Neverdancedjustamum

Hi, I’m a first time Associates mum and was wondering if anyone else is going to the MA workshop in Birmingham on Sunday? Not familiar at all with Birmingham, the handful of times I’ve had to go there for work I’ve gotten lost every single time (once spent a good 10 minutes walking around one of the main train stations being failed by my iPhone maps before swallowing my pride and mustering the courage to ask someone for directions). Is Nicholson fairly easy to walk to and find from Moor Street Station or are we better off taking a taxi? How many DCs usually show up to these workshops? I think this is the first time they’re holding it in Birmingham, which I admit I was quite gutted about because I am personally quite lazy travelling far for anything. I’ve roped in my (non-dancing) DS to keep me company while DD is at her workshop - it’s going to be a long wait! Any tips on where to spend a few hours in Birmingham? 

45 minutes ago, Balletmum55 said:

Leotard Still for sale - figured out how to compress photos so added below 

I have pm’d you x

You don’t have to, the audition class is very simple. However, some DCs who who attend the insight day find that it is the scheme for them and this will motivate them to do well in the audition. Conversely, there are some like my DC who decided during the insight day that’s it’s not for them. If that is the case, it will save you money on application fees. 

Sorry can’t help with your question but MAs have also been told their leotards will be changing from September. And I, too, am very curious already about what it looks like. 

12 minutes ago, Clementine said:

@Neverdancedjustamumdid you also put in a ‘normal’ application for your daughter? Was she successful this way? Wonder if those who attend the scholarship audition but aren’t successful can be successful via the normal route? 🤔 

Hi! We have never put in a normal application but yes, definitely, I know of lots who got a place via the normal route despite not attending the scholarship audition or attended it but didn’t get a scholarship. I would assume that this would be the case for most people as the number of scholarships is quite limited in relation to those who actually attend the summer course. So absolutely go for it either way. I’m afraid our experience of YBS is extremely limited (to basically two scholarship auditions). My DD has never attended the actual summer course or any of the pop ups, but I’m sure lots on this forum would have and would be happy to give feedback

My DD has been to two of these. For someone who doesn’t normally like auditions, she actually doesn’t mind these and said the teacher and panel are always very lovely. The ones we know who got these scholarships are all full time vocational students (or about to go full time), and all from one particular school although this is probably coincidence in our case as we don’t really know many people in the dance world. Not to say that no non-full time ever gets it, or none from other schools, just that we personally don’t know of any. I also think some can be awarded it a few times over the years, I might be wrong but I think that’s the case. They do always seem to have a good and friendly atmosphere according to my DD, even for someone like her who doesn’t really know many of the other DCs. However, I do think that in her case it helps that she goes in with literally no expectations whatsoever hahah! She just treats it like a good class. She knows she’s not full time and doesn’t really dance or train as much as others (and for some reason has a default dancing face that looks grumpy)…even when she’s happy. Because of this, she has always enjoyed it. She’s never asked me for the result, now that I think about it. 

11 minutes ago, startedat17 said:

I'd figure it out if I knew the schedule ahaha. I'm not trying to fully copy their timetable (as I know that it is highly unrealistic), I was simply wondering what kind of a schedule they follow (which nobody seems to know lol)

On social media, I think this is a question full time vocational students get asked a lot when they’re doing Q&A type stuff. It varies depending on the school but I saw a recent UK one (lower school student) and the schedule involved 2 hours of ballet class and 1-2 hours of other dance-related class (pointe etc). Approximately 4 hours of academics. The hours probably change as they go up years. I know upper school students seem do a lot more hours, some with Saturday classes too. Some schools overseas are a lot more intensive. They also do hours for competition preparation, show preparation, private studio time etc 

10 minutes ago, NotadanceMa said:

This is a lovely thread. 🩰💗

 

I have the feet that ballet dancers would die for 😁 high arch, high instep, perfect Demi-pointe and very lovely to look at. I am also hyper mobile.

Alas I am fat in the way that a grown up Renaissance cherub would be, so all is lost.

I also find classical ballet in its entirety the most boring dance genre in the world, so my beautiful feet would never be tempted to crush themselves inside a pointe shoe. (big gasp from the auditorium, I know, I know excommunication from the forum) I do love the music and certain variations if they are performed exquisitely, but I need a remote control for this and just get ants in my pants when I accompany my ballet loving teen in training to a performance; but accompany them I do. 

