Vocational school - auditioning after getting a "no" in previous years

[Boogalou]

I know vocational school are talked about alot on the forum but I just wondered, do some children re audition the following year if they get a no the first time round? I realise it's an expensive rollercoaster but for example do some children audition for the top 4 age 12 and just keep trying age 13 and 14? Then again age 16 (so not to disrupt GCSE's) ?? Any comments/experiences welcome.

[Flexible Fred]

I'm learning each day on this site

Ok what are the top 4?

RBS, Elmhurst , Tring and Hammond ?

 

Can't help with audition bit, my Dd auditioned year after year for RBS associates though until she finally got a yes !

[Boogalou]

Yes that's the 4 I mean, as from what I can see these are the only 4 that offer funded places.

[Quest]

I believe some do, if nothing else it is a good learning experience for those serious about pursuing dance as a vocation. My dd's were certainly planning to re-audition if they had failed to secure a place.

[celb]

My DD applied for year 7 at RBS and Elmhurst made finals but didn't get a place.She re auditioned in the January for a year 8 place and was accepted into Elmhurst after Easter of year 7 so places do become available .

[Anna C]

For newcomers to vocational ballet and/or the forum, we should probably point out that the number of places available for Years 8 - 10 is very much smaller than those available in Years 7 and 12. Plus the few spaces that become available are very often as a result of someone having to leave or having been assessed out.

 

Nothing to stop people auditioning every year should they have the resilience (and finances!) to do so, but there are far fewer spaces available. I realise the regulars and old hands of the ballet world already know this but it might be something that doesn't occur to new ballet parents. :-)

[Dance*is*life]

Also even if she/he doesn't get accepted for the lower schools you could certainly try again at 16 for the upper schools. Upper school is a whole new ball-game, although you are competing against very talented foreign students, as well as British students and graduates from the lower schools.

Edited September 9, 2015 by Dance*is*life

[Boogalou]

My dd's plan originally was to audition at sixth form but she has now said she would like to try earlier. I realise there are fewer available places but wondered about re-auditioning after receiving a no. Thanks for the replies.

Edited September 9, 2015 by Boogalou

[Peanut68]

Another way of looking at the audition process is that (mostly) each one is a great class & good experience to work with like minded serious dancers in a wonderful studio with live music & a top teacher. Viewing it kind of as a masterclass makes the economics easier to swallow too! At RBS audition, in the intro speech they said that whilst spaces are always limited they welcome everyone to come back & try again.....ok, the cynics might say of course they do - at £45 a pop, it's a good earner for them. But again, whilst unsuccessful my DD enjoyed the JA & the MA/WL auditions she attended. Also - if the main aim is for Upper Schools, still might be good to in advance experience the audition process & make them more able to cope with the 'atmosphere' & pressure when it is more time critical to them. Good luck!

[CeliB]

I would also add don't rule out investigating ballet schools in other countries. I know it seems like a massive move but I can get to DSs place in Amsterdam in the same time as it takes me to get to my office in Blackfriars (and shockingly enough the cost isn't much different either!). And schools in other countries may be looking for different attributes compared with UK ones ( every school after all has its own set of preferences, and by widening the number you audition for you may widen your chances of a place).

Just a thought...

[Cara in NZ]

Well, I've already said in another post that my DD auditioned for JAs for the first time last year and got a no. She too it ok, and has made SO much progress this year, doing six classes a week instead of three plus holiday intensives. But she flatly refuses to audition again (even though her contemporary teacher and seven parents have each asked me if she will – four with kids in the programme!). Applications close late October here – I'm leaving it unless/until her beloved private lesson teacher says something. So I'm just throwing into the mix the suggestion that not all kids *want* to keep trying. 

[MumToTu]

I agree Cara in NZ, some children such as my dd are hugely discouraged by any no. In a kind of I need to find something else I can do as this may not be right for me I want to move onto something that is before that's to late to master anything! - she's only 10 and on some kind of mission bless her...! She has only a vague idea I think what it is she is auditioning for either, as it's not a world we are familiar with as a family, that is Y7/mids (well she understands mids just not y7) I am not sure we would she would audition again if she unsuccessful for Mids, unless it's been strongly recommended by a teacher she does anyway, I think she would kind of bow down gracefully and focus on other things....

 

I suppose you have to access it year by year, if my dd really said she really wanted to try over again I would support her 100 percent, even if I knew she wouldn't get a place, I would giver her the chance to find that out herself and be ready with the tissues and hugs....

Edited September 10, 2015 by Snowflake

[Pups_mum]

That's a good point Cara. I think you just have to try to walk that line between pushing your child too hard and causing stress /putting them off, without allowing them to give up too soon, when as parents we know that they may well later regret that.

I'm currently trying to negotiate between my son, who like many a 12 year old wants to give up playing the piano, and his teacher who says he is one of her most talented pupils and is keen to enter him in more competitions etc. Im trying to find some middle ground, hoping that he will at least carry on with his lessons in a fairly low key way so that he has the option of taking it more seriously again later.

I do think that if you push a child to try for something that they really don't want to do you run the risk of turning him off the subject completely and permanently, but at the same time you don't want them to give up something they are good at at the first problem. It's quite tricky isn't ot?

Edited September 10, 2015 by Pups_mum

[Cara in NZ]

That's a good point Cara. I think you just have to try to walk that line between pushing your child too hard and causing stress /putting them off, without allowing them to give up too soon, when as parents we know that they may well later regret that.

I'm currently trying to negotiate between my son, who like many a 12 year old wants to give up playing the piano, and his teacher who says he is one of her most talented pupils and is keen to enter him in more competitions etc. Im trying to find some middle ground, hoping that he will at least carry on with his lessons in a fairly low key way so that he has the option of taking it more seriously again later.

I do think that if you push a child to try for something that they really don't want to do you run the risk of turning him off the subject completely and permanently, but at the same time you don't want them to give up something they are good at at the first problem. It's quite tricky isn't ot?

 

Absolutely it's tricky, Pups_mum! My DD (almost 12) didn't seem massively discouraged, but now says "Well, I don't like the look of the (JA) programme, so what's the point of auditioning?" – I suspect my cautious wee darling is also not wanting to court 'failure' again though! I do think that any encouragement needs to come from a dance teacher though, and we just have to hover in the background, ready with the money, car, support, pointe shoes etc etc!

[Cara in NZ]

Just wanted to update this – after six weeks of *not* pushing the audition thing with DD, last night I came up with a new approach.   I said to her 'Look at how much more work you have done this year compared to last year. Wouldn't it be good to audition again and show those teachers how much you've improved?'. Next thing I'm taking photos and sending in the application! I don't even mind if it's another no – I just don't want her to spend her life playing it safe and only trying for things she knows she can succeed in!