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Costs of Ballet, Singing and Drama.


Fiz

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I could not sleep last night, and I decided to do some sums (not my strongest point!). Both of my ex DDs at one stage wanted to do musical theatre. A conservative estimate of how much it had cost over ten years was £47,500! That was without the cost of shoes, uniform, leotards, tights, exam fees and costume hire! You could buy 2 houses in Bolton for that amount!

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A few years ago I was at a RB performance and got chatting to the lovely lady sat next to me who it turned out was the mother of one of the dancers (solist level). She said that she thought the cost of getting her child through training was equivilent to a second home and that was going to WL so must have been on MDS! Interestingly the thing she remembered most even after many years was waiting for the dreaded appraisal letter each year.

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What do you all pay for lessons then? I pay £6.70 per lesson up front and a term in advance for one school and DD does 4 classes per week there (!) but another school DD goes to just does pay as you go and that is £4 per hour, you just pay at the beginning of the lesson and drop it in a tin so half an hour tap is £2. I have never paid for private lessons but would be interested to know what the usual cost is for these. I wonder if costs for lessons vary around the country?

 

Talking of good value Ballet Cymru general dance week summer school is £60 for the week, ballet is £120 (non boarding).

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£35 an hour seems to be fairly typical for most one-to-one tuition e.g. academic, music etc and when you consider the cost of hall hire for those teachers who don't have their own studios it really is very reasonable - take a look on the RAD site at the cost of their private lessons!

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It is £35 per hour with our studio owner but only £15 with my teacher. This compares quite favourably with the £30 I was paying when DD need extra exam coaching, I have to say.

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My DD's private lessons are either £15 or £30 per hour. £15 if there are other lessons going on at the same time so the studios are open. £30 if the studios are opened just for her. I think that's reasonable as the quality of the tuition is excellent.

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We used to pay £35 for a private lesson 7 years ago I dread to think what they are now. We were comparing costs recently as DS went up to Pineapple for a 1 and half hour ballet lesson and it cost £10 which he thought was expensive, but when DD said she pays £5 for a 45 minute class locally it doesn't seem so bad. Only downside was there were a lot in the class plus travelling. I also know I'm looking forward to next year when I stop paying for his training/accommodation once he graduates and we may have some money. Have never let on to hubby how much this all costs.

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Does anyone ever tell their husband how much dancing costs? I only ever admit to the fees and an occasional new pair of shoes - leotards, ballet skirts, jazz pants, etc are all 'in the sale' at the dance shop and were a bargain and less than half price etc etc. One day I'll maybe admit to the true costs, but then again maybe not. ha ha

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My husband is part of it all!

 

I guess our costs are not as high as some as dd's drama and singing is free although we pay for private lamda coaching. Dh is a voice coach do he does some work with her

 

It's just tap ballet and modern and the occasional exam. I guess there are also travel costs involved for eg she is travelling about 40 miles every two weeks for rehearsals for a musical and we will probably stay overnight on matinee days

 

When we were thinking of increasing her dance from just ballet to include modern or tap I went to watch a couple of classes to decide which she would do. Then dh got involved chatting to the teacher who he used to work with at another school and lo and behold he signed her up for both!

 

We have worked out it would be cheaper to send her to the vocational school where he works now than for her classes and current school fees!

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If my DH starts complaining about the cost of ballet I need to show him this thread. At DD's school it is £100 for 10 weeks (3 x 45 mins a week) and PLs are £8 or £10 per half hour depending on grade. Special vocational exam classes are £25 for 2 hours. Elder DD has recently changed school and they are £4 per 45 mins class up to a fee cap of £25 per week. If you reach the £25 a week then you attend as many classes as you wish, pay weekly.

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I sometimes wonder how full fee paying parents at the vocational schools manage. Tring 6th form is over £30 000 per year without the extras!

 

Reminds me of DS's start of second term when he phoned to ask how he dealt with everyone else going on exotic holidays over Christmas. I told him to be honest and say he just chilled with his Dad. Learning to fish, walking the dog in the park and woods, flying kites together, etc. It worked as he called back 10 minutes later to say the first kid had gone bright green with envy. Apparently flying down a mountainside in the Alps with two planks of wood strapped to your feet is not as attractive as it seems when compared to the simple pleasures of life and spending real time with your Dad.

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I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. DS about to leave full-time vocational school after 8 years (with JA classes to pay for that beforehand), and dd has one year left before she goes off to uni (she does ballet, tap, modern, festivals etc).

 

DH and I are going off on holiday for the first time in years (other than the usual camping in the UK) to celebrate our new-found wealth (while it lasts before dd and non-ds go to uni!!)

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After all the talk about fees, we spend a fortune on petrol!

 

Yep me too :) its the constant driving everywhere, we are very lucky that the 2 schools DD goes to are just 10 minutes either way so its not too bad, but i am already thinking about when she starts Northern in spetember the cost of petrol versus going on the train xx

 

Edited to add i don't even want to think about how much it all costs, fortunately i pay for all of her classes, EYB, Summer School, Show Costume hire etc etc i think if hubby know the real cost he would have a coronary lol x

Edited by emsloves2dance
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