balletmummy

Hi there ballet'n'broke! Lets look out for each other next week as dd is also in Year 6-see above! Lovely that she enjoyed the classes!

Hi Toomuch Hope your dd enjoyed her Elmhurst class today, if you decided to take the place. Hopefully we might meet soon! My dd who is also in Year 6 is quite tall and blonde (and quiet!) so the girls may have met in class today. I may well have ds 8 with me next Saturday so if you spot me or dd do come and say hello!

Hi fellow balletcoers! Dd has recently left her ballet school where she had been since the age of 3 (she is now 10). She took a ballet exam in June but since we have now left she will not be given her certificate/medal in class. Dds teacher who runs the school firstly asked us to collect it from her which I wont be able to do easily because of other commitments. I asked her to post it to us, which she said was unreliable due to Royal Mail. Now she is asking us to send her a stamp to the value of 96p(!) and then she will post it to us. My question is-can't she just send it to us herself? After teaching dd for 7 and a half years, dd getting in to one of the big 4 Associate programme s at the age of 8, me helping out at countless shows... couldn't she just send dd's certificate and medal herself? Am I being unreasonable in expecting this? In my work I have posted things to clients out of goodwill and have never asked them to reimburse me for the postage! What are your thoughts?

Looking forward to meeting you, Toomuch, if you decide to take the Year 6 Elmhurst place, as our dds will be in the same class!

My thoughts after reading this are that often the boys start dance later, so perhaps they are not as "burnt out" by 16 as the girls are? Ds, who has only shown an interest in dance in the past year, is thriving on it but wouldn't have been ready developmentally before now. Dd, on the other hand, started when she was 3. What do others think?

Our daughter has been an Elmhurst Associate since Year 4 and has absolutely loved it every moment of it! She will also be in Year 6 in September. Definitely give it a go, at least! We travel 1.5 hours each way every Sat but dd has never not wanted to go (even though it means getting up at 6am) and she has gained so much from it. As others have said, Elmhurst is very special!

This is a wonderful and fascinating forum-thank you all! Here's another question for all you wise and experienced balletcoers (if there is such a word!)... Dd is an Associate and the only feedback we get is an end of year report..which is great but it seems a bit late to leave feedback til the summer holidays! We recently took one of my dcs for a pre pointe assessment and one of the things I learned is that when dd/ds is having a growth spurt, their dance teachers should know so that the intensity of their training is reduced at that time. Dd has been an associate for 2 years but I had no idea I should have been informing the teachers of growth spurts...not sure they would appreciate me taking up their time to tell them every time dd has one! which got me thinking...how do your dcs schools inform you of progress and development and things to work on? Hope I'm not opening up a can of worms here! Thanks all!

Sounds as if it will be a good week! We should wear a balletcoforum badge, Happymum to spot each other! Can you recommend a nearby car park to park in?

My 10 year old dd is doing the morning ballet summer school next week for the first time. Any other dcs going to be there? It would be good to meet fellow balletcoforum parents!

Lovely to hear your kind words, Nana Lily, and lets hope that perhaps the Associates can be included next year too! I feel that the experience really brought the children together and has inspired them so much, as well as bringing the parents together much more too. We are all so scattered location wise that its nice to all come together like this and really feel part of the wonderful community that is Elmhurst!

My daughter, an associate, danced in last night's show and loved it. Feedback from the Artistic Director was that they did brilliantly. We watched again today and it was fantastic. Well done to all and to the staff. Several of the students were in tears at the end of the Grand Defile and nearly had us in tears too! Wonderful performances!

Can't wait to see it too! Good Luck to all the Associates dancing in tonight's show!

Still waiting for Bath...

Yes, Im wondering about local exams...

Wondering if anyone knows the answer to this- If a dd/ds is entered for an RAD ballet exam, is the actual time of the exam on the day set by the RAD or is it set by the teacher? Many thanks in advance!

