FelixGirl

DD has always done additional lessons at the RAD.........Saturday classes are easy to get to and she loves the teacher!!

DD is at college with a lovely girl who has an enormous following on Instagram for her fabulous healthy food and lifestyle. Google Clean Eating Alice ......she really is inspirational!! I think your DD will find more than enough recipes!!

South Asian dance is fantastic in our area.........our local performing arts festival has separate and hugely popular South Asian sections for both dance and music!

Agree with Cornishprincess.....DD is with Chantry Associates...they are brilliant!!

It's definitely the Primark ones…….DD wears them too!! As Dancemad says they are just like dance wear……heavy cotton/lycra, with a fold down top (really lovely looking on!!). I will message you! xx

DD always used a pancake make-up by Kryolan, water soluble, goes on with a damp sponge (a bit like face paint!) and dries to a powdery non-greasy finish. It is very easy to put on, and comes off easily with baby lotion or make-up wipes!

Hi Taxi We had exactly the same problem during DD's GCSE year. We had many conversations with the school, and explained countless times that she HAD to keep her dancing up and she couldn't just "have a break whilst she concentrates on her GCSE's"!! In the period from December to June she actually took 8 dance exams (4 vocational ballet - RAD and ISTD and 4 others!!) alongside her auditions and GCSEs. We just tried to to balance everything as best we could. With DD we worked out what she could realistically achieve and looked at which of her GCSEs were the most important and which could, possibly, be allowed to slide a little (French and DT Food tech, both of which she hated!!). I put together a schedule that showed all of her dance classes, travelling time and homework time and we sat with the head teacher and head of year and talked it through. Once they could see what she was having to manage, they agreed that DD could drop the AS that she was doing (she took a couple of GCSE's a year early so the school wanted her to start an AS) and spend any free periods and lunchtimes catching up. Being proactive definitely helped……..it was still a difficult time, but the school did back off a bit! Good luck…..It will be over before you know it!! xx Edited the number of exams because my maths isn't very good!!

Hi Pictures If you look on the Seven Dials website http://www.sevendials.co.uk there are lots of lovely interesting places to try - as well as pizza and pasta and the Baked Spud cafe!!

In DD's case too….there is no sitting around, if not rehearsing they are in class, and everyone she knows seems to be in at least 4 pieces. Also, we haven't had to buy tickets yet….so we do have a better chance of finding out which performances DD will be doing! Just going back to assessments……I don't think the students are assessed on this show, but they have other smaller performances throughout the year that are assessed. We were looking at the whole 'value for money' thing last week following all the discussions about the number of contact hours at university…..DD worked out that she has in excess of 35 hours of contact teaching time per week…..that seems like incredible value for money when considered against the pitiful few that some university courses offer!! I know university students are supposed to study for themselves….but if that's the case, what's the money for?

I agree CouldDoBetter but I think it's a tough call for the colleges (I'm talking MT college here because I don't have experience of classical schools). They are judged (by prospective students and parents, agents, casting directors etc) on the quality of the show that they produce…….the aim is to be the best, and to put on a professional show worthy of the West End. The students they pick have to be 100% reliable…they can't afford just to give someone a chance if they're not up to the job. I can't help thinking, though, that part of the reason the same names come up again and again is that once they've been used and proved themselves it's easier for the staff to use the same person again than to give someone unproven a chance!

At DDs MT college it is much the same…the students are either invited to audition or selected from class ability, and the same names do appear time and again. The college puts a huge emphasis on reliability though, so students are selected because of their work ethic and attitude as well as their talent. When DD started, the students were told that every class was an audition, and they would be selected for performances based on that, so they've all known the score from day one!! DD missed most of her first year with injury and sickness, and has really only been back to full classes since February this year……so she knows that she's lucky to have been selected at all!! Having said that, all the second years appear in a minimum of two pieces (jazz and musical theatre), and if they're not rehearsing they go to any classes that are on instead so no-one is sitting around watching others rehearse! Also, there are two casts, but they are mixed... so I think DD will be performing every night but in different pieces. At the end of her first year she was only in the two compulsory pieces and the finale, but we got to see her perform, and the show was phenomenal! Aileen, you are right, the colleges are selecting their best students to showcase the college, but DD's attitude is that she is privileged to be offered the level of training she is getting, so she will take that for herself and work as hard as she can. She says that it's not always the college 'favourites' who have had the most success finding work, so she's not going to worry about it!

