Elliepops

Depending on how far away from Egham you are willing to travel the Susan Robinson School of Ballet has classes at Byfleet and is very well respected. Many students go on to vocational training.

DD has just completed her first undergraduate year at Cambridge. She found that planning and thought was definitely required to narrow down the college to apply to as no two seemed to have the same entrance tests, essay requirements, TSA etc (it is a whole other world and a vocabulary to match). The admissions tutors have the performance data for every school, so that they can contextualise a candidates performance against their school cohort and their circumstances. DD was on a scholarship and bursary at an independent school, but the majority of her friend group are from state schools. The terms are short, the learning very fast and the pressure is intense (not least having your results posted in public on the Senate House Wall (thankfully a 1st ) I feel her dance background although completely unrelated has given her skills to cope.

Hi Katie, Have completed your survey. Just to say that pointe shoes lasting for six months would bring whoops of joy from the ballet parents here, never mind a year + Most of the traditional shoes are designed to last approx 8 hours in use. J x

I've been down the themed to the ballet route a couple of times and found some very nice and not too expensive necklaces or bracelets online. If your DD is in LCB this year Nancy21 there are some very pretty apple necklaces out there. When my daughter did LCB Rumpelstiltskin I managed to find a silver spider necklace that opened like a locket and had a tiny spinning wheel inside, perfect as she danced Mother Spider and she's still wearing it.

Hmmm, after a nose at the website it would appear that the Fame Academy is a Sunday only associate style set up - similar to Stagecoach. Personally I would be surprised indeed if most if not all of the best dancers are not only attending this training, but studying at other dance schools during the week (I wonder if said schools receive any credit anywhere for their input). I admit to a morbid fascination with the US Dance Moms, although there is no way on earth I would allow my child to be subjected to the apparent mental and emotional torture portrayed on the programme,no matter how famous it made them. All my dancing mum friends and aquaintances are lovely sane people, you know who you are......

The University websites course pages are a mine of information and will usually contain details of the minimum qualifications and grades required to apply for a particular course eg A levels, B tech, International Baccalaureate along with UCAS points if applicable, as well as specific additional requirements eg IELTS , BMAT, STEP etc which a course may demand. Admissions tutors are there to field questions of this type, (I've personally found them to be friendly - Russell Group and Oxbridge) so I would suggest getting in touch now with any Uni you are thinking you might apply to.

Regarding the age qualification, If I remember correctly the age is taken as at 1st January of the show year and the minimum age is 9. DD loved doing LCB, it's a great experience both in the main cast and the tour.

It may be worth talking to Miss Porter regarding funding. When DD went a couple of years ago we paid the fees for one week and were later contacted by Miss Porter to say that DD had been chosen to receive a full bursary for two weeks and she was returning our cheque.

Maybe a silly question to ask, but does the application state that pointe shoes have to be worn for all poses for that age group? Could you not take pictures of the "flat" poses in flats and the en pointe one in pointe shoes (obviously!) It would not be unreasonable to conjecture that photo's were taken at the end of a "flat" class and pointe shoes changed into for the required pose. Just a thought ! Otherwise some very soft, soft blocks or de shanked and suitably prepared pointe shoes. Best of luck with photo's and applications. J x

If the VAT is shown separately, I think you will find the differences will happen in the rounding. J x

The sobering fact is these fees are being aimed at parents who for the most part - (although not all we were applying for scholarship and also a bursary) can afford day school fees of £15,000 - £20,000 per year or boarding fees upwards of £26,000 for each child, so in the scheme of things relative to that the registration fees are not so significant. I agree for those to whom it is a lot of money - and it was to us, paying it for our DD to sit scholarship exams at several schools certainly did mount up. Fortunately being so academic at the end she had scholarship offers from every school she sat for. She got to choose the school she liked best (and she has thrived at) and we got the option of a school that with the scholarship and bursary help given us we could afford.

I think you will find that this a fairly standard fee for registration at an independent school in this geographical area. Legat is part of St Bede's which is an independent senior school. DD's senior school charge a very similar amount. On investigation some charge a lot more, particularly for overseas students. J x

Ace job everyone!

You could try getting the white and calamine or pancake it. We've done that a couple of times when there was no pink to be found in the house. Or perhaps double up the Bloch.

Many moons ago when I was learning ballet myself we had mime classes, and we were encouraged to express ourselves a lot (my teacher had been trained by Karsavina), and if I remember it correctly when we took exams there were mime elements in some of them, the IDTA had separate graded exams and "performance" medals. I have no idea if this is still the case. DD does acting classes and has done the grades and medals with distinction in all (just about to finish off gold). She has found acting classes to have been very helpful for both expression and confidence. Personally my eye is nearly always drawn to the expressive dancers - even if they have been "hidden" at the back of the stage.