separate dance and performing art courses.  The hours of ballet at Tring are comparable with WL and Elmhurst.  Class sizes in dance are smaller but the limiting factor is most likely funding.  I have read numerous posts on here about those offered places but there not being enough scholarships.  While Hammond offer bursaries for their course at Tring this is offered to the performing arts course pupils.

15 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

Cheers Dancibg Kitty - much 🍷🍷🍷needed; I so dread the whole idea of trying to get a video together!

We too had kind of worked around NYB as main Summer dance plan & now concerned missed out of things (like too late to apply for the ENBS Summer School audition.... so back to the need for yep, you guessed it, a video application aghHH!)

You mention ENBS SS; is your DD do this last year? Any feedback about it would be appreciated - thanks in advance (clinks glass again....metaphorically I hasten to add; balkwt hasn’t quite driven me to drink by 9am....yet! 🤣)

Tried to PM but it isn’t going through.