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Betty

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Everything posted by Betty

  1. My daughters home ballet teachers is hugely supportive of associates, intensives, and performance opportunities - the teacher suggested them in the first place and is always sending ideas through. We let her know what’s going on and she gives advice. She also doesn’t plaster it all over her website/Instagram. Sounds like we are v lucky with this. My daughter trains in 3 places including the local school in the church hall. We’ve kept going through loyalty, and it is good solid RAD syllabus work.
  2. Betty

    Time out…

    I was also going to suggest private singing lessons - makes all the difference to get a good singing and breathing technique and repertoire of songs. If his school doesn’t have a visiting teacher, try the local borough music hub. I don’t know anything about boys and dance (my son is a singer) but I wish him all the very best as he spreads his wings away from those bullies. Ugh, poor thing.
  3. Thankyou Jan and Kerfuffle - glad to see the previous thread on this and thanks for the info about DADAs.
  4. Can anyone tell me, are Upper Schools usually for entry aged 16? Are there any that do entry at 18 to allow for children to do A levels? Do many get accepted at Central at 18 if it is aimed at 16 year olds? If they are entry at 16 are they essentially like private schools ie full fee payment unless on state benefits or extremely gifted and get some kind of bursary?
  5. Also to add more info from what I know about the tours - the tours before the production will do last years show (Snow White) in a condensed version and the one after the main production does the new show. The tours are condensed ballets, so possibly more of a chance to get a main part and do more dancing than in the main production. Your child may have been picked for tour with an eye on them dancing Snow White or the Wicked Queen for example. The LCB staff are really lovely and nurturing. It was one of the tour casts that mainly featured at the LCB fundraising gala this week. So what I'm saying is for those disappointed to get a tour space (although delighted to get anything at all I'm sure), it's possibly a better outcome than you think.
  6. Hi My child did LCB for the past 2 shows so I thought I'd share what I know, she decided not to audition this year. My experience is that LCB audition fresh every year with knowledge of the roles available and last year some dancers didn't get into main company who were in it the previous year, so there isn't a set company. However the principals were mainly a core group of known dancers coming up through LCB through the years with parents who do lots of fundraising and help the company run during the productions. I suppose this is understandable, it is a charity, there is a lot riding on the production and it has to be really good to sell well at the Peacock etc. Some dancers do drop out of main company after casting - (if they are not happy with their role, if they suddenly have clashing opportunities) - this led to a handful of dancers being invited into main company from the touring company last year so there can definitely be movement after casting. My daughter decided not to audition this year as it is SO time consuming and they have to commit to every rehearsal. Also she didn't have a lot to do in the main company last year and she decided that it wasn't worth it for the time it took and all she had to give up to commit to it - she was in scene 1 and then around scene 14, which gives you an idea. The rehearsal schedule was a lot for just that and very repetitive. Hope this is helpful.
  7. I’d also recommend Luke - if you can see him for an assessment you’ll save your child hours of YouTube stretching which might not help, he can pinpoint areas to specifically work on. Took my child to him (following advice here) as she had a clicking hip and it was incredibly useful, there is all sorts she is now working on - lots of tips re her feet etc. And I also saw at half term he runs courses online to improve all areas of physical technique.
  8. Thankyou - I won’t get my hopes up. It’s a bit of an expensive difficulty. I’ve been reading about these online type fitters but I can’t see how they can assess the fit properly without seeing the feet in the shoes etc.
  9. Oh dear this is shocking - thanks very much for the warning. Will try Dancia
  10. Thankyou all for your replies and tags, SO helpful as always, I’m going to follow your suggestions and try Freed etc.
  11. Hi Looking for pointe shoe fitting advice for London- my child is 4 years on pointe and the pointe shoes are never right, they are fine in Bloch but when she gets to class she feels they don’t fit well, are baggy on the heel, painful on the bunion area, difficult to get over the box. When we go to Bloch for a fitting we are often offered the newest most expensive type, they don’t last, I’ve kind of lost confidence in the fitting process there. Can anyone recommend a different place in London? Thanks
  12. Thankyou for explaining this - I can see now how self doubt, depression, self loathing and eating disorders would grow in such an environment. It sounds like a truly nightmarish place to find yourself trapped in at such a young age and away from family. Having been sent off with such a fanfare from your ballet school etc and at such expense. Knowing of some of the young dancers (from other dance projects) skipping joyfully off to White Lodge Yr 7 just now, I am truly fearful for their emotional safety. As for us, we are on the outskirts of the ballet world, dipping our toes into an associate programme this year but with masses of monitoring. However, seeing how insidious it is (favouritism is so subjective an experience to be in the room with), I am pretty frightened to have my child, who has talent but who does not ultimately have the perfect ballet look, anywhere near ballet at the moment. Thankyou to all those who have generously shared these awful experiences for us coming along behind to learn from.
  13. Would the issues raised in this programme not meet a safeguarding threshold for ofsted or similar private school inspectors?
  14. It is a very upsetting programme and I’m very sorry to all of you that have entered a ballet school with such hope and joy for ballet and emerged with traumatic mental health issues. It is a disgrace that this has been tolerated and covered up for so long and continues to be minimized, brushed away as an individual problem about which institutions have different memories/records. Not good enough. I do hope this is a moment for wider investigation and change - raising awareness is a crucial first step. All the best to everyone affected by this issue.
  15. The ENBS associates leotard has arrived and it is VERY cerise. Isn’t going down very well…
  16. For performance opportunities English Youth Ballet are 8/9 upwards and tour around some of the major towns and this is audition and performance experience - as is London Childrens ballet but it is harder to get into and London based. And local RAD classes to grow technique.
  17. Do you know about British Youth Musical Theatre projects? A friend of my daughter from ballet does these residentials and loves it.
  18. Excellent - a bright pink cerise leotard!! Will go down well…
  19. Thanks so much for all this info - it started not painfully but is now painful coinciding with her doing more ballet hours so think it’s time to get an idea of what to do about it.
  20. Thanks - this is for a girl I should add, incase it makes a difference. Will def look at Luke
  21. Looking for a ballet physio assessment (London) for my DC who has clicking hips. Any recommendations? Thanks
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