Kerfuffle

Very true.

Obviously I am only a parent bystander but I have it on very good authority that this is correct. As I said I’m open to correction.

I heard this while on the upper school final audition circuit from other vocational school parents - of course leading to a lot of understandable disappointment. There is a girl who has an upper school RBS place from year 7 but she was born in USA, all others are from abroad. There were a couple of British girls who were not at WL at the audition but none were offered a place. British boys have done much better from what I have heard. I’m happy to be corrected but I take this as being the truth as no one has contradicted these facts on social media. A very well respected member of the RBS ballet community (ex governor) has written about this on Instagram.

While totally agree with this, in particular the final paragraph, I still feel it is a real shame that not a single British born girl got given a place this year at RBS upper school in spite of the success of principal dancers such as Yasmine Naghdi, Anna Rose O’’Sullivan and Francesca Hayward . I also have recently heard first hand just how much it costs to train in USA where so many competition winners come from. It really is almost impossible for someone from the U.K. to compete with this. ENBS is extremely popular choice at overseas competitions as well but it still gives British dancers a chance and has an excellent company.

I would see a dance physio if you can, they will be able to see how you are positioning yourself when you dance. My DD has hyperextended knees and has recently learned how to place her weight further forward. It’s quite technical but very important because then you will find you can balance much better which improves adage and pirouettes in particular. Hyper extension gives a really beautiful line and is very desirable in ballet it just takes longer to learn to use it correctly.

Plus all the intensive ones 😉

My DD has friends who are ENB associates and they love it there. I would not be put off by accounts of how it was several years ago. The associates also had an advantage of not having to make the initial video to get through to the preliminary audition. My DD did the summer school two years ago and loved it - she is starting there full time this September.

Why ENBS students in particular ? Have they known many ? This sounds like a very dodgy school, which one was it?

Flexy where in Europe was this, that is terrible! Why are British students considered fat? My DD had some disparaging comments made to her because she was British (not to do with her size), they were about RAD training. Ironically my DD is vaganova trained but it was an assumption because she’s English.

Thank you Ballet Bean! I am so looking forward to seeing where it takes her! 😀

Yes you are right, Peanut 68 we’re about to embark on vocational costs for the first time - and I think we have been very lucky to be in this position. She only got really serious about ballet at about 13. We missed out on DaDa because we were slightly over the threshold so this year is going to be particularly expensive for us but there is no way we could have denied her this opportunity! I’m hoping it will bear fruit and she’ll thrive whatever happens - at least she will have given it a go! I agree with your Pops 🤗!

Are you talking about vocational training ? I don’t think we’ve spent anything near that but maybe we have been lucky !

We love Beatrix Stix- Brunell’s journey too! She was a fab ballerina and is still young enough to thrive academically too - inspiring stuff! I guess anyone leaving graduation year from upper school in U.K. would be about 20 so almost a mature student! It’s easy to feel worried about our DC’s futures in the arts but I’d hope that with good GCSEs (fingers crossed) and a well respected school on her CV as well as a level 5 diploma my DD will have some options open still.

I keep being told that good unis are impressed by ex dancers. If you have a diploma or degree from a top dance school is it well respected and easy to get more qualifications in a related area? (I’m thinking of arts / humanities - I know that science might require specific a levels).

I think the main difference is that the principal characters in opera are employed as free lancers so are likely to be paid considerably better than principal ballerinas. The chorus is more like a corps.

Hi Anna C is right, it’s best not to worry about associates and apply to your dream schools as well as some others. Most schools look for the following : What are you looking for? (From ENBS FAQ) •The applicant must have the physical capacity to become a professional dancer, • The applicant must have turn out, arched feet, a flexible back, and flexible legs, • The applicant must have good musicality, coordination, and use of space. I would talk to your ballet boost associate teacher when you join, they should be able to give you advice and also recommend places. My daughter is going to ENBS this September and has never been an associate there. She is not at a vocational school either, so it is possible. Good luck !

I have noticed this in the past too and it probably is a mix of things. My daughter didn’t get into JA in year 6 in spite of having been encouraged to apply by a JA teacher on another RBS related course. She was much taller than the others at the time and it felt like there was a certain type they were looking for. I think the successful candidates were more prepared than my daughter was and maybe gave a better vibe (more confident and sure of what was going on) at the audition, thanks to their teachers being experienced at putting children forward. 4 years later my DD tried again for RBS SA and was successful. By then she was much more average looking in terms of height etc and had all the splits etc they look for. So in conclusion perhaps going to a school that has connections does help but I can’t tell you for sure! Sometimes the RBS teacher also happens to teach at associates and I guess that might have a small influence. When it comes to changing schools I would only do that if there were other reasons to move.

I can recommend an excellent ballet physio, if you like DM me. He also runs conditioning courses during the holidays online.

Thanks for the recommendations. Unfortunately white Bloch seems to be sold out (too many intensives?) so I’ll probably get a capezio, new or nearly new! It’s got to look spangly white as it’s for a YAGP gala 😉

Capezio sounds good! This one will definitely get used as it’s part of a gala that all the dancers do every year 🙂

Hi my DD is attending an intensive this summer which requires her to have a white tutu practice skirt to wear in performances. Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced one with 7 (or thereabouts) layers ?

I think in person is better going by the audition process - much easier to really perform and less chance that the examiner looks at it repeatedly. I also think that generally most people look better in real life than video.

Dancers often use the applause to give the other dancer time to recover - it isn’t just an egotistical thing 😉

How about topping up your diploma to a full degree? We were told that was an option at ENBS - a further 18 months study - I wonder if you can get a student loan in that scenario? If you pay the fees because you never qualified for a DADA does that mean you are still able to access a student loan later ? We are in the same situation as a couple of you - we don’t qualify for DADA and have a son starting his degree around the same time. It’s a bit of a nightmare because we work as freelancers and it’s incredibly hard to plan !

My DD had one with a hoop and it folded up very easily in our luggage.