Drdee

This is a thorny issue. I would look at roles and salaries. I am not sure how transparent this is in the ballet world.

I think the pandemic has meant many of us have been doing a lot of soul searching. Not sure chaos can be construed from someone leaving somewhere after only a short while. I have no insider knowledge but I know of colleagues doing brave and rash things as a result of the global situation.

Sorry I realise you were asking a question.

I had wanted to mention this earlier but didn’t have the full details. Thanks for sharing. She also completed a PhD. No mean feat on top of everything!!

It’s interesting Leanne Benjamin’s name hasn’t come up. She may be keen to put her hat in the ring!

I think she needs to keep being positive that she will offered a place or places. Onwards and upwards as they say. I know it’s tough. My daughter still hasn’t forgiven me for opening her offer from Laines. Fingers crossed.

@Kendie76 I will say it is much more competitive for girls (or should we say young ladies). I am not sure what your DD’s current training is and what her focus is and her age. My DD went to MT training at 18 (Urdang) and was training at a local stage school for 7 yrs and academic studies to A levels. What is her current training? I think a Foundation course is worth considering. How many more auditions? Which ones? Happy to talk via DM if helpful

I think that Urdang has this name of being ‘commercial’ but I don’t know why. I think it may depend if you do the diploma or the degree. My daughter is a strong dancer (ballet, contemporary, modern,tap, Classical Greek) but wanted to improve her singing and acting. She is loving her time at Urdang and is doing all dance genres. She likes the academic side as well. She wanted to be in the thick of it in London and gets to see performances every week. I would focus on what your daughter’s ambition is and what you can afford. She wanted a degree and Urdang is accredited with University of Birmingham. I have no idea about recall chances sorry.

I don’t know anything about NAPM but I’m happy to provide advice on MT courses as my younger DD is in her second year at Urdang and we are familiar with a range of courses.

This is great news. I was told that there was only 1 British born BAME girl who graduated from a ballet vocational school last year. Ballet Black picked her up. More needs to be done. I see pointe shoes will be paid for that’s great!

Thanks Alison for the welcome.

Emma Thank you for sharing your experience. Whilst my daughter did not study at a lower school I could echo every single point you have said here in relationship to the three positive years my daughter had at the ballet school in the West of Scotland that was reported on by ITV and then closed. I was ignorant to a lot of what went on but also I did not have a good understanding of the breadth of what safeguarding actually entails. I do not think there is enough education around this let alone productive discussion. It really is complex and complicated. For those of you who want to join in the conversation please have a look at the work 'Saferdance Working Group' are doing. This came out of the events from last year and RAD leading the way. Whilst specifically focussed on dance in out of hours settings, it is where dance educators, dance examining bodies and government organisations, dance parents, dance students and safeguarding experts are working collaboratively. Have a look here: https://www.dsswg.org.uk/resources. It is an ongoing learning experience for all of us and of course an under researched area. Denise