BalletBoyMumma

3 minutes ago, sunrise81 said:

Also check out what you get as part of your MDS package if you get awarded it. DD at Elmhurst gets a music lesson each week,  weekly RAD lessons, £625 uniform bursary and health insurance included........I don't think RBS is the same. DD gets away with wearing navy jogging pants from M&S......don't think its quite like that at RBS! 🤣

 

DD got yes to finals to both Elmhurst and RBS (only 2 we applied for). Got no for RBS and wait list for MAs, and then a yes for Elmhurst. 

Wow! That’s really good. Valuable information. Thank you. ☺️
 

(Everyone’s contributions on this forum have been so helpful.) 

We haven’t even applied and I’m nervous and excited for you all. And it’ll be one step closer to hearing about WL finals (I keep coming back here to see if anyone else has heard anything). Good luck everyone. I hope it’s today. 🤞🤞🤞🤞

Really good points, Meadowblythe. Thank you. 

You are right, I know it’s slightly different to vocational schools but DD didn’t get her first choice state secondary school but it’s actually turned out brilliantly - that could certainly happen for vocational schools too, and I hope it does for anyone accepting places that might not have been their preference. 

I don’t know if others have managed better but I’ve struggled to get much grip on the non-ballet/dance side of things at the vocational schools - I don’t just mean exam results but the little things you’d usually ask while looking around. For example, DCs being allowed to play instruments in their spare time would be a total game changer for DS - DS did ask in one of the zoom meetings and was told yes, parents could pay extra for music lessons if we wanted - which wasn’t quite what he meant but the Q&A was swiftly moved on as it was so busy (he meant are there instruments available to use during down time or can I bring my own). It’s those little unknowns that make it particularly difficult to get a feel for where is a best fit this year. 

It’s not anyone’s fault - just a frustration with how things have panned out. Everyone is doing their best and the schools must be having such a frustrating time of it all too. 

Good luck to everyone’s DCs. No matter the outcome, heads high and keep going. It’s been an incredibly tough year - be kind to yourselves. Remember why you dance. You’ve got this. ❤️ 

8 hours ago, Bunny said:

It’s so difficult to know how well your child will cope with moving away I think. I like to think my DS is quite independent and would settle well but the reality might be completely different. 
 

My DS wants to be a ballet dancer. His dance principal says he is an all rounder and is competent in all styles so shouldn’t pigeonhole himself at such a young age, but that a ballet school is a fantastic option anyway as ballet is the core of everything dance wise and once they have been to

a ballet school, if they decide ballet isn’t for them, they are still in good stead to pursue another dance option.  I think that’s quite a nice way of looking at it! He isn’t amazing academically, just average, enjoys most school subjects, but there’s no passion there for any of them. It’s all about dance. 
 

I agree entirely with everything you say! Nobody knows what’s around the corner and as one door closes another somewhere else opens up! 

It’s perfectly ok not to be great academically (especially at this age, watching my eldest and her peer group it’s been interesting to see how much things can change over time and how the ‘best’ while still young are often not the best in the long run). They are all on their own journeys.
We home educate by choice and DS has never been to school so we have no idea where he fits in with his age group (though home ed is nothing like we are all currently experiencing - this is definitely ‘crisis schooling’ not regular home educating). DS absolutely loves dance too (I’m wondering if they are in the same JA class now).

There will be a pathway to success somewhere for each of them, no doubt about it.  
It’s just frustrating knowing almost nothing about where we are applying to. Same for local schools though - there’s been no open evenings this year. Not a single chance to get a feel for anywhere. It’s been a very strange and frustrating year. 

That’s just the thing. Don’t see a ballet career as the destination. See ballet as a journey. If they end up there - great. If they don’t - great. It’s their lives, not ours. We are just here to facilitate their journeys the best we can (albeit very expensively sometimes - that’s the tough bit, though they do gain an awful lot of important life skills from dance training which will likely serve them well in whatever they choose to do). ❤️

3 hours ago, cotes du rhone ! said:

Ds started ballet at 12, only ballet. He attended two local classes a week and one at Elmhurst and then RBS SAs on a Saturday. He got nos for RBS and Elmhurst and was offered Tring but with no funding at 16. The AD commented on his height. He was petite for his age. He started his A levels and re auditioned for just Elmhurst at 17 and got a yes. Going from local classes to full time vocational was tough, he was broken a lot in 6:1. But he found an inspirational teacher and the rest is history. I’m so pleased that he had a normal local lower school experience. Unlike his vocational sister. I feel this has really helped. What I’m trying to say is that there is no rush. In hindsight I would have kept both of mine at home for lower school and spent the money on accessing associate classes and intensives. Then tried at 16/17. It’s a level playing field then. I wouldn’t worry about competing with children who have endured LS training for 5 years, my personal experience is that the light and passion fades 😔 Dd said recently that what she wanted aged 11 isn’t what the 16 or 20 year old her wants. 

Thank you for sharing your family’s experiences. I really hope your DD is finding a new, much happier path now. It’s not a loss, it’s actually rather brave to admit that, even if it’s painful. 
 

