Pups_mum

We've kept my DD's first pair, for sentimental reasons, but after that it's straight to the bin. If she had hers hanging up in the house we'd probably have environmental heath breaking the door down! I'm just sewing ribbons on a new pair actually and thinking how nice they look, but it's so transient!

I'm sure a child could wear the most scruffy leotard and worn out shoes but if they had the "x factor" that the panel is looking for they would still get chosen. The only value in getting a nice leotard for the occasion is if it makes the child feel comfortable and confident. And of course most girls like getting new leotards. Well mine certainly does anyway! But as others have said, I'm sure audition wear very rarely influences outcome. Good luck to all auditioning - have fun and enjoy yourselves.

Big congrats to the "yesses" and commiserations for the "nos". Nobody gets this far without talent and determination so I'm sure there will still be good things to come for those who have been disappointed this time.

No email for me either emlovestodance, and I've just checked my spam folder to be certain. I wonder if it depends on where you live or something? I know some local authorities are fussier about licences than others. I shall keep an eye out for any emails over the weekend though so thanks for the warning.

I think it probably reflects the current economic climate. There are a huge number of temporary contracts being offered in both the public and private sectors in all industries at the moment.I know quite a few recent graduates in things like engineering and nursing who can only get temporary contracts. I presume it's something to do with employers having less responsibility to temporary or contract workers. I suppose the performing arts have always been less "stable" than many professions so will have been hit even worse though. Fingers crossed things improve soon.

How easy would it be for her to take classes elsewhere if she took up the place at the first school, both in logistical terms and would the school be happy? If she wasnts to be a dancer/singer then I would think some singing lessons are a must, whether she gets them "in house" or not. My daughter also sings and has always had a good voice but since she started taking lessons the change has been significant. As well as improving her singing she's also learning about the "science" of singing, how to look after her voice etc which if your DD is going to sing and dance professionally is just as important as looking after her body. It strikes me that the singing might be the missing piece of the jigsaw at school 1, but come as part of the package at school 2. If I were you I would want to be very sure that singing lessons can be fitted in somehow if you opt for school 1. Good luck with the decision.

I normally like the absence of soppy emoticons on this site, but right now I wish there was a " hug" emoticon for you the quays. I know it's nothing to do with dance, so hope I'll be forgiven for going off the subject but you sound so sad. I think that whenever we make a choice, if we are not happy with the outcome it's human nature to assume that the alternative choice would have been better. And it might, or it might not, we can never know. all we can say with certainty is it would have been different. If you had pushed your son down a route that he really didn't want to follow he may have rebelled against you, and the school. There's no guarantee he would have been more successful or happier there. There are good things and bad things about every school and costing a lot of money is no guarantee - there are bad apples in every barrel and certainly not every child who goes to boarding school is happy. Reading your post I can see lots of positives. Your son's school has good academics and discipline. You are a mum who respects his wishes and I bet he will appreciate that now and in the future. He might not have hobbies but he's at home, safe with you Others may be getting trouble, but he's not, and you do know where he is..And lots of teenage boys are like that anyway - doesn't mean they'll never have hobbies or interests. I remember my brother locked in his room for days on end painting airfix models at a similar age. I bet my parents worried, but he turned out a well rounded, sociable and successful adult. Yes, if you'd made a different decision things would be different. Most probably some things would be better and other things worse, but you'll never really know. Don't beat yourself up about it. Good luck to him in the GCSEs, I hope he does you proud.

I agree with C4D. Which audition she does won't affect what part she gets as the parts are not allocated until the casting which happens on the first day of rehearsals, so I would just enter her for the correct audition ie junior as she is 11 on the audition day. But if you are concerned, drop Miss Lewis an email to check, she's always very helpful.. My DD is currently doing her 3rd EYB and has done the senior audition each time and has never been asked to do pointe work at the auditions so don't worry. Your DD will get the chance to show her pointe work at the casting.Not all the seniors are on pointe anyway actually, and one of the things I like best about EYB is that everyone gets a decent amount of time on stage. It really isn't the case that the seniors hog the limelight and the younger ones make up the numbers - in fact from what I've seen sometimes the younger children get the most appealing parts! They alter the choreography according to the number, heights and ability of the cast and I don't think there are any "bad" parts at all. Certainly my DD and eveyone else we know who have done EYB have enjoyed it and learned something, whether they are 8 or 18. My best advice to your DD would be to smile, show enthusiasm, and do her best even if any of the steps are unfamiliar.

