DD Driver

Are you talking about 17/18 years old? Princess Grace of Monaco and several of the German schools e.g. John Cranko Schule, Palucca etc sometimes take students in their final year which might work for your DD. Obviously entry is highly competitive. Have you also thought about some of the top Australian ballet schools? Some of these vocational schools - not associated with a company - are highly motivated to help their students get into top schools or companies. They act as finishing schools and have established networks and can help with audition tours and videos. In the USA there are pre-professional options and university programs.

LearningCurve, I don't think you should duck! You're just calling it as you see it. It does sound like there is a fantastic opportunity however for someone to head your way and offer an outstanding classical program! It can be done. Australian cities are comparatively small in terms of population but there are schools that consistently produce students (12-18) who are offered places in the top UK, EU and USA schools.

Someone who went the other night said that they wished more principals and soloists had been cast e.g. as planets etc. I understand this was how it was when Ratmansky first staged this with The Australian Ballet in 2015 and that it was magical. Sophoife, you are guaranteed a wonderful night attending Cinderella with the Stojmenov/Campbell pairing . I checked my calendar again yesterday to see if I could make their 12 or 14 December Sydney performances. But no. Have fun for all of us!

The young lady referred to was already known to RBS through their summer schools. One avenue has closed for now, YAGP, but there are certainly other ways that international young dancers can and do get themselves seen - RBS intensives and auditions... I think it highlights the questions raised by a few people here.... what is the standard now expected of a 15/16 year old? Is the Lower School training that a student receives going to get them to the required standard for Upper School? Is selection at 11/12 years old for a vocational school logical?

Oh no! We can't do either of those dates. Please advise if you hear about any other options....

Oh that is interesting. Definitely sheds some light on it for me! The Prix did lower the age limit to 14 1/2 years old last year which helped some people. As I say, it felt as though the older ones were more represented in the Finals but sometimes you can get what you want without reaching the last round. Some of the elite international ballet schools like to take students at a young age, e.g. 15 and under, and don't have the same lower school/upper school distinctions you mentioned. In Australia, most school leavers are 18 but quite a lot will be 17. Also you could leave school at 16/17 with ROSA, record of school achievement, and build on that (e.g. online) to get Higher School Certificate and tertiary qualifications later.

Goldenlily17, I think Australian parents will take a few minutes longer to really understand the impact of Brexit on their DC's. Probably work even harder to get into local options e.g. ok DD you can go fulltime Ballet and fulltime Rhythmic Gymnastics at 10 years old - ha ha.

Anna C I totally agree that pursuing ballet needs to be something driven by the child. YES, it is a parents job to equip our children for life after ballet - or if a career never takes off! I do think, culturally, there can be different perspectives on how to do this. In the US and Australia/NZ homeschooling is a well-established practice e.g. for religious or access reasons from rural locations or learning difficulties and many more stories. It does not mean you don't value academic schooling. (There are inspectors and state institutions that oversee & enforce the child's right to an education! ). It is not uncommon for homeschoolers to be ahead of their age-level grade. Also, in Australia, I know there is some latitude given for missing schooldays at a mainstream school in order to pursue Sports or Arts. A family then has the responsibility to ensure that the student does any work that was missed. I have seen threads here where UK families have difficulty getting their children time out of school for RAD exams and some people felt this was as it should be. I can not imagine that conversation happening in Australia. I hope you did not feel that was being said!

Gary Norman is on the list of judges but the list also includes a company dancer from ABT and an AD from YAGP. So not all judges need to be officially representing a company/school and bearing gifts. https://yagp.org/misc/Downloads/2019/YAGP 2019 PARIS, FRANCE, JUDGES.jpg

I don't know but....in Australia there has been a strong influence from Asian cultures. Specifically, the emphasis on hard work rather than talent. For ballet this can mean putting in more hours, seeking out the best coaches and cross-training etc from a young age. Yes, you need artistry and musicality. That is the differentiator if you can get yourself into the room (audition). It is hard to beat a Cuban, a Russian, a South Korean etc who has put absolutely everything into making it. They may be sacrificing aspects of childhood that others would not choose to do i.e. see it as a poor choice given the odds of a career or feel it is too imbalanced a life for a child... - I think culturally POB is a world of its own. A closed shop and happy to be so.

The ones I am thinking of were 14 through to 16 years old. I have heard lately of a 12 year old boy going to John Cranko from Australia. I think there is a desire to bring in students at a young age so that they can be fully trained in the school's style. I'd say that some schools in Germany are more experienced with and better set up for young intl students than others. You can probably see this in the effort they make outlining what is on offer, e.g. in English, on their website.

I know of kids from Australia who have moved to different German ballet schools. Typically they have never learnt German. Nothing like full immersion for great results when learning a language. The schools are used to this and the kids are highly motivated.

