CeliB

when my DS went to his first summer school at end of year 9 he couldnt get anywhere near splits (he was about a foot off the floor). He was nevertheless offered a scholarship for full time school and within 6 months had both box and front splits. So evidently they were looking at potential and not actual....

my DS wears an all in one romper- we call it his clown suit (which he takes in good spirit!) eg https://dancewear.co.uk/products/details&prodid=1675 also there is a shortie version which they do in extra small https://dancewear.co.uk/products/details&prodid=2817 when he was younger he used to just add a close fitting t on top of his leotard.

Oh that's interesting- and do they teach vaganova (I think I read on the US forum that they do)? I know Kirov in DC has a formal affiliation to the Vaganova Institute but thought they were the only school outside Russia to have such an affililiation? (I'm not implying by this that it makes any difference to the quality of teaching- just curious...). How old is your daughter now? And did she come from the UK? I would be really interested to know what was behind your decision to go to Harid as I often feel like people view us as rather odd to send DS all the way to Washington when there are 'perfectly good' schools in the UK....

My DS is at Kirov (is actually in Washington DC). I have probably posted in the threads above - moderators do feel free to move if that's better. Kirov generally offers to places on the basis of participation in their summer school- and this is clearly the best way also to be considered for a scholarship. They may also offer places on the basis of a DVD audition (similar to the one you have to make for the SI application). They take children from 11 and most students will be enrolled in the american school programme (DS will take the american high school diploma). However if you are post 16 and have already done GCSEs in the UK you can just do extra ballet and no academics (and the cost is therefore reduced as they charge in 3 parts: ballet/boarding/academics)- this was offered to a british girl this year (she didn't take up the place as couldn't afford it without a full scholarship). The total cost is around $45,000 per year but as well as offering artistic scholarships the rest (boarding and academics) is means tested so is often less than the full amount (your other children and their costs are taken into account). The school is completely self contained - similar to RBS/Elmhurst (good for DS as he can fall out of bed at 6.30, get breakfast and still be in the classroom by 7). DS applied for the summer school the year he was 13 (almost 14- he is an August birthday), was offered a scholarship to the SI so decided to go there instead of RBS, ABT, Houston, Bolshoi (New York) or San Fransisco (all of whom had accepted him for their summer schools). He was offered a scholarship after attending and has been there since then (he has just turned 15 so is in his 4th term). A useful source of info for the american schools is the american counterpart of this forum ballettalkfordancers at http://dancers.invisionzone.com/ Happy to answer any other questions about Kirov. Their most recent school performance (Act 2 of Giselle) is on youtube if anyone interested. The girl dancing Giselle is DS's classmate (she is 14). The boy dancing the Count has just graduated- he is the son of two former priniciples at the Bolshoi (I figured if it's good enough for them......) NB Harid is also vaganova style teaching but academic classes are at the local school, whereas Kirov is all on site (more like the RBS model) but I have heard very positive things about their teaching...

DH is voting member of BAFTA so we get lots of soundtracks sent to us. Particular favourites: Michael Nyman'sThe Piano James Newton Howard's Peter Pan (cry at the ending of that film every time- even tho have watched about 100 times with kids...) Thomas Newman Road to Perdition Theme song from True Romance- credited to Hans Zimmer but actually an adaptation of Carl Orffs Gassenhauer soundtrack to Get Shorty- great flim, great vibes Mobys Extreme Ways written for the Bourne films Danny Elfman- The Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands Bruno Coulais Coraline (you can tell that as a family our tastes run to gothic romances!) Most recent family favourite is the soundtrack to Inception- mostly Hans Zimmer but some others too.. and we all love the Inception button which can be downloaded form the internet (you have to have seen the film!!!)

I am sure that students differ as to how they like to be taught- my DS is used to (and expects) continual commentary and detailed individual correction, and can't bear it if he is in a class where the corrections or comments are more general or vague - so it sounds like he would be your ideal pupil! Whatever your style there will always be some who like it and others that don't- so maybe (bearing in mind the advice that positive encouragement is so important) you should be more proud of what you're good at and worry less that you're doing it 'wrong'!!

the assistant in the clarks shop we went ot specifically told us not to get the softwear ones (which DD preferred as they are flatter and a bit less clumpy) because they are not as wide and not as supportive- hence tendency to push out and roll over the outer side of the shoe and split the leather. Though DD has a Clarks H fitting so maybe if feet are narrower they would be ok. Re arch DD has had some success with orthopaedic insoles (the £25 ish ones from Boots the chemist) - she could wear her really flat converse trainers with them and didn't get ankle pain... As for shoe polish- I sometimes think I am the only person left in the world who still polishes shoes!!

