AllAboutTheJourney

I think for me it would depend on how much of it is ballet specific and how much of it is tiring of dance in general. I think that if she is still loving jazz and tap, and wants to dance in general, I'd probably insist on keeping up one 45 min ballet class as the technique is so important and helps with all dance styles. At my childrens' dance school, doing one ballet class is pretty much essential if you're doing anything else by about age 9 (younger kids might get away with just doing tap or jazz but by 8/9 you'd be expected to be doing ballet too). I think this is a pretty common age to start thinking ballet is 'boring' as it can - sometimes - be slow and repetitive. I've certainly heard a few similar complaints from DD's friends, but they seem to just accept it's part of doing dance and often start to enjoy it a lot more as the years go on. Having said all that, if she's unhappy then she's unhappy and its meant to be a fun hobby after all...

I also have a 7 year old and would echo what others have said above. I think doing an extra grade class is the best start and then speak to her teacher about whether there are any other supplemental classes within the dance school. My DD is now doing a mixed-level, non-syllabus class once a week in addition to her Grade 1 and 2 exam classes and she loves it as it's just a bit different and 'free'. She also goes to a couple of competition focused classes where the emphasis is on learning routines for competitions/festivals - you may or may not what to go down that road (and it may not be an option within your dance school) but my DD finds it great fun and at the end of the day it's all more dance. We are hoping to go to the RBS Junior Associate Insight Day which is coming up in October - I haven't been before but as others have said it sounds like a great chance to experience what JA's would be like and - for us - it will show what the journey to our nearest centre would be like in practice. The dates are on the RBS website but booking isn't open yet.

I have a son who dances but he is only five still. He does like to have ‘nice’ dancewear though as he sees his older sister and friends in various leotards/combos. We’ve discovered that Squad Dancewear do quite a good selection of boys wear, some casual wear that can be used for non-dance activities and some leotards/shorts which would be more for class-wear. Sorry i cant help with associates etc in your area but I hope you find something to suit 🙂

We've been watching some of this as we know some of the older girls who are there. The ballet sections seem to start today - in the last few years the standard of the ballet has been pretty mixed but as above there have been a few really lovely dancers from Portugal in particular. The standard in the jazz/lyrical/contemporary sections has been very high so far. There's also been a bit of tap and song and dance (which isn't really my thing) but some of the tap looked very good. The last few days have been the mini and children sections and the older sections (14 plus) run over the next few days.

Thanks that would be very much appreciated - and I meant to saw well done to your DD for getting Elmhurst, that's really fantastic!

Interesting discussion re gymnastics training (and hopefully it's keeping people occupied slightly while you wait 😉) . My DD is too young for JA at the moment but she wants to audition next year. She currently does 8 hours of gymnastics as well as a fair amount of dance and I have the same concerns about the two and the way her body may be affected. I'm particularly worried about her back/posture. The dance school say she has a natural dancer's body (which I would agree with) and that she probably won't 'bulk up' too much from the gym but that at some point she will probably need to drop gym if she wants to dance seriously. I'd say she is naturally a better dancer than a gymnast (and would assume the gym club agrees given that she is going to be on regional pathway as opposed to moving 'up' to 16 hours of training and national/compulsory pathway, as one of her peers has done) but at the moment she is determined to do both and says she can't decide which she prefers. I've found your answers very helpful, it's something that's been in my thoughts and will be interesting to see how it pans out. Hope the refreshing of emails is over soon. I totally sympathise... I'm waiting to find out if DD has got into a specialist ballet class within her own dance school and I'm even nervous about that so goodness knows what I'll be like if and when we're dealing with eternal associates schemes etc...!

