akh

49 minutes ago, dancefanatic said:

I agree.  It also seems to be unfairly against both the Asian and Street dancers too this year.  I preferred the previous format, even though the ballet students didn't win the overall final, but really really don't like the changes.  Nor did I like the comment that "ballet dancers never choreograph their own material" as previous ballet dancers from the same school as this year's ballet student did their own choreography and performed it well.  In fact, all students at the school in question are encouraged to choreograph material from Y7 upwards and there is an internal competition each year.  Admittedly, mostly their peers perform their pieces but that doesn't mean the student choreographer can't perform their material.  Personally, I feel the AD of the show this year is actually quite ignorant of some of the genres and the show seems quite 'dumbed down' if you know what I mean!

Certainly completely disagree with the comment  "ballet dancers never choreograph their own material" . I know of numerous occasions where this has been done. I definitely preferred the previous format. Finding this a little tedious to watch.

On 17/04/2022 at 00:36, Linfeng said:

Yeah I had 2 terms of Intermediate class there. The first term I was in the junior class and they transferred me to the adult class as soon as I turned 18.

I have to say the teacher in the adult class are so different from the junior class. Sometimes the students are not doing anything right but the teacher doesn't really care about that and just move to the next part.

Could this be a safeguarding issue mixing adults with minors?

17 minutes ago, KindleK said:

Hi, nothing here but we have kind of given up with this one as they are still taking in applications & auditioning in Italy so I am thinking the chances of a place are slim! 

Keep the faith you never know

Great news

My granddaughter always viewed festivals as performance opportunities and a means of not only presenting solo performances but learning to dance as part of groups, duets and trios. She was always interested to listen to adjudicators comments but fully realised they could vary so. What she valued above all was her teachers comments on her performance and her own assessment of her performance. On one occasion she was not happy with her performance did win the section and another girl from her school said why are you not happy, you won, and she replied but winning was not the point, I wasn't happy with it. 

13 hours ago, Ian Macmillan said:

Hope the surprise doesn't keep anyone awake half the night!

I spent several minutes wondering about my sanity!

What I found most off putting on the times I have seen this Company was the dancers lacked any expression in their dancing and seemed very tired. Their touring schedule seems really punishing for the dancers. 

Contact the airline, they helped my Granddaughter with advice re hers. 

Thanks for doing  this and have a 

Happy Christmas

The most important thing in life is to be happy and there are many and often unexpected ways of achieving this.

22 hours ago, Neverdancedjustamum said:

Good luck to those going through the whole audition rounds this year.  I’m sure you’ve all read the good and bad sides of going full time, especially at age 11, on this forum but I just wanted to come on here to provide the “other side” as such. We have no experience of full time vocational school because we didn’t.  That there is my first disclaimer: everything that follows in this post are from my point of view as someone whose DC doesn’t go to full time vocational school, but went through auditions etc and was in the middle of it all amongst other DCs who were fervently preparing for auditions in the last few years. I therefore cannot talk about how brilliant it is for DCs to be in full time voc school as I don’t have any in one. I am sure there are lots more on this forum who can do that as they have DCs who are full time. This is simply a light read for those who, in a few months, might open emails or letters that don’t contain the outcome they wanted from the school they wanted.   I am not, in any way, placing judgement on those who went full time.   Nor is this a bitter or defensive post of someone whose DC didn’t end up going full time. 

 

