TwoLeftFeet

6 hours ago, Cara in NZ said:

NZ's most successful male ballet dancer of the 1980s and 90s stays with us when he is guest teaching. He is about 5ft 10 and partnered all sorts of famous people while at ENB and Royal Danish Ballet. He also partnered Sylvie Guillem for a guest performance and she asked for him to dance with her again but he had to say no as he found her too tall to partner comfortably! He always says that corps de ballet just need 'matching pairs', so if they have a tall or short dancer, they need another one to complement the appearance of the corps on stage. One girl we know here was accepted for pre-professional training at NZ's national school and she is about 4ft 10 at age 18. The companies in Asian countries often have smaller dancers. The other thing is the length of the feet. My DD is 5ft 3 and when standing is the same height as her peers. But she has tiny feet so when they are en pointe, the peers rise above her, to her annoyance! I don't know if that's another consideration for company corps de ballet though!

Length of the feet is something we have also sighed deeply at... my daughter has insanely narrow feet and is street size 2.5.  Not only has she height to contend with, she also finds it extremely difficult to get pointe shoes in her size and box width (x) as they have to be ordered in for her and sometimes it can take 6-8 weeks!  Don't even get me started on street shoes lol 🙄

1 hour ago, ArucariaBallerina said:

Just wanted to pop in here and say that one of my ballet teachers told me she was extremely extremely tiny at age 16 - smaller even than me - and then did not grow until she reached 18, and had another growth spurt when she was in her 20s! If that is comforting to anyone else  

I was offered a place at 2 schools, finals at another, so will be starting in September at my first choice vocational school  I've been told that i am finally growing but am staying well away from the tape measure because it would get me down if I hadn't!

 

Height is annoying! x

Congratulations ArucariaBallerina on your offers.  Thanks for posting regarding heights, it's encouraging to hear there still might be growing left to do

5 hours ago, Balletmummy18 said:

My dd is 13 and 5’8 at vocational school in UK and that has been huge disadvantage  so we feel your pain but from the other side of the fence - hope your dd finds a place at upper school .

Thans Balletmummy18.  DD will wait until next year and audition again, she'll still be 16 and with another year of training between now and then hopefully she'll be in a better position... I hope!

6 hours ago, Mummy twinkle toes said:

Hi Twoleftfeet just wondered how your Dd was getting on?

Hi there and thanks for asking.  DD auditioned for one UK school and was offered a place but has decided to train for a another year before auditioning again.  She will still be 16 in September 2020 so its all good.  Her height however, has remained the same and I'm not expecting that she'll grow any more... whatever will be will be I guess so we'll just ride the wave and see where it takes us.

My dd changed to Block eurostretch a few months ago and she also finds them quite painful to wear around her big toe also (the top joint of the toe, not the top of the toe) .   She was used to wearing Gaynor Minden which I believe is a very different shoe in the way they are made.  She had no problem at all in the Gaynors but going back to a "regular" shoe really is proving difficult.  She is wearing Bloch toe pads and also using lambswool but found no ease of pain.  Balletgremlin have you changed from another brand shoe?

Thank you very much for your help ladies.

17 minutes ago, CeliB said:

So has she decided Russian training in Russia is too daunting?

DS always regretted not going at 16 (he stayed on in USA at a Russian based school mainly to get his high school diploma but in retrospect that was a mistake - he'd have been better off at the Vaganova sooner....)

 

Pm'ing you!

 

 

13 hours ago, Pas de Quatre said:

Why are you asking this TwoLeftFeet?  Is it purely theoretical interest or are you planning to audition somewhere for training?  And if so, what training have you had so far?

We are looking into upper schools for 2020.  My dd was RAD trained and then moved to a Russian styled school.  She prefers the Russian style by far and would like to apply for an upper school that teaches in that style.  I'm not finding many in UK so far so wondered if there were more.

1 hour ago, Mummy twinkle toes said:

2 others include Natalie Kremen and Masters of Ballet Academy. Both offer pre vocational training/ private training and are serious training institutes based in London. 

But from what I've read neither are full-time upper schools though  - very happy to be corrected if I'm wrong... 

I have researched Russian style ballet full-time upper schools in UK and have found - are there any more out there?

London Russian Ballet School

Bristol Russian Ballet School

Kings International Ballet Academy

What sort of style do the other more popular names teach i.e. ENBS, Royal, Elmhurst, Tring, Royal Conservatoire, Central School of Ballet, Northern Ballet?

