Bunny

6 minutes ago, Raquelle said:

There is nothing more stressful than turning up at your hotel the night before an audition and realising it has closed down!!!! Luckily premier inn squeezed us in! @balletdreamsmust have been the same hotel only they forgot to email me to tell me....I haven't even bought wine! 

Oh no! You poor thing! Glad you got sorted, at least it was tonight rather than audition day itself! Get the gins in! Good luck to your DD for tomorrow!

Congratulations to all the yeses and commiserations to the ‘not yets’ ❤️ We didn’t apply for either for

DS this year as last year he had a yes for Spring but due to Covid it was cancelled and he was so disappointed, I didn’t think he could face it if it happened again! I also thought with it being so soon after auditions at WL, if it’s a no for full time would he struggle to go and spend a week there and see what he was going to be missing so to speak. Keeping my fingers tightly crossed it all goes ahead for you all! ❤️

My DS really loved this morning too   While I was waiting for him to have his physio check I asked the lady who came out when we would hear. She said they’re doing sixth form auditions at the end of next week and it will be ten working days from there so looks like a bit of a wait! Hope all the DS's had a great time!

Massive amounts of good luck to everybody putting together applications, attending auditions and waiting for results in whatever format this year! It has definitely been a challenging one. We are on the vocational school audition journey this year for my DS for Y7 entry, currently sat in the car park waiting for him to finish his Elmhurst final audition which is the last of the four he has done over the past two weeks. He asks every day if we have heard from any of the others at the moment so I am praying it’s not too much longer! We know the odds are slim and know how difficult it is to get a place and he only started dancing 3 years ago so we are absolutely not expecting anything but the hope is still very much there for him. He is desperate for a WL place so part of me wants to hear and another doesn’t just to keep that dream alive for him a little bit longer! I definitely sympathise on the refreshing of emails!

Good luck to all the boys auditioning today  I hope it won’t be too long until we find out!

33 minutes ago, BbcBoy said:

School have confirmed we will know by post end of next week x

Ooooh fabulous! Let the postman stalking commence!

7 minutes ago, TwirlyWhirly said:

Oh dear! Hope he gets to sleep ok! We're in a hotel on the ring road...just panicking about getting to Elmhurst tomorrow as got very lost on the way here!

There are lots of closed roads in Birmingham at the moment aren’t there?! Totally tripped us up on the way in! Hopefully tomorrow will be smooth sailing for us all! 

30 minutes ago, Raquelle said:

Aw my DD loved it too! Said it was so much fun and that everyone was so kind. Were there any more year 7 groups or was it just who they had this morning? Any idea when we might find out? Xx

I think it was one group of Y7 and Y8 this morning and the afternoon was the upper years from what the email said. Not sure when we will find out, DS said they weren’t told but he might have forgot! 

Well done to everyone at The Hammond audition this morning! I hope everybody loved it as much as my DS who just wants to do it all again! x

6 minutes ago, Weloveballet said:

Can anyone confirm please this is the correct place to record test result? 
 

https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result

That’s the one

31 minutes ago, Dancemumk8 said:

Anyone know when we will hear from the MDS recalls today? There wasn’t as many kids as I thought there would be this morning. Hope they all have a brilliant time x

I am wondering this too! Yes it looked like maybe 30ish kids this morning I thought? x

16 minutes ago, Yrosered said:

Hi, does anyone who attended last weekend's auditions have any tips for covid friendly Tring? We're staying at the Premier Inn the night before but of course, no food is available including breakfast. Did anyone get takeaways delivered and what did you do for the 2.5 hours of the audition with no cafes etc open? All tips gratefully received!

We got a takeaway delivered to the premier inn but there wasn’t a lot of choice on JustEat, it’s a very small place. For breakfast we took our own, just fruit and croissants and yoghurts. On the day of the audition it ended up raining so we did a small walk around and then came back to the car to wait. 

Good luck to those doing the Elmhurst auditions today! 🩰🤞🏻

My Ds is asleep now but I am sure he said he was lying face down when she used the machine so perhaps for those who don’t recall having it they just didn’t notice? My DS also went into two rooms for physio and he said all of his group did. Two members of his group were also called back into the room to re-do some of the stretches. I think we could

agonise forever over what this and that could mean! x

Just now, BalletBoyMumma said:

To anyone those still due to go in, please practice everything - the format may change (there was definitely improv last year as we know a few people who auditioned and they said to expect improv). Most importantly, enjoy it! You will have a wonderful time. 😊 

 

It’s interesting how the information comes out in drips and drabs and we have to piece the puzzle together - please don’t take this as a what happens as it’s just a very blurry recount. Turns out he waited outside and then went back in for stretches (and wished they’d been allowed to do the usual splits prep exercise he’s used to as apparently it was cold outside). And DS said yes to the funny beepy device too. No idea what that is. 
 

