Entrechat

Exactly, it's very tricky. Let's see how this audition goes, and then we can figure out the visa stuff. It's just so much more fun dealing with ballet than with immigration, hopefully my husband will deal with that, haha... Thanks Peony, you've given lots of great advice!

Thanks so much, very helpful!! We should also be getting Italian/EU passports soon (through my grandparents from Italy), I don't know if that would make living in UK easier than with USA passports. I think the UK's innovator visa might also be an option for us. This summer, we are planning to look for a home to buy in London. At least in Spain, the few real estate agencies we used had in-house lawyers to facilitate the visa/immigration process, and it was a sort of package deal with the purchase of the property. Hopefully UK has that also?

I'm not sure either. But I thought that since my daughter's a minor, it could maybe happen. I watched a recent interview with the director of Royal Ballet School and he said something like "If you're not from the UK, don't be discouraged about applying to our school. If we like you, we'll make sure you'll be able to live here." In the US, we have chain migration, which is when one family member comes to live here, and then that person's immediate family members are able to live in US also.

Thanks for your wise and kind words. And I totally agree about diverse trainings. I've been getting library books on Margot Fonteyn, Misty Copeland, etc, to see how ballerinas have found success by going against the grain and doing their own thing, following their intuition. And when I looked up who was dancing as Giselle in the show we'll see next week at Royal Opera House, I was surprised and delighted to see it's a forty-one year old American woman (you all probably know her name already but I now have forgotten it) who's a principal dancer at RB. So fascinating! : )

We'll be in London from the 23rd until the 29th of this month. I booked a hotel across from the Royal Opera House. Besides her audition at RB, I got us tickets to Giselle, Nutcracker, and a tour of the Royal Opera House. I had to get all six pound tickets because in USA, tickets to a good ballet cost ten times that at least. Maybe I should try to audition her at Elmhurst and Tring as well? It might be too much for her with the jet lag, and we have to take multiple covid tests at Boots. We also just got our tickets to spend summer in London, to see how we could move to / live in London. Maybe I could have her audition then to Elmhurst and Tring, as we arrive quite early, on June 8th, if she doesn't get into RB? Or maybe it'll be too late then? And gosh, I didn't realize all this about White Lodge, its gates locking at dusk, etc. These days, my DD finishes ballet at 8:30 PM, and it's dark out. Would I be able to pick her up after ballet from White Lodge? I know she could board there, but I couldn't imagine not living with her, she's our precious girl. And on top of school and ballet, we barely get to see her as it is now. At the summer intensive in Barcelona, we made friends with a family who lives in London during the school year, and their daughter dances at RB, but in a weekend class. After the recital at the end of the intensive, the mom took me by the shoulders and forcefully said I need to apply DD to Royal Ballet in October (this was before the directors told me the same). She was kind to say this, since her daughter is a bit older than mine and my daughter was performing with the teen girls in that recital while hers was with their age group of eleven year olds. They will be at the same audition at RB next week. I get cringey to talk about all this, because it seems like I'm boasting. But, I really feel a bit lost and don't have anybody to ask. All of this is weird for me and I don't want to seem like a stage mom, but I also don't want her to miss any wonderful opportunities. And when she dances, it's just the lovliest and most magical thing I've ever seen. It's like our entire family's lives now revolve around our daughter's ballet. I think it's fun, but I also feel like I'm learning as I go. So many people in this forum know tons more than I do about ballet, I can't even figure out the acronyms like "I have a YQT trying for her UNL at KR and it's really BWO but also PPA, so...." Huh? We're keeping our London trip to audition at RB (I've got one acronym down!) a secret.

Wow, thanks everyone so much for all this helpful information. I’ll try to answer some of your questions. My DD trains in Balanchine style. Although, this past summer she completed a six week intensive at Ballet Ruso in Barcelona in Russian style. She said she didn’t like it that much because she found the movements “too slow” compared to Balanchine. However, everything about her Ballet Ruso summer experience was excellent, I highly recommend it that school. When the intensive in Barcelona finished, the two directors asked to meet with us and they told us that she should be at one of the world’s top three schools. They said to apply her to Royal Ballet, Paris Opera, and I think Vagovana in Russia. I was shocked and flattered for her, and told them that we were planning to move in a few years to London and we’d apply her then. They said no, that we should be applying her ASAP, now that she’s eleven, and not when she’s fourteen, etc. Thanks again everyone! You’ve all been so helpful, I’ve been sort of lost on this issue and now feel better. ☺️

Hello All, we are soon moving to London and I'd like to know what are the top schools for classical ballet there. We are auditioning in a few days at Royal Ballet, but I'd like to have a Plan B and C. When I look online, it can get confusing, as some highly rated schools also have yoga, ballet for seniors (nothing against seniors, almost one myself, but you know what I mean), etc... Any tips from local ballet experts would be very appreciated. My daughter is eleven.

Thanks everyone! Any idea if at the November audition at RB the dancers will need to be wearing masks?

Wow, thanks a lot Valentina!! This is her first real audition, as she's been with Miami City Ballet since she was tiny. So, I appreciate all your tips. I'd like to get her a new leotard. Is there a certain brand that you like best?

Thanks so much, Jan!

Hi, I will be taking my daughter to audition at the Royal Ballet next month as a year eight. Does anybody have any tips for us? Thanks! : )