Ballet2101

This has been an interesting discussion, especially from a non-British perspective. Our DC has experienced RBS' SI as well as POBS SI and came back with some interesting observations. In general, the training at POBS was much more intensive and less age based than the training at RBS. RBS felt like an "experience" more than an intensive and our DC felt there was a stronger focus on basic fundamentals. The lack of pointe work at her level was shocking to her as she does daily pointe at her home studio. POBS did daily pointe wok and was less restrictive on placement and training based on the students age. The training was very rigorous and felt much more like what she experiences on a regular basis at home. From a strictly outsiders view, our DC has no interest in returning to RBS for another SI or even lower school. Her impression and the impression of others she dances with, is that the real focus is upper school, and the lower school struggles because of the slow pace and focus on age based training. Funny enough this also happens here in the U.S. ABT/JKO has the exact same reputation as a very slow boil training approach that is very safe and nurturing, but doesn't always create the dancers that make it into the Professional Training Divisions. I think this is more common than you may think with the larger schools. They train their students slowly and somewhere around age 14-16 they begin recruiting Kids that may not have trained so slowly.

YAGP has Masterclasses, but they are not scored, and in many cases are not even scholarship opportunities (especially at the regional level). During YAGP Finals there are scholarship classes, but they are not open to all contestants. They are limited to the 40-50 kids performing at a higher level during the competition itself. There are other competitions that mirror the format of PDL, but YAGP focuses on the Variation more than anything. YAGP regionals are open to all contestants. There are no requirements other than being interested in performing and registering.

If you plan to check out YAGP results as a measure of good schools as Mummy Twinle Toes has recommended, take the Outstanding Schools award with a grain of salt. They tend to award that to schools with the largest presence or other factor. Pay attention to the outstanding teachers and the top 12 in your DD's category. If you look back you will see trends of certain schools showing consistently. While I know that many belive that this is because the schools are focused on competition, it does give you a quick insight into the quality of training.

Just a comment, we have had kids from our Vaganova program who attend Balanchine based SI's over the summer and it takes months to revert back to their previous style. The teachers absolutely hate when kids go Balanchine...even temporarily, unless they intend to dance at a Balanchine based company in the future

From our friends in the 3 letter pre-pro schools, the assessing out issue is real on this side of the pond as well. There is tremendous pressure to have the best students in our version of the upper schools. The "lower" programs are getting more and more scrutiny around why the majority of the kids aren't making it through to the upper programs. It sounds very similar to the stories mentioned on this thread. We're concerned that the "answer" for most programs is modify the recruiting process to bring in outside kids earlier in the cycle, so they can claim to have "trained" them for a few years and increase the in-house graduation rates into the upper programs. We have no proof this exists, but as a theory that seems quite plausible.

And the vocational school concept doesn't exist...unless you count Walnut Hill/Boston Ballet as a Vocational School. At 70K a year, you can call it anything you want to I guess. We do envy the vocational programs in the U.K. The ability to train for Ballet AND get a quality education is completely missing in America. As Birdy mentioned, America has tons of Pre-pro programs, and a handful of residential programs. Almost all of them require cobbling together an education alternative that allows your child to have future options beyond ballet. Managing virtual school for a young dancer is a challenge and the lack of balance and burnout is a real issue.

Our DD will attend for two weeks in the Moyen level. She hopes to board, but we are awaiting info.

The letter mentioned that some kids were offered alternative weeks rather than being waitlisted for their original week

Yes for week 2. Good luck all

This is definitely a US article. I assume they are referring to the grey area between Pre-Pro and Company. There are many programs that offer Trainee positions in the U.S., but these are not company trainee programs, they are part of the Pre-professional school and not necessarily a path to the company. One large program in the US calls 12 year olds "Trainees". These programs carry tuition as almost every pre-pro program does in the US. The US does not have vocational schools. All of the ballet training is paid via tuition in a pre-professional program and the majority of these programs do not have academics which is an additional cost. The real trainee/apprenticeship programs are at the bottom of the Company hierarchy and usually have a stipend or housing allowance, although not a full salary. These are the more attractive programs although the dancer carries the same "title" as the dancer in the upper levels of a Pre-pro program. There usually isn't a tuition in these programs, and some dancers are paid as they will occasionally perform with the main company.

Great info. Thanks for confirming that the providers/tests can be separated to lower the cost. Please let us know how the experience with Londocoivdtesting works out! I've just calculated that my fully vax'ed DD will have a total of 6 tests for this trip. Thank goodness 2 of those are free, as the other 4 combined are more than the cost of my first car.

Thanks for this. I’m happy to hear that you can book the appointment on a weekend. Seems the turnaround time and associated cost is the key issue.

Same for us. Our DD is week 2

From what I gather we should be looking for an "at-home" day 2/8 which allows our DD to receive her day 8 test while at while lodge and a rapid (expensive) day 5 for release. Can you mix and match testing providers? Or do all test need to be provided by the same testing firm?

Hi everyone, Some testing questions if anyone can assist. We will be an international arrival that currently is subject to Amber arrival rules. Does anyone know if testing centers are generally open during the weekend? If our day 5 is on a Saturday or Sunday, what are the chances of actually getting an appointment for those days? I have tried to research the options but the testing sites are a maze of crazy prices and very little information.