oliviaT

21 minutes ago, Karen said:

The Hammond has a BA Hons in musical theatre performance in conjunction with the university of Chester. There are close links with the school and the BA students spend a lot of time on site with the Dada students. All details are on the school’s website. 

Thanks Karen. 

This is one we could look into further. Her strength is Jazz / musical theatre style dance. But singing is not her thing at all. Although following some good advice on here last year she is now having a weekly singing lesson. 

Hello 

I’m looking for a list of fully funded (through student finance) dance degree courses. Unfortunately we have now had to rule out courses with a dada so this is limiting the options. Also we are probably ruling out the partially funded degree courses at this stage. 
 

Looking for dance courses not classical ballet - but specialist dance colleges rather than a university based degree with fewer contact hours. 

So far we have 

Bird 

Performers 

Urdang 

Addict 
Possibly Wilkes (I think they are waiting for approval for their degree course) 

Preston’s 
Lipa 
 

If anyone has any other suggestions we would really like to hear about them so we can start thinking about next years auditions. Also interested in any first hand information about the audition process for any of these. 
 

Thank you x 

Yes unfortunately it can be unfair. I’m not self employed but I was offered extra hours at work for 4 months last year and it took our income into the next bracket. 
I explained this wasn’t my usual income but was still advised I had to put it on the form. 
My daughter didn’t accept her place in the end so I didn’t get as far as challenging it. 

1 hour ago, balletbean said:

Northern Ballet School (NBS) also offer the opportunity to study for the DDE/DDI (due to have a name change) which is vital if the main aim is to pursue a teaching career later on. 
Not too sure which other schools/colleges offer these qualifications. However, NBS do not offer the BA(Hons) re funding. Which is odd as a level 6 Diploma is the vocational equivalent of a BA(Hons).  Their courses classical focus or jazz focus are Diploma Level 6 with the opportunity for funding by a DaDa. There are fee increases each summer. Currently stand at about £13,800pa for UK/EU pupils. Will be interesting to see what happens post Brexit. More funds available for UK pupils??  Or is that just wishful thinking 😉

 

Ps Pupils at NBS are expected to sing if they are on the Jazz Focus but there’s no requirement to sing at their audition. 
 

Thanks very much - I have shown her your reply.  

2 hours ago, Littleone said:

Hi Olivia T

Reading your post it seems your our daughters are quite similar 😀. This time last year my DD was in year 13 of an academic 6th form and dancing at her local school . Her strengths were (are) also Ballet - although, like yours, not to vocational level , and modern Jazz and she had v little experience in singing . She auditioned at Northern Ballet school, Bird, Performers, Laine, Urdang and LIPA and is now on the degree course at Urdang.  Am certainly no expert on all of this  but If I can help / answer any questions about those colleges please feel free to ask on here or message me ! 

 

 

Thank you. Well done to your daughter, a fantastic achievement. 
I do have a few questions if you don’t mind? 
 

Could you tell me a bit about the standard your daughter was at for her auditions? Did she feel out of her depth at any of them? 
They are all well known and respected schools - did she have any back up schools. Where did she get offers? 
 

Anything tips she would pass on?  
 

Thanks very much x 
 

22 hours ago, Pixiewoo said:

It is SOOOOOO hard isn't it?

 

DD is in year 10, and we are starting to think where she might want to go and what she might want to do at 18! ... she is determined to stay local and do A levels, so we have time to look, but equally, she doesn't quite know what she wants to do! well she does ... She wants to do it all!

Dancing is an all embracing passion, but so is drama, and singing only just behind! She'd like to be in the west end in a musical ( wouldn't they all ! ), would be happy 'just' acting, likes the sounds of cruise ships, joining a contemporary dance company or fancies singing with a band! 

 

Good luck with your endeavours. 

Thank you. Good luck to you and your daughter too x

Sorry not to be clear, yes she definitely does want a dance based course but one that also offers some degree of musical theatre / singing. 
 

She did a few auditions last year so we’ve got some understanding of finances. If she was to choose a diploma course unfortunately it would rule out London colleges whereas a degree would open up more options (it would have to be one that offers student finance for the full fees). 
 

