KathyG

For years my DS wore Sancia pros but now wears so dancia which just ballet got in for us in black. There quite reasonally priced as well

Dare I say Middlesex doesn't exist as a place it's just a postal address. It hasn't been a County since 1965. Sorry spent many years saying to people at work "Do you live in Surrey?" Their reply "No I Ilive in Middlesex" Which because of the area we were in meant they lived in Surrey. I know it's a sore point to some people to say Middlesex doesn't exist and I grew up in Middlesex the first now being part of London Borough of Richmond and then when we moved to Spelthorne in Surrey which is still a postal address of Middx..

When we had to get doctors letter for W/L for DS dr didn't even see him we had a chat over the phone then he just wrote a letter to say he was fit. No charge. This was also just 6 months after DS had brain surgery so I guess he knew us well. For 6 form the school nurse did them.

Hasn't there been lots of discussion recently on this subject and flexability? Or am I losing the plot!

Choice might boil down to funding Elmhirst is DaDA Central is loans. If we were making that choice now it would probably be Central due to changes in fumding this year.

So sorry to hear your sad news Julie. Our thoughts are with you. Kathy x

At Elmhurst we used to buy elsewhere and send in the receipts. School shop charged £18 for a pair of ballet shoes which cost 12 elsewhere.

But can we afford it!

We also made it to London for the matinee performance despite car not starting and having to change travel arrangements to underground. James Barton was the Genie he is not my favourite BRB dancer just something about him I don't get. Jo Caley was lovely as Aladdin he really looked the part though I did wonder at first if it was a girl dancing the part, Elisha Willis who I wasn't keen on in Swan Lake suited the princess much better in my opinion. I would have liked to have seen Marion Tait as the mother but the young lady did a good job just looked to young. Enjoyed all of the jewel dances though slightly distracted by concentrating on some of the costumes (that's my thing) I would love to visit the wardrobe deptartment to take a closer look at some of these. I thought the lion dance was really cool and I loved the dragon dance slightly biased for personal reasons! There were lots of little comedy bits which made you laugh, one being the birds flying across the stage and the judges as they waddled onto stage! The staging was very clever, though when the flash went of in the cave in Act 1 some of the audience around us thought that was the end of the act and started to leave for the interval which was disracting. We were in the Dress Circle which wasn't full though everyone spreadout which made it appear fuller. There were lots of little girls who during the first act were slightly restless but once the princess appeared they were transfixed. Come to the conclusion that I prefer BRB ballets to RB they seem more relaxed and everyone is enjoying themselves. Would never have got to have seen any of them though if it wasn't for DS being given the wonderful opportunities to take part in them. Would throughly recommend.

There have in the past been non-funded places offered to uk students at Elmhurst.

In our year of applying the yes's went out by email and the no's by letter a few days later.

This year RB have taken 3 into company who have been at the school since year 7.

When DD needed red shoes from Freeds they were made to measure and cost the same as off the shelf shoes.

When DS needed some blue shoes I painted them with fabric dye.

Dance direct now do costumes. Not sure about the quality as I haven't seen any in the flesh but reasonable price. Only problem doesn't appear to have a Giselle one. http://www.dancedirect.com/uk/Category/Costumes/Ballet-costumes/

Always remember our Elmhurst letter for year 10 came on the last day of the Spring Term.

Being assessed out of W/L isn't so much as the dream ending but taking a different route to.reaching the goal.

Our council have made you attend a 2 part course for years. Now you also have to pay for the course.

Just received this into my inbox, thought some of you might be interested as they are holding an adult class as well as for grades. http://www.brb.org.uk/Insights2013.html

DS would love to apply for this and the many other jobs in the states but we just can't afford the time or money to audition. Thanks for posting and thinking of those trying to get a job this year.

