Jewel

4 hours ago, Lisa O`Brien said:

That's great to hear. Forgot it was about Elmhurst. So he's dancing professionally now? Gosh I didn't realise the documentary was so long ago. 

It looks like covid interrupted the contract and he returned to the UK. Hopefully it will be a temporary hiatus. 

According to the internet and social media (he has a few mutual friends with me) the boy  did indeed go to Hammond and then onto London Russian Ballet School before taking up a professional contract in Bulgaria.  

I've never used them but have friends who rave about Snag tights in general.  I think it's great for non standard sized/proportioned people)

Unless they have holes in them they will be fine.  My daughter always did exams in her oldest ballet shoes as they were the most comfortable.

It's strange how different people find things isn't it.  I stopped buying Silky tights for dd as they didn't last 5 minutes

13 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

Well, I can see this as a reason but the irony for me was I was prevented from doing an intermediate class with an 18+ year old (schools decision - frankly I think based on the mother of said young adult who I think just doesn’t like me despite not knowing me…🙄) yet when I took my exam at RAD HQ with another adult we were then placed with 2 under 13 year old girls!!!! We were in same changing room, left completely alone with them in a wa up studio too! We adults were both rather shocked at this (I’d like to point out also that both of us regularly worked with children, were both were at tons current advanced DBS checked & I held a chaperone license but RAD were not aware of this nor asked any questions!!! I would not have been happy if I were the mother or teacher of those two minors….. however, it were actually us adults that needed the protection…. From the smug sniggering looks (from them & their teacher sadly) at our middle aged post birthing very much less than perfect figures whilst they were in their pre-pubescent skinny ‘perfection’ state. 
It did give us both awful jitters & I think seriously disadvantaged us adults being in exam with them so my advice would be to ask questions pre exam entry to ensure not to be placed with seriously training kids!! 
Mind you, it did give us some satisfaction to see the smug little madams faces drop when they saw that despite the lumps & bumps we could actually dance!! 
Wish I’d complained to the RAD at the time for the woefully inappropriate scheduling of 2 adults & 2 very young for Intermediate children. 
I think the examiner really struggled with it too & it tarnished what should have been a proud experience sadly… put me off looking to carry on with any syllabus or do any other exam…

What an awful attitude from the children/teacher.

However (and I say this as a parent) I would say that it was up to the accompanying parent/teacher to supervise the young people, I wouldn't expect RAD to take into account candidates ages when scheduling exams.

Adults taking classes with under 18's do not have to be DBS checked.  It is very common for there to be amateur theatre groups which contain a mix of ages.  It is the job of the class leader to ensure safeguarding.

No, it’s based on the Broadway 2011 production with Kathleen Marshall’s (adapted) choreography. 
 

As far as I am aware it’s never played Chichester Festival. There was a revival tour in 2015 (etched in my memory as someone ran in the back of my car the night I went to see it) but it was cut short due to poor ticket sales) 

I'd say for a start to stop using the gel and hairspray on a regular basis and save it for exams/performances only.  

Kerry Ellis is a massive name in musical theatre. She has quite a following. She originated the role of Meat in We Will Rock You, she was Martine McCutcheon’s understudy in My Fair Lady, was Idina Menzel’s standby in Wicked before taking over the role and she has worked a lot with Brian May. 

It seems reasonable for a UK based forum to refer to the educational system in England & Wales when talking about a school located in England. 

And what happens to those who haven’t been accepted into the 2nd part if the programme?  They will be allocated whatever local schools have spare places (often the not so good schools) and will struggle with gcse options as many schools take options and start GCSEs at the end of Year 8. 
 

Unlike the end of year 11, Year 9 is not a natural change of school time in England & Wales so these children will be hugely disadvantaged. 

I agree, it is assessing out by a different name.

They won’t know exactly until Easter when anyone leaving has to give notice by. 
 

They will know how many current 11s have MDS awards to be put back into the pot.

Then they also have a limited number of non MDS school scholarships. 

Dada is different to MDS in that each school/college don't have a set number of awards they have a "pot" of money.  When you first audition most place will ask you to fill in a self-declaration of income, this is so the school can work out roughly how much DaDa you will need.  As cotes says they rank all succesful applicants in order from 1 to whatever and start offering DaDa's from the top down.  If a lot of people on the list are high income then the pot of money will go further ie they can offer more awards but if lot of people are low income it will run out sooner.

