NeverTooOld

Congratulations, massive achievement - well done! I'm still waiting to do my IF as we are just polishing it up. Pointe work has been very challenging recently as my shoes are dead and are literally throwing me off backwards! Fitting for a new pair tomorrow though so hopefully back on track after that. We've actually started doing the Intermediate syllabus as my teacher said it will help to make us much stronger and deliver the IF exam better.

Fingers crossed for you that it isn't the big C and that you get a good result. My Mum and my uncle both had a colonoscopy done after a positive test and both times ended up being polyps which were removed during the procedure and non cancerous so hopefully yours will be straight forward too. Best wishes and take care

Sorry to hear your latest test results were not what you were hoping for - I hope they get it sorted for you soon. With regards to the above, it was towards the end of an exercise and the fitness trainer wanted me to finish it although the nurses were getting concerned with me hitting 120! They let me finish as it was nearly the end but that does explain why the nurses were a bit worried! As I mentioned, I always tend to work to the still being able to speak measurement but it would be useful to know the actual numbers. I'll have to take my oximeter to class this week and measure when I finish allegro!

In my experience, different schools have different opinions on this and some are very inclusive so best to speak to each one near you to ask about it. I am 49 and am in an Intermediate Foundation class with girls around 14 years old. It has never been a problem and my school and teacher are very happy for me to be there but not every school is this open. Hope this helps.

Totally happy to share so feel free to ask anything you want to Answers as follows: How long did it take you before you started to see an improvement in stamina? Since diagnosis, I've actually gone backwards a bit here. I had covid year before last which affected my stamina and it hasn't recovered fully yet from that. I struggle particularly with hills (or any incline!) and carrying heavy things but am much better on flat ground. I think I've just learned to work around it to be honest. Is there anything specifically that you have found that improves stamina? Nothing specific but just trying to keep active as obviously the heart is a muscle so hopefully will get stronger with more use. How long were you before you started to do grand allegro in class? I didn't actually stop doing grand allegro completely but did make sure I was careful to stop before I pushed too far. I had explained it all to my teacher so she was totally supportive of any extra rests I needed or if I needed to stop doing an exercise part way through. Do you use GTN spray, if so how often do you use it? No, not been prescribed one. Do you know what the maximum pulse rate you have experienced during exertion in class or rehab exercises?. During the rehab classes, I reached 120 at one point and the nurses were quite insistent that I didn't let it go any further. They used some sort of scale but can't remember what it was called. It said you should work 'reasonably hard' which meant you should still have enough breath to talk to someone but not enough to sing. I tend to use that as my guide now - if I am breathing heavily but I can still speak then I'm fine at that level but shouldn't push it up any further.

So sorry to hear about your health problems. I got diagnosed with heart problems during lockdown - left bundle branch block, dilated cardiomyopathy and left ventricular failure. I empathise with you about what a total shock this can be especially when you've previously known nothing about it. I did a cardiac rehab course via the NHS which was amazing as it gave me the confidence to understand what level I can safely work at and how far I can push etc. I am also on a beta blocker and a blood pressure reducing medication - they do cause tiredness so with you there! I still do as much ballet as I can but just have to be aware of too much allegro etc and make sure I stop for rests when I need to. Best wishes for your recovery, hope you see some improvement and can still enjoy dancing x

I've literally started Discovering Rep a few weeks back so also interested to know how it works for exams. I understand they are modular so guessing you do one bit at a time but good to hear from people that have done it.

We have been planning to do IF for ages but things keep getting in the way! We are going to do a recorded one so it is just a matter of setting it up and going for it - hopefully will do soon. Doing a final polish at the moment so fingers crossed! Good luck both of you with your exams!

Last night my teacher was trying to get us to lower our shoulders and lengthen our necks, chins up etc. She said 'imagine you've got a massive pair of dangly earrings on like Christmas baubles and you are trying not to catch them on your clothes'. It actually worked really well

My daughter did GCSE dance and hated it. At the time, she was doing as much dance as she could fit in - ballet, tap, lyrical, contemporary etc and was a member of a musical theatre company so it was her main passion. The dance GCSE seemed to put her off dance - I think the teachers at her school were quite bad though because several of her friends dropped out of the GCSE course within a few weeks! Maybe better teachers would improve the experience. It is worth bearing in mind though that it is very theory heavy, the actual dancing element seems minimal - much more essay based. Some obviously enjoy it as they go onto to do A Level dance but just don't go into it thinking it will be an easy option!

Me too - slow progress but keeping at it!

I am hoping to take my IF exam soon but previously have done Intermediate classes so am familiar with the syllabus. I think the main content isn't too much of a jump so you'd be fine but as a fellow novice at pointe work, I'd say the jump in pointe is quite big. The only centre work in IF is two footed releves and echappes but in Intermediate, you need to do lots of one footed releves in the centre plus there is quite a bit more pointe work. I haven't done anything higher than intermediate but have watched bits of the syllabus online and it looks much more difficult in my opinion. Hope that helps

I didn't do full time ballet school and have never danced professionally - very much more of a hobby (or obsession!) so there will probably be others here better qualified to answer in your personal situation but I would always prefer individual attention. It is all very well doing challenging steps with high profile teachers but if they are not correcting you, how do you know if you're doing it correctly? It is easy with ballet to get into bad habits and for wrong technique to become ingrained so I think it is much better to know that you are learning to do things correctly and build a solid foundation. That way, when you do more challenging things, you will be more likely to do them well.

One of my teachers teaches for a Baby Ballet franchise (she is a fully qualified and registered RAD teacher). From what I understand, it isn't very much dance focused as most of the babies/toddlers are only just walking - it is more about play, singing, nursery rhymes, clapping along etc. It has a set programme/syllabus that they all follow which has been put together around the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFSF). I imagine it to be similar to what I think was called musical movement when I was at primary school! I am also pretty sure that the parent stays with the child and does it all with them. I do agree though that there should be some regulation in the UK that only qualified/registered teachers should teach actual ballet/dance classes. Unfortunately as Pas de Quatre said, currently anyone can set up a dance school and call themselves a teacher which is a worry!

I am really hoping to get my IF exam done this term - almost there but just need to get the pointe bit in the centre. It is more of a mental issue than physical but I am getting there, just need to stop thinking myself out of it! I did start grade 7 a few years back but there isn't anyone else ready for it yet in my school and I can't afford a private lesson so just hoping for another student so they will restart the class. It is such a lovely grade to dance so I am looking forward to continuing with it.