Mummy2BalletFairies

Prezzo sounds like Saturday supper! Thank you so much

pinkbex81 your children sound very talented! we auditioned for RBS Year 4 last week- such a beautiful approach to dance. We would love to find something similar for our DDs as we don't expect a yes from RBS but she responds so well to their approach and was enthralled by the insight workshop- although i guess most children are. My eldest has poor flexibility in her hamstrings and I'm not sure she has the right hip joints for huge turnout but it's reasonable- just probably not RBS. Shame because in every other way she has very classic ballet physique and expression- is CBA more forgiving in those areas in their JA assessments than RBS or is pre-existing flexibility a big deal for all JA programs do you think? Every Tring pupil we've come across at NYB etc so far is hugely flexible and done lots of body conditioning whereas mine children don't specifically study it in their lessons but just do bar work rather than stretching, and no other gymnastics etc. As a parent I wonder if we just need DDs to get in to a JA program in order to start working sensibly (and supervised) on flexibility or whether we need to do that BEFORE we starting auditioning for these places. Did your son have good flexibility before he was accepted onto those programs?

i actually meant to ask, is there somewhere near to Tring that parents can wait and access the internet? I am there all day this Saturday while DD does masterclass and i was hoping there'd by a Pret nearby for coffee and wifi!?

Is your son a JA at Tring or elsewhere? we are considering JAs at various places for my 9 yr old daughter but bearing in mind i have a 6 yr old daughter on her heels and just as keen, we are eager to hear recommendations. we are on south coast 2 hrs from tring so not sure their JA program is right for us, but DD is already asking to board at Tring from year 7..

Apparently "not easy and not hard". "Nobody spoke". 'we did 8 gallops across the room by ourselves then that was the only dancing we did on our own (does demonstration- looked odd- i said that looks odd, she says well the music was jumpy) ." "we had to be seaweed attached to a rock." 'i tried exquisitely hard and managed to be more flexible than normal today." 😂 Clearly i don't think we will be getting much useful info from my DD! Think they lined them up from the get go in 4 lines of about 5. They looked at feet and posture early on. Looked at them in different profiles and bends. It kind of sounds like they're going for body proportions and posture for most the audition- what I don't quite understand is how they can tell who is trainable into a better posture and who isn't, as We all know it can be improved... Then a few more physical exercises to demonstrate flexibility. Then a little musical stuff I guess to confirm if they're musical/have dance style required. I thought there'd be more dancing than DD described. Hope that helps.

Mine auditioned today and wore satin with full leather soles (not split soles I mean). Didn't look at any of the other children as I dropped and ran, but my daughter would usually mention that kind of detail to me but hasn't said anything about ballet shoes. All she said was "It wasn't hard and it wasn't easy. They didn't give corrections." Good luck xxx

hope he enjoys it and does well x

no idea but watching this thread keenly to find out...

Thank you dancermum2003, that's encouraging and well done to your DD.! do you get to hang around with them for a short while when you drop them off and settle them in? it's me who will need the settling i am sure...

Does anybody understand the piece of paperwork called best wishes? Are we supposed to write a message to our children? Or is it them writing it? I've emailed Katie but no reply yet.

It's a yes for us! DD is 9 and this was her first audition for anything and first summer school. Has your friend's DD done it before? How old is she? We don't know anybody going. I am not sure my daughter has grasped the 2 week boarding with strangers yet!

i could almost have written this post myself! also new to forum myself. from my LIMITED experience, here's what i have learned... about 1 yr ago, i took my DD to a RBS insight day. we were too scared to ever apply for the associate scheme as i thought DD didnt quite tick every box plus her teacher had never indicated she was talented except for entering her for festivals, so i understood she was not going to be the next darcey bussell. having watched the insight day lesson (parents watch) i came away convinced DD didn't have the physical flexibility or ballet technique to apply ( maybe if she did more lessons or body conditioning this would have been less of an issue?) even if she did have certain other abilities in dance (mainly confidence!). so it kept me on the lookout, so to speak, and feeling we should be doing more to explore her interest because she wanted to perform perform perform. however, if my DD did tick the flexibility box as well, i would not be put off from applying for RBS based on what i saw. they're not looking for high levels of technical ability but rather they look at a more basic level- timing, physical attributes. so i wouldn't rule RBS out just because she isn't on grade whatever. maybe your DD could try an insight day with RBS? instead we have gone down to NYB route and just auditioned for the 2018 season. to our surprise, she is through to casting. will let you know if we get through to actual junior company ... but we had looked at EYB but they had nothing in our area this year so ended up at NYB. so far it has been positive experience for her, auditioning at Sadlers Wells and getting a call back...so my advice is just to apply for these associate schemes and go along and see what you think...seems a great way to gain insight and get a feel like your daughter mine only does 1 hr ballet a week, but does tap and modern too she is 9 and grade 2- taking exam in june and as far as i know it's still 1 hr per week after that. if i could have done anything differently, i would not have told my DD why she wasn't likely to get in to RBS etc etc, i would have simply let her try. hope that helps x

DD 9 years old just got recalled to finals/ casting audition for junior company on 29th April. ...We were not expecting to get past initial audition Anybody else on here got a recall? Are there usually lots of kids who get dropped after the casting audition? Are chances still very slim of getting in, or have they done the biggest cut after the preliminary auditions? Having told her she wouldn't be getting past the initial audition, I'm now trying to get my facts straight! This was her first ever audition for anything so we're just wondering if anybody who has been to final auditions/casting before could describe the kinds of things they were asked to do- the first auditions in london seemed very classical and technique based, but other threads from 2014 on this forum suggest casting auditions seem a bit broader plus the email said to bring tap shoes.... Also, has anybody else put their 9 year old down for residential? Thanks all. Inexperienced dance mum x