dancertaxi

3 minutes ago, balletbean said:

Thank you. It would be interesting to know from other members of this forum what the difference is in class sizes between the Grades and then between Vocational to  Regular Dance Studios for the higher grades. 

My dd is in a school with around 100 students. 

Grade 5 tap does 1:1 as no one else her level

Grade 5 modern 10 in class and g5 ballet 8 in class however around half wont take the exams by choice. 

Thanks everyone - now to juggle and make sure we can do all rehearsals... 

1 minute ago, Billyelliott said:

Perhaps they couldn’t get your email address right!

Ha ha...  Perhaps! 

How Bizarre! Letter offering dd a place just popped into my inbox 📩 

8 hours ago, Littleone said:

I also believe in the importance of 'management of expectations' ...but some people less so ...... I do hope you hear soon x

I have emailed the info@ and cc misslewis@ this morning. 

Oh how I love this world of Dance! 

5 minutes ago, Littleone said:

Hi Dancertaxi

 

I can understand your frustration 😟

Why don't you email Miss Lewis and ask when you might hear  - I am sure she must understand that your DD is finding the wait difficult .

(That said I emailed Miss Lewis this evening and have received a reply so you may still hear tonight 😀)

Really hoping it's good news !

 

LO

I may email tomorrow morning - it may prompt a response of some description though I m sure if it was a yes we d have heard. 

In my education world the expectation of responding by our own stated deadline is faily indicative of reliability /service. So I m not impressed really. 

Hey ho... We shall endeavor to attend an audition at some point in the coming years. 

Good luck to all those in the new production next week x

Just now, hoglett said:

Oh no...that's so annoying.  Have you checked your spam?!

Yes I ve double checked email inbox and spam..I only use a particular email address for dance only stuff so things are easy to find. 

More annoyed with lack of reply than getting a no. 

On 13/06/2018 at 18:54, hoglett said:

Hey...don't give up just yet but what will be will be.  

We have both given up 

 dd said this evening she gathers it's a no as they didnt email when they said they would. 

If I get the courtesy of an email that would be good but as cinderella starts next week I m guessing this Fri/sat/sun will be show prep stuff. 

Still nothing. Really irritating when people dont keep to their own deadlines. 

Not a problem waiting a week but they shouldnt say day after! 

We have assumed its a no. But looking forward to watching hopefully 

46 minutes ago, hoglett said:

Hey...don't give up just yet but what will be will be.  

We didnt expect to be able to audition at all so the dvd option was a bonus. 

8 minutes ago, hoglett said:

Fingers crossed @dancertaxi.

Thanks hoglett.  

I m not hopeful now as she said today and I havent heard. 

Its fine dd prob has too much on anyway so would be a juggle. 

Next time will be a definite try and attend the audition as thats what dd likes. 

7 minutes ago, Bluebird22 said:

83 juniors and they were aiming to take about 45

Eeekkk....  Miss Lewis said I should hear today but it's getting late though 

Sorry Tatasmum we didnt attend and waiting to hear result. 

Hopefully Bluebird might know

7 minutes ago, mummytwo said:

I am not sure if posting in right place, as not all ballet related, sorry for the long post !

My 12 year old daughter (school year 7) currently does 5 hours of dance per week, ISTD Tap, Modern & Ballet plus Contemporary and Street.  She is also looking to extend her ballet training.

Her current grades are:   Tap Grade 4 /  Modern Grade 4 / Ballet Grade 3

For the last couple of months her dance school has started to mix the grades with the grade below her current level (girls in school year 5/6) hence not getting a full lesson which is only 45mins.

Also, her last exam in Modern & Ballet was 20months ago, which seems quite a long time.  She did a tap exam in Feb this year, at the time the grades were not mixed, so my daughter and her friend were getting through the Tap Grade 4 quite quickly (the teacher mentioned that they had pretty much covered alot of the syllabus), but, now she has mixed the grades she will probably be in that class for 18 months-2 years.

I mentioned to the Principal that she has been in the Modern & Ballet grade for 20months and when will you be holding the next exam, she said “they have covered the syllabus, but, now working through it”, she also couldn’t say when the next exam session is (probably 6 months away or even longer).  But surely, if she didn’t mix the grades she would be ready for her exam by now.

Really not happy with the situation and feel she is getting held back, she is also a quick learner. 

I really do not want to change dance schools, but, feel I have no choice.  I have looked at a dance school, but they offer IDTA Tap and not ISTD.

Does anyone know a private teacher so I can get her assessed to see if she is ready for her exams (to take an exam at another dance school ?), as if I did move dance schools I would like her to go into the next grade up ?   I am based in South East London.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

Hi. My dd was istd and they did a grade in each subject each year - getting distinctions in exams so dd must have been fully prepared. 

We have moved to an idta school and dd now grade 5 for all So this will be taken after 12-18 month. ( Inc time to go over difference in syllabus/steps for below grades for free work part of exam) 

I think generally as the grades get higher they take slightly longer but at grade 3/4 I d have said a year. 

If you wanted to move you could ask the new dance school to assess her to put her in an appropriate class - its ok to miss a grade if they say so. I m not sure about doing exam on own steam sorry. 

It does sound odd mixing with grade below 

Northern school of contemporary dance Leeds used to do boy only session. 

Elmhurst mids only in Birmingham I believe

York Scholars? Hammond associate? CAT at Lowry? Or Leeds? 

DD loved Chantry 

Midas Associates 

What part of the country are you in? 