Hilarious post jellybeans, but a very good point! I have no experience of vocational schools, but certainly found this to be true when looking at academic schools. Most schools will have some bright kids who go on to study "good" subjects at Russell Group universities etc, and schools are always keen to tell you about them.Unless you know what proportion of the year these children make up, what the rest do and how that compares to other schools I don't think you can draw any firm conclusions.

Hi Lala, I'm absolutely not an expert, but didn't want to see your post slip down the board so thought I'd have a bash at answering so it stays nearer the top til someone who knows what they are talking about comes along! But for what it's worth, here are my thoughts. To have both an offer from a school and SAs your daughter must have a lot of potential. They are both great opportunities so whichever she chooses will be good. Is the school she has had the offer from her "dream school" or not? If it is, I would be tempted to go for it, as the chance might not come along again. If not, maybe weigh up the pros and cons again. I've no personal experience, but from reading here it seems some schools are very much focussed on purely classical ballet, whereas others are wider dance/performing arts schools. If your DD is set on a classical route and the school offer is a broader type school, maybe doing SAs and applying for a classical school at 16 might be better - there seem to be a lot more choice of schools for post 16 courses. That said of course, she'll have to reapply at that point whether she takes up the year 10 place at school or not, so no doors are closed either way. I guess other factors to consider include how good the local teaching she can get is in addition to the SAs as of course she will be competing with girls who have been at vocational schools since they were 11 when she applies for upper schools, and then of course there's the finances, which I guess make the decision for many people. And I wouldn't ignore gut feeling either. A piece of advice I picked up from a friend recently is if you are stuck between choices, toss a coin. If your instant feeling when the coin lands is disappointment or excitement you will know which one you truly want! Good luck, whatever you choose.

Congrats to all the yesses and commiserations to the nos. Fran, I'm really sorry to hear about your DD's disappointment but from all you've posted about her over the years I'm sure that there are many successes yet to come. She's obviously very hard working as well as talented. I hope she feels better soon and that happy days return for your family soon too.

Good luck to all those waiting. They really do make you wait a long time don't they - it must be agonising.

I hope the post brings good news for everyone still waiting today.

That's lovely. they must have practised extremely hard. And what a fabulous stage they have to dance on.

I think it's truer to say that they don't take people who have only got the right physical requirements. As you say, physique alone, without the other factors is no good but there is no getting away from the fact that the right physique is crucial.I suppose some of the other qualities can be taught and nurtured, and indeed some physical things can be worked on too. But others can't and if your body is just not put together in the "right" way there is often nothing you can do about it. It's a tough concept, but one that many children, my own included, have to come to terms with. Edited to add, Not that i'm suggesting that you can't be a good dancer without the desired physical characteristics, but realistically, you're massively unlikely to make it as a professional ballet dancer without it.

Commiserations on the "no" LB but I think the fact that you have offers from 3 such good schools shows that you have a bright future ahead of you. Well done and good luck making that wonderful but difficult choice.

Well I'm no expert, but this seems very true to me. The auditions are different because they are looking for different things and have different aims. No personal experience, but what I've picked up from other people is that the auditions for vocational schools (lower schools anyway) are not hugely technically challenging, because they are not so interested in current level attainment as they are in potential. They are taking the longer term view and looking for children with the attributes, physical and otherwise, that make them suitable for that school's training method. So a child with lots of potential who may have relatively little experience might well be selected ahead of another who is more technically advanced but with the wrong physique or lacking in musicality etc. EYB on the other hand is a short term project. They are looking for children that, in a relatively short but intense rehearsal period, are going to be able to put on a decent show. So if they want say half a dozen 11-12 year old girls about 5ft tall who are going to be able to perform a particular dance then they will presumably be looking to pick girls who look to be about that standard already, or who look like they are going to be able to get there within the time available. So someone with great physique but little experience might not get picked whereas someone like my DD who is reasonably technically assured, a good performer and a very quick learner but totally the wrong shape wouldn't stand a cat in hell's change of getting a place at a vocational school but is very suitable for EYB. Of course there are children who "tick all the boxes" for both type of audition too. But they really are two very different things and comparing the two audition processes is very much comparing apples with oranges, in my admittedly inexperienced opinion!

