AgnesP

Thank you for the bump! I'd still be very grateful to hear from anyone who can help.

Hello, I'd be very grateful for any feedback on this Saturday programme. I can't find anything on here from after about 2016. I am particularly interested in the quality of the ballet classes and the general vibe (whether it is supportive/nurturing), but any and all feedback very welcome. Thanks very much and please do message me directly if preferable.

Thank you to Pas de Quatre and glowlight for your posts. I have gone round in circles but your posts have really helped in thinking through the pros and cons. I think her dance school is a really positive place and there are so many factors that feed into this - it could upset the balance if we changed and mess up something that has brought lots of joy, both with her dancing and more generally. Plus I hadn't really thought about the benefits of the contemporary experience of the teacher. Coincidentally, I have very recently enrolled my youngest in one of the local larger and vocational-focused schools (just because of lesson timings) and I can already see that the feel of it is not a great match for us. I don't see my elder daughter thriving there. I've also read a few threads on here about what dance schools can be like and I feel quite lucky in many ways! Thank you also taxi4ballet and dancing unicorn, I'm assuming that you both mean that you found the contemporary dancers who had done ballet to have better technique (as opposed to just different), which is v interesting. I suppose this takes me kind of back to the question of how much ballet?! I'm not sure whether it's the difference between having done a few years of ballet versus none, or whether it's a big advantage to have a v high level of classical ballet by 18. It looks as though my daughter will have been doing from around age 12 2 x weekly classes at her school plus perhaps a private lesson, and an hour or so weekly at associates. I think I am going to go with this arrangement now and hope it works out, as it seems to suit us.

Thank you for all your helpful views and a very interesting range of opinions. It's great to hear from people who have pupils or children at these schools who are sharing their experiences - thank you. I am curious as to the pupils who don't have strong ballet technique and are studying contemporary dance, and whether this means that they have done little to no ballet or whether they have e.g. still done a class or 2 a week but not done the higher vocational grades. Kanangra - yes I would definitely say it is a recreational school, none or very few of the pupils go on to vocational school and certainly not to ballet schools. She does love it there though and it is through the school that her love of dance has been fostered. I can't quite explain why but I feel very reluctant to move her. Also, she does not want to move. So yes, sticking with the associates plan seems sensible for now. Balletmediauk - I am thinking more that this might be a good plan and preferable to switching schools. I could only afford 30 mins at the moment but may be able to increase in the future. glowlight - yes, I have spoken to the principal, she said she is confident she can get my daughter to where she needs to be (though was a bit hazy on the details). She is lovely and worked for many years as a professional contemporary dancer herself; she also said that many of her contemporary colleagues had done much less classical ballet training than she had. She is sort of supportive but generally seems very busy and slightly distracted! As to what my daughter wants, she is committed and will do what is needed (she is too young really to know), but she really loves and thrives on the contemporary and more creative classes. She would rather be dancing than not dancing, but she doesn't have quite the same passion for classical ballet. This is a key part of my conundrum because presumably most children who want to be dancers don't make it, so while I don't want to be negative I also don't want to bankrupt us and use up scarce family time to put her into yet more ballet lessons when that's not really her main love.

Thanks so much for all your responses. Rambert is not really somewhere we'd be looking. I'm worried because although I think the technique seems fine her dance school does seem to plod along quite slowly so even though she is now doing 2 hours per week plus 2.5 hours fortnightly of associates, her progression through the grades is quite glacial! Where people have said that LCDS, Laban etc. don't require a high standard, do you think it would still be best to have done, say, at least ISTD intermediate before applying at 17 so as not to be at a disadvantage? I appreciate grades aren't everything but just as a broad indication of level. It would require a lot of sacrifice and financial outlay even to try and get my daughter up to that level, though all being well she will also have done a reasonable amount of contemporary and some non-syllabus ballet classes. I wonder whether I should ask her current ballet school for a private lesson to focus on getting through some more of the syllabus work, as an alternative to a different school. I have two other children and a very demanding job so not sure I can make it work otherwise! I don't know how other parents do it. Thank you Dance*is*life your comments are very interesting and make sense. I'd also not thought much about practising at home; she does do this but I could see whether I can find online lessons to guide her.

Thanks so much for all your responses and to the people who messaged me. The thread linked to above by alison is very interesting - thank you - I hadn't properly appreciated that ballet wasn't required as an entry condition. I do still slightly wonder whether you might be at a disadvantage if you weren't at a high level of ballet when applying, because of the strength and technique, but I do feel a bit reassured! richieN that is also very interesting as I had assumed Rambert would have very high ballet requirements. Thank you MrsMoo2 for explaining your route into contemporary which sounds great and again I'm reassured that you think contemporary is more accessible. If you are still reading, do you mind me asking if you had done much other dance before your GCSE? I'm not sure whether I should ask here or on a separate thread, but if anyone knows any good contemporary associates programme it would be amazing to get some recommendations. I have read some other helpful threads on here about this but they were mainly in the Midlands and we are in Sussex, near Brighton. There is a limit to my willingness to ferry her enormous distances at the weekend. I have a weekend class in mind for next year but I have no idea if it's any good and I'm not sure how to find out as I don't know anyone who goes there. Thanks again

I hope it's ok to ask for advice on this here - it has a ballet element! My daughter is 12 and has recently decided she wants to try to become a professional contemporary dancer, via training at 18 somewhere like London Contemporary Dance School. She knows it’s very competitive. I would like to support her to give it her best shot. I am finding it difficult (and stressful) to work out what we should be doing at this stage. She is at a local dance school and has been doing ballet there from age 9, adding tap, modern and jazz from 10. She increased from 1 to 2 x hours each of ballet and modern per week about 6 months ago and has just started a fortnightly ballet associates class which has a bit of contemporary. My main concern is about what level of classical ballet she will need. She would ideally like to look for a more contemporary-based / creative weekend associate programme from next year, so she would be left with the 2 x weekly lessons at her dance school. She is quite 'behind' what serious dancers on this forum are doing in terms of the amount of ballet classes and the grade she is at, though fairly normal for her school. We could switch from her current dance school to get more ballet during the week. The school she is at offers one ballet class per week and she dances in the grade above to get the 2 classes. Even for vocational grades they do 1 x 2 hour class per week and don't offer IF, though they’re a bit flexible based on need. I don’t think the school sends any children on to vocational training, but they do have classes through to advanced. The children who take intermediate tend to do so at around year 12 and I think probably also do associates. It’s so hard to know how good the teaching is. I asked my daughter after her first associate class what it was like in comparison – she said very similar to her normal class but that in the associate classes they were a bit pickier / more precise. We are within striking distance of a couple of schools I have seen recommended on here where she could do several ballet classes a week, though it would complicate our already busy lives and they don’t offer the modern, tap etc. which she loves, plus my daughter is very happy at her school. My instinct is that for many reasons it would be wrong to move her, but I am also worried about getting later down the line and finding we have made the wrong decisions. I will probably let her apply for the CAT schemes in London for next year, despite the crippling cost, but it would be good to have a back-up plan as I assume these are very competitive. There is a weekly contemporary associate-type scheme local to us which I think could be great for next year if not (though again it's so hard to be sure as it's relatively small and new). Apologies for the length of this post and thanks so much if you have read this far. Any advice would be very gratefully received.