 

I am led to believe from assessments and physio that my teen has the perfect classical ballet body in all its proportions, with exquisite feet. (Haha) They are hyper mobile, but fortunately before ballet got serious as they experienced ankle and hip pain as a toddler, a wonderful paediatrician told me to make sure that we strengthened around all the joints. We did through swimming alongside ballet early on and physio. It was the paediatrician that pointed us toward ballet or gymnastics when child age 2. Child chose ballet because of the ‘beautiful music.’ I am very glad they did, and they are also very jealous of my feet!! 🦶 

Love this! I’m the same as you without the ballet feet and hyper mobility. In fact, I don’t think I have anything balletic about me. I only did ballet over two summers when I was a kid because my parents both worked full time and had nowhere to leave me or nothing to entertain me over the long summer holidays after the family vacation was over. I don’t remember anything from those two summers apart from taking part in shows at the end of it and getting to use hair gel for the first time to do my bun. It’s funny about feet, my teenage son has lovely ballet feet funnily enough but isn’t the least bit interested in dancing. I can’t even bribe him to accompany me to watching days or shows. Last time he did come with me to his sister’s watching day in ballet class as I had nowhere to leave him and he was still young, he complained he had a headache after! 

It is possible, I’ve heard of a few, but would probably be very expensive and require extreme commitment not just from the child but from the whole family. I assume it would seriously impact time and finances (and maybe even DCs well-being and general family dynamics). I’m guessing it would require a lot of summer intensives, classes within the week of the required high standard (not just hobby), private coaching, multiple associates in the weekends, physio/Pilates/gyro sessions  etc etc. - especially depending on where you’re looking at to go for upper school. Realistically, if you’re looking at the most popular ones, she’ll be against a lot of international students (just look at how actively schools are currently advertising auditions overseas), competition winners (YGP and PdL to name just a couple), kids who are most likely coached by a few different teachers, travel during school holidays to summer intensives not just here but overseas, willing to travel miles and miles to associates etc. Increasingly I find those who are seriously looking at upper school admission are home schooled. This affords them the time to squeeze in as much training as they can during the day and during the school term.  When you think about it, and I’m only guessing this as I have no first hand experience, DCs in full time lower vocational school probably do no less than 8-10 hours of ballet a week maybe increasing as they go up years, plus other dance related classes (contemporary, pointe, rep, solos, choreo etc). Looking at my non-voc DCs timetable, and the times he/she comes home from school after activities and sports and all sorts of social things high schoolers these days do, there is no way we can squeeze in any hours close to that.  I have nothing but respect and admiration for those who can manage to juggle a normal academic school and the training required to get to a top vocational upper school but I also think you need the serious financial means to do this. 

No first hand experience but have done a bit of looking around. I found that even if we were to pay international student fees, European schools tend to be cheaper than UK ones (even with MDS). This would probably vary depending on the school but this is what I found overall, including schools in Germany and the Netherlands. We also looked at schools in Switzerland and I believe the two we looked at would also be cheaper than schools here.  Amazing communications from schools too I find, quick responses and extremely organised.  I accidentally sent an application to one school without realising my DD would be a few months too young for their intake and was contacted right away and told that the AD would like to see her next year when she’s of the right age because there will be no housing available for her age. With another school I received right away a pack from the academic school they have a tie up with requesting all sorts of information. I was very impressed with how organised and professional everything was, so easy to contact and responses super prompt and personal.

DD has a lovely long neck and lovely arms. Very good Achilles too which is probably why every teacher comments on her jumps. However, feet aren’t “ballerina feet” and back is stiff. Physique overall doesn’t fit the ideal “ballerina body” of some countries and schools (although this is probably a statement that will spark a discussion all on its own).  Last year, by some miracle, she was invited to a few finals including to the school I can just assume most everyone wants to go to in the UK (but for which DD has never shown interest in although to be fair, I don’t think she ever wanted to go “full time”). In one of the finals, her first comment to me when she came out was that she doesn’t think she was given nearly as thorough a physio check as others. She just assumed there was something/some things glaringly “wrong” with her and so they just gave her a cursory check. She’s since seen at least a couple of other physios (for other reasons, none of which audition related) who specialise in dance who told me they can’t see why DD would have been apparently discounted so quickly. DD isn’t too bothered thankfully as she considers dance as simply a serious hobby she loves doing.

