Crystaltips

On 14/11/2023 at 10:09, So-not-a-Dancemom said:

I'm the mum of a 15 year old who has danced for fun and dance school performances since she was 4. Ballet, tap, modern, jazz, the whole caboodle. 

 

She *loves* it but is a real perfectionist about it. She wants to do dance post 16 and has ambitions to 'perform on the west end'. 

 

I think she's good, certainly enthusiastic and has a great performance face.  But I'm worried about encouraging this as a career path. 

 

She is fairly bright but doesn't see herself doing anything else.  I guess, in all honesty, I'd like her to do A levels at the local 6th form.  But she won't entertain this.

 

She is auditioning for some local dance colleges, but is very keen on The Hammond Diploma course.

 

Has anyone else had a DD like this and they've had a positive experience/outcome of dance college?

 

Help please!

 

 

In a word yes! My dd at 15 was adamant that she didn’t want to do A levels. Had I forced her she would have certainly got bad grades that would not have helped her career. She went into full time dance training and completed it. For various reasons discussed elsewhere she decided at 20 years to go back to A levels. As she had never started a course it was still free and she found an FE college that accepted up to age 24. Wind forward and she is now in her second year of a science degree. One size doesn’t fit all.

Worth contacting Rambert school in London. They offer a mixed contemporary/ ballet course. 

On 12/10/2023 at 10:24, New to this said:

Does anyone know what weighting certain institutions put on personal statements or is it all pretty much determined by auditions? Also,i'm assuming everyone gets professional pics taken for applications? 

 

Thanks! 

You definitely don’t need professional photos. I made a chart of all the different poses needed ( every school seems to want something different) and then a very kind ballet teacher gave up an evening to supervise. Similarly with the personal statement it doesn’t need to be elaborate just sincere and to the point. Rambert is a lovely school btw. 

11 hours ago, TiredOfThis said:

I’m so glad to read this thread and hear the successes after ballet. 

If I’m honest, I hugely regret saying yes to ballet school.
We thought that, with the very small class sizes, at least there’ll be a good, solid academic education if the ballet side doesn’t go so well. That was our (very naive) back up plan for DC. 
 

For those whose DCs did opt for a different route after committing to ballet so heavily, can I ask if there was a lot of catching up to do (academically) to get into A Level or University courses? Did it require private tutoring etc? Or was it a fairly straightforward transition? 

I can only speak for our situation but no my dd just rocked up on her first day of college. She was more worried about being ‘old’ than anything else. She need not have worried since she wasn’t the only one to arrive by a circuitous route. She got on particularly well with an ex army trainee they had a lot of shared experiences lol. I would say that the extra years of maturity and the discipline acquired through dance counted for far more than being out of education for a few years. She simply worked hard always handed her work in on time and that was it.

On 19/09/2023 at 13:28, ThatDancingGirl said:

Thank you for the replies. I guess I should also add I'm not from the UK so while my children have been born and educated here, the education system is very new to me. (as is the ballet world on top of that- non dancing family  ) DD is academic and into arts in general if she were to do a levels it would be art and english related subjects but I guess it's not feasible to do them alongside the upper school ballet training from what I'm gathering. So schools like Tring and Elmhurst seem to cover all the ground. But if she wanted to go the route of ENBS or others, and she had to resort to a plan b would that not require going back to take the a levels or do uk unis not require it if she had the degree? Again, apologies for being clueless here. It's such a competitive world in ballet and I just worry about not having the back up plan. 

It would depend on what they wanted to do. But it is possible to go back and do A levels later. All students are entitled to a free course of A levels as part of their education. Be warned that if you start and then drop out due to pressure of combining with dance you would be expected to pay for a second attempt. 6th form colleges and schools will generally not take over 18s at least that was our experience however FE colleges will. As I posted on another thread my ex dd took 3 science A levels beginning at the grand old age of 20. She is now really happy at University and being a bit older has not been an issue.

My dd walked away from Ballet during the Covid pandemic after 16 years of it being the centre of her life. She should have been auditioning for companies but saw absolutely no hope. Having left education at 16 she had a very long road back. But the grit and determination that got her into vocational training saw her through this too. It was difficult to find a college that would accept her onto A level courses ( too old at 19) but she persevered and eventually found one. Always regarded as a bit of an airhead at school when she cared for nothing but ballet, this time she threw herself into her studies. To everyone’s surprise she got great results and 5 university offers. She is now in the second year of a science degree. She always swore she would never dance again and was consumed with hatred with the whole ballet world. I honestly thought that was it. Then last weekend she came home and asked where her pointe shoes were. To our astonishment it was because she has an audition. Ok she will never be a professional dancer but so proud that her love of dance ultimately triumphed over her terrible experiences in vocational training 

ITV news has reported in the last hour that a 38 year old man has been arrested and charged with sexual offences. He will appear in Oban Crown court at a later date.

