DD Driver

I haven't seen an update on the ENBS website for this year I was looking at the ENB joiners, promotions, leavers this year (1 joiner from ENBS) and ENBS graduate destinations last year http://www.enbschool.org.uk/news.php?ref=graduate-destinations-2018

If her studio is ok with it she could try a trial of Progressing Ballet Technique https://www.pbt.dance/ The benefit of online programs is that they can constantly update -as in the case of this program. More variety in exercises and more targeted.

So only 1 student from ENBS is joining the Co. this year. I believe it was 4 last year. I heard someone say that it would be a particularly difficult year for graduates of the school - as dancers might be reluctant to leave the Co. this year when there is the excitement of the exciting home at London City Island.

A friend’s daughter who went there at 16 found them very good. Be aware that the assessments, at that stage anyway, are very... shall I say blunt.

If your DC can not easily access more hours but feels they are not doing enough....I would recommend seeing a dance physio and getting a series of daily or regular exercises to work on at home or through other activities/sports. This can really help with strength and flexibility. It is also a great way to have measurements of progress and to set tangible goals.

Some good advice here! It is so hard when young dancers of 10, 11 ,12 years are told one thing by their parents and then see who is selected for associate programs, summer schools and vocational schools. Society has very gradually made some impact on the modelling world and choices made for magazine covers. Progress is slow in the ballet-world.

I think you have summed this up perfectly! Seems a shame (to me) that some extremely talented dancers will be overlooked if they are not an exact fit to the criteria. Do they think that diversity - and the benefits it offers - is for other people/organisations? Maybe but just seems a loss. Oh well.

My DD and I went through this a few years ago when she did similar auditions. She has the ability to pick up choreography quickly and her strength and flexibility are very advanced. This came from a lot of hard work and determination! Her body shape however does not fit with what they wanted! Not really the message you want to send as a parent of a young girl - agghhh. After a series of rejections we decided to stay away from this scene for a few years to see how she develops over time. Of course her hip bones will not change!

One outcome from the RBS Spring Intensive in Hong Kong this year... There were a number of students that were invited to become 'international scholars' i.e. access into the White Lodge summer school and short stay opportunities over the next few years. I guess this was foreshadowed by earlier threads i.e. RBS not attending YAGP this year and encouraging interested students to attend RBS summer schools and/or the international Intensives instead.

David McAllister the AD of The Australian Ballet Company will step down at the end of 2020. An amazing dancer and an amazing AD! https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/dance/australian-ballet-artistic-director-david-mcallister-to-step-down-20190524-p51qtw.html

I would go with the pbt online membership https://www.pbt.dance/ as there are regular updates made with new exercises. Also you can look at free content on their facebook page videos or instagram in the meantime xx

In Australia, it is quite common for young students to participate in local dance comps or Eisteddfods (same thing here). Given the cost of costumes and coaching I encourage my daughter to do a number of them a year. This also means she sees her improvement over time. She loves it and I find the culture to be very positive and supportive.. Her placing or comments from adjudicators can vary a lot which makes it even more important to do a number of different comps in order to get a more valid idea of how you are doing (on average) and definitely softens the impact of any one person's opinion. I see it as training for facing more important auditions and for life as a professional dancer. Things go wrong and she just deals with it. Stages are different sizes and she adjusts. Steven McCrae talks about his experience in this video from 'In conversation with...' At 6:45 he explains how he started doing solo comps at 8 At 19:25 he talks about the benefits he sees in participating in competitions

Some new Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) tutorials are on their member site www.pbt.dance to give youan idea of content. Also, see lovely (hypermobile) Jenna in this ad - who is going to RBS in Sept.

I understand that some of students attending the Finals came through video submissions or invitation following summer school/intl intensives

Oh, I am happy for her. Required viewing for my daughter!

I would have thought that the Royal Ballet School's Healthy Dancer Programme has a key role here! I note that this includes counsellors and psychologists. Surely a critical area is supporting students who are in this situation. In any school situation, I would recommend actively asking for such help when the need arises. Sometimes such professionals are not automatically brought into the loop. Once you ask for help, there is a duty of care and recourse through the professional associations if one feels that the support is unsatisfactory/insufficient. I'm so sorry that you are going through this Hbbm.

Yes, I agree bridiem. Change is a fact - especially if you look outside the big classical companies. If a company has a significant contemporary ballet rep. then it might be an idea to train and select dancers that have the ideal physicality for that. This facility and aesthetic can be different from that of the ideal classical dancer. Still can't see this as women struggling to keep up.. More that there is scope for vocational school and artistic directors to broaden their view of what a ballet dancer should look like.The upside is also more diversity. (just trying to make lemonade out of lemons here)

Thank you Sadielou for the report from the trenches! I wish your DC all the best. I found the topic: Investment in the Doing Dance forum helpful after reading the posts in this thread. Really, ballet training is a very dodgy investment. It is better for me to view this training as a 'lifestyle' that we have chosen. It must be positive for her 'overall' development if we continue to pursue this and finance it. That is the test not whether she has a career in it. That is how I want to approach this journey based on what I am learning. Others will see things differently. If my non-dancing DD goes to a job/internship interview and she is told "there is no job" or she is disrespected then I would expect her to stick it out for the experience OR feel free to walk out the door. This is something I wish to instill in my dancing DD too.

Thanks for this! Great mindset for parents and students. Yes, for my DD, ballet training is a 'lifestyle' that she has chosen and we are - mostly - enjoying the bumpy ride so far. The time and money put into it is not an 'investment'. It would not stack up. Note to self - we do not need a prize at the end.

RBS will be teaching and holding auditions at ARDA's Summer School in December - Brisbane, Australia. ARDA is the Annette Roselli Dance Academy. They posted on their social media, with a more info to follow tag. Probably runs like the Chicago and San Fran auditions in January i.e. where the audition is preliminary and leads to admission to final audition in London

Please excuse my misspelling of Yuri Fateev's name!

I just added a topic to the Doing Dance section: Mariinsky Ballet Ask the Expert YAGP interview Interesting interview with Yuri Fateev of the Mariinsky. He tells the story of Xander Parish at 28:30 which ties in with the video discussed in this topic.

Interesting interview with Yuri Fatee about what the Mariinsky looks for in dancers. He talks about their classical/modern mix i.e. 80/20 or 85/15 at 6:00 on, the Corp being one of the stars of the Mariinsky at 11:40 and the style that is developed over many years of training 14:15 He speaks of Xander Parish's rise to principal at 28:30 which ties in with the video in the topic: Xander Parish Promotion under the Dance News & info section of this Forum.

This was wonderful to watch, thank you! It is so important for young ones to see this. Getting into a great school and company does not mean that you live happily ever after. Xander backed himself and took a big risk in order to grow and continue developing as a dancer.. Also loved hearing about and seeing the massive stage behind the stage at Marinsky and the contrast between the new and old theaters - sigh.

It is tough all right and probably very bewildering. All the best with the auditions!