NotadanceMa

It’s easier to create a thread for the link as my inbox was completely overwhelmed with pm’s and it would take all day to reply. The person to follow on Instagram is @nzhummingbird Apologies for absence of link it wouldn’t let me copy and paste.

In relation to the attachment below; There were no snarky comments. There were no incendiary comments. No comments that were unverified, named a student or could be called into question legally. The ex-governor gave her permission to use her name and comments. Comments used verifiable links and sources in the public domain for EVERYONE to access. The thread followed the forum guidelines. I checked as it went along. This was not a thread that needed locking and removing, the forums decisions on this subject are becoming arbitrary because they do not follow their own guidelines. If the forum mods want to stop these discussions around RBS because of fear of ‘legal’ action, then you should change the rules and stop ALL discussion positive and negative about RBS, WL, RBC, otherwise it stinks of partiality and bias. For full disclosure do any of the moderators have children, teach, coach, current links in any way to RBS, WL, US, RBC because if they do they should not be involved in the moderating of these threads in any way? For anyone interested the discussion continues on Instagram, with visible people with real names. PM me and I will give you the link to the discussion it is gathering traction because what it highlights is important about for the future of U.K. trained ballet dancers.

With Cathy Marston in place as new Ballet Director and choreographer I’m sure it will be a super exciting new place for him to move on to.

@expatballetmomthankyou that’s great to hear. My son is Y9 and wants to apply for the Ellison SI for next summer. It is also on his list for Upper Schools. There is a boy in US that started there in September who he knew from a Russian based ballet school and he loves it. The school looks amazing so the SI will hopefully inform his choices for US.

Does Ellison have accommodation that they provide for SI students do you know?

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/mar/14/snobbery-about-audience-behaviour-stifles-theatre-its-a-collective-experience?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Your son is ‘good enough’ otherwise he would not have been offered a place at Tring which is wonderful achievement. Tring invite young dancers the chance to compete again for an award of an MDS/scholarship to those they deem as the most ‘gifted and talented’ selected from the finals. (Their classification not mine.) Other schools offer MDS/scholarships at their the final auditions. Your income being low is not relevant to how an MDS works; the government set the sliding scale according to incomes and your contribution is dependent on this. Tring do have some bursaries available so it is worth contacting them to ask if they can offer any financial assistance.

I agree. It was one of the best threads I have ever been part of on here. If perhaps the posts that referenced specific teacher issues could be removed and it can be opened again as this thread is inevitably going to start off the discussion again.

It’s available on the Charities Commission page. Just put RBS in the search box.

If they are holding and the child is attending a funding/MDS audition then they have funding. However Tring has the least amount of MDS available of all the vocational schools.

This is a fabulous comment. It should be a pinned post!

My son always practices jumps in trainers and on carpet when he trained during lockdown. He more marks the jumps so doesn’t fully commit to them as he would in the studio. Even with good trainers I would advise against jumping on concrete as it will not absorb any of the impact.

Yes they have a place in those years once they are in. Technically they don’t assess out, they have two annual assessments, one in November and one in June if there are serious concerns they address them quickly. The only time a child in the school re auditions is for the Upper School, so Y12.

OMG that is so depressing to read. I’m so glad we are past this in many ways. My child is in vocational training and doesn’t really want to dance professionally anymore. Thank goodness 😅

The only advice I would give your daughter from my child’s experience is dance how they always dance. Don’t dance how they think the panel might want them to dance even if they are not trained in the English style. Don’t change what they usually do. Even if they’re not dancing like anyone else in the room encourage your daughter to just do her. (Obviously her technique needs to be clean and age appropriate) Smile, engage the panel and have a really lovely time. Groups are usually small, panel can be 6 plus the teacher taking the class. The RBS auditions in our experience are usually less technically difficult that other vocational auditions.