She is one of the youngest in her year group so last year she auditioned at age 15 to diploma courses. She got one offer with funding, one without funding and one no. But these were probably what you might class as the less competitive of the accredited level 6 courses. It’s very hard to know what is realistic to achieve 2 years later and I think this is what she is struggling with. There is little point spending a lot of money on auditions that aren’t right for her x 

Thanks everyone. I’ll pass all this on to her x 

I think she wants to try to find some people in a similar position to herself really. The last couple of years have been a bit confusing for her and still are to some extent. 
 

She’s in year 12, strengths are ballet (but not to ballet school standard) and musical theatre style jazz, weaknesses are singing and commercial. She’s done her intermediate exams and is at a good 6th form college along with two associate classes a week. Also having one private singing lesson a week. 
 

She’s trying to narrow down choices for degree / diploma (degree is better financially) which would fit her strengths, work on her weaknesses but also be a realistic choice. 
 

Long term aim is to teach (dance school not high school) but ideally with a short time performing first if possible. She’s more than happy for this to be in hotels / cruises etc and only wants to do this for a couple of years for the travelling and experience. 
 

Thank you Jan 

Hi I hope this is allowed and apologies if not.

My daughter has been recommended the not a pushy mum forum to ask a musical theatre question. She has tried but failed to register with a few different email addresses and has tried to contact an administrator twice with no reply. 
 

Does anyone on here also use this forum who could tell us which email addresses are allowed! 
 

Thank you in advance for any help 

Does she like getting dance tickets for Christmas? One off things in Yorkshire that I can think of - ‘Can you dance’ in Sheffield or Louie Spence workshops in Leeds and Sheffield. Or going to watch northern ballet’s Cinderella in Leeds?

Renaissance arts do master classes throughout the year but I’m not sure what ages they are for. 

Renaissance arts scholars is ballet and jazz associates. I think it’s from age 11 so you could look at it for next year? The audition slots do get fully booked so if it’s of interest then look into it early. 

Crown point retail park is 5 minutes drive away even in rush hour and parking is free. It’s a while since I’ve been but I think you can only park for a set amount of time. There are a few shops and a Costa. 

If a child / minor is assessed as Fraser (gillick) competent then yes they do have a right to make their own choices and expect their information to remain confidential. 

However it’s not as straight forward as that. 

I would worry about a school that simply refused to communicate with parents without even considering the child’s wishes (ie a blanket policy rather than looking at the individual). 

As a nurse working with teenagers I will often ask for permission to discuss an issue with a parent. More often than not the teenager is happy for this to happen. 

Fraser competency does not exclude the school from speaking to parents. It means that each student should be treated as an individual to consider what the student wishes to happen. 

Even over the age of 18 the student can give permission for information to be shared with their parents. It shouldn’t be completely black and white. 

Central Leeds to central Manchester on the train is very easy and will only take around 1 hour. The trains run frequently and there are no changes. 

Distance is roughly 75 - 80 km

That sounds like a good idea. I’ll suggest that to her, thanks 

Yes from 2 out of the 3 although not in detail. She has limited singing and commercial experience so needs to address that. Jazz is her strength. Physio / flexibility assessments were good. Needs to work on her self confidence.  

Thank you for your honesty. 

She’s very lucky to have good quality training locally.

Based on the auditions she did this year I think she has shown she has some potential but I don’t think she was at the right standard for her first choice colleges. We shall see how things go over the next 12 to 18 months 

Hi 

Thank you, that is reassuring to read. 

I’m not too concerned about her being too old. We’ve been told the same as you have said - that 18 can have its advantages. I’m glad to hear this was your daughter’s experience. 

I’m more wondering about whether the improvements she needs to make in the next 12 to 18 months are realistic. I know it’s a case of she won’t know until she tries but I’m interested to hear about other people’s experience of this x 

Hello 

I’m interested to hear from anybody who auditioned at 16 but then decided to apply again at 18 (dance/MT not specifically ballet). 

My daughter applied for 3 level 6 courses this year. For her to do a level 6 diploma we couldn’t afford London accommodation so she applied to reputable colleges but more northern / midlands based.

To give you an idea of her standard her results were:

1 no 

1 yes with funding 

1 yes without funding 

After a lot of thought she decided these were not quite right for her. Her aim now is to apply again but for a London /southern based degree course at 18. 

