CeliB

Hi, my DS attended Kirov in Washington 2011 and then 2012 (but was at the school full time by then) and will be doing the first 3 week session this year as well. If this is one of the SIs you are considering let me know and I will give you details. In answer to your specific question I don't think attending a vaganova based SI will be any worse than attending any other international summer school- all schools have different styles and methods, and that's part of the positive (or negative depending on your view) part of the experience. I opened a discussion about this a little while ago http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/2728-to-summer-school-or-not-to-summer-school/?hl=%2Bsummer+%2Bschool+%2Bsummer+%2Bschool when I was pondering whether DS should apply for the Paris Opera summer school- you might find that thread useful!

My DS did RAD grades 1 and 2 at around age 10, then not another exam ever again, as he switched to Vaganova. At 13 he got accepted to summer school by ABT, Houston, Bolshoi NY and Kirov Washington on the strength of a dvd audition (as well as RBS London from photos). So I would say that proves US schools couldn't give 2 hoots about UK grade exams! I guess if you thought you might at some point return to the UK the RAD grades might be useful to demonstrate what level she was at, but to be honest ballet is such an international discipline with so many different pedagogies I don't think any one set of exams would confer an advantage so I wouldn't get too het up about it- especially if finding an RAD teacher in the US is onerous...

I feel very lucky that DS birthday is at the end of August so he's always at home (though being youngest in the year hasn't exactly been easy). It's when he's ill that I really feel awful that he's away- when I get the skype call early in the day so I know he must not be in class and he's lying wrapped in a duvet looking miserable- I can't bear it... DH keeps telling me I can jump on a flight to Washington any time to see DS but I know it's not really feasible (not just the expense but the other 3 at home needing looking after!). The other day I was in a coffee shop with my youngest and a woman my age came in with her teenage son and I just burst into tears completely out of the blue (I felt a right idiot sniffling away in the corner). DH explains it as being like bereavement- you go along feeling fine and normal and suddenly get a stab of pain that is almost physical as you are hit by the loss.... So sending lots of sympathy and also empathy- we all feel like this sometimes even tho' we know our DKs are where they want to be...

When DS was considering how to get Russian training in the UK we got agreement from his school that he could do the minimum set of GCSEs and go up to the London Russian Ballet School on the days when he didn't have school classes. They had rooms so he often stayed overnight when he was going up for classes on 2 consecutive days. In the end he got offered scholarship at Kirov that summer so we never carried through this plan cos we felt vocational was a better option for him (mainly as LRBS had few boys and it seemed it would be very lonely). I'm not sure if he would have got enough hours but the standard of training is certainly very good. The main hurdle in not going vocational seemed to be that very few non vocational teachers can offer enough hours, so finding a teacher is probable the first and most important step. Good luck...

Have to admit to being very unpatriotic and say we're rooting for DS's friend Nacho!! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151404238232264&set=a.10151403907647264.493503.6080122263&type=1&theater

yes I do mean wolf house (kept calling it wolf hall much to DS's irritation). sorry if it wasnt clear that I meant RBS own accomodation...

If you want to know exact time 'til a reply, I think I have the paperwork still in my filing cabinet- I will try and look it out. My DS got a supervised hostel place- he hadn't yet turned 15 so I guess it may be because he was younger (we are about 2 1/2 hours away door to door so couldn't commute daily). I think all the other boys in his hostel were overseas from what I remember. Included in the price of the hostel was breakfast and enough snacks to satisfy even those boys with 'hollow legs'; although they were told they should eat main meals at ROH the house mothers were lovely about the teenage boy requirement for 10 meals a day (at least that's what it feels like when he's home) and pretty much fed them constantly. There was a huge fridge completely full at all times (for the 16 boys in the hostel). So it ended up being quite a good deal cos he could otherwise have spent a small fortune on food.... They weren't supervised to travel to the school but tended to go in a bunch so didn't get lost. I did the run from the hostel to covent garden once with him on the day of registration, after that he did it by himself fine. If you don't have one I would completely recommend buying an oyster card (it's easy to do via the TFL website and they post it to you)- you can then load it up on day 1 and then not only is it half the cost of cash it means they don't have to faff around buying tickets/travelcards.... The house mothers were absolutely superb, can't speak of them too highly. Any problems were instantly sorted out (DS bent his oyster card in his back pocket and had to get another, one which they did for him) and communication was instantaneous. Hope this useful....

I thought it was technically brilliant (my husband who is a film visual effects supervisor/producer thought it was astounding) with some fantastic performances (hathaway, jackman and redmayne stood out- though I have to say for eddie- BAD HAIR DAY!) but overall it left me totally unmoved. I like amanda sefried and thought she was good for the (pretty 2 dimensional let's be honest) part, didnt like samantha barks much (great pipes, wasn't too impressed with her acting) and thought russell crowe had all the charisma of a parking attendant and his singing was so awful I had to stick my fingers in my ears several times. bonham carter and baron cohen at least provided some welcome light relief as well as one of the only ensemble pieces that I actually genuinely enjoyed. Have never seen the stage show, but my main reasons for finding it detestable were: 1) it's an astoundingly complex, moving and truly great book reduced to a bunch of capering about and caterwauling; 2) I found the music almost unbearably awful- sometimes I couldn't tell whether the atonal screeching was down to off key singing or that was genuinely the 'tune'.... Rant over. Of course everyone watching with me LOVED it so I am doomed to be a minority...