Our dd has incredibly narrow feet and we struggle to find ballet shoes which fit well (thank you to Helene at Dancique in Birmingham who has been absolutely wonderful!) Dd is currently wearing canvas full sole shoes as they fit best. However, we have an interesting situation developing and any advice would be welcomed. Dd is due to take her ballet exam in June and her teacher is insisting on her wearing leather shoes! The RAD allows either leather, satin or canvas shoes for exams. Has anyone else experienced problems with their teacher on this? Can a teacher prevent a child from entering an exam just because they are not wearing the type of shoe they want them to wear, even though it comes under the RAD uniform recommendations? Thanks in advance for any advice!

Many thanks for all your replies

Does anyone know if MIDAS is running a summer school this year?

did anyone's dds do this summer school last year? I have heard mixed reviews from one parent, that the dancers taking the classes were not that kind and shouted at the students during class. Any info gratefully received before we make a decision for dd (10)

My dd, 9, thoroughly enjoyed the RAD Summer School held at Elmhurst last summer. She was so looking forward to doing it again this year and her application was in, but today we received an email from RAD in London, saying it has been cancelled due to low numbers! The thing is, the closing date for the Summer School isn't til the 6th July! If HQ in London had taken into account that schools in Birmingham are still in term that week, as they were last year (and the school term dates are readily available!), perhaps it might have been an idea to change the week of the Birmingham summer school this year, instead of making it the same week again and then simply cancelling it (with no explanation,by the way!). Sounds as if there is alot of politics here...total muck up, and who does it affect most of course? The children! In addition, apparently there is no MTB Summer School this year, so surely the RAD one would pick up a fair number of MTB children too... I'm very unhappy at how this has been dealt with at a HQ level in London. The regional manager has been very supportive, but HQ in London doesn't seem to care! Talk about pulling the rug out from under our feet, RAD HQ-thanks for that! Does anyone know of any summer schools for a 9 year old with a ballet focus, which are not yet full? Many thanks in advance!

thank you so much for all your replies-they make fascinating (but depressing) reading. I just wonder how this can be happening to our youngsters in the modern world of transparency we live in now? I am glad to have brought it up in this forum and hopefully the more people who know what goes on, the better! What a shame these undercurrents exist. I suppose that dance schools are not regulated as such and the owners can basically call the shots? Of course they can be affiliated to the RAD/ISTD/BBO etc, but I guess that is all? Do keep the comments coming!

It is good to hear we are not the only ones who have completely fallen out of favour , but hard when your dc is following their passion, loving the programme and getting so little, if any, recognition for all their hard work. Harder still, when your dc is only 9. It does not give them a very good perception of the adult world, particularly the dance world! Are there any dance teachers out there who can explain why the JA / Associate experience can create this negativity? Surely the vocational schools involved would be horrified if they knew that children involved in their programmes were being treated in this way?

your experiences are very interesting, taxi4ballet. I must say, we have been quite shocked to find this. I assumed (wrongly, I guess!) that dc's teachers would be delighted-after all, dc's achievement is a reflection on their hard work and great teaching! Surely having JAs / Associates in your dance school is a positive thing? Why is it seen as such a negative? Yes, the child might have to reschedule their dance timetable, but given that these Associate programmes are so hard to get into, is it not a huge achievement to have JAs / Associates in your school? Or am I just being too positive here(!) I am fascinated in the psychology of this! Replies please!

Has anyone else experienced difficulties with their dc's dance teachers, if their dc has successfully auditioned for a JA or other Associate programme? We are finding that there is very little recognition of dc's achievement and commitment in the eyes of the teachers and wonder if this is normal? We are not feeling encouraged by the situation right now!

Just wanted to recommend Dancique, the new ballet shop in central Birmingham. I took my dd (9) there today for the first time to have ballet shoes fitted. Helene was wonderful and really went out of her way to make sure dd's ballet shoes fitted really really well-despite dd having really narrow feet and having to try on endless pairs to find a good fit ! A huge thank you to Helene for being so patient! If you are in the Birmingham area, do support a beautiful shop (a "real" ballet shop and "the best one ever") according to dd, offering a fantastic and truly personal service! The address is 82, Bristol Street, Southside, Birmingham-a few minutes walk from BRB.