When you are actually offered a DaDa you then fill out all the proper forms where you have to send off P60's etc  This table shows how much you might get. It was quite late on when dd's exact award and our contribution was actually confirmed. The fees part of the award are paid direct to the school/college.  It's not a loan so you don't have to pay it back.  Only those on the lowest income get a maintenance amount.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dance-and-drama-awards-income-scales/dance-and-drama-awards-income-scales-2018-to-2019-academic-year

3 minutes ago, meadowblythe said:

 

The actual settings of the school is something to consider.  My rural and very active DS was not set up for urban living (only football was played with a beachball as no open space around boarding house ..)  Schools allowing more activity during the day and in the evening eventually suited much better.  Choice of activities is important: all taken to see Marley and Me as the film choice.  The boys were not impressed.

 

 

Good point.  My dd has only ever done Summer Schools at Elmhurst but I imagine that the location away from the city means that any activities need to be organised as such (were they allowed for example to go somewhere like Cannon Hill Park for a kick about? etc etc.  (Picking up on the football thing Meadowblythe at Hammond there is a proper football pitch with goals etc that the children often used at lunchtimes and the short break between evening meal and the bus back).  

The Hammond accommodation was 5-10 mins walk from the city centre, Grosvenor Park, leisure centre etc etc so children could choose to go into town or to the park at weekends or they could stay in the boarding house).  There were a few non optional trips (day trips to the beach  but generally the children had a lot of freedom.)  

Again at Tring dd only ever did summer schools and was not allowed out at all but I would have imagined the full timers could surely walk into Tring itself where there seemed to be a nice little park etc nearby although it might be too quiet for some children.

This is pre-pandemic but at Hammond they had Saturday morning dance classes.  Saturday afternoons they were allowed to go shopping into town (in groups or supervised depending on year group).  Every so often a trip would be organised, swimming or to the beach.  Sundays were a bit more chilled, often homework catch up or going to the park etc.

1 hour ago, balletbean said:

Gosh, that’s harsh but was the decision based purely on their skills as a dancer or could there have been issues arising on the academic side of the Degree?  Like other Uni students who ‘fail’ their year end exams. 
 

On the subject of finances. What happens if a pupil has taken out a student loan for the BA course but now finds themselves (not by choice) being unable to return and therefore complete their final yr? 

I have no personal experience of RBS but Student Finance is applied for on a year by year basis.  if a student does not continue into their final year usually they graduate with a Certificate of Higher Education (Year 1) or a Diploma of Higher Education (Year 2)

From what I gather from open days and knowing students who have attended LIPA has a fantastic reputation for Acting & Music.  I don't think it is up there with the elite of the dance courses.  

There is no funding available for this course.

How old are you Maryy?

As a general rule most 16 year olds auditioning for what we call Upper School would be working at around Advanced 1 level although they may not have actually taken the exams.  Also ballet schools are looking for something beyond just ballet exam syllabus work, it's that extra special something.  

It is at this age that many realise that becoming a pure ballet dancer is unrealistic and that they stand much more chance of a performing career if they diversify into other forms of dance too.  

Could you perhaps arrange a consultation lesson with a teacher from the school who offers more professional training?

What does your teacher advise?

Which part of Manchester?

Centre Pointe are said to be very good.

Also, don't forget the chance to actually perform.  It's easy to lose your love of dance it there is nothing but class.

It is a case of quality over quantity.  

My dd did used to do some workshops etc but only if we felt she would get something specific out of it.  A good ballet summer school during the long holidays and some workshops/summer schools from Year 9/10 onwards at colleges she might be interested in auditioning at.

There are LOTS of pack 'em in workshops by "names" with actually no individual attention. No harm in doing them as long as you can afford it and you just treat it as a fun day.

I would say that good quality ballet, jazz or modern and possibly tap classes should be the focus with maybe one good associate scheme.  Try to include a class that ins't just syllabus.  Street, contemporary, etc etc are all fine but not really necessary at this stage.  If its something a child absolutely loves then great, but it won't confer any particular advantage.  

As she gets older depending then perhaps a singing lesson/class might be a better thing to add in because so many of the dance colleges include singing now to add an extra string to their bows.

Is there a reason why many dancers don't join Equity?