Europe:    I have mostly looked at Germany where the majority seem to be Russian style.  The main four being John Cranko, School of the Hamburg Ballet, State Ballet School of Berlin and Mannheim.       What other German option are out there that you have come across?

Next, what about other European schools favour Russian style?

Sending you pm.

STILL SEARCHING - THANK YOU

13 hours ago, Dancing feet said:

I have a small Claudia Dean adult one. 

Hi Dancing Feet - could you let me see a photo or a link to the style and colour please?  Thanks

4 hours ago, Balletdancer360 said:

I have a small adult Claudia Dean leotard for sale if thats any help?

Thank you Balletdancer360 - do you have a link to which one and colour?  What price are you looking for?  Thank you

Looking for Petite Adult leotards in good condition.  Particularly interested in high leg cut, Claudia Dean, Yumiko and Wear Moi.

thank you.

Meadowblythe, I also would be very interested in hearing your take on the schools that provide the best guidance as we are beginning our search for an upper school.

Jane, I'd love to know what school your DC attended.

So many red flags all pointing to a career that involves a lot of struggling to even be seen.  Its getting harder and harder the more I read to know what the right decision to make is, however, in saying that, its better to go in with your eyes open.  Thank goodness for this forum and for all who post their experiences good and bad so that those coming up behind know full well what to expect.

Would anyone's 14/15/16 year old DD going for the first two weeks of the summer school like to chat/make friends with my DD.  She is 15 and doesn't know anyone going - it might make things a bit easier if she knew someone also going on the first two weeks.  Shes quiet and shy, loves books and animals!  PM if interested

13 minutes ago, swanprincess said:

I can find out for you! 

 

I have a friend at the school, and from what I understand, he has a ballet class every day (6 or 7 days a week) and contemporary most days, then repertoire and rehearsals. So I imagine about 4-6 hours of ballet per day but will find out and let you know xx

thank you so much I really appreciate it

53 minutes ago, swanprincess said:

I know of one girl who graduated last year and is now working with the Mikhailovsky... I believe others are working in classical companies in Europe and America.

Swanprincess would you have any idea at all how many hours a day ballet is studied?

Brand new Capezio black practice tutu 10391 with tags.  Size says Adult S *however* this is clearly not accurate as my 15 year old daughter is a Adult Petite and this doesn't come past her knees!  I would say it would be more the size of a child age 8-10.

£30 plus postage.

I can email or text pics - they are too big in size to post here.

https://www.capezioeurope.com/practice-tutu

Meant to say, the email was the result of video audition.

Just got a result email - check your boxes ladies and gents

14 hours ago, foreverballet said:

Hi, 

 

Just wondered if anyone can help me I am looking for some more information on the training, accommodation and overall experience at Ballettschule Theater Basel and also John Cranko Schule for senior school. Currently auditioning for UK schools but looking at other options.

 

😊

 

http://en.john-cranko-schule.de/admission/

here is the link to the admission process of the school.  Their website is very explanatory and is in English.  Other tabs will tell you more information.

I don't know anything about the other one sorry.

Thank you all so much for your advice and support.  We took her to be measured yesterday - the last time we did it was in August last.  She measured 159cm - 5 feet 2.6 inches!!   I actually cried with relief and I still can't quite believe it.  Heres hoping for at least another inch before we try auditioning again at the end of the year.

2 minutes ago, balletbean said:

Hi. I feel your pain you are experiencing. However, I’m sure that many if not all schools actually ‘advertise’ openily a height restriction policy. Feedback is normally non existent at auditions (either a yes or no) so it would be hard to offer any further information. Application forms may ask for height and possibly weight but I think it’s for proportions rather than restrictions. Some do ask even for parents height possibly to see potential.  It’s a hard one to answer. Just as much as teenage growth spurts no one can predict. 

With so many laws in place in the UK there may well be limitations on actually declining a place openly due to height compared to European Schools. 

Other Dance schools & Colleges that offer more Jazz focus whilst still offering ballet as a core subject (like NBS Manchester) could be another option to consider, if you believe that height may still be an issue. I wish you and your DD all the best. 

I haven't seen minimum heights for schools mentioned on the forms or indeed websites, although I certainly have when it comes to Company applications.  The forms for Europe that we filled out did ask for height and weight both for DD and heights for us as her parents.

I would love to know if there are any 5'1" ballet dancers accepted to UK schools so that we can focus on applying to those schools... anyone?