I remember when my younger brother went to Berkeley for a year (at 19 not even so young!) he used to skype my Mum and have endless miserable conversations about how hateful it was, how he had no friends, no one liked him, the work was boring etc. Now if you talk to him he speaks of it as his best year of university. There is a real tendency for kids to save up all the misery for you, because they HAVE to put a brave face on for everyone else. I'm not saying it doesnt exist (I'm sure your DD is genuinely sad) just that it isn't as all encompassing as it feels when they are talking to you about it.....and having off loaded they then can go away feeling better (whilst you no doubt are glugging the vodka and weeping into your hanky). I find with my DS that his stories of woe don't seem to detract from the endless photos he posts on facebook of him larking about in the studio with mates (when he should be doing his HOMEWORK grr). So lots of sympathy- it is hard- but try and see it as your most valuable parenting contribution- and it's far better to be doing that than thinking she might be sad but not telling you.....

I totally agree with KathyG- parcels are the best way to send love- my DS adores getting a parcel and waits anxiously when one is in the post- we send silly things like chocolate (can't get Green and Blacks in the USA), a book (which will never get read!), hob nobs (over £2 a packet in US and makes him the girls' best friend!!) and porridge oats (yes I know- but they only have horrible ready brek style oats there) plus any new ballet kit he's requested....

clarks black brogues seem to be popular at DDs school and she was persuaded to buy a pair (they have a small heel and good support but she says the small heel is a big 'no no' as far as the trend setting teen is concerned- sigh). I don't yet know if she will wear them- she's going to wear her old shoes with holes in and see what everyone else has before committing! Beware flatter styles as often too narrow if they have wide feet- hence they spill over the side and this is why the shoes split so easily (as well as allow them to rotate outwards) very very bad for the ankles... this includes Jones shoes where even the sales assistant told me not to buy the £60 brogues as they wouldn't stand up to school wear.. A tip for outside school- the tendency for teens to wear very flat canvas shoes with NO support I have now managed to scotch by buying fitflop sneakers- they have almost identical look to canvas flats and do high tops as well as sneakers in huge range of colours and fabrics and as well as looking good they have incredible support for arch and heel (mine are the most comfortable shoes I have EVER worn- and far better than MBTs which I also tried). DS has a pair of high tops which he adores, DD has got some blue canvas ones she loves- they are expensive but there are lots of end of season sales at the moment esp if you are after smaller sizes (try amazon, soletrader, wardwalkers)...(NB they do have plain black leather too if lace up 'trainer' style acceptable for school). It's like walking on air- I can't recommend highly enough.....

Donated yesterday- sorry had no internet access before so was rather late. Would happily donate more if needed rather than see the site collapse. Having just shelled out $160 for 4 new dance tops for DS and £49.00 for DDs new pointe shoes/toe pads yada yada I feel a few more quid towards this forum (the only thing in this whole ballet merry-go-round which primarily benefits me) would be cheap at twice the price!!!!

Last year when DS went away I cried almost continuously for a week- I would stop as long as I was busy or at work, then as soon as I was on my own I would just burst into tears. I was completely bereft- DESPITE the fact that I knew he was doing what he wanted, and was deleriously happy. When he came back for Thanksgiving same thing happened when he left even though it was only 3 weeks til Christmas break!!!! But by Spring break I was a bit more resigned to it. Not sure what will happen next week, as he has been home on and off now since end of May.... It is honestly really hard to lose the day to day contact with someone with whom you are so closely entwined- it's like the physical pain of being bereaved. But after a while you adjust to having a different sort of relationship- no less close emotionally - just physically more distant... What I would say is that his 3 siblings miss him more than I do- 'cos they can't regularly stay up til 11pm to talk to him on skype. So if you do have others be aware of how much they will be affected (as they often aren't old or savvy enough to be able to express their loss in such terms). Oh dear- now I feel like I am saying it is awful- it really isn't and DS is completely happy and thriving and we don't regret our choice in letting him go at all. It's just we do all miss him. Sometimes however I think we appreciate him more when he is around so it's not all bad... Good luck to all going for the first time or a returners, hope it's a good year...