Thanks! It always shocks me....only 7 video applications from the UK out of 363! 2 selected from UK 71 candidates were selected from videos. There will be 80 in all, when you add in those pre-selected or invited. Compare this with interest from other countries e.g Australia: 36 video applications - 9 selected. Meanwhile 14 selected from Japan, 13 from Sth Korea and 8 from USA via video applications. I understand that the finals clash with some UK school auditions but still I would expect more applications(?) Last year many finalists were at the older end and looking for entry into a company e.g Shale Wagman (Princess Grace Academy) won his place at ENB https://www.prixdelausanne.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Nombre-de-candidats-PDL-2019_31oct18.pdf

Yes, that seems to be how it works. Some of the feeder schools do get descriptive about what they want though. POB, Vaganova and Bolshoi Academies publish their height/weight charts. They are traditional classical ballet schools/companies so maybe the conformity of the corp is more important for them. I just wondered if people had experienced feedback on height preferences at any schools/companies. I'm happy if the answer is don't worry about your height (within reason) - worry about your technique and artistry!

This is a whole new train of thought for me... I see Universal Ballet Academy in Seoul does have summer and winter schools and I had not realised that they are linked with the Kirov Acadmy of Ballet in Washington D.C. http://www.universalballet.com/eng/education/school.asp Also in Seoul there is the Sunhwa Arts Academy and KNUA. They offer Vaganova programs but I can't see a summer/winter school.

Oh, that is ineresting Cara. In Australia, I don't hear a lot about students doing Asian summer schools or more importantly audition tours. However I do hear of people getting contracts, once they are trained and may have professional experience, working in Singapore and HK. Given the success of many Chinese, Korean etc students at big comps it must be time to get serious about investigating their schools. Or them getting serious about promoting summer schools. I will tell my daughter - not tall but long feet - to start considering mentioning her height en pointe when filling in forms! She is already rounding up her height and rounding down her weight.

The perennial question: What are the companies that tend to like tall dancers? What are the likely companies for shorter dancers? Of course this changes over time & with changes in AD's & depending on what is needed at any one time & there are many stories of exceptions to what a co. usually accepts BUT there are trends - right? We are looking at which summer schools - internationally - to focus on and part of the consideration is understanding the preferences of the company that they feed into. Given the costs for us it is worth considering the best prospects for our DC given her height. Usually the answer to this is to do your research. Trawl thru the co. dancer bio's etc. Fair enough. Asking here is part of my research. I am looking a couple of years in advance so only thinking about general trends. Sometimes requirements are well known or openly stated. The Bayerisches Staatsballet (Munich) recently put up an audition call for dancers: Ladies min. 1.65 m / 5'5'' and Gentlemen min. 1.80 m / 5'11'' https://www.staatsoper.de/en/staatsballett/audition.html

https://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/train/apply/international-auditions/

I know, right! We went to Australian Ballet Company performance - Behind the Scenes. This was a company class and then Spartacus rehearsal on stage this year. I was gobsmacked (happily) at the range in body types. Maybe talent and drive can ultimately prevail for some. That's what I choose to believe. A role model is Carrie Imler who has a womanly figure and was a much loved principal. She retired last year after 22 years with Pacific Norwest Ballet (PNB).

So the YAGP Masterclasses are on this weekend in Melbourne and Brisbane. It will be interesting to see how the DCs find it. Live videos were up today via facebook and give a good insight into the classes e.g. https://www.facebook.com/YouthAmericaGrandPrix/videos/507929439618418/ YAGP registration and attendance can be expensive and, naturally, few get through to the Finals. A Ballet Education wrote a good article about the costs and expectations one should be aware of when attending the NY Finals: https://aballeteducation.com/2018/04/25/5-big-mistakes-you-can-make-at-the-yagp-that-are-preventable/ Many students we know attend just for the experience or to get admission into elite summer schools/intensives. It is getting easier, however, to audition directly for these e.g. this year ENBS and Bolshoi offer auditions in Australia and you can send applications (usually with videos) to most big schools. The RBS will not be attending YAGP this year - as discussed in an earlier thread, as they are increasing their own intensives and auditions: Royal Ballet School holding more international auditions Happily, I'm finding that - as the years of this go by - you do start slowly understanding what is on offer and pro's/con's for each. The students ahead of your child provide valuable feedback on the schools and intensives that they have attended. Some schools, for example, have very short teaching hours at their summer school. That is not funny when you traveled so far to get there. I am learning what to avoid given limited funds!

David Hallberg attended the school as a student for about a year I think. He talks about it in his book: Body of Work. As you would expect, he felt very lonely/isolated due to language and cultural differences.

Great to hear about these different experiences and suggestions! I know of 3 mums in Australia this year that made an emergency flight - to Europe and the USA - to help their 16 year olds who were sick or injured. In all of these cases the student came home to recuperate and then one has gone back again. The other two are considering their options. I don't think they regret giving it a go but it shows that you have to approach it with your eyes wide open. It may become a short term experience rather than 3 years of training.

This is good news! I hope that they start working on common guidelines for the photos required for summer schools and intensives.

Sorry!!! It just looked a bit savage - but yes she is in a world of her own. No offense meant. Our dance physio's are cracking down on static and ballistic stretching for our children. They are encouraged to do active / dynamic stretching instead i.e. where they take their joints through their full range of motion in a controlled manner without holding the stretch at the end of the range.

I don't think dance is a sport either but I do think there are many commonalities in their search for physical excellence - appropriate to their specific endeavour. i.e. increasingly dancers are training like elite athletes and benefiting from the great progress in sports science and medicine