All very sound advice. And yes you are right tutoo, he was completely unimpressed by last year's RBS summer school teaching wise (everything else he loved!). Does the Bristol school actually do a summer school or would it just be joining classes (we are too far away for anything non residential)? Funnily enough I was chatting to him last night and he expressed a desire to not do a summer school at all, or at least do a short one (his school one is 6 weeks but he can choose to do only 3). Which brings me to another related question- how important is it for them to keep up class during summer break? Primrose you have mentioned 3 weeks off then daily class, but I know your daughter is quite a bit more advanced than DS- I'm not sure how much difference it makes... In response to Anjuli I have to say the comment about being perfect was my paraphrasing- I think he meant at a stage where your basic skills are almost hard wired so you can experiment without losing your basics... Re being a big fish in a small pond I don't think he's so precious- he has lots of very talented boys in the years above him and knows he has a lot of hard work ahead of him and doesn't seem to have a sense of his own importance- i think his comments about the (lack of) individual correction at RBS was that he feels unsure about how he can improve if no-one points it out when he does it wrong, or shows him how to do it better. Again maybe this is about being relatively young to vocational training so being less able to self regulate? But thanks for helpful points everyone....

yes indeed, he is being trained in Russian method. Perhaps it does require a greater commitment to that particular style than other disciplines, though i am sure I have come across this issue in other schools of ballet....it's not really that I have a problem with it, I just found it interesting to see the teacher's perspective....

My cousin kindly took my 11 and 5 year old to see this. She was very impressed with the idea of a family friendly performance and thought it worked really well, as she didn't have to feel anxious when they talked ('here come the fairies...' for sure! as well as 'I'm that princess- and I'm that fairy, and I'm that fairy etc). In fact the 5 yr old got up and danced in the aisles for some of the performance, lots of people were chatting and my coz thoroughly enjoyed the whole performance and didn't feel the noise detracted at all... (she does go to the ballet a fair bit, and she doesn't have much experience with small children, so could have potentially been ghastly). Shame about empty seats though, it seems such a good opportunity...

Apropos of Paris Opera SI I was penning a reply and realised it was a bit off topic so thought I would start a new one. Am interested in people's opinions... I mentioned on an earlier post DS planned to audition for the Paris Opera SI. But following a 2 hr end of term discussion about progress with DSs ballet teacher we were persuaded not to send him in favour of him attending his own school's 6 week SI. Argument from teacher was 1. DS is relatively late to start vocational training (started the month he turned 14) and not experienced enough yet to get much out of being exposed to different styles of teaching 2. He is progressing very well (having seen DS dance in the school production can't really argue - e.g. he was one of only 4 in the school name checked by the professional dance critic who saw the show; he is one of 4 that the artistic director of an internationally renowned company said he would be watching after having done a master class at the school...) 3. He needs to focus on getting perfect in his specific style of training and not get distracted/sidetracked/put off by suddenly being taught a different way 4. Teachers at SIs don't know the individual children well and may not always give them much attention 5. Often children come back injured as they are pushed too hard or in wrong way (because of 4. above I suppose). 6. He has time enough to experiment with different styles of ballet and different companies once he is closer to being ready to dance professionally He quoted a saying (from Japan I think) that if you are pushing a large boulder up a hill and you let it go, it doesn't just stay in the same place it rolls a long way back down the hill and you have to push it all the way back up again. E.g. if DS goes off to be taught by someone else he will not just not get better, he will get worse.... It made me think about the reports one sometimes hears about ballet teachers/schools being anti pupils applying for courses elsewhere, and how this is generally presented as being slightly 'sour grapes' or concern that their star pupils will be poached. The conversation above made me see it much more from the teacher's perspective- DSs teacher has invested and continues to invest a huge amount of effort and care into his training (and the school is fully funding him) so perhaps it is fair enough not to flit about getting distracted trying other places whilst he is only half trained... Anyway thought it was an interesting perspective and am sure people may have opinions that are more informed than mine (given my experience in the world of ballet is a big fat zero!!!)

DS has a 100% scholarship to the Kirov in washington. A friend of his who went to the most recent summer school was offered a 25% scholarship. So as far as Kirov goes yes scholarships are offered irrespective of nationality. As regards having to attend SIs in order to be considered for the year round programme even where this is specified on a school's website I have heard of people being offered places at some schools on the basis of an audition tape. However I don't think you would get offered a scholarship to the full time programme if they hadn't seen you first via an SI. Of course it varies greatly from place to place...this is just our personal experience. If you want to know about schools in the USA the best place to research this is on the US version of this forum- ballet talk for dancers http://dancers.invisionzone.com/ where there is a wealth of discussion and experince (although I have to say they are nowhere near as active a forum as this one!!)