4 hours ago, cotes du rhone ! said:

My daughter won a scholarship to attend an American Intensive in Florida. She skipped the last couple of weeks of her vocational school year to go but it was so worth it. She had an amazing time and made lots of friends from all over the world 🌎 

We had to pay for flights, but they collected her from the airport, insurance and for some of the weekend trips. With all that and then the tuition fees and boarding costs we would never have afforded it without the scholarship. 
We had to provide a full vaccination history too. 

I hope you don’t mind me messaging you. My DD is looking at a couple of SIs in FL and one is probably the one your DD went to! 

2 hours ago, Birdy said:

We also have crazy long summer breaks from school in the US, usually 11 or 12 weeks. My daughter’s ballet school is closed for over 14 weeks. Kids don’t want to take too long off of dance and there is a lot of pressure to keep in shape, so they pack their summers with intensive programs, which is obscenely expensive for parents. Even a five week program leaves a lot of the summer with no regular classes. My daughter will be starting a year-round program in Europe in the fall and I will be so grateful to get off of the crazy American summer intensive program.

Wow!  That is a long summer! I believe my kids get about 6-7 weeks off school but that’s it. Even then I’ve seen my daughter’s peers hop from one summer intensive to another as they often just last 1-2 weeks at her age. Not my daughter though, she’s not a good gauge of the typical committed dancer here - she is terrible and has no qualms about not doing any training for the entirety of the summer. She actually doesn’t understand why most dancers her age go to multiple SIs (“when do they get to rest?!”).  She actually agreed to audition for a particular American summer SI precisely because of its location (the weather being so diff from England!) and thinks it will be a holiday 🤷‍♀️. All the best to your daughter starting her year round programme in Europe.

On 10/01/2022 at 13:51, Ballet Power said:

Is this still available?

 

Hi! Yes it is x

44 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

Oh dear.... I forgot all about the whole fees to apply, fees to attend auditions (live or virtual) let alone thinking about fees to attend any courses & then the accommodation/flights/travel.....and possibly all for five+ weeks 😱

Why do all courses seem to be so long in US? 

 

I think for quite a few of them it serves as an audition for the full time programme. I believe this is the case for places like SAB and Kirov, and also school in Canada like the NBS.  In a way, perhaps a good thing as the students are seen over a longer period of time rather than just a day or two.  At the same time, the students can get a proper feel of the place - whether they can see themselves there or not. Obviously still a lot of expense and commitment especially if coming from overseas. Lots of pros and cons as with anything. 

Just to add quite a lot hold virtual auditions too, if you’re like my DD who absolutely hates having to do a video audition. US time is fairly doable given the time difference to the UK (it was Australia time that was a killer for us!). It does cost around £25-40 per audition, even for virtual ones. Just this week I realised I made the stupid mistake of losing £30 audition fee because the SI dates (pretty much all 5 weeks of it) are still within my DD’s school term. Costly mistake to make as auditions fees are non-refundable.  And there I was already imagining myself tagging along for a sun-filled holiday in the summer…

On 05/01/2022 at 12:08, dancegrad said:

Hi everyone,

 

Not sure if there is already a thread on this but I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of attending a summer school in America as a British national and had any opinions of any? It is something I have wondered about doing and wished to do for years and though I may be too old now for many being almost 22 there are some that take older students as well. I was just wondering if there were any thoughts on this subject at all?

 

Thank you all in advance!

If you can, I’d say definitely go for it. My DD usually hates auditions but found the American SI auditions fun yet challenging. They were quite fast paced and she told me after that they seem to look beyond the usual “feet and flexibility” and there was a lot of her favourites: jumps and turns! 

On 05/01/2022 at 12:08, dancegrad said:

Hi everyone,

 

Not sure if there is already a thread on this but I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of attending a summer school in America as a British national and had any opinions of any? It is something I have wondered about doing and wished to do for years and though I may be too old now for many being almost 22 there are some that take older students as well. I was just wondering if there were any thoughts on this subject at all?

