Aurora

Wow well done David!

Because of the fact that the majority of teachers in the UK ARE qualified I think many of those (but not all by any means) that aren't qualified just haven't bothered and that doesn't give a good impression of them. Because having teaching qualifications isn't generally the done thing in the US then people don't expect it and therefore teachers don't feel the need rather than just haven't bothered! Am I making sense?!! However, despite that, teachers should be continually learning and improving their teaching methods and attending courses can only help with that, including in the US. Whether they lead to a teaching qualification or not isn't really relevant there but personally if a teacher had had a professional career in dance AND a teaching qualification it would impress me more than just having had a career (initial impressions only of course, many other factors come into play too).

You're not all that far from Birmingham, there is midas in birmingham and midlands associates in Newark

Which part of the country are you in?

You definitely don't need to be a former professional to be a great teacher! I think at full time vocational schools the students should be taught by former professionals for a fair amount of the time though as they have experience of what they are training the students to do ultimately.

If the class is compulsory then I feel strongly that it should be taught by a teacher and not a student!!!! If it was a recreational dance club then a sixth former might be acceptable - IF the club was optional AND if a teacher supervised throughout all the classes. I would not be happy with my dd participating otherwise!

Michelle - Lisa didn't say not to practice at home at all but not to try anything you haven't been doing in class, which is certainly sensible

Your current teacher doesn't own you and it's unreasonable for her to request permission as such - informing her should be all that's required. Have you signed any documents that tie you into needing permission? Even if you have I doubt they would hold water in a legal case because its not a reasonable clause. The biggest issue may be finding another teacher to take your children on. If the old and new teacher are acquaintances or with the same examining board for example they might not be keen to ruffle any feathers by accepting your children. Probably the first stage is to find a school that you're happy with that would be prepared to accept your children. Then I would approach your current teacher to discuss it or just give notice.

I always have the inside one underneath as that's how ribbons are tied

Oh dear, well I hope you recover quickly

Sorry I'm nowhere near Bristol. Have you tried looking on the IDTA website? They list schools by area and have links to schools websites etc so you might find something. www.idta.co.uk Good luck! Oh and if you end up with a beginner class I think you should go along with her!

I really like the tutu and the music. The work looks really nice but has very fiddly choreography! I think that those who aren't at dance school full time might find it difficult to get enough hours to learn the work and train to a high enough standard. The levels are most certainly harder than the current levels but that was always going to the case in light of the other syllabus changes!

Yes I think if you treat each school in a respectful manner it doesn't cause any big problems. I had issues with my daughter's gymnastics school and was extremely frustrated with them. I eventually pulled her out of the school but I did so in the correct way and was very careful not to burn any bridges because you never know! Just to clarify, there are several schools around Newcastle offering RAD classes at advanced levels: Primaacademy.co.uk Lewisdance.co.uk Jadeharrisonschoolofdance Dorothybuggyschoolofdancing.co.uk Kathleenburdonballet.wordpress.com Elvetdanceschool.com Gillianquinn.co.uk

Good luck from me too

I had to get a medical certificate or letter from the doctor for my dd to get a performing licence for panto. They said I would need a double appointment and it would cost £35 - I assumed from that she would be examined or at least height and weight checked or something. But no, he asked if she was well in herself, I said yes and then he write the letter which was basically 1 sentence. We were in there less than 5 minutes!!

Oh well that's positive then! Did you get any feedback from EYB last year? I'm not sure there are any associates much closer to you really other than northern ballet. Have you tried Midas? But that's just as far away I think so wouldn't help with fuel costs! Maybe ballet west? But that's a long way too. Shocking how your dd's school fees doubled overnight - my dd is at private school and their fees only go up in September and never by more than a very small amount!

Some girls at dd's school took inter at the end of 2011 too, they were all a year or so older than your dd but their teacher had them do advanced foundation instead of advanced 1 as she felt they were still quite young. They've now just taken (and passed) their advanced 1 and will begin advanced 2 in September. Perhaps your dd being even younger would have benefitted from advanced foundation first too. Obviously it's too late for that now but in view of her age I think another year or so spent on advanced 1 would probably do her more good than harm. I agree though that she should ideally take it before the syllabus change so that means she would need to do it by next autumn! What mark did your dd get for intermediate? Obviously a distinction might indicate that she should be ready for advanced 1 by now but a pass would imply that she would possibly benefit from further work....a merit could go either way lol!

Sorry to hear you're having difficulty with your dd's school, I seem to remember you've had issues with a lot of schools in the past though, more than just 3. Perhaps it's time to get a thorough assessment of your dd from somewhere like RAD HQ to get a realistic view of whether she has the potential to dance professionally? I know your dd did the old inter right before it changed at a young age, perhaps there may have been an element of pushing her through before she was entirely ready (understandably!) and now she just needs extra time in advanced 1 as a result? Is your dd still an associate with Peter parker's associate scheme in Newark? Have you had any feedback from them?

SLP and Urdang do monthly associates. Also check out your local theatres, some run intensive rehearsals for a couple of weeks in the summer leading up to a performance.

Will cross my fingers and toes then!!

Gutted there's nothing up north

There's the CAT in Newcastle too although that's contemporary based so not sure she'd want to go down that route. Not sure which area you're in exactly but if you're Northumberland it might be worth considering Ballet West's Aspiring Professionals programme. It's once a month in Scotland or Glasgow (plus I think there's another venue) but they've already held auditions for September starters. There doesn't seem to be anything similar to EYB in the area, we were disappointed to learn they weren't returning to Newcastle too but still hoping they might end up in Sunderland or Durham perhaps, or somewhere else not too far away! Other than that I guess it's Easter schools and summer schools!

Hello. It depends what level you reach really, there are distance learning options rather than vocational school for teacher training and they usually require a student to have passed intermediate. What level are you working at now?

By passing through tendu devant and derrière positions a slight 'snaking' effect is created but the toe should only be opposite the supporting heel. I have seen it overdone too although not by true professionals so I believe it is incorrect to take it as far as opposite the toes - I guess it's possible that another method teaches it that way but not that I'm aware of. Perhaps the girl misunderstood her former teacher or maybe her teacher was wrong.

I think the whole pink tights and shoes thing is more tradition than anything else, I guess people with darker skin didn't generally do ballet in its formative years. I know the rad makes allowances for religious and cultural reasons so I'm sure they would in this instance too. For example a girl at dd's school was allowed to wear a skirt in her grade 1 exam because her parents (who were asian) felt it was more appropriate and the rad confirmed it was acceptable. She wore tights too when the other girls wore socks but I think tights are allowed anyway.