I’ve often worried DS would struggle if accepted for full-time training. We only applied to one school as he didn’t like the idea of being so far away, so any chance of vocational training at this stage is incredibly slim (and he knows that and is fine with it). He’d love a place as he thinks the schools are like ‘Hogwarts for Ballet’ but, as parents, we are actually hoping for an MA place. We’ve already noticed he thrives with some teachers and really not with others so some flexibility over the matter is helpful at this stage. At 10yrs old he’s still all about the fun and has far less interest in perfecting technique yet (hoping this comes with maturity). If things become too serious and stressful, and too soon, it might just ruin the love of dance forever - that would be the worst outcome. 
 

Does everyone’s DCs know what they want to be when they are older already? DS loves dance and music equally. And science. He has no idea what he wants to be yet but just knows he really enjoys dancing and performing, so having good quality access to all of those is important - that’s been the most frustrating thing about not knowing enough about the schools. While the focus is obviously ballet, it’s not ONLY about ballet. 
 

Good luck to all those applying. I think the advice on choosing the best fit for your child rather than popularity of course/school is excellent, the sad thing is that nobody’s had the opportunity to visit anywhere this year or get a feel for for the places and their learning environments. A particularly difficult time to navigate all of this. I really feel for those who are going to have to make difficult choices over which places to accept. Just know, as others with older DCs are proving, no choice has to be permanent, there will always be new opportunities over the years. 
 

And a ‘no’ could well be a not yet, and that could be a blessing in disguise for the future.  
 

Just got super excited as our number of views had gone up. Thankfully checked analytics before posting (and getting anyone’s hopes up) - it was from me accidentally clicking on the video via the app recently. 3 times for a total of 14 seconds. Fail! 🤦‍♀️🤣 

I’m not sure if it’s better to have this information available or not. Gosh! 😅 

21 hours ago, Raquelle said:

Yeah zoom classes have been fab and there aren't too many in her class so I think she can see them all fairly well. The email made me laugh this week as we have been guilty of letting the dog in on the action at times! Whoops! 

Same. We can evict the dog from the living room but not our two cats - they generally stay out of the way but occasionally decide they want to join in too, or worse, want to check out the camera. Oops!  I’ve had to jump in a few times to remove a cat. 🤭 Will definitely try harder after receiving that email. 😬😅

I agree the attention to detail has been fantastic but we can’t wait for Zoom lessons to be over. DS definitely prefers Zoom over the recorded lessons from the first lockdown though. And our JA teacher is fantastic too. ☺️ 

Zoom (or Teams for school) seems to be on constantly here (our two DDs dance too). The hiding and trying to stay quiet all day and most evenings is really grating on us now. Thankful for it though as I know a few DCs were unable to get on zoom at all which must be incredibly frustrating and very unfair. ☹️

Hopefully not too much longer and it’ll be safe to head back into studios. ❤️ 

Yes, was just reading that the 8th is the plan for reopening. To be confirmed on 22nd Feb I believe, so that could be another milestone before we hear anything too. Hopefully it’s all schools and not by area or by age group. I guess anyone invited to finals will also need to produce a negative COVID test result? Or maybe not. But that’s another thing we need to consider. 
 

I hope they let us know soon about who’s through so that we can either start prepping or just stop stressing over the what ifs about travel restrictions etc. 
 

How is it working out for the other schools? Will they wait for all auditions to be done before making people choose to accept their places or not? Must be terribly stressful if not. 

1 hour ago, Bunny said:

Thank you! I hope we all hear soon and it’s good news for all of us! 🥰

 

Oh bless your son, it’s been such a difficult time for them for the past year and dancing on Zoom is nothing like it is in the studio in person. They are so young and hopefully once he gets back to the studio he will be more confident and happy! And he definitely shouldn’t write himself off because you just never know! I’m keeping my fingers tightly crossed for him! x

Thank you. ❤️

It really has been such a strange year. 

Hopefully we don’t have to wait too long!!! 

17 minutes ago, Bunny said:

We’ve had two watches, one for 3 and a half minutes at the beginning of December and one for 30 seconds(?!) mid January-ish. DS asks every day if we have heard! I’m starting to think it’s worse now he’s heard back from Tring and Hammond as he seems to think they must all now be due to tell us! 

Oh bless him. I hope we hear soon and it’s good news for your DS. 

My DS has written himself out of the competition (as he’s struggled so much with zoom and emotionally and he really knows it) that he doesn’t even ask. This makes me simultaneously sad (for him) and very relieved (that if it’s a no then he’s going to be ok).
 

It doesn’t stop me from checking regularly though. 😬 So stressful! 

I guess they haven’t even started looking yet then. I do often wonder how much communication there is between schools - there must be at least some. Are WL always the last to audition/reply?
I’m not really very clued up on the process - trying to forget about it all until an email pops up but that’s way easier said than done. 

35 minutes ago, The red shoes said:

So.... anyone had anymore views on their WL video? We are still only the one back in November for about 6 minutes I think? I can’t remember now.. it’s all becoming a blur 😂😂

Same. Ours was late December/early Jan (a few days after we submitted) and for about 3 minutes. I only know because that’s the only one we’ve applied to so feeling a little fixated on watching for any change at all there. 😂 

1 hour ago, MrsR said:

I am bringing up the rear. Least organised dance mum! 

