Peony

How annoying, it’s very difficult at the ballet due to the quiet too. It’s usually happened to us at musicals and it’s easier to turn round and say something.

I’ve never tried an aperol spritz but would be happy to sample it if a friend was kind enough! I don’t drink much but alcohol keeps so never a problem for me to receive it as a gift. I wouldn’t give it to someone I didn’t know well for fear that they are an ex-alcoholic or have religious or other beliefs

I’ve had to tell kids to stop kicking the back of my kids chair🤣 it drives them mad. I’ve caught them doing it a couple of times too , can happen on occasion even to diligent parents! Nothing wrong with a polite request to stop. Some parents just don’t care as long as the kids are not annoying them of course

If she’s at Elmhurst Dancique in Birmingham. some of the models are only available as r class and not Russian pointe (and probably vice versa!) so you may need to check they can get speciflfic models and the lead time

I think dreampointes are a bit different to gaynors in the box which is more traditional so potentially if that’s softened it may affect you? Plastics will eventually weaken, just much slower than traditional shoes

Lucky students! Interesting pairing

Year 7 is enormously difficult for many children, especially if they don’t join a school with their friends. It felt like my child cried practically every night. The expectations, hormones, trying to fit in, the independence expected. I can only imagine that it’s even more difficult if your child boards. Are you in contact with the other parents? I think you probably need advice specifically from others who have had children start at vocational boarding in year 7, but you have my sympathy

It’s really difficult to improve in a high level class as there won’t be much explanation of fundamentals. I’d definitely look for a beginner class online to supplement, you’re in a good position as there is so much available now, good luck!

I’m a big believer in fate, sometimes difficult things happen for a reason and might show you the way to go. I do think there are kids who appear to get in good schools at 16 who haven’t done big competitions, multiple privates and the most famous summer schools. But it’s difficult to tell from the outside! Not a ballet parent but with most things I do genuinely think it’s the intrinsic desire and will to spend a lot of your time doing the activity because you genuinely love it that makes the difference. So yes access to lessons is important but so is a genuine interest that leads you to watch and analyse performances, and read around your subject and practice at home and be constantly analysing how you could do better. Which is much easier these days with the internet!

I think it depends on whether you really want to move to London and as part of that you need ballet training or whether it’s primarily a move for the ballet. If the second maybe cast the net wider. There isn’t another school equivalent to the royal ballet in the UK. She’s currently at a good school, there are equivalents here but I wouldn’t move specifically for them over what you have. Especially not as she currently has funding. Is SAB considered the top school in the US? there are certainly dancers who go all the way through RB from associates to company. Were they identifiable at 11? I’m honestly not sure, some children do seem to have a very natural ability with minimal prior training. enjoy your visit to london!

I imagine it’s very tricky as you probably don’t want to start the process before you know she has a place you’re happy with but you’d then have a fairly short time frame for an international move. Not sure EU passport makes any difference post Brexit. Possibly finding an immigration lawyer would be your quickest and easiest option

https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa?step-by-step-nav=a6bf2818-5035-45f7-ad38-c76cb8f1f251 I think this is the page you need

This may help https://www.gov.uk/parent-of-a-child-at-school-visa it appears the child can have a visa to come here as a boarder or you can apply for one parent to accompany but other family must live abroad and it ends when the child is 12 so don’t think that will help you! However, if you have funds to live in London/ private schools etc I expect there’s a different visa you could apply for.

The family members are not allowed to work in the US though are they? im sure you’ve already thought about the costs but I think they would be substantial as you would only be entitled to emergency medical care on the NHS and I don’t think there is funding at white lodge for international students (not the usual MDS anyway). If she’s on a full scholarship and funded shoes/ uniform etc potentially the move could cost you a lot

Most styles are quite high on the back, there’s a number that are good with a bra. I like the meryl fabric and colour choices and find they wash really well. I do think the styles are better for older girls and adults though

I had no idea they did booster cushions. Never been mentioned nor offered despite having visited with younger children. I wouldn’t sit in the balcony again unless the seat was in the central block. I thought the view from various seats in the stalls circle was superior. I agree with others the rake isn’t generous.