This is probably going to turn into some sort of rant but I believe I'm among friend's. DS is in his graduate year and trying to get a job!! We all wonder what a school is looking for but what is a company looking for? Within his year group who are all applying to companies with various degrees of success. DS applies to one company along with his year group they all get invited to audition and he doesn't. Then we get the reverse where they all apply and DS is the only one invited to audition. Then those you don't think will be successful are the first to get a job. Everywhere he's been they all say you are good and have what we're looking for BUT we're still auditioning and we'll let you know. There are also many more apprentice schemes now and after 8 years of paying for his training I can't afford to fund him anymore. As mentioned in previous threads it's expensive, thank you Granny and Grandad though I have got to the point where it all goes on a credit card and I'll worry about it when he's finished school!! On a positive for someone who hasn't travelled much he is now quite accomplished at finding his way even when mum books him a bus ticket but forgets to find out that he has to get from the airport to the bus station first! Or he lands into the worse snow storm for 5 years and takes 5 hours to get from the airport to his hostel when it's normally a 20 minute journey. That's another experience staying in hostels although he has shared a room with others since he was 11 sharing a room with 7 grown men who offer you drinks and drugs is slightly daunting. But it's cheap! We also double check everything after the first trip where half way to the airport DS says I've forgotten my coat!! He was going somewhere cold! Also I forgot to check his phone would work abroad so no contact from him until phone got connected. When I read all of the posts about whether our DC are getting offered places at schools and funding I start to wonder about the number of our DC gong into training and if there will be enough work at the end for them. I have a friend who's DD graduated 18 months ago (MT) got a first job but is now working as a waitress struggling to find dance work. If you're not getting offered funding is someone gently saying although you're good enough to train we don't think you'll get a job at the end of your training! How many students come out of all of these schools/colleges each year. There must be 100+ just from the ballet schools. We all want our children to follow their dreams but we have to be realistic that there isn;t enough work for them all. Midde child wanted to be a mechanic how ever hard we tried it wasn't to be but he's turn out to be a jolly good welder! How ever much DS wanted to dance without funding he was going nowhere. Refering to the post on DaDa's and when the MP David Laws refers to state training in the performing arts (BTEC's) you won't be getting a dance job at the end of that course without further training at a private institution.. It was also said that it was easier for boys, that isn't the case now with no thanks to Billy Elliott! Alongside all of this DS is performing in Aladdin and is literally getting of a plane and then having to find his way to the next stop on the tour, when he retiurns tomorrow he has to get back to Birmingham then a train to Manchester ready for performances in Salford. BRB has no intention of offering him a job so why are they so insistent he has to chase them around the country to take part. It is costing them though as it is more expensive to fund one rail ticket for someone who missed the coach. It is still a wonderful opportunity for him and he wants to do it and enjoys the experience. We also get to go and watch when they come to London. There is still time to find a job and he still has a couple of options but each time it's getting harder, I'm grinding my teeth again and work is wondering where I keep disappearing to as I have to keep taking and collecting him from airports. As I said a bit of a rant but it helps to put it into writing and share with those in similar boats. Good luck to those also auditioning one or another this year it is definitely a journey.

We have tickets to see this in London after all of the comments above I'm really looking forward to it.

Dare I say funding!!!

In the recent newsletter we received from Elmhurst they are looking at fund raising to be able to support 30 students per year in 6th form.though it doesn't look as though it will make much of a difference as it looks as though it could be about 5,000 per student. They have to raise the money first though! Have to say we applied to the fund and we fall into middle iincome bracket and were told we didn't met their criteria. The Elmhurst Fund presently helps a number of students who struggle with the costs of their training and we are keen to increase this support, as government funding is reduced and we look to expand student numbers. We are, therefore, looking for additional funding to assist some 30 Sixth Form students each year to be the most versatile and employable of performers and choreographers on their graduation. The annual cost of this support will be approximately £150,000, of which we have already raised £46,068 for 2013/14.

In previous years they have had a full school photo and a class photo taken though last year they didn't do this. In the entrance lobby you can see examples of previous years full school photos. They were quite pricey though.