Neverdancedjustamum

3 hours ago, DD Driver said:

 

Only 6 candidates registered for PdL from the UK & none were selected

https://www.prixdelausanne.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/number-of-candidates-pdl-2023-1.pdf

 

As I recall, a range of reasons are given, over the years, for low UK registrations (video submissions). e.g. The timing is difficult due to academic exams.  Students at vocational schools are discouraged or not given the support to enter.  Dancers training outside of a vocational school, may not get the hours outside of academics to reach the level of intl students?  Many other countries have Distance Education options that allow for more training hours.

 

Every year I think the number of UK registrations & selections will increase ...but they don't.

Dancers from RBS did get put forward... back in the day.

I thought the same although I did notice a very slight increase in YAGP candidates from the U.K. recently. PdL I only recall 2 British candidates in the last couple of years or so. Oddly enough even those from vocational schools seem to enter as ‘independent’. Going back to the Upper School question, I was just thinking of a particular school where the most recent entry do not appear to have any students from the U.K. apart from less than a handful from its own lower school. I also noticed more competition winners in two other upper schools although these schools also offered places to a good number of U.K. students, even those who weren’t from vocational lower schools. 

15 minutes ago, Kerfuffle said:

 

 

I think those talented young Americans are veteran YAGP competitors, often coming to defend their titles here in Europe. The standard is higher in the semis in Europe I think because it’s more international. The masterclasses show that they aren’t just one hit wonders - their class work is equally impressive. Sadly there are very few U.K. candidates for YAGP or Prix de Lausanne. 

Shame as schools seem to recruit heavily from these two competitions, either to their full time programmes or to their summer intensives (eventually offering full time places off these too). 

1 hour ago, Kerfuffle said:

This is very true. Some of them do YAGP which is a good place to go if you want to see the standards internationally - even the European rounds attract dancers from Australia and USA. Ballet is very international, with incredible standards and even those at top British vocational schools will be challenged by it! 

I recently saw a European one and was stunned at how confident and solid dancers as young as 12 were on pointe (the ones I saw were from the US). The masterclasses were also an eye opener, so many technically advanced dancers from overseas who have brilliant performance quality. It will be very interesting to see if any candidates from the U.K. will win prizes in the YAGP finals or qualify for next year’s Prix de Lausanne. 

3 hours ago, dizzyalice said:

Hi

I’ve only ever commented on one thread on here so I guess you could say I’m still a newbie. My DD is Year 9 and is looking at possibly auditioning for Upper Schools when the time comes. She was a JA and got to Elmhurst auditions finals but in 2020 so because she had decided she didn’t want to live away from home, we didn’t go to the final audition, just as covid was about to start. My question is, I’m not that much of a ballet mum and other than the 4 main schools, which other options are there at 16 years old? We are looking at classical ballet though she also does contemporary, modern, jazz. I’d love to hear of experiences of upper school particularly from those who joined in year 12 from mainstream schools. Have they found it difficult being up against those who may have gone through lower school training? 

 

At 16 and if you’re looking at the very classical, reputationally ‘well known big’ schools, I would say the main competition would mainly be from those trained overseas. Based purely on what I’ve observed in the last few years, those who manage to get an upper school place in these schools (who do not come from full time vocational schools) are those who have received similar training and perhaps even more hours than those who are from full time schools, and I think the latter are starting to realise this. These non-vocational young dancers who get places in excellent classical ballet upper schools here and overseas are often exquisitely trained by great and often multiple teachers/schools. It’s extremely hard to get these hours if you go to a mainstream schools, so being homeschooled is a serious option. A lot of these teaches who specialise in training for upper school have long waitlists and have availability only within the week, during school time.  The higher up the years they go, the competition becomes much, much tougher. This depends of course, on the schools you are considering.

We are quite cheap in our house so we we were very surprised when the barre we bought from Amazon worked really well, and looks quite nice. It was less than £60 and I think it’s called Klarfit. We’ve had it for about a year and it still looks brand new, easy to assemble and disassemble and fits into a small dance space. Having said that I’m sure lots will recommend brands like Harlequin which is more well known but we didn’t invest in their barres or flooring (I personally found them too expensive when my DD prefers in person classes to online). We just got a generic black lino-type flooring (approx 2 x 2.5m) during the pandemic for about £20 and 3 years on it still works a treat on wood floor or thin carpet and my DD has done pointe work on it and the said barre with no problems.

45 minutes ago, NotadanceMa said:

Has your dancer attended the SI and if so what did they think? 
I’m more interested in content of the course and the quality of teaching etc than the practicalities, although Thankyou for your  response. 

Unfortunately not as the dates never tie in with my DD’s school holidays and she doesn’t like missing even a day of school. I do know a fair few who have attended and the feedback were the same as @StillSewingShoes.  In general they found it quite tiring because of the fast pace and intensity and the Balanchine style which is quite different from SIs here. Teaching I heard is amazing too.

Main difference in terms of the actual programme is that it is 5 weeks - I don’t think any U.K. SI is that long.  The dates, especially the start date, usually doesn’t fit with the English summer break. I believe it also acts almost like an audition for the year-round programme. So rather than an audition that is 2-days long or having 2-3 stages (prelims/finals/etc), the students can be observed for a much longer time for suitability for the year-round programme and at the same time the students get a feel of whether school and living in the city is for them.

3 hours ago, Thelittleswans said:

What a shame no one is representing the UK. I know we are a small island however I thought we might at least have 1 candidate! Is this a reflection of the training in the UK? I’ve been watching some YAGP videos of 9-11 year olds around the world doing multiple pirouettes, mature artistry, impeccable extensions….I’m assuming they are training like gymnasts (20 hrs or more a week). 