 

Thank you all in advance!

No personal experience I’m afraid but from the information I received when DD was accepted to a few of them last year was that most were a minimum of 4 weeks (I think 4-5 weeks is the norm, always a factor for us as DD was only 11 then) and often start when the school term is still in session here in the UK. My DD does not go to a vocational school so I’m not sure if vocational schools here end their summer term earlier than other schools but I know that one of the factors why my DD could not attend was that some of them started as early as June/early July and there was no way she’d want to miss a single day of school to attend an SI. (Although I think quite a lot of European schools also start their SIs earlier, my DD also was not able to attend Dutch and ESB for the same reason). It’s a shame really as the American SIs’ timetables look intensive but have a wealth of other activities within the programmes too that sounds like a lot of fun. We also found that they are quite generous with scholarship offers.

On 29/12/2021 at 21:20, Meetmeatthebarre said:

I've just been going through my list of "to dos" before the new year. Apologies for not getting round to this earlier - I was waiting for a new pair to demonstrate properly but they are STILL on back order!

 

So I don't forget, I've taken some pictures of my current pair with a spare ribbon and some annotations in green as to where to sew. Hope they help - and please excuse the mucky insides 😶

 

In the first pic, the cut end of the ribbon is lined up with the top edge of the drawstring casing, and the stitching is made along the existing seam where the drawstring casing is attached to the main part of the shoe. In the second pic, the ribbon is folded along the line you've just sewn, and the stitching is made as close as possible to the top end of the drawstring casing (taking care to keep the cut end within the fold, and not to sew in the drawstring itself!). This gives an incredibly strong, double seam which is still easy to sew because, as mentioned before, it utilises existing holes in the shoe from manufacturer's stitching, and thinner parts (the drawstring casing) respectively. It has the bonuses of preventing frays, and looking close to invisible from the outside (also pictured). And since I've started using single elastic loop, I've never had to burn or nail varnish a cut end ever again!

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so so much for this and I’m so sorry for the late acknowledgement. Been a crazy few weeks! I’ve actually saved the link to your post for the next time I need to sew a pair. I’m so grateful and thanks again. Hope you have a wonderful new year! X

Sadly, I think that a school that starts their students on pointe at such a young age will prove to be an attraction to some. As with a lot of things these days, there seem to be extreme competition and it’s almost always a race: who gets to go on pointe earlier, who trains the most hours, who has the most associates/teachers/genres/classes/intensives. I may be wrong but although top

vocational schools start their  students on pointe at some stage during year 7, I am willing to bet that most, if not all, year 7s have already been on pointe prior to starting year 7. With a particular school in mind, I would actually guess that a significant percentage would have been on pointe for more than a year.  It’s more obvious these days because worryingly, a lot of these are in the public domain via schools and students’ posts.

Now sold 

7 minutes ago, BallerinaMum13 said:

Would anyone also be able to shed some light as to why these are so popular for audition / audition photos too? My DD is applying for JA's and she has 2 Degas leotards but she doesn't like how low cut they are at the chest (I agree with her). Almost every JA photo I have seen on Instagram is in a Degas leotard. Maybe she can wear one for the photos but I don't want her to be in a leotard that she hates for the actual audition. What would be another good choice? (Sorry for hijacking the thread). 

 

 

I think it’s the lovely fit and high leg line. I personally think though that it can sometimes look not age appropriate for very young children (my personal opinion) due to the aforementioned leg line and how the top section often sits quite low on the chest - especially the 9502. Very nice and flattering for older children and teens but because younger ones are often in socks, it doesn’t look quite the same as when wearing tights. About 5 years ago, they were very unique and I rarely saw anyone else in my DD’s class in them but its popularity seemed to have exploded in the last 2-3 years hence everyone seems to be in them these days especially in photos. Other alternatives we found that have amazing fit too are Wear Moi and Grishko (especially the Classic Excellence and Academy collections) for good classical leotards.  Do also look at the Degas styles that aren’t easily found here. My DD’s favourite Degas were two styles that aren’t stocked here in the UK.   They fit more comfortable and didn’t look as “revealing”. Attitude Diffusion leotards are also great (I believe they make the WL uniform, and are the sister company of Freed which is why Freed stocks a limited quantity in their shop). Based in France but they ship to the UK very quickly if the item is in stock. Last time I purchased some leotards from them, they literally arrived in less than 24 hours. I suspect their leotards are made in the same factory as Degas (you’ll see what I mean when you check out their leotards).  If time permits and you’re willing to invest in a special piece, you can also order custom ones from brands like Luckyleo (although they now have a minimum order amount before they’ll ship orders to the UK), Elevé and Yumiko. You can pick the style and colour etc. However, for the first two beware of customs charges as they come from the US.