DS did Covent Garden SS even tho not yet 15 (although only a few months off to be fair). Btw he has no ballet exams since grade 2 aged 11 since he never took any after that (being on vaganova syllabus with someone who didn't do exams) so I guess acceptance completely on photos .. He stayed in an RBS hostel in Barons Court and absolutely loved that aspect of it- fantastic food, wonderful facilities, wonderful house mothers and really nice lads (mostly international- he was one of only 2 in his class from the UK). He loved the fun of being based in Covent Garden and the amazing Royal facilities (he and a mate happened to pass the scenery stage doors when they were open early one morning and sneaked in and had a dance around on the main stage much to the amusement of the props men). He said the general standard of the students was high in terms of potential but overall he was deeply unimpressed with the teaching as he said in his classes there was NO personal correction at all- all comments were generally aimed at the whole class. His key comment was 'how can I improve if I don't know exactly what I did wrong?'. Also he thought the corrections given were very woolly - not precise and technical enough. He said he worked hard (schedule was busy) and made some excellent friends, he enjoyed the contemporary which in the past he has hated so perhaps the teacher for that was particularly good and he quite liked the guest teacher..but I don't think he would want to go again- or at least not for the teaching...

Thought I should read 50 shades just to see what all the fuss is about. Hmm. I can see the resemblance to twilight: klutzy 'who me? but I'm so unattractive?' young woman attracts the most astoundingly fabulously no question the top dog alpha male who has a hint of strange(twilight- vampire, 50shades - super rich and super handsome but kinky) by dint of.... eerm well absolutely nothing of merit that I can see. Alpha male is completely overwhelmed at his desire to eat (twilight)/beat (50shades) said klutzy female and finds her captivating beyond belief solely because she seems able to accept his wierdness (undead/S&M addict) without running screaming. Cue endless panting description of how much they luuuve eachother despite not managing to have a single conversation which is more interesting than 'oh but you are so wonedrful' ' no, no YOU are so wonderful' etc whilst also both anxting endlessly over whether the other one truly does luuve them The only advantage 50shades has over twilight is that at least they get on and have sex rather than just pant about it. Otherwise they are equally dull. Oh and 50shades was marginally better written. The central characters anxting about how she felt about S&M were slightly more believeable and there were the odd moments of humour. Unlike twighlight which was incredibly self reverential and pompous. Can't say I will be reading the rest of the trilogy in either case.

Hi, if it's still available I'll happily buy this- i thought it was excrutiatingly badly directed but still managed to be fascinating and I think DS liked it- can pay by paypal easily....

No problem- I think that I was probably very naive in imagining that one could translate evaluations of potential into a likelihood of ending up with a decent career- after a year of avidly reading this forum I now realise this is like asking someone how long would a piece of elastic stretch- the answer is clearly not 'x cm' but- 'it depends how long the elastic was to start with, how stretchy it is, and whether it is strong enough to stretch without snapping' So all I can realistically hope for is no snapping!

' I have to just note in our defense that none of the comments made about DS were solicited- teachers were almost chasing us out of the studio as we attempted to slope off. At the SI where DS was offered the scholarship we entered the studio with a feeling of dread, suspecting that we might be collared with a request to go away and leave our son behind.... we are honestly the opposite of pushy parents.... Also at the time I had no idea how common it was that a teacher would say this about someone- I thought it was entirely possible that teachers wax lyrical about everyone in order to tout for trade- which I suppose is one of the reasons I posted it in the first place, to try and put it into context....

Thank you Tulip! yes he seems to be completely in his element. No-one can fore tell the future so at the moment I can just say- he's improving, he's happy. Can't ask better than that.... Btw DS's very first ballet teacher was once asked if she could spot who in her class had the ability to become ballet dancers and she said she could spot the ones with the physical/musical potential- thereafter the ones who would become dancers were (I quote) the ones who wanted to be dancers....

