Peony

If you have a modern house the first floor is likely to be kinder to jump on as the floor will be suspended rather than the ground floor which is concrete. whatever you put down on a concrete floor it’s not going to be particularly kind to the joints!

If you contact the university would they put him in contact with someone in the first year of his course to give advice? Or are there any Facebook groups etc for students from there?

If they were operating and you didn’t attend (even for good reason) there would be a standard cancellation charge. However as the course is not operating at all I don’t think the situation is the same? Do you have any paperwork/ advertisements etc with the dates on? Is there any mention of dates changing if necessary? Personally if they don’t come up with something soon I’d take them to small claims. A thousand pounds is an awful lot of money!

If they really do have circumstances out of their control in regards to costs it would probably be best to explain that as people may then look a bit more favourably on the situation. I do think as a business you have to have some sort of contingency planning whether that’s insurance or a buffer in the bank. As a participant generally there’s no refund for cancellations despite the circumstances. It’s just going to make people reluctant to use them again. I had a non-refundable stay booked with the Hilton and they were offering refunds even before they were told to close. I’ll definitely use them in preference to others in the future. Since things are going to be up in the air for a long time the loyalty bought by good customer service is definitely going to mean a lot I think!

£5 per week?

Surely it would be very wrong morally to be charging parents full fees and to claim any assistance from the government? Maybe you could suggest paying a reduced amount of 1/3 fees or something for the summer term in April as a lump sum. They’d have just about the entire amount for the first month and then can claim assistance. It is tricky as nobody wants to see their valued teachers in a difficult financial position but many parents are struggling and paying a large amount for dance lessons which aren’t running is not going to be possible

Haven’t the government announced help for the self employed now? I would presume dance teachers are eligible? Presuming they are they shouldn’t really be charging fees and claiming help or is it more complicated than that?

After such a long period stuck indoors you may also find that you have lots of new recruits, although I know in the meantime it will be dire. Could you ask for a percentage of fees, maybe then take it off the next terms bill as that would also make people more likely to come back?

it’s seems likely it may have been circulating in other countries earlier than we think too

I am similar and am starting the 3 months distancing, it is a horrible thing to have to do, especially not seeing family properly, and lack of ballet! I think virtually all classes will stop soon anyway though. If you’re in London I would definitely not go, if you’re rural then not so bad, I’d keep some distance between you and the other dancers and be very diligent with wiping the barre down etc. Perhaps when you can, get a review as you shouldn’t really need the reliever on a regular basis. I stepped up to a combination inhaler and practically never get symptoms now. Just with infections really 😫

when you say moderate, are you on a steroid inhaler long term and qualify for the flu jab? If you are you need to go for stringent social distancing, technically just from Saturday but depending where you are in the country- if a city do it now. So no I wouldn’t go to ballet 😫

If you want tickets for the welcome performance check back nearer the time. For the swan lake one there were certainly many people there who would not have booked through the welcome offer. I expect there could be many tickets released as the triple bill may not be that appealing for new families. They choose some odd performances, the first one they sent me was an opera recommended for children over 12 due to adult themes- not ideal for an offer aimed at families!

They look good but unfortunately way too expensive for me!

I Think the mods will decline to comment on your last point Michelle. I will put my personal viewpoint as I’m not involved with any discussions with any of the schools! There are many schools freely discussed on here, both positive and negative. If a school have Complained regarding negative comments and asked to have them removed that’s fair enough but it would be unfair to only delete negative comments and leave the positive as that’s not a balanced view. It’s unfair to the other schools who are freely discussed. It’s also not going to be possible for one of the moderators to screen every comment to see if it’s acceptable to the school or not! You can’t have your cake and eat it....! as regards your pointe shoes, has anyone had a look in person? Dancique in Birmingham are excellent and used to adult dancers too. I find a box liner in the narrower foot works well. Your studio must be amazing, I find with a proper, sprung, floor the potential for injury is much less, also doesn’t really hurt if you fall on your behind!

The inference here is that RB aren’t training their students for enough hours, what I’m asking is are they training for a lot less hours than equivalent schools such as vaganova? I agree with you, about the drop out rate at the other schools, maybe this is just to be expected rather than a failing on the schools part? POB and The Russian schools seem to have much more stringent controls on height, physique etc, I think the royal ballet school has a slightly different ethos and doesn’t just train for what the company wants and needs but also expects their dancers to go to other companies. There are many countries who drive their children very much harder academically than we do ours but it’s not at no cost- mental health suffers and also less tangible effects such as less self motivation and ingenuity.

I’m sceptical that children are training intensively for so many hours that they only get a few hours sleep on a routine basis. If it were the case I think their bodies would be so badly damaged they probably wouldn’t be dancing at the end of it. It doesn’t appear from the outside that children at the vaganova, POB schools etc are doing anything like that amount of dance either?

There are members who are legal experts and could comment further but a non disclosure document is usually not signed for sensational reasons! They are pretty standard in the workplace. You are under no obligation to sign but usually you get something in return e.g. a redundancy payment and the company don’t want others to know details of how much you’ve been given etc. So it’s very plausible that the schools don’t want others to know that you haven’t been asked to pay back your scholarship money because then everyone would want the same. Or they just don’t want people selling potentially sensationalised stories to the media. There are always 2 sides to a story but one side generally can’t tell theirs because they are bound by confidentiality/ professionalism. If police/ safeguarding etc are involved then yes obviously accusations should be taken seriously

My feet are shorter en pointe (and in high heels- I wear 1/2 size smaller!). I need elastic on everything but freeds, so I presume depends on the shoe shape too. I agree it is dangerous if they pop off!

Sorry I don’t know your area. The main ballet examination boards should have a teacher finder on their websites. Or would you consider travelling into central London as there are classes available all day, every day pretty much!

I think you get a discount if you have siblings in the same performance but not sure how much it is

The ribbon position looks similar to where I was first shown to sew them in and should mean you don’t need elastics. I didn’t need any but now I sew them further forward I need a loop of elastic or the heel pops off. I believe the second method is more popular in the US. Personally I prefer it as it pulls the shoe into the arch. To me it looks like you have a bit too much wrinkling around the heels- are you sinking? I’m surprised your shoes look so clean and shiny with that much pointe work, your studio must have a great floor!

what area of the country are you based in?

If a workshop is well planned I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect the piece of rep to be advertised. Some people won’t care but others might like to watch the piece and get a feel for style beforehand, some might not want to attempt a solo, or a group piece, or a character dance etc. I wouldn’t expect an exact replica as it’s up to the teacher’s skill to adapt and make the choreography suitable for those present. That part needs to be done on the day!

Could she wear a ladies XS? Pretty much all the big brands have at least a shelf liner in. Or a tank style with bra/ crop top underneath? Dark colours are much more forgiving too

I keep looking at the mdm shoes but still haven’t bought any as they are expensive if they’re not right! I personally can’t feel any appreciable difference between a split and full sole in terms of support or strengthening as the full soles are so soft anyway.