Whiteduvet

Long shot but does anyone know when new international students are expected to arrive at Tring this year? Trying to book flights and the info I have is contradictory. Thanks. 

Tring has an excellent academic reputation. It’s a major reason we were happy to let DC attend: dancing is a hugely vulnerable career and we wanted to be certain she had really good academics to rely on, should she change her mind/dancing not be for her. 

But how people claim to have trained there when they enter already at international competition level (which to my eyes is surely close to professional? They dance professional repertoire anyway for the competition..)? Or how can the school claim credit for them? Surely the school which got them to competition level is the actual trainer?

Clearly Symphony Ballet School is the place to train…!

Is entry into US a realistic goal? Or is exclusively competition winners and ex-WL? 

Selling

- 2 white leotards. One still in its wrapper unworn. The other worn but excellent condition. Both size 2. 
 

- homemade character skirt. Waistband is 22 inches and it’s 18 inches from the bottom of the waistband to the bottom of the skirt hem. 
 

- tracksuit top and bottom. Age 7-8. Worn so been washed a few times. 
 

Selling leotards for £15 (for the pair), the skirt for £15 and the tracksuit for £10. Or can combine for a discount. Plus postage. 

Smoking kills. No career is worth dying for. I had cancer in my 20’s: it’s not fun. 

My children are still all in primary school but they already know that if I ever catch them smoking they will witness an anger they cannot imagine  . Totally unacceptable I’m afraid. 

Yes. I just emailed. They’re very accessible.
 

PM me if you want to know more about the specifics

Both. The training at the classes helped her decide it was what she wanted to do full time. And then her teacher and Emma (the head) gave us some really great advice about the best school for her (based not just on her dancing but also her personality) and how to prepare for the auditions. I found this openness really helpful in comparison to the other associate schemes she was doing which haven’t been anything like as clear in terms of feedback. 

Completely agree with all the above. We’ve been at the Stoke centre and it’s been wonderful. DD is also off to full time training in September and BB were a major factor in this. The classes are great and the advice is great: a real breath of fresh air. There’s a strong focus on long term, careful development and looking at the potential in every child above and beyond fixed physical attributes (which may screen them out of other associate schemes or full time courses) or where they are now in terms of training. 

My daughter has attended some of these classes (aimed at juniors) and really enjoyed them  

I was simply saying that if a school had that attitude this year, then I wouldn’t want my child to be there. Not that any school necessarily does: it was hypothetical.
 

There are pros and cons to assessing out. Take your own view. 
 

And year 7 entry is hugely about potential: body shape and proportions (“luck” as one very experienced teacher once described it to me). Reduced training won’t change that: the schools should still be able to see what they need to in order to make a decision. And any child who is not successful this year should not be at all discouraged: it is a marathon not a sprint. 
 

I’m leaving this discussion now. Good luck to everyone: I genuinely hope everyone ends up at the right place for them, be that vocational or otherwise. 

I’m not against assessing out. I’m against taking children with the attitude “we’re not sure but hey, we can always get rid of them”. That’s how the suggestion read to me. 

Any school which acted on that basis does not deserve my child or my money...

DD has a year 7 place but I understand that boarding places are normally assigned post funding and that everyone who needs a bed normally gets one (although no guarantee). 

Being a JA isn’t necessarily a benefit though: like an internal candidate at work, you know their strengths but also their weaknesses... I just think that if I were on an audition panel I’d want as much information as possible about the candidates even if it wasn’t possible to obtain this information about every one of them... but what do I know?!: I’m sure each school has its own reasoning as to why it does things a certain way. 

8 minutes ago, Lara Eschler said:

I am just curious but do we think all JAs who applied have been invited to finals? It is hard to speculate how many have been invited to finals just from this forum, but does anyone know of any JAs who have not? I think 30 boys went to finals last year and 15 joined? There are still holding just one day for the boys final though they said they need to have small groups due to Covid?  

I believe almost all of our JA group have been (girls and boys). 

43 minutes ago, The red shoes said:

The WL audition panel have never seen this kids until their videos. It’s the WL faculty who sit on the panel and do the interviews. From speaking to many who’ve worked at WL and other teachers who have had students there and in the company, JA teachers have little to no input in the decision making. 
The faculty will know from watching the videos who they have their eye on for sure 

Interesting. Seems a bit of a waste of a source of useful information about some of the candidates: work ethic etc. 

On 19/02/2021 at 09:56, Bunny said:

Do you know what I absolutely think the same, especially if your child is already a JA, they will have seen enough of them to know if they want them or not. I suppose the only issue is the physio assessment really for the ones who didn’t have this as a JA or are not JA’s.

I think this too. If they don’t know after seeing a child in JA’s then you wonder what an on-site audition will tell them. Presumably JA teachers have been contacted for feedback and that plus video must give a lot of information. 
 

Although having said that, I do wonder why they (seem to have) taken so many through to finals this year. Surely JA feedback could have narrowed it down more...

Thanks. Year 7 (form 1 I think it’s called). 

Thank you! They’ve confirmed she can have a boarding place  super excited: Tring is our top choice for ballet training

Plus there’s the mental aspect to it.  Can your child cope with regular assessments and the worry of having to leave or their friends having to leave? That would have been very difficult for me as a teenager. 

Are there any current Tring ballet parents who’d be willing to answer a question for me over PM? Thanks. 

Presumably the loss of funding isn’t the loss of a place: if you can find the funds you can continue? Just for most it would sadly result in the same conclusion. 

Me neither!