twinkletoes

sounds like a good teacher to me pictures, i'm sure your DD will do well, tell her not to worry its the performance at the audition that will count

I agree with Anjuli and DrDance I see so many dancers who have rushed through the grades and have good results but you know are unlikely to make it because they don't know how to 'dance' they can simply pass exams or perform set audition pieces, it worries me when teachers focus on grades and exams rushing students through the grades (particularly the higher or vocational levels) the examinations are there as a measure but only as a subset, the focus should be on combining moves into a dance that reflects musicality, to be frank grades and exams count for nothing in the real world, they are there mainly to measure 'success' for parents and teachers, when you go for auditions they don't care what you got in your intermediate grade or if you passed advanced 2 they simply want to know if you can learn the choreography they set in 10 mins and do a triple pirouette. i've seen students who come flashing really good grades and high levels at young ages but when you actually look at what they can do they are flawed, i would much rather see a student at a lower grade who has taken longer to move through the grade, gaining a firm grounding in technique and application and I think some teachers would do well to remember that the syllabus is there to support learning not be the focus ... gosh, just read that back and i don't mean it to sound as ranty lol

it is a long time between fitting and wearing so depending on the age of the DD it may well be down to her feet growing and it sounds like they probably won't take them back, though if her feet has stopped growing it may be the swelling problem, its one of the problems with fitting when you have to walk a while to the fitting, is you DD in a dance school which may have enough people getting fitted to warrant a site visit?

if its elastic on lycra and you have a sewing machine you can try a lycra needle and slightly elasticated thread with the stretch setting depends on how many you are doing, if its just your DD then you may as well just do it be hand

it may be the teachers way of telling her to 'buck her ideas up' not in a negative way but to get her to refocus on technique and class rather than performance, as has been said before the teachers can be brutal, sometimes i think while its ok to be forth right and honest etc they need to remember they are dealing with children, OUR children sometimes teachers can't see beyond the 'lack' of potential fulfilment, staff are often even more driven than the children and get frustrated if they think students are capable of more ... even if it pushes them to their limits

Aurora: I use Videora ipod converter it runs on a Mac but i think there are PC versions available DrDance: I find more and more schools use i-pods now and many staff have their own, I don't mind if staff put it on their own or borrow the schools ipods, once its in a format itunes can read you can easily transfer it to a USB pen and then the staff can copy it into their own itunes system which means that they don't have to sync with your directory all the time, many teachers i know have ipods they use for teaching, i prefer the classic ipod as it holds much more and the videos are clear but once its itunes it can be viewed on the larger screen of a computer screen anyway

there is software you can download free which will convert any DVD or video format to itunes format i will look up which one i use for you when i'm at my home computer later if you like

as soon as I get any training DVD's like this i import them straight into itunes and get them on the ipod, it saves me panicking when I realise i've 'filed' the DVD somewhere safe, it also means i can sync all the staff ipods with it to save playing 'pass the DVD'

hope she gets back to health soon C4D and in away its simply confirms that at this time you made the right decision, though a tough one, hopefully she'll be dancing again soon and back on form T

your DH is more organised than mine aurora he has no idea when the holidays are (which is useful at times )

personally I like the Gaynor Mindens but i know there are mixed views on them, I am rather worried about toes turning black as that seems to indicate that there may be an underlying technique issue with the dancer rather than the shoe being solely to blame but different students take different position ques from their shoes and finding a shoe that suits you as a dancer is once of the hardest things ... and there are some very expensive mistakes made along the way

My understanding is that they wanted people to audition for Edinburgh and Glasgow this year, perth is non-audtion entry, don't know the situation on spaces this year but i'm sure they'll be able to answer if you ask them

its a hard/sad time for everyone to adjust, parents and children, but it is something that staff are used to and watch out for, there is a difference between bouts of homesickness and a real deep-seated unhappiness and the school would contact you if they were really worried, take heart in the fact it WILL pass. Often parents rush down to try and fix things but i would encourage you to resist this temptation, often phone calls are enough and rushing down will often make it worse as you only have to leave again and it takes longer for students to adapt (though it goes against every parental instinct i know), its always exciting to get letters and cards from people and there are always technologies such as skype or facetime which ease things too, maybe you could tell her that you will come down in a week or two, give her something to look forward to and then get everyone to send letters and card, she's probably too young for something like FB as i think they're meant to be 13 for that but it may be a way to keep in touch so she feels included without having to be there, just keep reminding her that this is what she has been working towards for so long and it will be worth it, I suspect that very soon she will be too busy to feel sad Its only been a few days and i'm sure it will get better (and its not long till half term ) T x

the E fitting isn't the same as a standard shoe fitting you get in school shoes etc, if i recall it maps onto the adult sizing, i think possibly european, which is E, EE and EEE (for VERY wide adult feet) I would think if you get an E fitting that should be OK

i'm sure Capezio do a wide shoe thats not part of the daisy brand, may be worth giving them a ring or asking your dance teacher if they can get some samples in (if they are a large enough school to hold samples) you'll probably find pointe shoes are easier to fit as there is so much variation between styles and brands, you may need to hunt out a good fitter in your area though and be prepared for a LONG session lol is your DD going on pointe soon?

