Julie 2 Milner

Kent youth Ballet did the Hoe down a few years ago. Excellent.

"chigago"

"Bugsy Malone"

So gangsters, Jazz, Fosse.

Good Luck

Just seen this. Well worth going to. Full of energy, talent, fun. Just a completely enjoyable show. I'd say its real strength is the men though there is one outstanding young lady. But the men..... wow.

Socks we always found Next or Marks white cotton mix were great. Though these weren't knee length but mid calf. Hated the nylon ones! Freeds do full sole ballet in large sizes, or they did. But most places have to order them. We aren't far from London so did go up to freeds to try some.

Martin is now 22. The problem was getting different lengths. He has very long legs! Just as he was moving to a professional company our local shop thought they might have found a supplier. Wear Moi did do some but not quite sure why he did not like those.

Jazz came flared or slightly straighter. Martin did not like the ones with elasticated bottoms but think there were some. Often they were unisex.Think for quite a while we always got RAD tights. So much is preference as to what waistband they like etc.

But above all for us was getting them long enough.

Sorry can't be more help. Next time I talk to him i'll ask him what he does now! He is in Munich now.

Yes sheilabee boys clothes. My son used to use the sansha ones (dance belts) but found they weren't so great for tall thin lads.We found Danz Eze padded very good. Same with Wear Moi. I could even ring up and chat to the lady. The unitards I ordered through our dance shop and the catalogue lets you choose so much variety. shoes again were Sansha though i think he then moved to Freed.

Jazz pants were a constant battle. simply not long enough. Bloch were good at one time then we went back up to get more and they no longer did them.

good luck with your venture.

The great think about wear moi is the vast array of colours and being able to choose a top in one colour and a bottom in another for a unitard. Also as i said they will make to measure a bit.

Danz eze is great for dance belts and we always used sansha shoes.

When my son was here we always used "Wear Moi". Very prompt delivery and also would deal with a tall thin lad, making their small sizes a bit longer. He sorts himself out now so no idea what he does:-)

Everything about her says she went to White Lodge.Re large busts. Well as the Mum of a male dancer I know that large boobs do make life more difficult for the man.

The problem is how international they are. If they are then English will most likely be the used language. Years ago my son did one in France and stayed with a french family and that was great. I think the Palucca School in Dresden do one and you could check the Heinz Bosel in Munich. The State Ballet School in Berlin is holding one which the director of The Dresden Ballet is teaching at however he is Canadian. So it is a minefield. Mind you if they are housed with local families that could be very useful. Sorry not to be more help. Dance Europe has lists of summer schools so maybe the best would be to ring and ask if they expect to teach in German. hope you find something.

When my son was training we used to use "Wear Moi". Also Bloch sometimes had some. But otherwise was tough. I don't have to worry now as he is professional, buys his own and he works in Munich too.:-) mind you did wonder the other day if he has bought much new there in the last couple of years.

We had problems as Martin was very good at the high jump. Represented the school and local club but caused him big physical issues. Something to do with the different turn in and out required. So much to the schools horror we had to say no to athletics. Went down badly but we had no choice.

Did anyone see The Bavarian State Ballets "Goldberg Variation" and "Gods and Dogs"? Premiered on Sunday.

Also their ballet festival starts this week. Sadly I'm not able to go this year but hope to get out later to see "La Fille" and also "Goldberg Variations".

I've only seen Nutcracker on DVD and hated it. But loved Edward Scissorhands. Certainly not classical ballet and the dancers come for a variety of backgrounds. Some classically trained, some contemporary and some musical theatre. They need strong acting ability. Having known some who have worked with him everyone seems to love the company. Most of the dancers are empolyed for a specific show. Something like Swan Lake will still require a good classical dancer. I think the draw of his work is that it is more approachable for many. Those who are "put off" by the idea of a "classical ballet" find New Adventures more accessible.

The stagings are brilliantly thouht out and something like "Scissorhands" was a spectacle.

I will see Nutcracker on satge one day as a DVD is never as good a way to judge but for me "Nutcracker" should be as traditional as possible at its core. Mind you did see Vienna State Ballet's "Nutcracker" a couple of years ago which had updated all the toys. That was fun!

Just done that test and my boys should have been 5ft 9" and my daughter 5ft 4" so not sure it is very accurate:-)

I believe sons will always be taller than their mothers unless there is an underlying health issue. But my husband is only 5ft 8/9 and my boys are 6ft and 6ft1. My daughter however is 5ft 2". One of my brothers is 6ft 3". Both my grandparents were about 5ft 9" so tall for Grandma not so Grandad. So worth looking at whole family. My non dancing son was a very keen footballer and played in goal. A scout came and was interested but took one look at my husband and said my son would never be tall. He is now 6ft. Oh I'm 5ft 5" and was the shrimp of my family!

