bluebell

Can anyone tell me how many girls were in the upper school auditions at Elmhurst and how many they invite back for the final audition-thanks!

Went to one of his lectures a few months ago-eagerly anticipated as a fan of his for many years-and came away very unimpressed:( I should add-with the content (or rather lack of!) of the lecture and not with the great man himself!

The Molly lake program merely stated the name and number of each entrant-there was no mention anywhere of school, dance teacher etc unlike other competitions eg rad genee.

Drew Jackson was also a runner up There were 5 in total

Such a bittersweet announcement for me...thrilled for her as it is a position she had aspired to...but had already "planned" what to watch next season at RB! Was really hoping to see her in La Bayadere next year as well But really wish her all the very best-I will continue to support both companies as always.

Sadly it is sometimes the ballet mothers who are to blame...I personally know many mothers who have put their dd on diets for the audition period...some of these kids were only 11 years old-very sad that a parent could do that to their own kid at such a tender age.

I have just spoken to the box office and they are still in the dark about the cast for sv and cl. The evening performance is scheduled to finish at 10.18pm-but she thought could possibly be 3hrs.

Thankyou Bankrupt Mum!This confirms what I had been told about the ballet lessons at ballet vocational school in the UK. I know of some girls (non vocational) who not only double up on a particular ballet grade but sometimes do 2 or even 3 different grades as well in addition to associate classes and private lessons. And they do the same for jazz,modern and tap! They also attend more than one dance school to enable them to "dance the same number of hours" as students at vocational school,so that when they audition at 16 they wont be behind. But in fact it would seem that they end up dancing for more hours than at a vocational school-which seemed bizarre to me!

And how does the class size compare?

How many lessons/hours a day does your daughter do at vocational school moneypenny compared to what she did before she went away?

I believe that a lot of children who haven't gone away to vocational school (year7-11) actually end up doing more dance classes /training every week than those away at school and the class size at vocational school can be much larger too.this being the case maybe those with children away at school recognise that in fact they need to supplement the vocational training with additional classes?

I forgot to say that not only was the performance worth every penny I spent on it but also the 4 and a bit hours I sat in front of the computer in October waiting in the ROH virtual queue to book the tickets

I completely agree with you too on both counts annamk!! I thought that Stepanek was superb in his portrayal of Paris! But as for Alina...words failed me after her outstanding performance! What an incredible dancer and actress she is-just marvellous. I have seen R and J many times in the last 20 years and many companies but Saturdays performance has to be one of the most memorable for me. Just need to add that I felt the orchestra were in my opinion particularly good on Saturday!

Absolutely agree with Alison!The price of an excellent stalls seat at the top price for the double/triple bills at the ROH are tremendous value for money and you are guaranteed to see the "big" names plus some very exciting and sometimes new work! You certainly dont have to sit in the ROHs "best" seats in the stalls/grand tier to have a great view!

I really dont see any difference between some of the mothers on the disco programme and some of the mothers at dance festivals/dance schools!! The kids/parents and teachers clearly all work very hard for these competitions and enjoy the training and competing-this programme has obviously taken film and edited certain snippets together purely for the effect on the viewers! It is not unusual in the gymnastics world for kids as young as 6 to train for 4/5 hours solidly a few times a week in the UK. Disco is not as clean and precise as ballet but it is still a recognised form of dance that many kids enjoy.

I have heard that for vocational schools outside the UK a minimum height of 5'3/5'4 is required for girls at age 16+.

Why don't you give the school a ring-the staff at Elmhurst are particularly friendly and helpful or send an email (as it is half term now).

I am curious...what height is considered too small for ENB?