Interesting article on body image in dance

[HAIRBELLES]

So, what happens to those 16 year old boys who don't get an US place because they are too short and too skinny? Boys that are young in the year are actually auditioning at 15. My non-dancing son is very young in the year and it has definitely been a disadvantage for him, particularly as he has always been rather immature for his age and was a late developer. As has been demonstrated by Malcolm Gladwell, your position in the school year can have a profound effect on your life, older children generally benefitting from being taller, stronger, more physically developed, more mature etc compared with their peers against whom they are judged when so much is organised along school year lines.

I am always "banging" on to my BMBF ( Ballet Mum Best Friend ) about the disadvantages of my dd having a summer birthday . She will be 16 in August and a friend of hers the year below is 16 in September a whole 11months difference. My dd really would have benefitted from an extra year before auditioning for US.

Just going off topic, I think the everyday ballet in particular the school my dd attended should be streamed to take in account of physical and mental development it would also stop some unfavourable comparisons between the year groups .

[Legseleven]

I understand how frustrating it must be to have children almost 12 months apart in age in the same ballet class, especially when sometimes the age gap seems even bigger because one child grows and develops more quickly than the other. I have heard many times from friends that they believe that their summer-born children should have allowances made for them in academics and sports as they are the youngest of the year group, but I suppose the question would be where do we draw the line? There has to be a cut-off point and someone will always be the youngest in the group.

 

When it is possible to group children to take account of different developmental stages in vocational schools, I would expect that to happen, just as academic subjects are often divided into sets of differing abilities and sports teams are grouped together by ability and physical development. Sometimes, however, I imagine it isn't possible - but would be very interested in the views of the dance teachers on the forum.

[HAIRBELLES]

It's at auditions I feel dd Has been at a disadvantage as I imagine the panel just judge on the dancer presented in front of them regardless of where their birthday falls in the year .

[celb]

At the Royal Ballet School Upper School auditions this year I know the students were numbered by age and birth month and lined up accordingly (15.01;15.02; etc)

[HAIRBELLES]

Yes of course it was celb I had totally forgotten that .

[invisiblecircus]

I find this notion of pupils being assessed out because of physique very interesting because at one of the summer shows this year it was quite obvious that the upper school had quite a range of physiques. These are obviously youngsters who have had to go through auditions at 16, post-puberty, and physique doesn't seem to have made a difference to them being accepted.

 

It's more important to some schools and companies than others, but a physique is either suitable for a classical career or it's not. There is a range of physiques within the parameters of "suitable" and obviously this range is much narrower than in the general population. Additionally, some physical qualities are preferred over others but because a complete package is required comprising numerous elements, a dancer with a less "ideal" physique might be chosen over another if she better in other areas.

[annaliesey]

Just going off topic, I think the everyday ballet in particular the school my dd attended should be streamed to take in account of physical and mental development it would also stop some unfavourable comparisons between the year groups .

Do you mean local dance school ballet? If so I'm afraid I would not want this as i feel that some teachers would use this to play favourites and play games.

 

My DD is short for her age but danced rings around some taller girls her age and older. We've left that dance school now but I know for certain that my DD would have been discriminated against big time.

 

it would not have been fair to her or others for other taller girls to get special treatment and be invited into classes ahead of her simply because they are taller. In our case they took less classes, were less hard working, slowed others down, and just generally didn't have much commitment about them. Why should that be rewarded? Sorry but for 'every day ballet' I pay a fee for training and tuition which is the same as what everyone else pays and I expect the same service

[Legseleven]

It isn't just height where developmental differences are seen; sometimes it is clear that a tall gangly dancer is not yet mature whereas a shorter dancer may be. I agree that height in itself shouldn't be used as a differentiating factor, I was thinking more along the lines of more scientifically determined markers of maturity, eg further to bone scans - and much more so in vocational or serious associate-type training than in local dance classes, where I often think that groupings should be based on similarity in terms of age and emotional maturity.

[Picturesinthefirelight]

I think you misunderstand analiesy. For one thing we arnt just talking about height we are talking overall physical development & I don't think hairBelles means local schools.

 

Local dance schools in fact are mostly streamed in that all the grade 1s, 2,s 5,s etc take class together. There is often a mixture of ages in each grade within a certain parameter of course, no one wants a teen in primary ballet. You move up into the next grade when you are ready & you are likely to be in a higher grade if you've been doing ballet for several years than if you've just started.