Can’t help with sizing either but I can help with the comparison I guess? They do fit quite small. When my daughter was 7, she was in size 10A and it was snug. She’s now a few years older, 5’2”, slim build but not teeny tiny and wears the following sizes in as many brands as I can think of for comparison:

Degas: she can fit into both T0 and T1

Wear Moi: she can fit into both child 14 and XS

Luckyleo: XS

Yumiko: XS

Grishko: usually XXS (I think this is 34?)but can wear certain styles in age 12-13

Bloch: Petite

Capezio: XS

Ainsliewear: Petite

Elevè: XS

Bodile: XS/S

Meryl has a slightly fuzzy feel to it (hard to describe). Very soft. Neither Lycra or meryl we found showed sweat stains but my DD doesn’t really sweat much. In my experience however, meryl shows signs of wear much earlier than lycra. 
 

Hope this helps x

2 hours ago, NotadanceMa said:

My child wasn’t ready for vocational at Y7 and fast forward a few years was very fortunate to be invited to join one of the main vocational schools from their associate program, they started this September. We had no intention of looking to vocational until US if my child still wanted this path.

It has been a bumpy ride but overall they are enjoying the experience. Boarding brings its own very unique challenges.

what has transpired very quickly for my child is whilst they are very talented with all the right potential for classical ballet (this is feedback from teachers along the way, not me showing off 😁) ballet turns out not to be their passion. They won’t die if they can’t become a ballet dancer and have realised that they are not ambitious in the same way as other children they are now training with. My child is a hard worker, but does not enjoy the rarefied air of ballet training so far, they find it old fashioned and culturally out dated in its teaching methods.

The class gasped when my child was asked in a ballet lesson what they wanted to be in the future and my child said a social worker!!! The teacher then asked everyone to go away and come up with an alternative career choice as not one child could think of anything else but being a Principal.

I remember my child’s JA teacher saying that after hard work, so much of this world is about luck and being in the right place at the right time.

I think I brainwashed my child from the off when training moved out of the local church hall, that they needed always to have more than one Plan A, in fact multiple Plan A’s. And I made sure to tell them that they these plans can change over and over again and not knowing is also a plan 😁

 

I remember acutely the Y6/7 frenzy of excitement and hysteria in the lead up to vocational finals. My child was never going to go down that route but we were frantically swept along by it after an invitation and ended up with Y7 offer which was turned down. It was the most surreal of times for sure, and for what it’s worth it always seemed to me then to be something of a chimera where the end goal is always slightly out of reach. Maybe my child has intuitively absorbed this from me, I think I hope so.

 

I am in no way knocking the wonderful children out there who are at the beginning of chasing down those elusive places, but the system is changing, has changed in the years we have been in it; with professional photos for intensives now the hot topic of chats over coffee, private lessons from Principals ever more normal, extraordinary amounts of training hours, private lesson hours amassed prior to auditions, in the holidays, extra training on top of vocational training and on and on it goes.  
Where will it all end and to what ends?

 

So @Neverdancedjustamumwe have always been on the other side too, but as my child’s JA teacher also said ‘someone is always watching’ and for my child that proved to be the right person watching at the right time for just this moment now.

Even though my child is now in that elusive vocational arena they are very much still on the other side. X

Love your post! I can see a lot of similarities although I very much doubt my DC will end up full time but who knows. I’ve seen crazier things happen.  When asked, my DC always says they want to be a busker/artist/author/uni student …in that order so far over the years.  Even when they had spells of saying they’d like to be a dancer, they’d always told me they’d rather be in the corps! Apparently it looks more fun. And apparently DC can then be a dance teacher which should also be fun. 