I find over the last few years there’s been very few from the U.K. There are the (very) few who are British nationals but training overseas or internationals training in the U.K. (even less). I believe last year there were two British candidates, both privately trained for at least the last few years, neither were full time vocational students here at the time they qualified for the PdL. One is now a student at a very prestigious ballet school in Europe (not known for having British students) and one is now with a company. 

Did everyone else get the email informing us of the cancellation of associates classes this weekend and next? 

6 minutes ago, Pixiewoo said:

My perfectionist DD learnt to do hers to her satisfaction by just doing it again and again until she was happy! 

It wasn't quick,  but she got there! 

 

Pony tail on top of head, then twisting it round on itself so it's like a rope,  then round and round the bobble,  and tucking the end under bobble. Pop a bun net over and pin.  

 

Good luck! 

 

Ohhh! I love that tip about tucking the end under bobble. I never thought of that before. Will tell my DD. She gets really worked up when she can’t get hers perfect and as flat as possible - always a massive task when she’s got super long hair. Her bun sometimes looks like a small plate! 

1 hour ago, Ballerina_girl said:

Really struggling to teach my eleven year old how to do her own bun in her hair, any tips or advice appreciated,or where to find good tutorials for them,  she’s got small hands and a lot of hair and is not getting the hang of it at all, thanks! 

If it makes you feel better, my DD is 12 (almost 13) and still can’t do her own bun in the neat way she wants her buns to look like. I won’t be of any help but would be curious to see the replies to this too. 

Burgundy, light navy, royal blue and Olive now sold.

Still available are:

• Lilac 
• Ice blue
• Light blue 
• Pink 
• Coffee 

Now all sold 

Dark blue and lilac now sold. 
 

Just cream left now.

I have a few of this gorgeous style Grishko leotard from their Classic Excellence collection. Stunning camisole style with mesh. Was a favourite style so I bought a few of these in different colours but DD went through a growth spurt so most did not get worn and those that did were only worn once max. 

£30 each including first class tracked postage. These are usually £35-45 brand new.

All come from a pet and smoke-free home. 
 

The colours I have are:

1. Burgundy
2. Lilac 
3. Ice blue
4. Light blue 
5. Light navy 
6. Royal blue 
7. Pink 
8. Coffee 
9. Olive green 

Black and Ice Blue now sold.

I have five of these Grishko leotards for sale, all in excellent condition. These are very flattering on and the fabric is very soft and comfortable, with adjustable straps. 

All come from a smoke and pet-free home. I can never seem to add photos here - I think my phone’s camera set up means the files are too large but this is the style with a nude mesh v-neck on the chest. Happy to send photos via email if you message me direct.

£25 each including first class tracked postage. 
 

Colours are:

- cream 

-black

-dark blue 

-lilac 

- ice blue 

11 hours ago, leotardmum said:

Hi

Can anyone point me in direction of a shop/shops  stocking the best  range for Russian pointe/R-class/energetiks  in UK . Discovered all now the  same 'shoe' and now finally got name in all brands- sapfir / JW-S / stella .......... never thought finding pointe shoes would become so hard  - thankyou x

I think 4dance.co.uk stock Russian Pointes. They’re based in Surrey. I don’t think you can easily get Energetiks here, if at all. Never tried their pointe shoes on DD but I used to order leotards from them direct from Australia.

51 minutes ago, Ballerina_girl said:

For anyone that’s received the new MA leotard with it being a different colour what are you doing about the bow? As doesn’t match the previous MA bow colour 

My DD forgets to wear the bow more often than she remembers, so I think she’ll just won’t wear it.

4 minutes ago, Kerfuffle said:

I know of non vocational pupils getting into English National Ballet School , Royal Ballet Upper school as well as very highly selective European schools so it absolutely is possible to go down this route, in fact I think if you can find good training it can be more bespoke and allow young dancers to compete in YAGP/Prix de Lausanne. Geography does come into it a lot though, although there are more opportunities with zoom. 

That’s true but also I just realised that in a lot of these cases you must have serious time and finances to back up such intensive training. Whilst I really admire the successes of some of these young dancers, it also became evident that some of them have been coached by an astounding number of teachers both here and overseas. I don’t think such time and expense can easily be afforded by most families.

2 hours ago, Ballet Power said:

We’ve been given the times today. Have you? 

Yes, thank you 😊 Also received uniform leotards today so I’m one happy mama today. 

38 minutes ago, Ballerina_girl said:

Mine also says unfulfilled! Ordered on 30/6 the day of receiving the email 🙈

I emailed them yesterday and apparently they’re shipping out quite a lot of MA uniform today and tomorrow so fingers crossed 🤞🏽 

Hi, I’ve heard of the following although have no personal experience of it myself:

https://www.zhembrovskyy.com/

It looks like they offer private sessions and I’ve seen Dutch NBA students take class there.

9 minutes ago, Kerfuffle said:

Are these separate conditioning classes to what they do at associates? Do you pay more for them?

Yes, they’re separate and from what I gather were only introduced from this September. They’re online and paid for separately from the usual associates fees. 

13 minutes ago, Astrid said:

I don’t know if it’s useful but I enquired about what the times might be in case we could squeeze it in and they said the SA class would likely be the last class which would finish at 8pm. If that is any help @Neverdancedjustamum

ps received our leotard today. It’s lovely!!

Ahhh! That’s so good! Mine still says “unfulfilled” in my Dansez account  I’ve given up on receiving my order before we go on holiday so I’m just now hoping it won’t go missing when it gets delivered while we are away. Not having much joy with anything MA-related recently. I even ordered the new leotard the day the link was sent out but still no luck.