I begin with saying that I’m sure everyone here knows the odds of getting in to the big name schools. What I wanted to add is that if your DC doesn’t end up getting into one, or even if they don’t get into their top choice, it’s really not the end of the world. I probably come from the minority  of parents on here who didn’t really enjoy the whole audition process, even with all the inspiring talks and messages of “just enjoy the experience”.  In a way I think it’s because I knew in my heart that I didn’t want my DC to go full time at 11 but I didn’t want this to be obvious and so I dutifully and happily still took DC to all classes etc. To cut the long story short, my DC loves dancing but I didn’t think wanted to go full time either and was just going with the flow last year. Because, really, does an 11 year old know what they want at that age? Maybe some do, my DC I definitely know, doesn’t. They can claim something is their dream but god knows I didn’t even know what I wanted to do/be in the first two years I was at university.  At the moment, these auditions no doubt  seem to be the biggest focus in your lives but know that when you come out the other end, regardless of the outcome, you will be fine.  From our humble experience (which isn’t much), and from those I’ve witnessed first hand (a lot), what I would say is that if your DC ends up not going full time or if they end up in their second choice vocational school, let them enjoy that first year wherever they are. Let them enjoy it and let them flourish, let them grab every opportunity they can, don’t let them focus or obsess and spend those first few months thinking of what they’ve missed out on not going full time (or going to their first choice school), don’t let them spend all their time planning and preparing  to re-apply to their dream school again or talking about their friends who are now in so and so ballet school.  In a way we were lucky because our DC, even with offers of full time places off the back of summer intensive applications overseas, didn’t want to go full time by the end of it all.   DC saw how intensely peers prepared for auditions, hours & hours of training etc and decided then and there it wasn’t for DC. DC started at the academic school they always wanted to go to and I’ve never seen them happier and more confident than I have these past few months -  absolutely loves school and friends, settled in smoothly and seamlessly, loves the academic challenge and loves dancing purely for the fun of it, and only secondary to academics.
 

Focus on the things you are lucky to have given your situation. For me, it’s the fact that I see DC every day, I get to wave DC off as DC walks to the bus stop to meet friends on their way to school, I get the lowdown on DC’s day, I get to watch DC dance not just ballet but all sorts of dancing she didn’t have time for before, see DC play and represent their school in sports for the very first time, expertly use public buses, go out with friends after school, have our laughs and chats in the car/train as I take them to dance and sports and various school activities and play dates, get excited for them to come home every day to ask how school was as we walk to the shops to get snacks, banter with siblings - I get to watch DC grow up every single day.  DC is gaining life skills early in life, confidence in going places on their own, cooking for themselves, knowing what’s on the news and what’s happening in the world out there every day and are not insulated in any way.
 

And DC still dances as DC does love it. A lot. With no pressure, with no specific goals, not as a means of preparing for anything - just for fun. I actually think DC is loving and enjoying dancing more these days than when the thought of auditions was looming over like some cloud. Ironically, DC even got a place in a highly sought after associates scheme off the back of last year, without purposely meaning to and despite not really enjoying the whole audition experience. 
 

Sometimes I ask DC if they might want to go full time someday and DC gives a noncommittal “maybe”. But the important thing for me is that even if DC doesn’t change their mind is that DC would have spent their time in “normal school” loving every minute of it despite the usual challenges (for us, this is managing the heavy academic timetable and work and squeezing in all other activities) but not having to stress about stretching & conditioning every day, eating within recommended nutritional requirements every meal, or being on top form every day/getting noticed in class lest get assessed out a few years/months down the line.  What counts for me is that DC doesn’t feel any less than their friends who go to full time school (luckily DC doesn’t, as DC never had the same focus and determination anyway). DC just has a different focus which may or may not change in the future in which case DC will be auditioning with them all with a fresh pair of eyes at age 15/16, perhaps not as trained and amazing as those who went to lower school but definitely not at all pressured and hopefully mature enough to know it’s what they actually want at that stage in life.  I know I’ve written too much now (this is what happens when my DCs are still asleep and in a sports match) but I just wanted to provide some reassure to those who might open those emails a few months from now getting a “no” from their DC’s dream school. I know they always say “it’s not a no, it’s a not yet” but I honestly believe that for some, it’s really a no. But know that a “no” can be the best thing that can happen to your DC. 

 

Again, this is just my point of view and I am in no way saying that not going full time is better than going full time. I know a lot of full time DCs who are very happy and thriving in their vocational schools.  I do personally think that it takes a special kind of personality and constitution (focus, grit, determination) to flourish in vocational school especially at such a young age and so I have the utmost respect and admiration for those kids and their parents. 

 

PS: As my last disclaimer, I am well aware of the fact that it won’t be an easy endeavour if someone who isn’t full time suddenly decides to audition in later years of lower school or upper school.  Given the calibre and amount of training full time students get, I personally think that for someone to even be competitive enough to go for a place in years 10/11 or upper schools, someone would need to have the time and money to prepare for this. I noticed that those with a good chance are those who can afford multiple classes and associates, lots of privates with (sometimes, multiple) teachers, travel to various summer intensives here and overseas, compete in things like the Prix de Lausanne and YAGP, and preferably be home schooled to have the time to squeeze everything in!   This is obviously not the case for everyone but this is just my opinion of how someone can actually get a place in the top schools here and overseas if coming from a non-full time background….

