worsethanclueless

Yay! Can't find Saturday classes for kids at Pineapple but really liking the look of holistic ballet at Dance Works. Thanks v much!

Hi all Looking for advice on extra ballet classes. My daughter is auditioning for the RBS JAs on the advice of her teacher. We went to the Insight Day on Thursday (which was amazing - what incredible teachers they have!) and having observed, I can see that she may have the facility for ballet which her teacher says she has, but she's not a born performer - I could see some kids are just itching to show the world how good they are, which is a great thing, but makes me think my daughter is likely to get slightly lost in the crowd. That's fine I think in one sense as I suspect you do need to have that desire to express your talents to others to do well on such a course but now that dd has figured out that extra ballet is a thing (!) she's desperate to do more! This means I really need to find extra Saturday classes should she not make JAs. I'd like them to help her develop really well as a ballet dancer because she doesn't have bags of confidence but ballet is really helping her with that - so it needs to be a good class. And it needs to be something different to what she does during the week, I think. So 2 questions... Is it potentially annoying to a ballet teacher to put her in a Saturday class that isn't something like the JAs? I could understand that! It's not that her current teacher isn't brilliant (she is and dd loves her!) but just that she wants to do more and I'd like that to be something different to give her more experience (so not repeating what she does for her grade exam in the week, which I think is what would happen if she did extra Saturday classes with her own teacher). Question 2 - does anyone know of good classes that run on a Saturday (got to be Saturday!) that fit the bill? Needs to be fairly central/south London. I've looked at YDA (sounds totally fab but nearly £1k a year 😯 and she might not get through that audition either so not a great plan b!) and Central but seems like they don't do Saturdays for her age group. And ENBS but they seem to have a vast waiting list. Other ideas? I basically just want her to be able to do more quality ballet which is really what excites her about the whole JA thing and if I have a plan b for more ballet, she won't be worried if she doesn't make it through the audition.

Thanks so much everyone. It's been so useful to hear your experiences. And yes, Pups_Mum, I do overthink things! Valentina - your examples of post ballet careers are very heartening. I didn't think there'd be such a diverse list. I wasn't sure how questions from a complete newbie would be received but I've gathered some great thoughts and insights- thanks all!

Thanks Farawaydancer and Kate_N. I do agree that ballet training gives you a lot of broader skills/qualities around hard work, dedication and resilience and these are really the key positives for me and the reason why I feel drawn to encouraging her to pursue things further. If I was an optimist I would just dive in and not worry but I'm more cautious. However, as with most things, I guess we'll just have to take it a step at a time and discover for ourselves! Thanks for advice and experiences. If anyone had experience of ways onwards from the ballet world, at any stage of training/career I'd be keen to hear those too.

Thanks Happymum and Valentina. Loving sublimeness - it ought to be a word! It certainly does seem like it's a world that's harder and more competitive than any other that I can think of. I guess I'm wondering whether it has the potential to narrow down your options in life too soon because it requires such dedication. What do those people do who either don't make it or do make it but then have to find another career afterwards? Are there some good exits all along the route?

Thank you SissonneDoublee. It's good to hear from someone who's been there and done that. Thanks for clarifying on the number of lessons- that's really helpful. I wondered how that could work but separate groups makes sense. And so does Floral St! Must be a lot easier for most people. That's a relief. Thanks for sharing your experience. It seems like it's hard to put kids off if they have the bug!

Ever since my daughter's ballet teacher told me that she's should consider auditioning for the RBS JAs I've been lurking on here trying to work out whether it's a good idea. She wants to do it so we've decided she can go for it, although we/she knows the vast majority of people don't get through. However I still feel I'm in a world I know nothing about and trying to make decisions and know how to help her is tough! When I was younger I had no desire to do ballet at all. I loved riding, so I understand what it is to have a real passion for something but not dance. As an adult I love to watch ballet and I'm lucky enough to get lots of free tickets - so I do really appreciate and admire it - but the last few weeks have taught me I know nothing! (Kind of thought I did after watching so much - so wrong there). I've got a few questions to ask and hoping someone can help. The first 2 are simple I think. The last one's trickier and guessing there's no right answer but interested in the views of people with a lot more knowledge than me. 1. I've been looking at the cost and it's quite pricey! I wouldn't have thought we'd be eligible for help as we're ok but spend a large chunk of our salaries on (low) private school fees so don't have much to spare after that. But I see there are a variable number of lessons priced up. Can you choose how many you do? What are the pros and cons of doing fewer? Obviously we'll save money but would she miss out? Or at 8, would it be better not to do too much to start with anyway and see how she goes? 2. I think the answer to this isn't what I want to hear! - are the lessons in Richmond Park or Covent Garden? I'm guessing Richmond Park. CG is so near to us - Richmond Park somewhat further! 3. Lastly - and I know all this is very previous, but I like to think things through! - if she got very into ballet and wanted to be a professional dancer, I'd be worried. From an outside perspective it's so tough to get into, a hard life in many ways if you do, low pay and a short career. Am I wrong? I know I don't know much about it and this is an outsiders view. Do I have the wrong perspective? Most importantly is it unfair of me to encourage my daughter now if further down the line, I might be actively discouraging her? What do people who were ballet mad youngsters think? Very grateful for any answers/thoughts.