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.

15 minutes ago, FlexyNexy said:

My DD never liked UK summer schools except Malvern during Easter in her primary age.

As a senior student, she loved Ellison, Alvin Ailey, Prague, ABT, Chicago and San Diego. Ellison being the most challenging and so worth it.
Portugal - in Leiria - Annarella Sanchez is worth it too (only the summer not the year program).

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

On 03/03/2023 at 08:01, JaneDance1904 said:

Has anyone NOT been offered a funding audition for Tring? Just trying to work out why we were offered a place for son but no funding audition?  Is it because DC was not good considered good enough or because our finances are low so maybe we would not be able to contribute enough towards fees? 

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.

1 minute ago, Kerfuffle said:

I too feel disappointed by the whole thread being locked. I think it was the most honest discussion there has been about a school which has a direct/indirect influence on the whole of the British ballet scene. It’s relevant to most parents on this forum. 

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.

4 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

Thanks Alison for mentioning less than rosy finances - I recall that too but google searches haven't brought up any of the articles I seem to remember seeing.

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. 

52 minutes ago, FlexyNexy said:

It is scary and as a mother of now adult ex ballet dancer I strongly encourage every parent to give their child as much "normal time" as possible away from ballet. This is to prepare them also for the shock of “not making it” into dreamed company.

We had unwritten rule when after ballet class we never talked ballet at home, she never socialised in her free time with her ballet peers, and we did had normal holidays and I am proud to say that we do not have any summer photo in arabesque by the pool!

I hated when her ballet teacher used to say that if you have Plan B, you have already given up! It took me so much effort not to get my daughter brainwashed and yet when the ballet career went down the drain, not because she did not have offers, but she was proud dancer who refused to dance for free or tiny money that did not cover even her travel card she struggled to find her identity.  

This was the hardest part of her life! And this should be taught in schools too. Schools should be also publishing success stories of children that went to work on a cruise, theatre lightning managers, costume designers, make-up artists, accountants, chef…. It feels like they are ashamed of them.

I follow so many parents run accounts on social media just because I used to be in the ballet mum world and I fear for the little ones. Even the competitions turned the Art of Ballet into a kind of sports (but without sportswear). Who turns more, who jumps more, who lifts his leg more, who stays in balance longer, who invents a new trick and the spirit of dance disappeared. Sad.

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. 

2 hours ago, Kerfuffle said:

I guess they probably have seen a lot of potential UK talent already at year 6, so a girl would need to have access to some very good teaching locally - that’s hard to come by when the international competition is already doing full variations on pointe aged  12 -14 possibly taking 25 hours Ballet classes  a week. It’s not impossible but fairly rare here. 

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 😅 

On 09/01/2023 at 17:36, expatballetmom said:

This is my DD first time doing an in person audition at RBS, age 13. Would anyone have insight into what to expect. My daughter is a vocational student and not new to RBS style having been to the summer intensive, but more curious about how many typically in a room and anything that we should take note of ahead of the day. Also, any ideas on how many move onto the final round? Do they choose students for associates from that pool only? Good luck to everyone this audition season!! 

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. 
 

On 12/01/2023 at 21:08, Surreycitric said:

What does anyone think the is likelihood is of ANY UK girls going into Royal Ballet School, this September in years 10 and above (eg they into their second and third stages)? 
September ‘22 there were over 20 new girls in those years and not a single one was British or British trained. Can they keep doing this?

Really not one U.K. trained  girl? 😱

30 minutes ago, Legseleven said:

 

 

To be honest, this is something which means I have difficulty in accepting the view that ‘it isn’t a no, it’s a not yet or not this time’ which is sometimes stated in terms of unsuccessful auditions. In many children’s cases, this will be true. However, for many others it may in fact be that a no is a repeated response. This isn’t just in the ballet world - or the arts world - it applies to academic and sporting worlds too. Not everyone can be successful. 

I have always struggled with this sentiment. From the off a ‘no’ has always been a ‘no’ for my child. Of course they can try again and it might be a ‘yes.’ It’s tough out there for our children.

‘Not yet’ is emotionally confusing to me and it does not allow for closure to that particular path choice at that time.

I get that it softens the rejection and reframes it as something else, and even helps the parent bear the brutality of the process, but it’s not for me.

A bit off topic I know.