It’s funny you mentioned about the changing system because that’s part of the reason my DC firmly decided it was not something they are willing to do, is not committed enough to do. It was heightened during lockdown when DC saw the extraordinary lengths some of their peers could afford/do.  Everything suddenly became more public and while I always warn her that social media doesn’t give the full or even actual picture, what DC and I saw was more than enough. DC was not willing to give up hours of her “normal life” as DC calls it - didn’t want to give up weekends or school holidays. Didn’t want to train at home after a hard day of school work. DC hated having photos and videos taken. That’s why the whole family found it quite ironic and slightly funny when DC got finals to auditions. I vividly remember dropping DC off to one, and my husband commented how everything looked amazing in this school (even from the outside and surrounds) and everyone looked very excited yet nervous - and yet there our DC was casually shuffling to the entrance, not a care in the world and quite possibly the only kid there who wasn’t really interested in a place (DC did grudgingly let me take a sneaky photo for memory’s sake). I have to admit I told DC to just go for the experience of it as it will probably be the only time they’ll ever see the place from the inside. When DC came out I asked how it went and they told me “the room they made us wait in was nice, like a hotel”. And that was it. In a way, I think DC knew in themselves that they shouldn’t have been there, DC wasn’t as committed as the others and DC didn’t want it like the others. I often wonder how DC presented themself that day and whether it was obvious. 

We remain firmly on the “other side” at the moment, and I know full well that with each year that passes, DC will probably be even more rooted on this side. Perhaps it will come to a point when it won’t be by choice. I stand by what I think about the changing system (which you noticed as well) and it’s easy to see this just by quickly looking at those who gained places in the top upper school/s, here and abroad. It requires so much time and commitment and finance, especially when I have more than one DC. 

I just know that at the moment, my DC won’t  budge from their comfortable “other side” seat. DC already commented on how the overall feeling of audition stress is palpable in some classes - and DC’s not even part of it. Apparently DC is not “getting involved in that again”… Maybe someday I’ll have the chance to remind DC of this comment and laugh at how one can change their mind. Then again, more likely not. 

Good luck to those going through the whole audition rounds this year.  I’m sure you’ve all read the good and bad sides of going full time, especially at age 11, on this forum but I just wanted to come on here to provide the “other side” as such. We have no experience of full time vocational school because we didn’t.  That there is my first disclaimer: everything that follows in this post are from my point of view as someone whose DC doesn’t go to full time vocational school, but went through auditions etc and was in the middle of it all amongst other DCs who were fervently preparing for auditions in the last few years. I therefore cannot talk about how brilliant it is for DCs to be in full time voc school as I don’t have any in one. I am sure there are lots more on this forum who can do that as they have DCs who are full time. This is simply a light read for those who, in a few months, might open emails or letters that don’t contain the outcome they wanted from the school they wanted.   I am not, in any way, placing judgement on those who went full time.   Nor is this a bitter or defensive post of someone whose DC didn’t end up going full time. 

I begin with saying that I’m sure everyone here knows the odds of getting in to the big name schools. What I wanted to add is that if your DC doesn’t end up getting into one, or even if they don’t get into their top choice, it’s really not the end of the world. I probably come from the minority  of parents on here who didn’t really enjoy the whole audition process, even with all the inspiring talks and messages of “just enjoy the experience”.  In a way I think it’s because I knew in my heart that I didn’t want my DC to go full time at 11 but I didn’t want this to be obvious and so I dutifully and happily still took DC to all classes etc. To cut the long story short, my DC loves dancing but I didn’t think wanted to go full time either and was just going with the flow last year. Because, really, does an 11 year old know what they want at that age? Maybe some do, my DC I definitely know, doesn’t. They can claim something is their dream but god knows I didn’t even know what I wanted to do/be in the first two years I was at university.  At the moment, these auditions no doubt  seem to be the biggest focus in your lives but know that when you come out the other end, regardless of the outcome, you will be fine.  From our humble experience (which isn’t much), and from those I’ve witnessed first hand (a lot), what I would say is that if your DC ends up not going full time or if they end up in their second choice vocational school, let them enjoy that first year wherever they are. Let them enjoy it and let them flourish, let them grab every opportunity they can, don’t let them focus or obsess and spend those first few months thinking of what they’ve missed out on not going full time (or going to their first choice school), don’t let them spend all their time planning and preparing  to re-apply to their dream school again or talking about their friends who are now in so and so ballet school.  In a way we were lucky because our DC, even with offers of full time places off the back of summer intensive applications overseas, didn’t want to go full time by the end of it all.   DC saw how intensely peers prepared for auditions, hours & hours of training etc and decided then and there it wasn’t for DC. DC started at the academic school they always wanted to go to and I’ve never seen them happier and more confident than I have these past few months -  absolutely loves school and friends, settled in smoothly and seamlessly, loves the academic challenge and loves dancing purely for the fun of it, and only secondary to academics.
 