I've never de-shanked any pointe shoes so can't make a direct comparison but my DD's soft blocks (Bloch) have always been far from soft when we've got them. We've always had to bash the boxes quite a lot to soften them up, so I'd hazard a guess that there's not much difference. In fact I'd think that a pair of well worn pointe shoes might well be softer. Good for you for successfully de-shanking, was it difficult?

My DD has done the senior audition 3 times and as far as I could see it was different each time.On the basis of her experience I don't think there's any particularly predictable pattern. There hasn't been any pointe work at any of the auditions she's done, though it always says on the letter to bring pointe shoes if you have them.

I would suggest getting a hoop put in. It can be done after the tutu has been made. I bought my DD an unhooped tutu and found the skirt too floppy so the lady who makes costumes at our school put a hoop in for me and it made a world of difference.

Good luck to your daughter Julie - that sounds very impressive. I hope you and she have a lovely time.

That reminds me of an occasion when my DD was about 5 and had a couple of little friends round to play. One of them wanted to watch a DVD, and DD, being the dutiful little hostess, asked what she would like to watch. "Have you got Cinderella?" asked the visitor. "Oh yes", replied DD pulling out a ballet DVD and putting it in the machine. The guests were a little non plussed and asked if she had the "proper" DVD. Slightly exasperated, DD ejected the ballet, and rummaged around in the cupboard til she found the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. If I recall rightly, they did sit and watch that one but it clearly wasn't what they were expecting!

I've just been watching a video clip which was posted on youtube by EYB Don't know if it's ok to post the link here so have edited to take it out in case its not allowed, but you can find it on the EYB facebook page. All looks very exciting. Best wishes to all those who are performing in Dartford this weekend - please let us know how it goes. I'm sure all the Newcastle cast are getting excited and looking forward to starting rehearsals now - my DD certainly is.

As I understand it, until relatively recently the RAD graded exams only went up to grade 5, so after that the only option was to do the vocational exams or stop doing exams altogether. I believe grades 6 to 8 were introduced primarily for those children who want to continue dancing beyond grade 5 and enjoy the challenge of exams, but don't intend ballet to be any more than a hobby. As there's no pointe work in grades 6-8 it does mean that girls who for whatever reason can't or don't want to go onto pointe have some exams that they can aspire to. Most children who are "serious" about their dancing seem to concentrate on the vocational grades after grade 5, though as was discussed here on another thread very recently, it isn't essential to have done any exams at all to get into a full time dance school, and in many other countries there is no comparable exam system anyway. The consensus seems to be that schools are interested in what they see at audition, not what certificates a dancer has. For what it's worth, my DD is 13, just coming up to 14 and she did her intermediate and grade 7 last year, and is now working on both advanced foundation and grade 8. I think she would agree that the vocational exams are technically a lot more challenging but she enjoys doing the grades as well as they are (in her words) "more dancey". I don't think she would say that the grades are easy mind you - she's certainly finding the "valse printemps" in grade 8 has it's challenges. That said, she has no aspirations to be a professional ballet dancer, though I will be very suprised if dance has no place in her adult life. Since she enjoys both syllabi, and seems to actually like doing the exams I'm happy for her to do both.

Don't panic Tomuchtallent - not all local ballet schools are like this. My daughter currently dances an average of 2-3 hours per day 5 or 6 times a week at her local school, including 3 hours of private lessons per week. (Not all ballet though, some of that is modern and tap, but the majority ballet.) I realise we are lucky and not all schools offer as much as this, but just wanted to tell you about more positive experience of a local dance school in the UK.