Millicent

Feeling nervous today as 3 weeks seems a reasonable time to expect results to come out!

Out of interest, has anyone found that their videos have been watched more than once? I used OneDrive so no analytics available for that (probably a good thing as I have a tendency to overthink!).

Is this just for London or UK-wide? And for how many spaces? I'm not doing very well at taking my own advice and not thinking too much about it am I?! 😆

If the group 2 deadline was Monday I would have thought they might have already made their decisions about group 1 otherwise surely it would be difficult to be reviewing group 1 and looking at group 2 at the same time? Unless they have different people doing a first round view and cut, and then the "bigwigs" look at those on the short list. I'm trying not to think about it too much as you could drive yourself mad with all the what ifs. It's our first audition though so all very new to this!

I'm waiting impatiently too 😬 Every time someone posts on this thread I panic that the results are out! 😂

It's good to take the time to get the technique right in the early years, so not necessarily a bad thing that she has taken it slowly, and great that she got a distinction at G1. I should also have said that my DD is advanced for her age so I wouldn't say G3/4 is typical for an 8 year old but just to give you some comparison to others who take their ballet seriously. But I can understand that you would want more than 30 mins a week. You could also see if there are any PBT classes locally as these can have a massive impact on technique and the correct development of muscles/muscle memory.

I would say that half an hour of ballet once a week for a 9 year-old is very little if she wants to rqlly improve or take it seriously in the future. How long as she been dancing? G1 at the age of 9 is a lower level of ballet than I would normally expect for that age unless they have only just started classes. Just in comparison my 8 year old is doing G3 and G4 ISTD. If you already have a good relationship with her dance teacher then I think your first step should be to discuss it with her/him and see what their reaction is? Only then can you make any decisions.

On the BBC news this morning Matt Hancock was asked about this and he said that as he has 3 children and therefore is a family of 5 they can only see one grandparent at a time, not both together. My DD's live dance classes haven't started yet as they are held in a local authority owned hall and they are so far not being allowed to return by the council. I'm hoping the detailed guidance this afternoon makes things more clear amd specifically mentions dance classes so that they will be permitted to return. Otherwise its back to the dreaded Zoom...

Is there government confirmation of this anywhere?

Thanks @RachH. Gosh, a month does seem a long time to wait, but I'd rather they take their time and look at the videos properly than get it done quickly. My poor nerves though...😁

Absolutely agree with this

Money definitely isn't everything and I'm certainly not one for flash cars/homes/handbags. But I do think that a degree of financial stability is really important in life. It gives you choices and opportunities that you otherwise wouldn't have eg you can choose to live in an area with good schools or a safer community. My DS has serious medical issues that have been extremely poorly managed by the NHS so we have had to pay for private treatment which has changed his life. Without it he would be literally crippled. I know of others who simply can't afford this and their lifes are massively affected as a result. Sadly, it's things like this which make me long for my children to have a degree of financial stability in their future lives so they have these choices and opportunities, and the ability to respond when things go wrong. Thankfully we are still far off having to make any big decisions and are certainly enjoying the journey so far. Long may that continue!

This is mostly why I don't want my DD to have a career in dance. Also, the possibility than one injury can destroy your career at the drop of a hat. She is naturally very talented and at the moment her dream is to be a ballet dancer and I'm not going to destroy those childhood dreams. But she is also academic and I am hoping that she ends up in a more mainstream career that would give her financial stability, with ballet as a serious hobby on the side. She is only 8(!) so plenty of time to think about careers but I have to resist the temptation to tell her that I don't actually want her to be a ballet dancer, to let her follow her dreams for now and hope that along the ways things become more clear. I suspect there will be some hard decisions on the way though, we have already turned down an elite ballet school that wanted her to join (she didn't audition but was spotted on an outreach event) and I dread when it gets to Y7 and she wants to audition for vocational schools as I don't want her to go! We'll just have to cross that bridge if and when we come to it...

My DD's body also looks completely different now to the photos from 9 months ago. Back then her torso looked long in comparison to her legs and now her legs look really long!

I wonder if they compile a shortlist and then rewatch the short-listed ones in full? @MissEmilyit will be interesting whether yours are viewed again at a later time. I'm sure they know what they're doing but it is difficult wondering if our children/pupils are going to get a fair chance over video rather than being in the studio where they would definitely be watched! I started recording when I pressed play on the YouTube videos so the first few minutes of all of my videos are of my DD standing watching the TV while they do the introductions etc. It would probably be useful for them to watch the videos on double speed if that's possible!

@MissEmily probably a stupid question but can you tell it was the first eg 50 seconds or could they have ffwed to a particular 50 second part?

The ones being watched now are London group 1.

Ooh that's exciting! Can you tell if they watched all three?

I'm interested in why they prefer satin/canvas over leather. Does anyone know?

This definitely seems to have parallels with the abuse of gymnasts highlighted in "Athlete A". What I find most shocking is that in both situations it was almost an open secret, yet the (alleged) abusers carried on getting away with it for years and years. Infuriating and sad...

I know what you mean. It was disappointing at first when DD had worked so hard (and I'd spent so much money!) on her dances to have everything cancelled. But I definitely don't miss the stress of it all. DD never got nervous but I was awful!

I'm not very technologically minded but I think it is a private link so that you can only view it through the link on your email. Another reason why they may be able to tell if you've clicked on it more than once? The audition really is very straightforward and I don't think it would be any help to practice. They specifically say on the video that it doesn't matter if you make a mistake. I think they're looking for something very specific, particularly with regard to body shape, and that won't change whether your DC executes something perfectly or makes some mistakes.

I did manage to resist but I admit it was hard! Someone told me you can see who has viewed YouTube clips so they may be able to tell if you view it more than once. It's not worth the risk in my opinion.

Just wondering if anyone is on any organising committees for dance festivals and has any insight into this. DD has enjoyed her Zoom classes but lost all interest in practising her various festival solos and duets. She's also probably grown out of all of her costumes! She wasn't interested in any of the online comps. She says there's no point if there's no audience! I kind of like that attitude as at least it's not all about the medals for her. Just wondering if there is any point in trying to get her to go over her dances so that she doesn't forget them too much, and think about replacement costumes etc. I have to admit I've quite enjoyed the break from the nerves of being in the audience watching her!

Thanks, I can't remember all of the options but we used OneDrive to upload the videos.