Theodore19

I have always remembered  a phone call that my DS son made from WL. A boy from Japan had been taken into his year group after an overseas competition was asked to stand in front of the other boys and pirouette. 

He did several turns, and when he finished the teacher than shouted at the class. Why can't you do that?

My son replied because you haven't taught us!!!...

Why are talented driven, children picked from hundreds spending hours learning charactor dances and then assessed out and replaced with dancers trained overseas and them passed off as being Royal Ballet Students 

I can't help think that The Royal Ballet School is now a money making exercise. Every year they bring out more and more auditions world wide. On-line associates, for those not a JA etc. More and more JA sites. My son attended WL and it was hard enough then to get in, now they seem to let hundreds of children audition and attend  at a cost to parents when there are still 12 girl spaces and 12 boys. 

My DS gained a place as a London JA 6 weeks after his first ever ballet lesson he was nine .

Exactly 2 years later we opened the yes for year 7 place at WL letter.

I can still remember how we both jumped up and down screaming whilst the post man who I had been stalking watched in amazement. 

DS was also awarded an MDS for Tring and Elmhurst for year 7 . He didn't audition for Hammond. 

This year would have been his graduation year.

However the road took a very different direction from the one we saw ahead of us when he was 11.

In year 10 he decided that the love he had once felt when dancing had been destroyed and all the joy was gone.

He was tired,unhappy and fed up.

He will finish his Mercedes Benz apprenticeship this Summer and will be fully qualified, just as his contemporaries are starting to try and gain Ballet contracts. 

It is a long road with many bumps... so go in with your eyes wide open.

Always remember that it is ok to change your mind.

3 hours ago, Bunny said:

It’s so difficult to know how well your child will cope with moving away I think. I like to think my DS is quite independent and would settle well but the reality might be completely different. 
 

My DS wants to be a ballet dancer. His dance principal says he is an all rounder and is competent in all styles so shouldn’t pigeonhole himself at such a young age, but that a ballet school is a fantastic option anyway as ballet is the core of everything dance wise and once they have been to

a ballet school, if they decide ballet isn’t for them, they are still in good stead to pursue another dance option.  I think that’s quite a nice way of looking at it! He isn’t amazing academically, just average, enjoys most school subjects, but there’s no passion there for any of them. It’s all about dance. 
 

I agree entirely with everything you say! Nobody knows what’s around the corner and as one door closes another somewhere else opens up!