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carmen67

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Given that many of our children will be living and dancing abroad at the age of 18, being able to look after themselves in this country seems an excellent idea ..

I agree but for some 16 year-olds a transition between living at home and doing everything for themselves can be helpful, e.g. if they are able to get one meal a day at school/college. I think it sometimes depends on whether they've boarded before.

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Food and all round good nutrition is key and if your child hasn't trained vocationally before 16, the numbers of hours training will be hard and puts huge stress on muscles and bones so fuelling those is essential. Trying to ensure you are getting enough high nutritional food when you might not get home until mid evening is very hard so try to spend the holidays teaching your children how to cook well balanced, simple and quick meals. Also I cannot stress enough the importance of Vitamin D. Teenagers suffer with low levels because they are just not outside enough but this is especially important for dancers who are inside all the time and low levels can cause muscle and bone fatigue leading to a higher incidence of injury. I believe BRB were involved in studies proving the concerns about this. Been through this with my DD and know what a huge impact this can have.

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I wish (perhaps this happens already) vocational schools would include nutrition for dancers as part of the curriculum. It's all very well saying 'eat healthily' but that's not enough. They need to know specifically what additional needs they have as dancers in training. Iron, calcium and protein are all very important and teenage girls in particular often don't take in enough of the first two of these. Iron deficiency is common among teenage girls and women and can lead to tiredness and low mood (as well as other health problems) which will make a student's time at vocational school even more challenging than it already is. I wonder whether a multivitamin for teenagers is a good idea.

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Actually the very first assignment my DD had when she joined upper school on the level 6 diploma was on Food and Nutrition. It involved looking at recommended guidelines on a normal healthy balanced diet and comparing them to the specific requirements of a dancer, looking at various sources. They also had to keep a detailed food diary and all their data went through a computer program which analysed good and bad points of their own diet and they had to find recipes and ideas of healthy snacks to ensure they were getting all the nutrients they needed. So it was certainly more than just telling them to eat healthily.

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Sorry for continuing 'off topic' but that's very interesting 2dancersmum. My dd will be starting a Level 6 Diploma in September and will be 'self-catering' so I hope the assignment is a compulsory part of the syllabus. She has just bought herself a blender and is making the most enormous, expensive smoothies every night. Some lessons on nutrition and budgeting are clearly needed!!

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The problem with vitamin D is its processed when the body is exposed to daylight so if young adults do not spend much time outside they can be deficient even if they have a good diet. The use of sun lotions also blocks the absorption so it can be a no-win situation without supplements.

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Vitamin d from any source (sun/ food/ common supplements) is processed in the liver and kidney to the active form. You don't need sunlight to absorb vit d from food but you can synthesis it by the action of uv on the skin. Few foods contain high levels however and it is fat soluble so found in oily foods that some people may avoid.

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No personal experience no but I would have still expected movement on reserve lists as it will depend on where students have applied. Hammond, Urdang, Laines, Bird - have all only just had their funding recalls. Whilst there are still students waiting to hear about funding, places will not be settled.

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Some people have even been notified in September for stating that month! Lots of movement still to happen. Also, some parents will decide that they just can't afford the fees even with funding and they return the funding offer late in the summer.

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No personal experience no but I would have still expected movement on reserve lists as it will depend on where students have applied. Hammond, Urdang, Laines, Bird - have all only just had their funding recalls. Whilst there are still students waiting to hear about funding, places will not be settled.

I don't think Rambert has finished the process yet either.

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Just wanted to share that after what feels like an eternity of auditioning and waiting I've finally had my results and was delighted to get offers from Laban and Performers and place on the reserve list at London studio centre! Now if everyone could just keep everything crossed that I'm near the top and that there's movement on the list so a place becomes available that would be much appreciated as it's my top choice lol !!

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Just to update here. We went to Rotterdam for DD's Codarts audition. Unfortunately she didn't make it to the second day. She said the standard was incredibly high. She felt she didn't quite get to show what she was capable of but that's auditions for you!

 

It did mean we had the opportunity to get on a train and head down to Fontys Dansacademie to have a look and chat to a girl there who she knows. That was very helpful and good to see the place as she did her audition here in Ireland.

 

So now she has to make her decision . Does she take the foundation year in NSCD or go straight to the degree course in Fontys. At least she has some time to consider all the pros and cons. She is also now into the thick of studying for her exams so she has a lot going on in her head!!!

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Well posting "yes" results is rather a novelty for me, so I can't resist the urge to share DD's news. She has been offered places at London Studio Centre and also at Ballet West. She's got strong feelings about what she wants to do but I've encouraged her to take a little time to reflect on things. Hopefully it will mean good news for someone else as well in the next day or two though....I would love it if that turned out to be another member of the forum.

We started the audition process with her at a very low point for a variety of reasons and I have had serious worries that she wouldn't be accepted anywhere, so I hadn't really considered that we would ever be in the position of having a choice - it's weird,lovely and horrible all at the same time!

Best of luck to those still waiting.

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