@Emma northmorewill be offering workshops and I believe 1,2,3 day Spring Intensives. There is pretty much nothing she doesn’t have on offer!!

All that Ballet Boost offers in our experience over the last nearly 5 years now is kind, supportive and friendly. It has been a great place of learning and reassurance for my child. 

It doesn’t feel intimidating or too big and it is a great place to start and then keep going back too. 😊

I believe that LCB perhaps reflects what it would be like in a professional company. No company starts from scratch it has dancers performing with them year in year out. I feel it is positive that LCB do put a selection threshold on it all.

LCB do in our experience also choose dancers in leading roles who have performed with them before, who are I suspect also able to bring a more all round performance ability that they don’t have to start from scratch with.
 

All AD’s and choreographers do have their favourites or types of dancers that they prefer stylistically, this is the dancing world and choose accordingly. LCB are clear that they are looking for that ‘something else.’

The role my child wanted and was successful to be cast in was historically a female role but the choreographer and AD saw him dance and knew potentially they wanted him for the role. Casting confirmed this. It is an uneven process.
 

Also some dancers are not good enough to be selected, so if a company limited itself to a completely new intake each time they might not be able to fill all the roles they need.

My child has auditioned many times over the years knowing that certain roles will be given to certain children each time; this is part of the dance world process. No it’s not fair, but it is the world they’ve stepped in to. 

The other issues auditionees face is that the selection of dancers is quite small, 40ish children only of the 100s that audition. 

I don’t believe in the world of children’s ballet saying this is a one time opportunity is at all realistic. Children want to try and progress from corps to soloist or even Principals. They may need a few goes with a company to see if this progression is possible. three seasons with the company affords them this opportunity. 
 

My son is still in training vocational training Y10.

When his form were asked what they wanted to do as a Plan B (we refer to it as another Plan A 😊) not one child had an alternative career choice. My son wants to be a forensic social worker. He loves dancing. Hates the culture. He values his emerging identity and finds there is no room for this in classical ballet training or classical repertoire in his experience to date.

He has thought about leaving the ballet world many many times in his few years in training, but for him it is also a seductive and beautiful and compelling place when you are in favour and talented. As a bystander it is a world of extreme emotions.
 

As a retired therapist and mental health professional the dynamics of ballet training and company life for professionals do remind me of a relationship based on coercive control. 

‘A life after ballet’ should be an essential part of the vocational curriculum timetable from Y7 all the way to US final year so that children come with an identity that isn’t defined by success in ballet contracts.

I do feel sad that life after ballet for so many children sounds like a process of reparation and grief.

Happy Christmas 🎄 

Absolutely amazed here.

put together a last minute video audition as couldn’t make the s/ship auditions in person and have been offered a scholarship. 
Can anyone tell me are there proper dance studios with dance floors at the school where the summer intensive takes place?

1 minute ago, MamaFrosty said:

Similar for autistic children. My daughter has autism and dance has been the absolute best thing for her. She’s determined to make a career out of it and I worry how her autism will affect her chances but for now it makes her the happiest I’ve ever seen her so we take each day as it comes. 

I can really relate. My teen is at vocational school and the school know about the ADHD/Dyslexia and I worry so much.

The dancing for my child is the easy part, it’s often all the bits around it that they find the hardest. Keeping track of time, picking up choreography quickly can be a challenge, losing focus when something shiny gets in their eyeline 😊 having a particularly bad day where they cannot get themselves together at all. 

I am ever hopeful that as each year goes by and each new generation of dancers come through with many more who may be neurodiverse that companies will start to change.

I notice today filling out the audition forms for National Youth Ballet they actually have a section on neurodiversity, so do other schools and companies, like Rambert, LCD.

Ballet to me lags behind still and needs to step up way more and pull itself out of its old ways of doing things.

5 hours ago, alison said:

I'm thinking of the number of professional dancers who got sent to dance classes in the first place because they were "hyperactive/needed to blow off steam" etc.  With more awareness, I wonder how many of them might be classed as having ADHD these days?

I know that dancing, significantly increases the amount of dopamine and/or fires up the dopamine receptors in the brain. 
ADHD brain scans shows low levels of dopamine, so certainly in my child’s case ballet has had an amazingly positive impact on their quality of life.

Results are in!! 😀