I was surprised when my DS said no improv! I wonder if they picked up on their musicality from the videos and felt that all of the boys they took to finals were all good in that area so didn’t need to see it again? Mind you I can’t even remember what they did in the video now, some balances and gallops....not sure that would be enough to demonstrate it! 😂

Just now, Lara Eschler said:

Interesting, will ask ds about little device. What could it be? DS said they only did supine froggy in his group. 

I have no idea! He said it was a little beepy hand held machine 🤷‍♀️ I’m not from a ballet background either so have zero clue! x

4 minutes ago, Lara Eschler said:

Yes, my ds has natural flat static turn out (always had) but needs to learn out to use it and gain functional turn-out. The pike stretch, which you see so many dancers do effortlessly is the hardest thing for him  due to tight hamstrings and he needs to stretch regularly to achieve it. If he has a sudden growth spurt, he  loses the pike stretch temporarily until he stretches again. The middle splits were easier for him to achieve than the right and left splits. 

My DS finds the seated forward bend the trickiest too! He finds it easier standing than sitting. He was pleased that they weren’t asked to demonstrate it in the audition again after having to do it in the video! Ha x

My DS said that the physio used a little device on his calf that beeped when she was turning his leg out so presumably whatever that is was measuring turn out also? My DS also said their group were asked to do ‘froggy’ lying on their stomachs and their backs, but not from sitting. 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14705238/ There is some research to suggest that over 90 percent in the school have joint hyper mobility. 

19 minutes ago, Lara Eschler said:

I am wondering about the physio check. It was hard to get much info out of DS but I understand they checked for hypermobility of the wrists, elbows, etc. Would being hypermobile in those joints raise a red flag for them? My ds is hypermobile in some joints with tight hamstrings, glutes though if he stretches regularly he can achieve a satisfactory range and has flexible hips with natural turnout. Does anyone have more info of what features are definitely considered an issue in terms of suitability for training especially for boys?  

In terms of Elmhurst, I also feel they might prefer a stronger more developed built for boys even for year 7?

My DS is also hypermobile in all of his joints and has a full ‘frog’. The majority of his JA class have some level of hyper mobility. I am sure I read a piece that stated that a very high percentage of the children at WL are hypermobile but those numbers reduce in upper school (most likely

to injuries I would have thought!) I definitely don’t think hyper mobility excludes a child from consideration.

37 minutes ago, The red shoes said:

I remember reading on here last year I think that there is a certain “type“ of personality WL & Elmhurst pick ..... eg one likes one type and the other a different type of personality. Anyone else heard this? I know WL is all about image so I would imagine that’s what the interview was for and maybe the questions at the end of audition . Watching how they interact with the other children whilst waiting around etc 

Thats an interesting point! What I got from the interview was that it was about determining that the drive for ballet and wanting to do it came from my son and not another source (suppose they have seen their fair share of pushy parents over the years!) as well as assessing (the best they can, as I’m sure the kids themselves won’t know how they’ll be till they get there!) his suitability for boarding away from home. In terms of personality, who knows! I am sure they wouldn’t turn away an exceptional child based on just personality, but I think they definitely look at how the boys interact with each other etc to see if they feel they would ‘fit well’ into a group, as you say! 

2 minutes ago, PetitJeté said:

Can I just ask for those who’ve been now, what happened about the Covid test result? Did you give a print out, or just show the email on your phone?

You could do either  I took a print out which they collected from me but I also saw parents showing their phones so either way is fine! The health questionnaire has to be printed and given in though. 

14 minutes ago, BbcBoy said:

Or did they have 24 day before too 🤔

For WL? Yes only 24 as far as we are aware! They saw all the boys the same day x

1 minute ago, The red shoes said:

Ah have they made arrangements to see him over zoom then? I would imagine that would be fine pretty quickly . Though what about the physio check? X 

They haven’t as yet as far as we know. Our JA class was seen by the physio when they first joined in Y5 (as was the DS who couldn’t attend finals.) So I don’t know if maybe they will use that information to decide? They could always make an offer subject to a successful physio check I suppose. 🤷‍♀️ The physio my son saw at WL finals yesterday asked if he remembered her as she had met him before! Ha x

2 minutes ago, The red shoes said:

How do you know there were boys who couldn’t attend in person? X 

There is a boy in my sons JA class who made finals who couldn’t attend in person x