Kanangra

Congratulations! Best wishes to your DD for her dancing career.

Hi BalletChild. You will find they'll go through quite a few! It does depend on many factors, such as shoe and foot strength. I was so pleased when my dd went into Gaynor Mindens, because they lasted longer - she would usually get about 10 weeks out of one pair. I know other dancers in different shoes who were going through a pair every week, or more often. Usually it is a good idea to have two pairs going at the same time so that they can rotate and air them out to give them a chance to dry out and minimise softening. And do you have jet glue there? dancers put it under their shanks to help them last longer.

You are so right! and I've often said that it was the first school which fostered her love of dance, which carried her through some of the more challenging times at the more serious school.

We have been in exactly your position. DD had been there since she was 3, I was dancing there as well, in an adult tap class, and it felt (I imagine) like contemplating a divorce. We dithered around the issue for a couple of years and tried to supplement with extra workshops and summer schools but it became glaringly obvious and DD left when she was 13. Honestly I wish we had gone years before. She loved her teacher but it was a recreational school where the majority of the kids were just doing it for fun. We moved to a more serious school which had stronger emphasis on technique and discipline and which had some prevocational classes and offered part time classes and full time for older students. DD's dancing improved out of sight and she eventually went full time and is now studying contemporary dance in the UK. The first school's focus was on enjoyment rather than technique - students often didn't even have a bun or tights in ballet classes - and I wish I had known then what I know now.

Just looking at the timetable from my DD's dance school a couple of years ago, Grade 1 kids would be doing 2 classes of ballet (RAD syllabus) a week (one was 45 mins and the other an hour), plus another hour of ballet which was a troupe for performance at eisteddfods/end of year concert etc and was based on age rather than grade level (eg 8U, 10U etc). There was also a 45 minute stretch and conditioning class. Most of these kids would have also been doing an hour of jazz, some would also have done an hour of tap, and a half hour private lesson. This is a school which includes recreational preschool classes right up to full time vocational level. Good luck with it all! I wish I had known what I know now when my DD was 7.5!

Thank you so much for sharing! Wishing you and your son (and all the family) all the very best for the future!

I don't feel I know enough about it to agree or disagree, I am guessing the RBS doesn't either and are just being generally supportive of LGBI+ people during Pride Month.

Isn't it just a gesture of inclusivity?

I sent you a message @Flexy Nexy.

My DD got a similar approach via instagram when she was a Gaynor Girl but ignored it. One of her friends ended up there last year and was loving it until Covid came along and put an end to everything. I can contact her mother to find out more information if you like?

I was reading a dance magazine today and it seems Bloch have a new canvas flat called Perfectus which "has been designed to improve dancer performance with an innovative wider toe area that allows the toes to spread while up on relevé with a wider outsole surface area." I thought of this post immediately.

Hi, not from the EU but I ordered a leotard from Lucky Leo in the US to be shipped to my daughter in the UK, it attracted £8.95 customs plus £10 processing fee, that was more than half the cost of the leotard.

Why not try a stretch canvas without a drawstring? Something like a Capezio Hanami? or Bloch Performa? MDM Intrinsic is also good.

Very sad. I loved her work. She was great in Anna Karenina.

Hi Yrosered. In my experience you may be better off getting an MRI - my daughter had an ankle injury the year before last and she had a CAT scan which showed that she had a lot of fluid in her ankle joint, however the cause did not become apparent till she had an MRI (which showed a haematoma on her bone). Best of luck with it all and hoping for the best outcome for her.

What about Trinity Laban? their BA Hons is in Contemporary Dance but includes Ballet.

Yes,.it was awful, because of course everyone was talking about it too. I think she is now a dance teacher and fitness trainer

There was a girl from DD's dance school in Australia who went there but she only lasted about 10 days. This would have been perhaps 6 or 7 years ago. I believe she was very homesick and they were not happy about her weight so she felt bullied and returned to Australia. It was a very strange situation and may be more a reflection of the girl's readiness to leave home and move to the other side of the world rather than the school itself.

Hi Moeri, These are some of our favourites: https://www.luckyleodancewear.com https://www.elevedancewear.com https://www.grishkoshop.com https://www.yumiko.com/us_en/ The first 2 are based in US and have lovely ready to wear and custom options. Grishko is in Russia but ships everywhere. I'm sure you are already aware of Yumiko, as you are from Japan, but they are lovely. both in the US and have both custom and ready made options

Does the young reader version tone it down though? (I would assume it would.)

If looking for fiction what about Noel Streatfield - Ballet Shoes - and I think there was another one Ballet Shoes for Anna? or something like that.

Misty Copeland's autobiography "Life in Motion". Michaela de Prince "Hope in a Ballet Shoe" Li Cunxin "Mao's Last Dancer" All of these come in Young Reader editions. I love David Hallberg's book Body of Work but that might be better for older readers.

There is also the European School of Ballet.

My daughter was advised to wear them by her ballet teacher to eisteddfods (competitions). She had a very flat instep (narrow, bony feet) which didn't have the right look, even though she was a beautiful dancer and had lovely artistry and technique. She did so many exercises and her feet were strong, but nothing she did would make them look good. Funnily enough, after she started doing full time vocational dance her feet did finally improve. It really was a handicap for her for a while there.

Kate I am talking about girls who do have turnout, flexibility, beautiful feet, every aspect of physical facility you could wish - except that they have muscular legs and visible boobs. Then other girls who also had good facility but could not dance (either quickly or in time to the music), forgot choreography, made mistakes etc but were leaner got all the offers. Very happy for them but the fact remains that it was obvious that body shape was being valued over talent. Yes it is hard for all of them to put themselves out there in a leotard and tights to be judged by audition panels, teachers, adjudicators, audiences etc. It is not uncommon here for parents to watch the class section of competitions, for parents to watch classes during open week etc so we do see them all dance. Of course the holy grail is the rare dancer who combines the facility with the shape and the artistry. I'm a little concerned that ballet is evolving to the point where normal female development rules many girls out of being a ballet dancer. When you look back at pictures of ballet dancers from times gone by that has not always been the case.