You could try contacting the liquidator French Duncan, based in Edinburgh.

On behalf of my dd, I would like to express my huge gratitude to Bath Spa University for ensuring that she was awarded her degree in classical ballet following the closure of BW. The certificate arrived today. Wishing happy landings to all the other students.

38 minutes ago, Ian Macmillan said:

On a point of fact, this quotation from the ITV News piece in this morning's Links may be relevant for some people:

 

" In another development, Bath Spa University has also announced it has cut its ties with Ballet West.  Bath Spa University had approved the BA Ballet degree for delivery at the Ballet West since September 2019, but they told us they are “very concerned” by allegations and have ended their partnership with immediate effect."

 

 

Bless you Ian. We are obviously very worried that degrees will not be awarded this year. But that pales into insignificance vs the serious allegations being made 

Oh it’s going to court alright. The principal of the school has just been relieved of her role. It was on the news in case you missed it 

Anna we are not the wrongdoers. Everything I have written is factually correct and I have documentary evidence to back it up. This is my final post on this forum. Ballet is a beautiful art form and it was my dds life for over 16 years. But for too long some people have believed themselves to be above the law. This is what should shock us. Not the fact that some other people dare to write posts about it. The cause of ballet training in this country will ultimately be helped by a better system of governance and oversight.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

We are not talking about gossip or a witch-hunt. We are talking about a serious and credible piece of investigative journalism at a National level. Over 60 people have made statements including former teaching staff. Some have bravely spoken out without the cloak of anonymity. This is serious this is real and it’s happening now. Our children deserve better and they deserve to be safe. 

Yes. An ITV investigation. It made the National news at 10pm yesterday. Despite being a day to bury bad news A levels train crash, coronavirus etc. It is a fact that all parents of students received an email from the Board of Trustees.

If the course is classed as a degree course they should be protected under the ‘no detriment’ arrangement. In this case the final awarded grade will based on work completed prior to lockdown. Given that theatres are unlikely to be able to open whilst any sort of social distancing is needed due to economic reasons it seems unlikely that normality will return any time soon. My dd has decided to cut her losses and will commence a new academic course in September. It’s been easier to deal with the end of dance than we expected probably because the decision was made for us. 

5 hours ago, LittleKnowledge said:

 Definitely, but they have to be willing to be honest without fear of reprisal, which is why this forum is the place for honesty to allow for informed decisions to be made.

Look at the locked threads and then draw your own conclusions about the openness of schools. Too much honesty can be legally actionable 

On 19/12/2019 at 12:07, Picturesinthefirelight said:

I think people would be surprised at what also goes on in UK schools too.  Usually isolated incidents but some teachers seem to be mavericks.

And some of us are not at all surprised 

No she did not audition. Got a place from a summer workshop. Just go for it. If your dc has the passion that will show through. 

My dd was in the first cohort to do Senior Associates at Ballet Boost. I can honestly say that it gave her the confidence to handle US auditions. Whether she would have got a place without doing BB is impossible to say but it certainly helped. 

Why not ask to do a couple of trial classes at the new school? Also if you think dance might become serious in the future take a good look at the credentials of the new school before you jump ship. That should include the schools track record into getting students into full time training. Don’t feel bad about moving schools it’s quite normal 

On 31/10/2019 at 12:07, Pups_mum said:

I am sure you are absolutely right @drdance and @MAK though in my friend's case the other parents actually said "Oh, X College. That's a shame. My son is at Y College, they are far more selective" so I don't think there was any misinterpreting the intention there!

Yes I have two very good friends ( married to each other) and discussions about Cambridge are always avoided. She said to me once “Oh he went to Jesus College- medieval foundation very prestigious. I went to Sidney Sussex- handy for Sainsbury’s “. 

Also agree. My dd used to meticulously darn her pointe shoes until she started getting through multiple pairs per term. Now she cuts the satin off and doesn’t even bother to stitch round it. Most of her friends appear to do the same.

I don’t think that any of the comments were about Edinburgh Festival School.

So true. I noticed long ago that whenever two Oxbridge graduates meet the first question they always ask is which college did you go to.  There is a pecking order in everything. And as for employability well I read  Applied Chemistry for my first degree and the number of us that actually got jobs in the industry was tiny . I was very lucky but most of my fellow students ended up doing something else. In the end the best advice I can give is to do what you are passionate about and never mind what other people think. Most young people today are going to have two or three careers over the course of their working life. And there is no longer any such thing as a secure job. Just be glad that your dd is doing what she loves.

I would definitely endorse Ballet Boost. My dd was a senior associate as well as in another scheme.