BalletBoysDad

8 hours ago, tututendu said:

I love that!  LEGO is very important 😁.

Kids are so resilient. Learning how to handle rejection is key to persevering in the future. My dd has been acting professionally for a few years now and consistent rejection is just a normal part of it 🤪 she knows it’s not personal and never takes it to heart, she just has fun with it all 🙂

That’s wonderful, especially at such a young age to have the ability to know it’s not personal. We’ve corrected the Lego on the birthday list and calm and order has been restored in the house. 😂 

12 minutes ago, TwoDancers said:

Hi

My daughter is currently a Year 4 JA. At our centre there is an equal chance to get into each year group. The Year 4 and 5s are in one class - 4 year 4 girls, 8 year 5 girls and 4 boys (mix of year 4/5).  So, the 8-10 year 5’s move into a year 6 class next year and 4-6 (or sometimes a couple more) new ones will join them to make a class of up to 16. The 4-6 Year 4’s move into Year 5 where 4-6 more join them plus the 4-6 new Year 4’s making a Year4/5 class of about 16-18.  Numbers do  change according to who they see at auditions - this year we had 5 new Year 4 girls and only 3 new Year 5’s. So the total number in the class always stays between 16-18.

Hope that makes sense?

That’s really interesting, thanks for sharing that. Out of interest, which centre is this? 

21 minutes ago, tututendu said:

Right?!  Well there’s at least 3 on the wait list from this forum alone and I think there might have been at least one other from an earlier audition date for a London y5 that was also SWL’d. 

There appear to be three SWL for London Y4 on this forum, so maybe 5 in reality? Those numbers seem pretty similar to London Y5... 

4 minutes ago, tututendu said:

That’s pretty much how it works. I was hoping that there may have been a London Sunday option added this year which would allow a few more spaces. 

That seems to be the worry, it feels like the numbers get ever more challenging year on year. It’s these numbers that make me think it’s not worth trying again. But then SWL comes with that frustration that the child must have been really close in the final considerations and that’s an achievement in itself.....

 I guess the one thing that is easier for the kids than the adults is the exposure to the challenges and realities of audition. We know (through my partners work) an ex RB principal who went on to be Artistic Director of a couple of major companies. He ‘warned us’ that a career in dance carries a disproportionate amount of disappointment, and it’s important to be able to deal with that. His advice was that if you can’t deal with it, don’t bother. Fortunately when I explained to my DS about the SWL, he was more bothered that he might have put the wrong Lego set on his birthday list. I wish my brain worked like that 😂 

1 minute ago, Crazylifecrazykids said:

Lol. We are not a dancing family and have entered into this world dutifully following our daughter and her aspirations, as we don't have a clue really we sort of just let her have a go, however I found this quite stressful, completely over thought and analysed everything after she had done the auditions... not that she had any idea I was lol! She just takes it in her stride, we love her have a go attitude but didn't account for how it would make us feel lol 😜 I am without a doubt slightly madder! 😂

Exactly! I’m sure most of the kids fortunately take it in their stride. My sons love of ballet comes from the ballet he does now, so he’s completely unfazed by it. He doesn’t quite get SWL which I hope is a blessing. He was encouraged by his teacher rather than me, and it’s lovely that if anything it’s shown potential that for whatever reason needs some fine tuning. He will happily go through all of this again, just not sure I can lol. 

But its lovely to hear your DD is on the next step of the journey to her dance aspirations 💫

32 minutes ago, Crazylifecrazykids said:

We got a year 5 place this year so it can happen! We are in total shock as DD got a RBS JA place  an Elmhurst place and Ballet Boost associates.... we entered into the 3 auditions with "oh we'll let her have a go, the experience would be good for her" but didn't expect this at all! So it can happen for year 5 😊

Well that’s wonderful to hear, huge congratulations to your DD. Maybe I should stop thinking about it and adopt a what will be will be’ attitude to it all. 😀

17 hours ago, Lara Eschler said:

Congratulations to all the children and their supportive grown ups for going through the audition process.

 

My son got a place for London 32 for Year 5. He auditioned in London 30th of May (Day 3) group 4.

 

He had already started the taster sessions at Elmhurst so feeling a bit overwhelmed (as we will now have to decline Elmhurst) but extremely  pleased.

 

PS: It was a NO last year.

 

 

Trying not to ‘overthink’ this whole process is brain ache. As I think towards next year, and thinking about your son getting a ‘Y5 yes’, it makes me think just how slim that possibility is? What an amazing achievement!!!

My presumption (and maybe I’m completely wrong) is that Y4s would rise to Y5, Y5’s would rise to Y6s, Y6s would leave the JAs.... and the only genuinely available space would be a fresh intake of Y4s? If that was the case, the possibilities of getting a Y5 space or Y6 would be the fewest, given that those places are already occupied/reserved for those moving up? 

I need a holiday from my own brain 😝

42 minutes ago, Lara Eschler said:

Congratulations to all the children and their supportive grown ups for going through the audition process.

 

My son got a place for London 32 for Year 5. He auditioned in London 30th of May (Day 3) group 4.

 

He had already started the taster sessions at Elmhurst so feeling a bit overwhelmed (as we will now have to decline Elmhurst) but extremely  pleased.

 

PS: It was a NO last year.

 

 

Congratulations to your son! Was the Elmhurst class in Birmingham, to travel every weekend? 

My DS got SWL for London. He auditioned on Day 3, group 5 for Y4. He loves his other ballet classes so I’m sure he won’t be too disappointed. It’s just been a strange comfort to deal with the anxiety of the JA process within this group and friendly forum

6 minutes ago, Balletmum2Many said:

I’m still here following all of your journeys!😊 LONDON3 feels like years a way at this rate!😩🤦🏻‍♀️

I share your pain 😬😫

Just now, Lara Eschler said:

We were London 30th group 4. 

We were London 30th group 5, I’m really hoping replies don’t go past end of next week, the suspense is killing me 😖😬

For example, if a centre (eg Birmingham) has already been decided, and someone in a later audition centre put Birmingham as a second choice, I wonder how seriously the panel would take that applicant, in the mix of all those who auditioned there as first choice.... 

Oh the madness of it all... (or the madness of me) 😂 

Although new to this group, I’ve kept an eye on it all week and am glad to know I’m not alone in the inexplicable anxiety of this process! My DS auditioned in London for a Y4 place, and I’m reluctantly accepting that London results won’t be available until  w/c 24th June. Fascinated to know how 2nd preference places work, and how they are considered and allocated in the consideration/allocation of places. 

It’s the ‘guessing’ of the process that seems to be most driving me slowly insane 😝