Lemongirl

I heard MPs will be voting today.  So it hasn't been officially confirmed yet?  Think Boris made the announcement on Saturday because of the press leak.

Thank you, I did think about the London Ballet Company - my oldest dd was an associate there some years ago....but their website is down and I'm wondering if they're still around....

I don't think dd is strong enough to get through the auditions at London Junior/Senior ballet but I will have a look.

Does anyone have any suggestions for associate programmes that happen on a Sunday in or around London?

Its for my 13 year old dd, she’s looking for extra ballet but also contemporary and maybe jazz to supplement her regular classes. 
 

Preferably something that isn’t too competitive to get in to! 
 

Thank you.

Thank you.  Dd isn't keen on MT and her singing and acting are weak compared to dancing, but she feels she should work on them to make her more likely to get a job.

Just an update on my dd.  She has now secured places at LSC and Stella Mann and is finding it hard to decide between the two.

She initially thought it would be mad to turn down a place at LSC but after a visit to Stella Mann this week she likes the smaller size.

She has made a list of pros and cons - one of the main cons of LSC is the size and also there is less focus on musical theatre.  She is predominantly a dancer and hasn't had much MT experience but for future career prospects isn't it better to have some singing and acting in your repertoire?  

The course at LSC seems to offer more flexibility than Stella Mann.

If anyone has any personal experiences of either college it would be good to hear.  Thank you.

Thank you, that's very helpful.

I should have said that she will live at home as we live in London.  The journey is a bit of a nightmare by public transport despite us living relatively close but dd is learning to drive and hopefully will pass her test soon.

She was offered either a jazz or contemporary track which seems a bit early to decide!  I presume there is flexibility?

Thank you, she is over the moon.

meadowblythe - yes probably.  The good thing is that the course at LSC is a BA so she'll have a degree.  However the fees are around 50% more than a university degree and I don't think we qualify for funding.  But I assume dd can get student funding/loans etc.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

Just a quick update - dd decided to apply to London Studio Centre, Stella Mann, Urdang and Momentum (small local dance college near us).  

She auditioned for Momentum before lockdown and got waiting list which is quite good news I think.

Of course the other three will be video auditions.  We've spent the past few weeks filming everything she needs for LSC which had the earliest deadline and she submitted it last week.

Today - fantastic news - they have offered her a place on the BA Theatre Arts course! 😀😀

Thank you, I've just remembered I do have a wooden shelf left over from when we had built in wardrobes fitted!

My dds have been asking me to buy a tap board for some time.  Now that their dance school is going to be doing classes via zoom, I think it's a good time to buy one!

Any recommendations please?  Thank you.

Dd had wanted to go to this but it looks like it will probably be cancelled.

Update - dd is going to check with Birmingham to see if they will agree to defer for another year.  In the meantime, she is planning on auditioning for London Studio Centre, Trinity Laban, a small local dance college (where they are upgrading the course to degree level) and Stella Mann.  Does anyone know anything about Stella Mann?

Very occasionally they offer a quarter scholarship as well.  This happened to my dd's friend, it must have been very difficult to decide!

Swan Lake is a lovely ballet!

My dd was a courtier at EYB's first ever performance of Swan Lake in Dartford, think it was around 2012.

She did Swan Lake again a few years later and was a swan, such a classic part!

Well done, they'll have a great time.

Well done to your dd RachH.  What's the ballet?

Just wanted to add my dd has done EYB 5 times between the ages of 11-17 and has had a wonderful time at each one.

Thank you so much.  So it's ok to take the photos on a phone?  Dd has an iPhone 7 which has quite a good camera I think.

A quick question about photos - a lot of the colleges we've been looking at require photos.  Where can I get these done?

Thank you all, really good advice. 
 

Have been mulling it over with dd and come to the conclusion that she should apply to audition to colleges where she is in time and hasn’t missed deadlines. 
 

Her focus is ballet/jazz/contemporary (but not keen on pointe). Some of the schools we’ve looked at require singing too. She’s really not musical theatre. 
 

Any recommendations where she could apply to where singing isn’t a requirement?
 

Thank you all so much for the really helpful replies.  I will read again and discuss with dd.  Lots of food for thought!

Hello, I haven't posted here for a while.

My oldest dd is 18 and at a crossroads.  Brief background - she started ballet at 3 and picked up modern, tap, jazz and a bit of contemporary over the years.  Dance has always been part of her life and it's extremely important to her.  She did consider taking it further a while back but she didn't think she was good enough and lacked in confidence.

She was at Abbots Bromley for Sixth Form which she loved.  She got her BTEC with top grades along with A Level English and secured a place at Birmingham to do English, having decided not to pursue a professional dance career.

The Birmingham place is deferred to this coming September when she is due to start.  She is now having a gap year and has started classes at a local dance school where my youngest dd goes.  This school has an attached full time college where dd is taking some classes and the teaching staff there seem to really like her.

She is now having second thoughts about university and thinks perhaps she should pursue full time dance training.  But it would be difficult to turn down a place at a great university and she doesn't know if she would be able to reapply as she missed her offer but was lucky enough they they accepted her anyway this time.

She and I are both worried about competing in a crowded industry where there is no guarantee of success.

I don't even know if it's too late to apply to dance colleges for this September, or which ones she should apply to or how competitive it is.  

What do dancers do if they complete a college course but then don't make it as dancer?  I don't think she would want to teach.

Does anyone have any advice please?  This wasn't on the cards at all, it looked like she was doing English at Birmingham but this doubt has come in now and I don't feel very well informed.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you Bluebird, sorry should have said we are in London!

My youngest dd (now 12) has followed in her older sister's footsteps and is loving her dance.  She does ballet as one of her classes but much prefers other dance styles - modern, tap and jazz (and hip hop!).

Does anyone know of any schemes that would supplement her usual classes?  She's always keen to do more.  Is there anything equivalent to EYB but for other dance styles?

She's keen to try contemporary (too young?) and acro but her dance school don't offer those.

Thank you all so much.  Antibiotics are kicking in although they make her feel a bit sick 😞 Better with food.  We should hopefully be covered privately for physio so will ask the consultant about that.

Gosh LinMM that sounds so confusing!

So the consultant we saw just after she did it said she could weight bear as soon as it was comfortable.  He said as the fracture was horizontal, bearing weight would help the bone to fuse.  For the first few weeks it was too painful to bear weight but after that dd started to put a bit of weight on it when she could.

So I'm still not sure if weight bearing makes things better or worse!

Thank you all for great advice and for sharing your stories.

Since I last posted, we have been back to A&E!  The top of dd's foot was red, hot and swollen this morning.  After a 3 hour wait in A&E, she has been given antibiotics and told to rest.  Some sort of infection/inflammation or cellulitis.  No idea what caused that....