The problem with getting a Pilates or Yoga teacher who will deal with children is one that is quite wide spread in my experience, i have spoken to a number of instructors trying to find one for students and the general consensus is that they do not have the inner discipline required. I don't necessarily hold with what they say but I can see their view. When I have spoken to a few regarding this they have a common reply which is that the parents want it for the children more than the children want it themselves, (their view not mine ) they also say that the study requires a self awareness of body and mind as well as a dedication and commitment which is not often found in the young, again not my view though i do see their view point. This is mainly based on their bad experiences but if you get the dance teacher to act as a reference almost, some will consider a trial for the student and then it is down to them but I do agree that there is a level of maturity and awareness of 'spirit' and inner being that often comes with maturity. On an advisory note, Yoga and Pilates is, in my opinion, advantageous to dancers for many reasons, not just the physical awareness but the ability to calm the mind in times of stress too however it is a lot of hard work, not something that can be dipped in and out of and it is imperative that a good instructor is found, they are able to tailor the sessions to suit the dancer and their needs and many are 'dance aware' which is always useful, the learning of this type of thing from a DVD is something that i would caution against as it really is harder than it looks and a lot of damage can be done if care is not taken and supervision is essential. thats just my view for what its worth

the ipad doesn't read dvd so as long as she has access to the mac to do the conversion it will can be viewed on the ipad, I use the method above a lot and once the dvd is in itunes it will go onto an ipod or ipad

its easy to get caught up in the whole grading pressures and keeping up with the dancing jones but I would always say don't worry about it, grades are indicators of progress but in reality it is WHAT a dancer can do not necessarily what GRADE they are, if you notice many vocational schools stipulate that they don't require specific grades and this is what auditions are for and when the dancers go to London or the like to audition no one really cares what they have on paper they simply want to see what they can DO Some students seem to be far ahead of others because they are a much higher grade but this could simply mean they have been taught to the exam assessments and its not necessarily an indicator of how good a dancer they are. I would much rather a dancer progressed through the grading system slower and had the foundations of dance firmly in their grasp than show up with a bunch of certificates and then I have to take them back to the basics, you would be amazed how many turn up brandishing their graded pieces of paper and when it comes down to it those who are much lower on paper are stronger dancers, if she is keeping up and enjoying the school and if she is happy with the rate she is progressing then that is all that matters

you can get software to do this, i use videora ipod converter, its a free download and you simply put the DVD in the computer drive and then open the software, point it to the DVD drive and it will convert the whole thing for you, you can get quite a few video converters but most don't do mpeg2 formats free which is the DVD format hope it helps

i'd recommend going to a class either pilates or yoga under the instruction of a qualified teacher, they are able to tailor the class to suit people and I've found that many are able to cater to dancers and give specific programs for them when working with this type of activity i would always caution working from a DVD, supervision is required in case bad habits or injury is picked up. you can do more harm than good if not careful ... though DVD much cheaper

Midas are looking at offering the screening they do as part of their program to those outside the program too so its obviously something that is 'in' at the moment

i was going to suggest the same as stardancer, most bus passes or the child permits have photos on and can be issued the same day if you DD doesn't have one already or you could use a passport, even one that is expired

I agree with Anjuli there seems to be far to much rush to get onto pointe, it seems to be taken as a status indicator but in reality it is a risk that is unnecessary, even those going to vocational school seem to have the same misconception and the school and often we see some very worrying sights. My own personal view is that often there is a perception that grade level and pointe work indicates quality and I do not agree that this is necessarily the case, it simply could mean that the student has been pushed through the grades, it has been argued before that a dancer needs to be on pointe to do the higher grades but I would argue that they don't need to do the grades so quickly, there is no harm perfecting the technique of the lower grades and improving their performance style rather than moving from one grade to the next as quickly as possible, it is not always the parents who are pushing either (though I see some of those) often a teacher will get a student who is shining out and they want to push them on but I think that there are other ways to do this than simply pushing the student up the grades or onto pointe. I see students who on paper look exceptional but then when they are in front of me they are a disappointment, then i see others who on paper look less impressive but then when I see them dance they are perfect in technique and beautiful to watch. It does a dancer no harm professionally to delay the start of pointe till they are slightly older, I know there are some people who have started pointe work very early, 9 or 10 and I have had teachers and parents tell me that their feet are strong enough, and they may truly feel that but my view is that I would rather be sure and wait longer, till they are 12 or 13, the damage is not something that you see until it is much later and why be in a rush? This is my own personal view and I know many people differ in their view

I think we have all said things that when we look back make use go "oops" sometimes things are taken out of context or are tainted by our emotions at the time and I am not sure you need to apologies for feeling the way you felt at the time, you didn't mean to offend people and therefore there was no intent behind anything (and to be honest i didn't see anything that was that offensive anyway ) as pas de quatre says *hugs*

I find that parents seem to hold those teachers who have performed professionally in higher esteem, personally I am not sure if this is valid or not, as has been said before there are excellent teachers who have never been professional and there are some professionals who are unable to relate to the students, particularly the younger ones who tend to require more attention and range from 'just for fun' to 'I want to be a prima donna'. my personal finding is that ex-proffessionals tend to be better at visualising a dance and choreographing entire dances, but as i've said that is my personal view, the quality of teaching tends to balance out overall.