I know that nobody can say for sure whether this is realistic. But has anyone been in this position before? Any tips or thoughts on whether this is achievable? Xx 

Hi yes level 6 diploma rather than actual degree. I wonder where they would stand from a children’s safeguarding point of view on this?     It’s not something that would have even crossed my mind if I hadn’t read this. 

2 hours ago, taxi4ballet said:

Something else to bear in mind is that if your dc is doing a degree course, the staff will not talk to or liaise with parents even though the student is under 18 and still technically a child. At school you still have the opportunity to talk to staff and go to parents' evenings etc, but on degree courses, everything regarding the student is considered confidential.

 

There could be times when a dancer aged 16 or 17 just isn't ready to cope alone with the situation if problems arise, but they have to. The degree courses are run in the same way as university courses in this respect, where the students are over 18 and can be expected to cope fully independently.  

 

The situation has to become borderline catastrophic before they will even consider discussing things with you, and even then, only at the student's and parents' insistence. By which time it will probably be too late for there to be a positive outcome.

This is very interesting as one of the colleges my daughter applied for have sent 2 copies of every letter - 1 addressed to me and 1 to her - stating the reason that she is under 18 and so they have an obligation to keep parents up to date. Maybe this is open to interpretation and varies from place to place? 

8 minutes ago, balletbean said:

Hi. Sorry I might be a tad late on this post. Just picking up on one point. Level  3 qualification (= to A levels) is the equivalent to RAD/ISTD Grade 6 and above. Just make sure that the DC isn’t accidentally duplicating the training.  It’s easily done. Dancing exams already carry UCAS points/credits which support access to some Uni degree courses. 

Hi, thanks for this.

My understanding is that a lot of universities don’t accept ucas points from dance exams? 

Are you aware of some that do? 

If she had 3 at grade 6 and 3 at intermediate that would be a lot of points if they are accepted! 

14 hours ago, Anna C said:

Just a thought; are any of them local or are they boarding/independent living?  That might have an impact on your decision.  Unless she’s very mature and/or used to boarding, moving away at 16 is enough of a challenge without also making the leap academically from GCSEs to a Level 6 Diploma.  

 

There is definitely less urgency in MT dance than in classical ballet to be starting a Diploma or Degree at 16.  I know a lovely and very gifted performer who moved away at 16 to start a MT degree course (almost all her peers on the course were 18) but who found the combination of course and independent living too much.  She changed to a Foundation course instead, did A Levels and is now at an excellent MT college doing her degree.  

 

If the Level 3 course is well established and has a good record for students on to great MT/general dance courses at 18 then I’d be inclined to go that route. 

She would probably board which of course is a concern for me but not so much for her! 

The level 3 course has a very good track record of students going on to degree level study at some excellent colleges which is reassuring for both of us. 

13 hours ago, sarahw said:

I know it may be a bit 'outing' but people may have knowledge about the courses she is accepted to which may help you...

Thank you. I’ve discussed it with a couple of people but she wouldn’t like me going into too much detail publicly x 

29 minutes ago, Picturesinthefirelight said:

Whilst broadly correct it’s not totally accurate to say that all degree courses (including some of the institutions named) get full student funding. 

 

The difference lies lies in how the degree is accredited. 

 

If a university or Conservatoire runs its own degree (eg Chichester,Trinity) then full student finance is available to cover tuition fees. 

 

If a university sub-contracts a degree course out to a college (eg. Hammond/Chester, Bird/Greenwich, GSA/Surrey) then again full student funding is available. 

 

However if a college runs its its own independent degree course which is merely accredited by an awarding institution (eg. Arts Ed) then it is classed as a private college and a maximum of £6,000 per annum funding for tuition fees is available from Student Finance (fees at Arts Ed are £15,360 per annum)

 

I’m in a caravan at the moment! But when im back at work I have a spreadsheet I created detailing exactly which degree courses offer what funding. It will be a little out of date as I created it in September (Urdang for example have made some changes since then) but it may be a starting point. 

 

This is where I have been getting confused. And in which case it would be more sensible to apply for a level 6 with dada funding based on our personal circumstances. 

That would be very helpful if you can post it when you get back. Thanks very much