Absolutely, in my mind an exam (ballet or otherwise) is about doing the best you possibly can, just you. It shouldn't be a chance to compare yourself against others in the class, not least because each of whom may be approaching whatever the subject of the exam is in an entirely different way. My daughter is about to sit primary ballet - she dances a few nights a week and even at this age it's a big part of her life, others are doing one 45 minute class a week, so even at this early stage the approach is totally different and each of them should be rightly proud of whatever marks they get (if they're happy with how they did of course, and if they're not then they can discuss with parents/teachers how they can personally improve). It's not about comparing themselves against each other. I'm no snowflake parent either, not for a minute, and we'd be the first to ensure our kids know they're not the best at everything they do. I'm very much of the "If at first you don't succeed, then try & try & try again" mindset as well, but success or failure isn't measured by how you scored in comparison to the rest of the class, it's about you doing the best that you can and recognising that.

There’s no way it would happen either in the academic or dance school my children attend - it seems such an outdated concept. To be fair though, it hasn’t been that long since it was common practice to publish results openly. When I was at university in the early 2000’s our marks were published openly on large boards outside the exam hall - that had changed to email by the time I got my finals results in 2004. My ballet exam results (in the 1990s) also used to be written out by hand by the teacher and shown in a list on a large wooden board outside our studio. Cringing at the thought of that now!

Results at our dance school are generally high too - I know what you mean about the 'disappointment' of not getting 90... Which is crazy as a distinction is an excellent achievement. The dance school generally mention the names of the kids who get over 90 and there are maybe 8 - 10 of them. The age/level sounds about average to me - my DD is also 6 and sitting Primary in May and the girls sitting Grade 4 are generally 10 - 12.

Hi Notmoreshoes - yes so true, this thread has been really reassuring as I can imagine people rolling their eyes a little at the idea of travelling that far 'just for ballet' (if successful of course) but it's so nice to hear from others who have tried out, done it and loved it :-) All the best to your DD and everyone else applying this year!

Thanks sarahw - yes the travel really is a consideration, and we do have another child to consider too. It may not even happen though as I know how hard it is to get a place so I think we will do as you say and try for both then take it from there.

I was thinking about this thread tonight so took the opportunity to ask the main ballet teacher at DD’s dance school (we don’t usually see her as she teaches higher grades only). My DD has swaybacks and she looked at her legs and immediately said to leave a gap - and that over time she would get stronger and be able to bring her heels together.

Thanks Scottishballetmum that's helpful to know you can get there on the metro. And thanks also ArucariaBallerina, that sounds like you have a lovely day out with your mum!

That's very true - she may well change her mind of course and she's still very young. Will speak to her teachers about BW again :-)

I'm sure it probably flies past - to me it doesn't seem that long ago since she was 3 and jumping about in a frilly tutu with a fairy wand... Thanks ScottishDancerMum - I would think we will definitely try for SB associates when she is older (if she's still keen). I'm not 100% sure about Ballet West as have heard mixed reviews - some people really seem to love it and others not so much. It's good to hear another positive view - will look into it again.

Thank you all for your welcome and replies - that's actually very encouraging. I think we will try and get her a space in the JA insight day if that runs again in October ish and then if she's still keen to try we will let her go for it. It's nice to know other people have travelled and made it work :-)

Hi, this is my first post here but I've been reading the forum for a little while and have already found it really helpful so thanks for that! My daughter is a keen dancer and goes to a really good local dance school. She's heard about RBS junior associates and would like to audition when she's old enough (which will be next year) but we are in Scotland and our closest centre is Newcastle. Has anyone traveled from Scotland to Newcastle for JA's? Or a similar distance (about 2 hours on the train with a bit of faffing at either end presumably)? Is it do-able or a bit crazy? I wondered also if there is an option for fortnightly classes or whether they are all weekly? Obviously I know there's only a very slim chance of her getting in, but I'm wondering whether we should even be letting her audition in the first place if the travel will mean it isn't feasible... On the one hand I wonder if it might be quite nice, in a way, to have a few hours on the train each week to do homework/watch a movie but on the other hand she would only just be 8 and perhaps it's just all a bit too much. Would appreciate any thoughts!