Thank you! Yes, she was disappointed…….especially when we went to see the production…..but she was one of the older ones, and she was really mature about it. xx

My DD had to drop out a few years ago when she was injured…and she had a scholarship!!

Loved watching this last night!! The students were all fabulous but particularly loved spotting your gorgeous daughter Kiwimum!!

I was going to say….definitely individual CDs…but you've already done it!! You are so well organised…..I really think you have everything covered!!

Thanks Jaylou62, I've signed and shared too…….

Actually, sorry....thinking about it....there were a couple of auditions where she just rolled up her ballet tights for either the Jazz or Contemporary part of the audition!!

DD didn't wear her tights over the top at the auditions - because she'd never seen it before - she does now for jazz, but definitely not for ballet!....and yes, she did change between Ballet and Jazz!!

I would have one pair of shoes for the auditions and keep another "immaculate" pair as spares and for the exam!! MT colleges won't mind if the shoes are a little bit worn...they're only interested in the dancing!! DD didn't wear her dance things underneath....but all the colleges she auditioned at did have changing rooms, and she didn't always know which group she was in before the audition, so she didn't know which leotard to wear (classical or jazz) before she got there (it was her first experience of tights over the top of leotards too....which was interesting!!).

We do live in catchment for the Brit School, so it was a back-up plan for DD in case she didn't get into the colleges she'd applied to! Having said that, DD loved it and would have been very happy to go there. She has several friends who have been or who are there (on either dance or musical theatre strands) and they are all very good dancers.....but they do all seem to go on to vocational colleges afterwards....so I would suggest that it is a good stepping stone. When we went to the Open Day DD felt that she was possibly beyond what they were offering grade-wise (she was already in Advanced 2, Ballet, Modern, Tap and equivalent Jazz) ....but that it would consolidate her dance, offer her greater contemporary and choreography training, and she would be able to do A levels if she wanted to. Also there were a considerable number of performance opportunities! Not sure if that helps or makes it worse....but if you like it, I think it is probably worth auditioning anyway.....someone has to get those out of catchment places!!

Hi Mad house! We don't have direct experience, but DD auditioned two years ago and was offered a place, and she does have friends on the course, so we might be able to help! What do you need to know?

You really do have every right to be proud.......what a fabulous thing to hear, and what a great girl........that's a huge amount of money to raise!! She will go far, your lovely DD!! xx

Good luck R!! Have the tissues handy Katymac and I'm sure the shoes will be used sometime anyway!! xx

I don't think that studying more than one syllabus should really a problem.....before she went to college DD was studying both ISTD and RAD ballet with three different teachers (all aware of what she was doing)...she took Intermediate ISTD and Advanced foundation within a week of each other in December (and achieved fantastic results in both) and Advanced 1 of both ISTD and RAD within a week of each other less than 6 months later on top of her GCSEs (she wouldn't have chosen to do them quite so quickly because she missed out on a Distinction by a couple of marks but her teachers wanted her to get the exams done before leaving for college!!). She also took non syllabus classes in both RAD and other styles (Russian included) and none of these differing styles bothered her at all...in fact I think they enhanced her ability to adapt. I would say go for the other syllabi.....at least your DD will be studying at the right level for her and in the meantime you can continue your hunt for another RAD teacher! Good luck!

Mine would not have worn those (she would have sniffed at the decoration)......but bizarrely did wear the Startrite shoes below in Year 7 & 8, before progressing to the DM shoes (same shape, just a much cooler brand) for the rest of her schooling!! http://www.stampedeshoes.co.uk/images/_lib/startrite-louisa-classic-buckle-girls-maryjane-3001046-0-1364654261000.jpg http://cdn.idealo.com/folder/Product/3604/3/3604388/s3_produktbild_gross/dr-martens-corin-mary-janes.png Probably not the answer you wanted....sorry!!