It's the line under the one that begins Forums, the one beginning Home: The Forums/About/ problems that are al visible but the next one which is contact one is greyed out.. Is this the one you are talking about as I can't see another, sorry to be so dim

It's greyed out on my account

A hugely talented man of great integrity, our loss very much South Africa's gain. Full of admiration for him.

This can unfortunately also be a problem at some non vocational schools. Of course it is easier than facing it day and night and away from home and you can more easily move schools but it can still be very damaging to a child as can bullying anywhere and in any form.   This can mean a pupil leaving a much loved teacher which understandable they do not want to do. 

I think classes are held at Penshurst Village Hall and she teaches Ceccheti and has had several Ceccheti Scholars. I had this information from a while back so you may need to check

Judith Wilson is very good and caring. Near Tunbridge.

1 minute ago, akh said:

 

Hopefully things have changed as in the 80's my child was being bullied at a Vocational School and when I spoke to them about it the response from the Houseparent was" Never mind it will be someone else's turn next week" ! Thankfully an older pupil sorted it out. 

42 minutes ago, Blossom said:

 

Absolutely. You can completely understand how musical movies were the perfect postwar antidote...

Really enjoyed the performance - had my 2 daughters age 14 and 11 with me who hadn't seen the movie before and thinking about it through their eyes I wondered if they were even actually aware of silent movies (turns out they are - and gave me a chance to tell them that my great grandmother used to play piano in cinemas during performances).  

Knowing the film inside out, it's an incredibly hard act to follow, what I found incredible was that tonally, Adam Cooper sounded like the 'real' Don Lockwood, Kevin Clifton was a strong Cosmo Brown and Faye Tozer really did (as mentioned in reviews) steal the show as Lina Lamont.   Charlotte Gooch was the perfect Cathy Seldon. Particularly loved Kevin Clifton/Adam Cooper's tap dances together and the Good Morning scene. Was wowed by the amount of water on the stage for the initial Singin in the Rain scene (and how they cleaned it up!). Adam Cooper may not have done a full Gene Kelly dance routine in the rain but he certainly made the effort to soak the audience - one audience member even put up an umbrella at one point!

A perfect summer fix - especially given the wash out we are experiencing.  Would happily see this again if I can squeeze it in before it closes.

My Great Grandmother also and my Great Aunt

I am sure if you emailed them they could answer your question

On 20/02/2021 at 12:39, WrapsnBows said:

Afternoon I looking at easter summer schools atm and would like some recommendations please a for a 12 year DS, obviously with what’s going on I know nothing is guaranteed and I know a lot might not continue but I would just like to get a feel and feedback.    
we’ve not applied for RBS as DS isn’t a 100% ballet dancer more like 80% so ideally somewhere which combines other styles as well.

in past experience we did not do our research and attended what we thought would be a good residential but sadly it wasn’t  so any personal feedback would be fab xx 

 

thank you.....   

Central School holiday courses always seem to have good feedback

The late and very great Susan Robinson was passionate about both ballet and football. An inspirational teacher who made a massive contribution to the ballet world and is so missed. 

Central have on line courses.

23 hours ago, Kate_N said:

 

My point is that the hours you quoted are pretty standard for a BA at Oxbridge (and lectures are generally not compulsory) but I rarely hear anyone citing the face to face teaching hours at Oxford or Cambridge as "bad" value for money ... I've long noticed an intellectual snobbery about this, where Oxbridge practices are seen as gold standard, but the same practices elsewhere are criticised (the tendency to mock Media Studies as a "Mickey Mouse" subject, for example), together with a tendency to misunderstand the role of face to face teaching in the humanities. In research seminar modules, my students need to spend at least a day a week (if not longer) reading set texts, and at least another day a week reading around the topic of each week's seminar. I suppose I could book a big lecture theatre, and we could all sit in it for 8 hours, reading the texts, and this would count as face to face hours?

And my point was that I am not sure it's value for money wherever and what ever you study for such a small number of contact hours (pre virus restrictions) Just my view.

On 29/09/2020 at 15:19, Kate_N said:

 

That's pretty typical of a BA at Oxford or Cambridge. Are those degrees "good value"?

This was a degree in Media Studies and not at either Oxford or Cambridge