Kitschqueen_1

Fiz, you put me to shame. :-D Just started 50 Shades of Grey but TBH so far I think I prefer the Belle du Jour books

Wow, how clever are you? Sorry.....I have no helpful information whatsoever but thought I'd say how impressed I am. Let us know if you get published as I will definitely buy a copy. :-)

Glad you enjoyed it Arky :-) Great to see ballet being represented at such a high profile event too.

Just to echo what everyone else has said......you will be missed

My DD recently changed dance schools which was included in a discussion on another thread so I do not want to repeat my reasons for this again! :-) My DD's first teacher never worked as a professional dancer but was put through her teaching exams by another dance school. She is a very good teacher and at the end of the day she transformed my dd from a hyperactive 6 year old to a dancer . However, whilst she gets excellent exam results, with hindsight I can see she had no experience or understanding about auditions and was unable to prepare or support my DD with this. She lacks "contacts" and it was left to me to research and apply for EYB, additional associate schemes and eventually the CAT scheme my dd attends now. In 9 years since the school has been running not one pupil has gone on to have a professional career in any dance genre. My DD's new ballet teacher was a professional dancer with ENB, I have no idea if my dd will get the same exam results as she has done previously (probably not as she has switched from IDTA to RAD vocational anyway) but dd is loving her new classes with this teacher. She has a working knowledge of the industry and has already made suggestions and given advice to my DD regarding this. She runs additional vocational classes in addition to the syllabus classes because of her understanding of the standard that is required. I think your ideal teacher is someone who has the teaching skills but also the knowledge of the industry and how to best support those children with talent. :-)

Commiserations to your dd this time smallthesea, I'm sure she will pick herself up quickly, they do seem to be more resilient than we are!! Good luck for her next one :-)

We have the (large) black one from Dance Direct, My DD's tutu fits perfectly into that so doesn't need securing. TBH I've never really looked at it in any detail so cannot tell you if it is lined (don't think so) or if it does have any means of securing a smaller skirted tutu. Not much use sorry but I will have a look when I get home later :-)

Thanks for that Arky, they will be happy to be described as professional dancers :-) Hope you enjoy your grandaughter's show as much as I enjoyed my DD's.

Hi Arky, think the weather held out for them :-) Sadly we did not go to watch. We had to wade through thigh high flood water to get home on Friday eve (thankfully I live on a hill but had to abandon my car 2 miles away)and then find an alternative (really long) route to Leeds on Saturday morning to avoid the flood damage so I could get DD to Quarry Hill for her end of year show! We decided a day at home was necessary on Sunday! :-D

Glowlight, there was a really interesting article in the Sunday Times this week about dancers on cruise ships, I don't know if you saw it. As well as the dancers discussing their day to day routines, rehearsals and shows etc they did also mention the other duties they had, including passenger safety. The article then went on to specifically mention (and praise) the British dancers on the Costa Concordia who are attributed to saving many passengers lives because of their abilities to stay focussed and remain calm under pressure when evacuating them onto lifeboats. Highly transferrable skills I would have thought! :-)

Hi Robin64, my DD is 15 and already just over 5' 8". She adores her ballet but is realistic to know that her height is likely to go against her successfully auditioning at many schools. However she continues to work hard because she loves it, and as others have said who knows what will be in vogue in the future. She has just completed her first year on a contemporary CAT scheme and we had her end of year tutuorial last night. Interestingly her height was mentioned as she is one of their taller 1st year students. However this was not in any way seen as a negative factor; she was told to embrace her height and to use her leg and arm extensions to the fullest because when she does she " looks amazing" (apparently!). At the moment, like most teenage girls she is self conscious about herself so tends to hold back so as to not look different from the shorter dancers. She was advised that as she matures and progresses through the scheme she will grow to love her height and what she can achieve with her body and was again told she has the potential to be an "amazing dancer". Your DD must not give up on her dreams, like mine she can do nothing about her height, only embrace it and use it to her full advantage.

That's really interesting as Laban is one of the places my dd will be auditioning for at 18. She absolutely loves her ballet but is realistic enough to know she is not a typically classical shape.......long legs, long arms, long neck but also long torso so at 15 she is already 5'9" (there is another thread ongoing about height). She will be thrilled to know that she would be able to continue her ballet to a high standard at a contemporary school other than Rambert. :)

It's such a shame that the weather is so lousy with no sign of any improvement over the weekend. :( Still, the show must go on!!

That's the problem with the NHS sadly. Whenever my DD stays at my mums, she always gets her chiropodist to come round and give my DD's feet the once over, trim her nails and give her advice about proper foot care. :-)

I would ask for her to be referred to a chiropodist/podiatrist for the correct assessment and advice/treatment.

They don't call them drama queens for nothing!! :-D

Oooooerrr, I think I'm going to discourage my DD from dance and consider being a neuro-surgeon instead. It's got to be easier!!!!! (and it certainly pays better) :-D

This what I love about this forum.......the breadth and quality of knowledge and experience that is shared. The journey children and YP ( and their parents) have to go on in order for them to become a professional dancer is incredible and few of us realise this when we send them to that first ballet/dance class as toddlers! :-D This topic is a useful reminder that funding issues don't end when the training does.

My DD breaks up from her CAT scheme next week. She's devastated and I'm thinking "phew, thank goodness, thats £30 per week less petrol I'll be using!" :-D

Just wanted to say a huge good luck to all the YYD CAT students, ballet and contemporary, who are performing their end of year show together at Quarry Hill in Leeds on Saturday 23rd June. I am sure you will all be amazing and I can't wait to watch the performance. :-)

What a nightmare for you, I am dreading having to sort all this out in the future. :-(

Not strictly ballet but students from my dd's CAT scheme are performing at the olympic torch celebration at Temple Newsome Park on Sunday :-)

My DD is also not doing a summer school this year because the majority seem to clash with the intensive dance week that is part of her CAT scheme. We did contemplate York Scholars but in the end I've decided that this year I am going to be "less committed" and we're hitting the beaches of the South of France for 3 weeks instead!! :-D I have heard good things about Northern Ballet School's (Manchester) Summer school. They include tap and modern jazz as well as ballet. :-)

.......or the overdraft!

I think there is another thread about this on the forum somewhere. My DD did a lot of gymnastics in her younger days (up to 19 hours per week at her peak!). Whilst her ballet definitely helped her with floor routines and beam work,(musicality,gracefulness etc) the gymnastics did not enhance her ballet. In gymnastics everything is done in parallel with a hyperextended back, the exact opposite of ballet. The potential for injuries is huge, dislocated fingers were commonplace and my DD dislocated her knee badly too, but I did also see girls get devastating compound fractures. Obviously she was training to a high level and I'm sure the children at your DD's school are no where near doing anything like that but my DD started doing 1 hour beginners class a week which before we knew it became 19 hours!!. She gave up gymnastics totally 3 years ago to concentrate on her dancing, yet last year when she had her physiotherapy assessment for the CAT scheme, the first thing he picked up on is that she still tends to stand with a hyperextended back. I would say approach with caution!!