Haha, oh bless you.
Not as bad as me - gave up after one video application, both DS and I found that one so stressful that he said no thank you to doing any more this year (and tbh I was so very glad at the time). Slightly regretting it now though. Oops! 

16 hours ago, SissonneDoublee said:

Heavy snowfall meant not all children were able to make it to WL finals the year DD went. They delayed the results to ensure that everyone was seen, and reassured parents that this would be the case so no one took unnecessary risks to get to Richmond. I’m sure they will do the same this year. The whole process was very fair, and communication was really good.

Thank you. That’s good to know.  
 

A huge part of the excitement will be in just visiting the building and seeing the grounds (even if us parents can’t go in). It’s definitely felt more stressful than exciting so far. 
We were hoping there’d be a virtual tour (have any of the other schools done this?). 

Fingers tightly crossed for everyone. 
 

3 hours ago, Ballet Dreams said:

Tests can be expensive as well around £120, on top of travel and accommodation it would make a big hole in some parents pockets. Money is tight for some people at the moment with furlough etc.   I agree I hope they also have other arrangements for those self isolating.

Yes! This is us too at the moment, still working but on quite a reduced income. I think the circumstances of this year are really going to push a lot of families out.  Just too many unknowns. Thankfully for us DS hasn’t asked about it at all. Lately he’s been talking about joining his big sister at our local secondary school - I’m actually really relieved his mind is there as he’s really struggled with dancing at home, especially dancing alone. 
 

So many added pressures for everyone this year. 
 

RBS have been pretty good with communication though. It’s got to be extremely difficult for them too at the moment. Hopefully they’ll be as reasonable as they possibly can with the schedule and any necessary precautions. 

4 hours ago, alison said:

Isn't there also a Cecchetti DVD out, featuring dancers from the Royal Ballet?

Is there? We’d love to know about that if anyone has further info. 
 

My children are convinced  Fumi Kaneko is Cecchetti method trained. I think I read somewhere that she was but have never found that info again. They adore her. And Marcelino Sambé (though I don’t think he was but he definitely has the joy of dance first and foremost which definitely makes a difference when watching with zero ballet knowledge - he brings such happiness and fun). 

Thank you for having such an open discussion on this. To those thinking you probably don’t belong here anymore, please don’t think that. Actually hearing from ‘retired’ parents is so valuable to those of us who are only just considering vocational routes for our DCs. Or helping those whose children attend vocational schools to spot red flags. The honesty is so important. 

It’s not uncommon to hear rumours about things that happen in vocational schools but never from anyone who’s directly (or via their DCs) experienced the bad things, so you never know what to believe, especially when there are so many promises about mental health provisions, injury prevention, strong parent-school communication etc at this end. It’s good to take those rose-tinted glasses off.

Thank you!
Just watched with my young son. This is the main method he is studying (I have no prior ballet knowledge). I can now see why the Cecchetti classes are always his favourite classes. 💙 How lovely! 

Thank you both. Oh gosh, lots more waiting then. 😬

Or did you mean Feb? (I just got my hopes up we’d be put out of our misery of waiting soon 😅 ...28th Feb feels so long away!!!! 😳) 

28th Jan?
 

We didn’t apply for Elmhurst so aren’t in the loop, trying to forget about it (way easier said than done) but our WL video still hadn’t had anymore views, just that initial one of a few minutes a couple of days after submission. Has everyone else’s been viewed now? 

Oh bless you. I have to agree with the others - it doesn’t sound like a great fit from what you are saying. Many children love competitions, or shows at the very least, so they can have the joy and excitement of performing. But to be in a situation of none or very little and then not be allowed to try something else elsewhere on top of that, that does seem too restrictive. 

And RBS associates are great but they certainly aren’t the only ones worth trying for (though don’t be put off about auditioning as they are looking for potential and musicality, not technique at that age - we went with zero expectation of DS getting in and no prep for it, just tried for the ‘experience’ - that actually served him really well as he wasn’t nervous and spent his time enjoying the audition. Completely different to how he’s dealing with this next stage that he’s having to prep for - stress levels are high.) 

There are loads of fantastic associates programmes out there. You can apply to most without your teacher’s consent if you want to (though admittedly it’d be sad to have to do that). 

An honest discussion could alleviate the teacher’s potential fears of losing your daughter as a student, too (if that happens to be her reasoning) - it is an understandable worry. I wouldn’t take ‘not the done thing’ as a valid reason without a more in depth conversation about it though.
 

Agree on the point about keeping it very clear who the main school is. Teachers at other schools can let you know from the beginning if your child likely won’t fit in with their teaching plans too then (and that honesty is helpful both ways). You don’t want to be disrupting their more serious students. 
Zoom has blurred the lines a bit - I think many schools are trying to stay afloat so are understandably accepting more students who likely don’t have any intention of ever attending once back into studios, and there must be similar worry from teachers about students who are trying new things with other schools (who are able to offer more online classes) that the student might choose the new school over theirs once lockdown restrictions end - so that honesty is still very important.