spooky

Plans for a new building for Central have been being talked about for many years. A friend of ours who finished at Central about 5 years ago initially thought she would be moving half way through her course! I know the plans for the complex at Southwark which included privately-run accomodation had planning permission turned down a couple of years ago. I was under the impression that this was resolved on appeal although I might be wrong. As Lottie has said there is no news amongst current students about a move and I suspect it may have been postponed/abandoned in light of the current economic climate. I remember dd telling me over a year ago that she thought it wouldn't go ahead because the current entrance hall had been spruced up! Edited to add: The plans were approved see: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/london/central_school_ballet.htm however it states building is due to start 2009 and be completed 2011!

Have no knowledge of Performers but at most of the schools I know about people can and often do get funding from reserve lists. Would sugggest you contact the school and ask what their advice/opinion is. They may be able to let you know if there is an order to the reserve list and where you are on it.

As well as being a degree course anyway. It is possible to do A levels at Central although the choice is quite limited and they are taught in evening/saturday sessions.

Definately know of people who have got funded places from the reserve lists at Tring (both LS and 6th form) and other schools in previous years. Don't give up hope just yet. Also no harm in phoning for an update, shows you are still interested and you've got nothing to lose!

At Central they have lessons on nutrition which must be presented in a good way as my very fussy eater dd has subsequently told me she is trying various new foods because of the lessons. No weighing is done but as tutors see students in leotards every day they do spot any weight changes quite quickly and my dd has told me of several girls taken off dance until they have put weight on. I get the general feeling that although the girls all want to have the 'ideal slim' ballerina look they are very aware of the need to eat healthily and they do look out for each other so that they know amongst themselves quite quickly if one of them is starting to show worrying signs. I think incidences of actual eating disorders are probably no more (or possibly only sightly) higher amongst dancers but because they are often naturally very slim even a small weight loss from for example a viral illness can cause their BMI to drop to a level where it would be of concern and then because they are dancing full-time it can be hard for the weight to be regained. I would possibly even go so far as to say that eating disorders are probably detected earlier amongst dancers although that in no way makes dealing with them any easier.

c4d did Dad go with you to the auditions? If he didn't I would try and arrange for him to visit the school(s) you are considering as he may feel completely differently afterwards. Then I would show him this thread so he realises that you are fully aware of his feelings and that many others have been in the same position. The thing to remember is that most of the children at vocational schools would not be going away to boarding school if they were not dancers. You are not 'sending your child away to school' but providing them the education you believe gives them the best chance to succeed in their chosen path. Many non-dancing parents will criticise parents for allowing their children to go away at 11 but that is because they have no understanding of the ballet world. The parents on this site are the ones who can offer first-hand experience. I think the general consensus would be to 'give it a try' if offered the opportunity on the basis that you can always leave. However one word of caution - our local secondary school is very good and over-subscribed and whilst our dd was offered a place for year 7 she may well not have been able to get in at year 8/9/10. My dd is now in vocational 6th form and for various complicated personal reasons did not go away at 11. It was a very difficult decision and there were many times when we questioned it but now looking back we all (dd, us and siblings) agree it was the right one for us in our circumstances.

Have sent you a pm

Hi sugarplumsmum can you please post a link to (or describe how to find) the the application forms. I just went on their site but couldn't see them anywhere just the post with the dates and saying more details to follow later!

Best way is as stated above to sew in some extra layers of stiff net. I have also used spray starch (lots) and an iron but it takes ages and results were nowhere near as good as adding new layers. Never heard of using hairspray before but seems a sensible suggestion and then rather than just hanging upside down try turning inside out so the layers of net are held up inside the body of the tutu (hope this makes sense!). I store all un-hooped tutu's this way as much more compact as well.

I agree that if a child who has been offered WL is sure they are definately going to accept the place then it is unfair of them to attend finals elsewhere but it has been known for people to chose somewhere else like Elmhurst over WL for a whole variety of reasons. Then of course they will attend the finals whilst keeping WL as a backup as strange as that may seem to many.

Agree with Spanner that this usually depends on how each teacher choses to do things. At my dds old local school (she is now in vocational sixth form) all children were invited to start intermediate foundation when they reached grade 4 if they wished. However this class was stated to be a strengthening and preparation for point work class. The amount of time before taking the exam depended on each individuals progress/growth and could be anything from one to three or four years (or even not at all). At the same time they would all continue with grade classes. Thus a group could progress through the numbered grades togther but could be in completely different vocational grades even within the one school.

Many years ago when my dd first did EYB (she was 8 and is now 19) she came out of the casting day convinced she was a night OWL! Of course she was a night HOUR but it still gives us a chuckle when we remember it as she had visions of feathers and was so happy when she found out she would actually be in a 'real tutu'!

My daughter recons she is 5' 2" although I think she might be slightly under this and is currently at Central. Whilst it is true that some of the girls are a lot taller she is by no means the only small one. I would also say that she has a fairly long body and other 'undesirable' ballet physique characteristics but so far these have not stopped her. As well as Central she was also offered funded places at two other good schools and even made finals at ENB (she did not apply to RBS). I would echo Ribbons comment that often height is used as a good reason to believe why your child didn't get in somewhere. Schools/companies look at each dancer as a whole package and one 'less desirable' feature may be offset by another highly desirable one.