Focus on the things you are lucky to have given your situation. For me, it’s the fact that I see DC every day, I get to wave DC off as DC walks to the bus stop to meet friends on their way to school, I get the lowdown on DC’s day, I get to watch DC dance not just ballet but all sorts of dancing she didn’t have time for before, see DC play and represent their school in sports for the very first time, expertly use public buses, go out with friends after school, have our laughs and chats in the car/train as I take them to dance and sports and various school activities and play dates, get excited for them to come home every day to ask how school was as we walk to the shops to get snacks, banter with siblings - I get to watch DC grow up every single day.  DC is gaining life skills early in life, confidence in going places on their own, cooking for themselves, knowing what’s on the news and what’s happening in the world out there every day and are not insulated in any way.
 

And DC still dances as DC does love it. A lot. With no pressure, with no specific goals, not as a means of preparing for anything - just for fun. I actually think DC is loving and enjoying dancing more these days than when the thought of auditions was looming over like some cloud. Ironically, DC even got a place in a highly sought after associates scheme off the back of last year, without purposely meaning to and despite not really enjoying the whole audition experience. 
 

Sometimes I ask DC if they might want to go full time someday and DC gives a noncommittal “maybe”. But the important thing for me is that even if DC doesn’t change their mind is that DC would have spent their time in “normal school” loving every minute of it despite the usual challenges (for us, this is managing the heavy academic timetable and work and squeezing in all other activities) but not having to stress about stretching & conditioning every day, eating within recommended nutritional requirements every meal, or being on top form every day/getting noticed in class lest get assessed out a few years/months down the line.  What counts for me is that DC doesn’t feel any less than their friends who go to full time school (luckily DC doesn’t, as DC never had the same focus and determination anyway). DC just has a different focus which may or may not change in the future in which case DC will be auditioning with them all with a fresh pair of eyes at age 15/16, perhaps not as trained and amazing as those who went to lower school but definitely not at all pressured and hopefully mature enough to know it’s what they actually want at that stage in life.  I know I’ve written too much now (this is what happens when my DCs are still asleep and in a sports match) but I just wanted to provide some reassure to those who might open those emails a few months from now getting a “no” from their DC’s dream school. I know they always say “it’s not a no, it’s a not yet” but I honestly believe that for some, it’s really a no. But know that a “no” can be the best thing that can happen to your DC. 

Again, this is just my point of view and I am in no way saying that not going full time is better than going full time. I know a lot of full time DCs who are very happy and thriving in their vocational schools.  I do personally think that it takes a special kind of personality and constitution (focus, grit, determination) to flourish in vocational school especially at such a young age and so I have the utmost respect and admiration for those kids and their parents. 

PS: As my last disclaimer, I am well aware of the fact that it won’t be an easy endeavour if someone who isn’t full time suddenly decides to audition in later years of lower school or upper school.  Given the calibre and amount of training full time students get, I personally think that for someone to even be competitive enough to go for a place in years 10/11 or upper schools, someone would need to have the time and money to prepare for this. I noticed that those with a good chance are those who can afford multiple classes and associates, lots of privates with (sometimes, multiple) teachers, travel to various summer intensives here and overseas, compete in things like the Prix de Lausanne and YAGP, and preferably be home schooled to have the time to squeeze everything in!   This is obviously not the case for everyone but this is just my opinion of how someone can actually get a place in the top schools here and overseas if coming from a non-full time background….