Thanks so much for posting- I thought the documentary was fascinating but also rather sad and slightly depressing- the dancers who weren't going to make principal were rather tragic (as well as poverty stricken), and even those who were principal didn't seem to be having the greatest time (Carlos Acosta seemed particularly exhausted and defeated, as well as in constant pain which he seemed to accept as the norm). I hope it isn't all like that or I will wonder what on earth I have done in letting DS pursue this profession.....

When my DS went to an American summer school his English school was very understanding about him leaving early. So it's always worth applying and then once you have a place it sounds so swish the school is often accommodating about it... DD is getting even time off this term to go and see DS perform at his christmas show (he has just been promoted to lead in the matinee performances so we are all v excited!). Will def ask DS if he wants to apply to Paris Opera- it sounds great (though as it's the first I imagine competition for places will be spectacularly fierce!) thanks so much for posting the info I would never have seen it!

DS (in Yr 11 UK, Grade 10 USA) does about 3.5 hours during the 5 weekdays (sandwiched inbetween 2 sets of academic classes) then 1 hr partnering class early evening 2-3 x a week, plus all sat morning. So in total about 24-25 hours a week. In the run up to a show they seem to rehearse every night and voluntarily every sat afternoon and most of sunday (though it isn't scheduled, they are simply obsessed!!). They finish academic classes 2 weeks before the end of term and do ballet all day- this either leads up to the performance (Xmas and summer) or ballet exams (easter). but this is USA so perhaps you were only interested in UK schedules?

Interesting to note that Chase O'Connell who went from RBS to Paris Opera (in the 2011 RBS list of graduates) actually trained for as many years at Kirov Academy in Washington as he did at RBS. I only happen to know about this particular young man because DS noticed me reading the RBS list and said Chase was actually a Kirov graduate. It just shows that listing graduate contracts doesn't tell the whole story...

DH just discovered this http://www.dancersamongus.com/ - is top on our christmas list for DS- absolutely epic...

yes absolutely, DS offered a scholarship when applied for first ever summer school and had only been seriously dancing a year.. i know also of an elmhurst student a few years back who got full scholarship to SAB for their SI (they even paid flights)...

It's pretty easy to find out- most US schools advertise their audition tour dates and location on line. From the ones I have looked at the auditon tour schedule is already up (SAB, ABT, Houston, Kirov, San Francisco). Sorry didn't look at overseas auditions as DS can audition in US as that's where he is at vocational school. The ones mentioned above are the ones recommended to us as the top ones by DS's UK ballet teacher but I'm sure there are plenty others which would be considered excellent.... Overseas applicants can send in a DVD if there isn't an audition date in their country. Lots and lots of info on summer schools on the USA ballet forum at http://dancers.invisionzone.com/

re auditioning for US schools this usually takes the form of a DVD for overseas students, you don't have to turn up on the audition tour! The format/content is generally similar for most schools so if you have a camera that takes digital film and can work an editing programme you can do it yourself relatively easily (helps if your ballet teacher is hally to provide guidance). The quality doesnt have to be oscar winning (!) as long as it provides a reasonable idea of the student in the requisite class exercises...

Also are you considering UK summer schools only or would you consider going abroad? There are many schools in the US that have summer schools and quite a few in Europe but it depends on funds and how long you would consider being away from home (some of the US ones are 5 or 6 weeks long)..

My DS had ligament injury (not same one - his was ligaments around heel area caused by having his heel resting incorrectly on the barre). We did get some ultrasound which helped a lot although no miracle recovery- from my memory it was genuinely around 6 weeks before he was totally pain free. It is very frustrating but I was rigid about not letting him dance if there was any pain- what's 6 weeks against a possible chronic injury which could be career ending? Btw it has never recurred in the 2 years subsequent- and his hours dancing have gone from pre vocational 3-4 hrs/wk to vocational 30 or so hrs/week so I guess any chronic damage would have shown up by now.

DD has invisible elastic sewn either side of heel seam in a loop as described by other posters above. I asked her dance teacher about the debate (esp re RBS saying it wasn't allowed) and she rolled her eyes and said she considered that a lot of nonsense- and noted that almost all pics of RBS company dancers shoes showed elastic being used. IMO it's better to have elastic than continually be fussing/worrying about shoe slippage rather than concentrating on what your feet are actually trying to do- and surely slipping shoes could contribute to awkward movement and hence potential strains...

KAB in Washington have just introduced acting for ballet, and also do ballet appreciation where they spend a lot of time discussing characters and their motivation which I think helps in playing the part, so researching the character is a really good idea. But remember you can bring your own interpretation- no need to slavishly follow someone else's; no matter how good they are you can always have a different view.. I think I may have mentioned in another post finding it quite a revelation (never having seen a live ballet before) watching DS's first Christmas performance and noticing that the dancers who stood out were those who projected their personality and looked convincing in a role- this was far more important to the performance than how perfect their steps or how complex and 'acrobatic' their choreography. So it's worth getting a handle on this. I'm sure it get's easier the more you do it (and maybe even fun eventually?!)