Gingerbread

What about collaborations with artists from other areas of the arts, especially popular culture?

I love mixed bills, and I'm not a particularly knowledgeable ballet-goer. Also I think they're good for children who of course have shorter concentration spans. We saw ENB doing Ballet Russes at Sadler's Wells a couple of years ago - my DD who was 11 at the time loved it. So we saw another mmixed bill a while later - ABT doing various things - I think that was at the Coliseum or perhaps Sadlers Wells, can't remember now. Plus --- Exciting! We are going to the matinee performance of Beyond Ballet Russe tomorrow - I got the £10 tickets.

Yes lots of people do just one week. Let's face it, £800 is a lot of money if you want to do 2 weeks! Have you thought of taking her up on the train? We drove the first time we went, but since then have taken the train from Stevenage. So much quicker! You can go up and stay overnight at a B&B quite cheaply and go back down the next day. Train fares can be costly though - can't remember how much it was last year...

My DD has been going to YBSS for about 4 years now and absolutely loves it. The people are lovely too. Is your DD absolutely certain she doesn't want to board? This year I'm not sure what to do. The YBSS scholarship auditions are on the same day and at the same time as NYB final audition. I will have to ask DD what she thinks I suppose.

off topic - sorry - but this sums up (to me) the benefits of following your ballet ambitions as far as feels right for you, and then reaping the rewards of all that self-discipline and hard work by branching into a career that may not necessarily involve being on stage.

some of his other recent tweets are disturbing. I think it's sad.

Oh, and the talent vs hard work thing is fascinating. I read a book called Bounce, by Matthew Syed, which talks about this (mainly in relation to sport, but dance is relevant to this). I recommend it highly! He says "natural talent" is a bit of a myth.

To do this from a very young age, the parents need to be making them do it. that might be highly incompatible with family dynamics, siblings etc. It's hard when you have other children to consider. My dancing DD is a middle child - she has an older and a younger sister (non-dancing) who are of course equally important to me, and an ill father. It's hard to know what to do sometimes. If we had been living 50 years ago in Russia, perhaps middle child would have been packed off to a ballet academy! problem solved, to a certain extent (or not, probably). As it is, we try to support her desire to dance as much as humanly possible.

My DD wouldn't dare answer back at any ballet teacher and demand the teacher say "please" to her. I have not come across any "PC" teaching, either at our local ballet school or at other schools/summer schools/competitions. I have felt for a long time that the ballet world seems to be the only area that is immune to all the excesses of PC - which is one of the reason why my DD likes it so much. that's just my experience though, and no doubt there are overly PC ballet schools out there! Lack of British born dancers in companies must be due to something that happens at upper schools. If the training is just not good enough, then surely the schools would have been able to sort that one out. there was something in the paper a couple of weeks ago about Darcey Bussell starting something up to support British dancers - I can't remember the details though and will try and google for more info. Sorry - disjointed ramblings.

Thanks for that information Janice &Ellen, I have looked at the Central website and read the whole letter about them stopping following RAD syllabus and they address questions about this move on their part very comprehensively.

What is Central's reasoning regarding moving to completely non-syllabus work? Presumably they have better ways of marking progress than by judging a student's dancing of a strict syllabus on one particular day?

Just to say, at age 10 my DD could not even touch her toes. Regular pilates lessons have really helped. She can now do splits all ways and can hold her foot to her ear. She didn't get into LJB, but has been at LSB for nearly 2 years. It will slowly happen, don't push it.

Someone told me that it was necessary to do Inter and Advanced if nothing else to learn "terminology" - I can't think how terminology wouldn't be learnt in non-syllabus classes however.

thank you for all the replies! Can I deduce that on the whole, children are taking RAD/ISTD/cechetti/whatever syllabus purely because that's what is offered at the dance schools, be they "local" or vocational, and it's simply a "default" route for many?

Sorry if this has been covered before, I have looked back over old threads and can't see anything - although I seem to remember it has been discussed. I'm just having a confused moment. Could anyone clarify - Do you NEED RAD inter and/or Advanced exams in order to progress to a vocational school at 16? If you are at or above them in standard of dance / technique /ability and all the rest, and understand the terminology used etc., are you just as well prepared for audition for sixth form? Yes, I am thinking of moving DD to a dance school that doesn't do RAD exams but which appears to have excellent training. Many people have told me it's fine to leave the RAD pathway ..... but others have said the opposite! And for what it's worth, DD hates the repetitiveness of RAD classes. Any comments would be most appreciated, as ever! [smile]

I have seen their website and they sound fantastic, but the fees are prohibitive to us (assuming DD even got accepted). Do they give bursaries or scholarships does anyone know?

I've had the same problem - although I have not used Gravatar and have never heard of it! Not sure I can be bothered to get an account with them just to upload a photo to here though. Why can't it just work normally?

sorry - my last post was a mistake, was not chasing you up! Thanks for sending DVD xx

Where in the country are you (approximately)? Perhaps someone will know someone who can help in some way?

Janice and Ellen - are you interested in selling it? I will PM you!

And actually, if anyone has a Grade 6 I would be interested too!

Just want to say All the Best to everyone waiting for a letter - and that whatever happens, getting even this far is a fantastic achievement in itself xxx

You and me both! until once I went to like a post and was told I had used up my quota. But it's never happened again since! and I've no idea about profile views either..... or the "befriending" thing. Looks like you can just randomly add people to be your friend without them saying yes or no?

According to the Ladybird Book of Ballet ( :D ) Les Sylphides is "Romantic" not Classical. <complete ignoramus here who consults children's books and thought the difference was mainly in the length of their skirts>