I think it's entirely possible that the DS you mentioned at the beginning of the thread is mine! or if not I certainly did post something like this. To put it into context this was because I was asking advice about sending DS abroad for his preferred training at the tender age of 14, coming from a family of non dancers (none ever in our history on either side). DS's potential had been noted to us by around 4 or 5 international standard teachers (eg who had either been and/or taught principal dancers all over the world) in order to emphasise that it was a serious matter that DS needed the right training. It is really hard to judge what is meant by potential and I suppose I posted our dilemma including this assessment of potential (despite my fears that we would sound horribly full of our own importance) because we were potentially putting a huge amount on the line going down this path and wanted to know how to weight the pros and cons. When you are looking at losing your beloved firstborn at 14 years old you want to kow that there's at least the possibility it will be worthwhile in terms of outcome. Much as they loved it I don't think any of us would consider doing this if our DKs had been told they were averagely good (we would probably keep them at home and wait and see how they progressed. I would have to say we are also realistic (especially after having become a complete addict to this site) about the long and difficult path between potential and career, but also I can report that after 1 year at his school in which he probably only danced for 6 months (he had 2 months off after breaking his foot in a' teenage boy' non ballet injury) and in which he struggled immensely to get to grips with being completely self actualising (getting himself up and to class, organising his own study time, washing his own clothes) and a new academic system (progressing from eg outright fail of one subject in term 1 to over 70% in the final exam) he is thriving. He finished the year as the only boy in his group with an A grade in the end of year ballet exam, with a full scholarship for next year and with a work ethic which I would never have believed possible (after 4 weeks at home he was desperate to go back to summer school and do more). He has improved beyond what I thought was possible in such a short time. BUT. He is still not yet 15. He goes to RBS summer school at Covent Garden in a few weeks, so will be interesting to see if any positive feedback. Will let you know!

well that's what I thought- but it was more than one person who said it- and I wondered maybe if those who do dance outside Russia are just the really amazingly top level soloists, whilst the 'rank and file' have too narrow a skill set to cross over into more European companies. It may sound daft to you experts- but I am so totally ignorant of the ballet world it's hard to know what's plausible and what isn't.....

if anyone is interested in Bolshoi and what they look like in training ilyaballet has uploaded lots and lots of video on to youtube e.g. is the 5th year boys. Vaganova definitely suits my DS- he found English training (mainly I think RAD syllabus) very 'wet' (his words). Interestingly when I was trying to canvas opinion about sending him abroad several people said to me (including a male professional ballet dancer who had trained at WL) that the trouble with learning Russian was that you could only then dance in Russia and eastern Europe. I thought at the time this seemed unlikely but would be interested in other people's opinions.....

I second Wolf Hall- absolutely adored it. For those who liked the Hunger Games I agree with someone else that Patrick Ness trilogy is great (better than the hunger games which I found quite derivative- but I have been reading science fiction since I was 10 so it takes a lot to impress me..). I have just finished reading Johannes Cabal the Necromancer (Jonathan L Howard) and thought it was brilliantly written- a really well rounded anti hero. But probably my best discovery of this year is Kate Griffiths' A Madness of Angels (and the subsequent books in the series)- she's an astounding writer who published her first novel aged 14 (and I've read it, and it's better than many adult novels). Fiz if you're interested in epidemiology you should read Ben Goldacre's Bad Science if you haven't already (in fact so should the entire population of the world). It's erudite, extraordinarily important (e.g. everyone should know this stuff) and really really easy to read.... as an epidemiologist I would highly recommend it to all non scientists...

yesterday i wrote a really snippy email to my husband about a house we are trying to rent- and accidentally sent it into the owner of the house Its easy to get carried away when life is always so pressurised.... hopefully the members of this forum are all grown up enough to understand everyone lets their feelings get the better of them sometimes, and not react like my daughter's friend who keeps 'uninviting' her to her birthday party.... it seems to me that the whole point of this forum is that people give their honest opinion (as long as it is based on experience and not hearsay). Otherwise why bother to be here? We can all read school yearbooks and glowing press reports- that is no substitute for real experience... and if you choose to say something controversial then everyone is at liberty to disagree I would have thought?

Clearly I am amazingly naive, as DS goes to his former ballet teacher whenever he is home for holidays (he doesn't like to go a long time without class and he adores her and all her other students, who range from 16-70+, and have followed his progress with interest and overwhelming warmth) and he has also applied to RBS summer school and it never occurred to me to ask permission (though he is on a 100% scholarship). In fact his vocational school teacher's comment was only that DS should be quite clear about what he wants for his training (he is quite honest that he fears RBS will try and poach DS) but there was no suggestion that DS shouldn't have applied.... clearly this is unusual!

Hmm, I have to say I can't see how your comments and experience will ever become irrelevant. We are all at different stages in our DKs journeys and once a parent always a parent til you are carried out feet first I suspect. So knowing how the children's careers progress as they become adults is a great help to those of us at an earlier stage in the time line! At the moment we have people posting with children any age from 8 to 18- why should post-18 (pardon the pun) be any less relevant? And also we would love to hear about your DDs successes as time goes on!!! (Though perhaps you have had enough of anxting about it- I can see how that might be the case!!!)