Ok from our experience. Firstly different companies and different countries have very different idea of what they want. The German companies seem to have taller girls and thus need the tall lads. Martin noticed whilst auditioning that places such as Portugal the dancers seemed smaller.

However most companies have a minimum height for audition. For Munich (where Martin is) it was about 5ft 10/11 for boys. I think other companies were around 5ft 8".

Girls are taller in companies than they were. I know some of the little girls did struggle to get contracts irrespective of their talent.

Re physique. My son was and is very slim and this did impact. There were concerns as to his strength. However now, aged 22, though slim he is muscular and does not look out of place. He took time to develop and did grow a couple of inches between year 10 and 13.

Sorry this probably doesn't help much. Finally though I think, in Martin's year, one of the smallest lads was the first to get a contract.

Good luck.

I know the footballers so I'm afraid I didn't look.

What does it mean? Well i guess the advertisers are going for a beauty and brawn/ subtle and in your face/ type of thing. Arsenal footballer Thierry Henry has been used in the past by Citroen. The car has a play of beauty and strength maybe. I always find car adverts a puzzle! Maybe the car is a wonderous learning experience.lol Who knows. Must admit I loved watching the Arsenal boys try ballet. Oxlade Chamberlin just looked a little embarrased bless him, but he is young.

This is brilliant! We are arsenal season ticket holders and my son is a professional ballet dancer so love the over-lap. Thought Scezney looked very promising. The great Martin Keown on piano. Fantastic.

Joking apart I often think there is a huge over-lap in the life of a ballet dancer/training and football. Talent alone often isn't enough in both and hard work really does pay off. Though most ballet dancers will never have the adulation of a footballer they often have similar temptaions and stresses due to a non 9-5 lifestyle.

Anyway thank you for posting the link.

Can only speak for the men but my son will always shave his face before a performance but not legs or armpits.

Angela of course you are right. Senior moment for me!

Yes there was a review in Dancing Times. (And great excitement here as included a pic with my son:-))

Ian over the last few years I have seen Vienna State Opera and Bavarian State Ballet simply because my son was an apprentice with the former and now dances with the latter. I've always held off giving proper reviews due to my connection and inherent bias. Also not sure I am knowledgeable enough.

Munich are doing a "British Season" and Ashton's "Steps and Times" is not one I know. As I saw it a while ago I'm afraid I cannot name specifics but I will say I enjoyed the whole programme.

For me what makes the Bavarian State Ballet so watchable is the depth of talent throught the whole company. From the corps to the principals there is a cohesiveness which binds the company together. They tackle both classic and contemporary pieces and do both well. Last season they did "Mein Ravel" and "Multiplicity in Form" which they are reprising this season. My own view is that some companies do either classical, or contemporary well but often not both.

So apologies for not giving a proper review. If this forum is still going when I next visit I will correct that.

Every year they have a "Ballet Week" which is a great experience. I would have no hesitation in recommending anyone who is in Munich to try to watch the company. The National Theatre is beautiful, though I have not visited the Princeregenten theatre which is the other venue. The atmosphere is "smart" but more relaxed than Vienna.

The web site is www.bayerische.staatsoper.de.

Julie

Lovely topic. My son dances with the Bavarian State Ballet. Semionova was meant to dance with them last week but could not. Unwell I think. I have been lucky enough to go over to see the main company a few times now and so enjoyed it. The last thing was "Scenes de Ballet". Wonderful. (obviously i am a bit biased:-))

There are now 3 ex Elmhurst dancers with the company.

Good luck to him Julie.

It is hugely stressful and yes expensive.

Sometimes you go have just barre. Others you get through to the end, but no contract.

Definitely some companies take "types", height etc.

Martin's first cotract came through going to "company class" but Munich came through the open audition. As a parent you get to know when a phone call is "too early" so not good news. But boy when that email came from Vienna (ist time) to say he had a contract what joy.

Then 2 years ago when he was in Munich he could not get through to us to tell us the fantastic news!!! When he finally did truely wonderful.

So good luck to everyone. Enjoy the auditions and all the places you visit. Remember places like Norway and Estonia can be very cold.lol And always try, you never know who is watching. Some of the directors are young and you may not think they are directors.

Also expect to be irritated. You have worked so hard to get there yet the auditions can be a shambles, or the director doesn't turn up!!!!

Thank you Bruce. Hope everyone had a great Christmas.