Theres a college Cheshire way that has a great programme of workshops etc 

3 minutes ago, annaliesey said:

That’s so young and these messages are some of the first guiding messages for them. It sets expectations on how things are going to be. And yet at this young age they still have an instinct to do what everyone else does and put up with it.

 

my dd was saying “it’s because she loves me”.. I can’t express how I felt about that one on here without getting a forum ban!! 

I wont tell you how many times I had to re-word my post - theres so much more I could have written but I too would have got a ban. 

I m so sorry my dd went through this -  wish we d jumped ship much sooner - but it has made her more assertive and has made her highly aware this practice is not what she wants or needs from the dance world.  

I m sooo grateful for her new teacher - seems to completely understand my dd and her drive. Also amazing to listen with door open for 1:1 sessions ( due to heat) to them both giggling, bouncing ideas off each other and it being an open platform where dd is confident and feels at ease to say if she doesnt like a step or struggles with it - or even just laugh it off if shes having a wobbly day. 

I hope every dc that experiences inappropriate practice finds their love of dance re ignited by someone who truly has their best interest at heart 

4 minutes ago, Bluebird22 said:

My senior got through to the scholarship part again but lost out! Second time she’s lost out and both times to brunettes!!

Oh dear - a fantastic achievement to get through to scholarship again though. 

Congratulations 🎊 

1 hour ago, Bluebird22 said:

My Junior has just been in touch- she has a place! 

 

Audition comprised of Ports de Bras, pirouettes, plies and leaps amongst other things! 

Thats fantastic congrats to your Junior bluebird. 

Awww my dd will be gutted she loves ports de Bras and pirouettes. 

Hopefully we ll get some good news soon. 

Thankyou bluebird

6 minutes ago, TooTu said:

The emotional abuse can be soo damaging to children's confidence but getting a teacher to admit to it is next to impossible & even if they do it's usually brushed off as they were only joking or it was a bit of fun. Unfortunately it is all too common & when our dc love dance as much as they do parents often don't hear about it Straightaway 

I know even age 8-9 my dd knew her teacher was being emotionally abusive but at the time she says she was the only teacher that could give her festival dances and help her to improve her x style of Dance ( dont want to say too much!) 

When I started to address issues ( my 8 yr old dd being in floods of tears from being repeatedly shouted at then ignored for 3 hours the day before a national final ) the teacher started being off with me and gradually made things very difficult with others too. Lots of other parents felt the same but none would speak up or get their child out of there. 

When I spoke with the principal, who was of course a close friend of the teacher I was met with ' I m sure x was trying to motivate or dd must have mis understood' 

Its hard to hear some things my dd recalls now we have a fab teacher. For a 10 yr old to say its really nice in 1:1 not having to worry about what to say or how to give own opinion as now doesnt have to fear the teacher taking it the wrong way and being mean as a punishment. 

I hate this world sometimes! 

2 minutes ago, Bluebird22 said:

I have 2 students auditioning this evening. One very determined senior who narrowly missed out on the scholarship last time! 

 

Good luck to your DD hope the result comes through quickly for you! 

Good luck to them both. 

My dd was really hoping to participate in the class - do you have any juniors attending? If so, could you share a few of the things they Do? 

Anyone doing the Buxton audition this evening?  

We had to submit ours via dvd as not available but just wanted to say good 🍀 luck

15 minutes ago, annaliesey said:

 

Absoluely agree with counselling BUT don’t go anywhere where they have to report to “multi agency” (police, LADO etc) as they will take it out of your hands if there is something disclosed as child abuse. In our case this made things 100 times worse. No prosecution and a whole pile of backlash. Be selfish and put your child’s needs and your own needs first 

 

 

Anyone under 18 seeking counselling from a regulated person will fall under this as they will have a duty of care to protect vulnerable people...  

3 minutes ago, Bluebird22 said:

I’ve just paid £300 out in CPD on top of my membership fees, to complete the required 18hours so I can continue to offer exams for my students. I’m self employed on £9.50 p/h it’s a huge expense, BUT I choose to do this job and I owe it to the kids I teach to do it to the best of my ability. 

 

However I can see why parting with so much money would be off putting, particularly for a guest type teacher (dancers aren’t known for their large salaries!) 

 

There is a wealth of information online so there is no excuse for shoddy and poorly planned classes. 

I wonder bluebird if the guest teacher doesnt have membership for offering exams whether they will have any requirement to fulfill cpd hours ? 

There was a post recently on Facebook about studios falling for people with high profiles on social media to guest teach when actually they are performers and dont have the skills to effectively teach anyone. 

We ve been invited to a few where teenagers are teaching or judging at festivals yet have no formal teaching experience and rarely have advanced grades themselves. Scary world. 

An old teacher of dd did degree in dance but had to do pgce and held no other teaching qualifications - ie linked to an exam board. 

A pgce teaches you the generics of how to teach rather than subject specific content - there is an element of conceived knowledge from degree. 

I dont know the ins and outs of the dance teaching world I m afraid. 

I guess regardless of qualifications it comes down to quality of practice which is even more variable in relation to accessing cpd. 

I would be raising a concern via the principal in a - hi can I just check - do they now do x like this and should dd be doing her own cool down now...hint hint 

Eeeekkkkkk alarm bells!!! 

I would be asking if stand in teacher is qualified to teach - actual teaching quals not a degree in dance. 

Conditioning really needs someone who knows what they re doing any why rather than "my teacher told me this way".