It’s much easier to obtain one reasonable ticket than a number of them together in general booking. I can rule out the cheapest prices because they’re either not available or not appropriate because they’re not a proper seat. I will give an example, to watch a blockbuster at my local cinema is £30 for a family ticket. For a performance it comes to £75 (even if it’s a Bolshoi performance repeated from 3 years ago!). Hence I’ve never taken my children. That is purely down to cost. I got talking to a lady at a regional theatre and she said she’d seen Nureyev and Fonteyn there, that wouldn’t happen now. Smaller companies are doing a great job at getting to local venues but they don’t have the pull of the RB. I totally agree with blossom above, they need to think bigger.

@Jan McNulty the answer is we watch very little ballet really as we just can’t afford it. Yes have been to local theatres (midlands) and BRB, ENB, NB, ballet Cymru, btuk. The others are more affordable. With travel it’s still at least £200-300 for a family. I can’t really understand how that’s not a barrier to participation but they are more affordable than RB definitely. The equivalent of an Arsenal match is probably the royal ballet companies rather than the others though? I don’t know a lot about football so can’t really compare but I don’t know anyone who watches premier matches on a season ticket/ regular basis either. Thanks for the link to the interview I will have a listen later.

I have no idea how much it costs to get to a premier match for an adult/ child? Is it well over £100? I’m not sure what point can be made comparing one incredibly expensive activity with another, clearly they would both be beyond the means of many given the average earnings in this country.

I don’t think any of the elite schools are looking to enter their most promising students with a desire to win the competition. Otherwise you’d see all the dancers who’ve been quickly promoted through their companies there. It’s very much a tool for the student to be seen- which can be for many reasons. Maybe training in a less illustrious school, or privately or they are at a top class school but won’t be going into the company attached. I imagine there’s easier ways to be seen if you are at one of the ‘top’ handful of schools.

Perhaps with covid disruption it’s been much more difficult to keep an eye on other companies? It’s quite a large pool of potential employees, particularly at soloist level. So much has changed that perhaps it’s just a shot to see if someone unexpected might apply. It seems like most of the companies do employ outside rather than only promoting from within, it just always seems to be shrouded in great secrecy (From an outside perspective anyway!). I would hope that current employees were notified of the ad before it went out publicly.

I would have thought an open recruitment process was a step forward for ballet companies. What is the harm in it? How can you know you have the best dancers and are promoting the best if you don’t compare to outside applicants?

@Anna C I think there is some debate as to whether hypermobility syndrome and EDS are a spectrum but EDS is still classified as rare as the majority with hypermobility syndrome don’t meet all the criteria for EDS. Hypermobility syndrome isn’t rare I agree. I think unfortunately there are a lot of cut backs due to covid back logs. Hope you get seen soon!

It may not be in depth but I’m sure connective tissue disorders are covered in GP training but GPs don’t provide specialist care. The important thing is that they can identify a problem and refer on. EDS is quite a rare genetic disorder. Unfortunately the government has made it so that GPs hold the budgets and have to do all the referrals, it would really make sense if your psychologist could refer directly to a specialist service if they suspect EDS but they can’t because the NHS has been set up to run on a private medicine model

Those studies of dancers appear to quite old 20-30 years and I am wondering what criteria they are using for ‘hypermobility’ that gave 0% of principals of RB/ ABT/ NYCB with it. Possibly they’ve adjusted the criteria to take account of training? To meet the ‘layperson’ definition of hypermobility you really don’t have to be amazingly bendy! I’m not sure how much difference early stretching and training makes. The vast majority of babies are extremely flexible. It seems more common in some countries that parents who are aspiring for their children to be dancers/gymnasts will help them stretch from a very early age