 

In vocational school your daily class is with your academic year group, regardless if you are an early bloomer who has already gone through the awkward growth spurt stage or a late developer who only started ballet a few years previously.

 

I've got mixed feelings about it. My dd is one of the oldest in her year but is also one of the later developers. I often feel she would fit in more technique wise with the year below & indeed she is mostly with the year below for the two RAD classes per week that are vertically streamed. This is a double edged sword. She got The hint highest mark I think in that group for her recent exam which gave he confidence but it has been hard seeing most of the rest of her year group in the higher grade.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Picturesinthefirelight

[angel]

Having just been to watch the Royal Ballet summer school classes, two girls were offered places in school.  One beautifully tall and strong girl and the other much smaller, also very strong girl.  Grade wise, I doubt there was much between all of the girls in the class

[HAIRBELLES]

Thanks Pictures .... Yes sorry Annaliesey I wasn't very clear , I didn't mean height it was more an ability due to the age difference I was referring to and no not local dance school.

My dd would have benefitted from dancing with the year below as she was nearer them in actual age and ability.

I'm sure it must be very hard , maybe some of the teachers out there have opinions on this, to teach a class of 20plus boys and girls all at various stages of ability and physical development ( weakness due to growth spurts etc ) .

How exciting Angel I bet it was lovely to watch your dd at WL .

[Picturesinthefirelight]

I have to say hairBelles it was difficult to pick out individuals in the ballet in her school show as they all look the same with their buns & identical costumes but I noticed your dd in the Jazz/rock n roll type number & she danced with precision & energy

[HAIRBELLES]

Thankyou Pictures that's very kind of you . I did say to her that her Grandad would have been impressed with her jive.

They did the wonderful with what they were given in the ballet, and as you could probably see some of the year below looked older than dds year .

[angel]

Thanks Pictures .... Yes sorry Annaliesey I wasn't very clear , I didn't mean height it was more an ability due to the age difference I was referring to and no not local dance school.

My dd would have benefitted from dancing with the year below as she was nearer them in actual age and ability.

I'm sure it must be very hard , maybe some of the teachers out there have opinions on this, to teach a class of 20plus boys and girls all at various stages of ability and physical development ( weakness due to growth spurts etc ) .

How exciting Angel I bet it was lovely to watch your dd at WL .

 

Thanks HAIRBELLES, it was nice although I would have preferred it as it used to be when they  had a performance.  Three hour long classes in this heat was a bit much.  It was good to see how all of them had a little something different to offer.  I love that about watching a class.

 

One thing I do like about some schools as opposed to others is that they do at least differentiate with RAD classes.  At WL, where they take no exams, everyone is in the same class as their year for every class.

[angel]

I have to say hairBelles it was difficult to pick out individuals in the ballet in her school show as they all look the same with their buns & identical costumes but I noticed your dd in the Jazz/rock n roll type number & she danced with precision & energy

I really enjoyed watching four times, from different angles.  I saw dancers who I felt stood out on each occasion and not always the same ones 

[annaliesey]

I think you misunderstand analiesy. For one thing we arnt just talking about height we are talking overall physical development & I don't think hairBelles means local schools.

 

Local dance schools in fact are mostly streamed in that all the grade 1s, 2,s 5,s etc take class together. There is often a mixture of ages in each grade within a certain parameter of course, no one wants a teen in primary ballet. You move up into the next grade when you are ready & you are likely to be in a higher grade if you've been doing ballet for several years than if you've just started.

 

.

Ok thanks for clarifying I've seen girls put in classes above their peer group without any ballet experience purely because "they have had a growth spurt" or seem to be mentally more mature and to be honest it upsets people as it just slowed so many others down

[annaliesey]

In vocational school your daily class is with your academic year group, regardless if you are an early bloomer who has already gone through the awkward growth spurt stage or a late developer who only started ballet a few years previously.

 

I've got mixed feelings about it. My dd is one of the oldest in her year but is also one of the later developers. I often feel she would fit in more technique wise with the year below & indeed she is mostly with the year below for the two RAD classes per week that are vertically streamed. This is a double edged sword. She got The hint highest mark I think in that group for her recent exam which gave he confidence but it has been hard seeing most of the rest of her year group in the higher grade.

Is your DD able to overlap her graded RAD classes? This is something my DD has been doing recently with G4&5 and her teacher seems to think it's really helping

[Picturesinthefirelight]

They don't do numbered grades only vocationals and classes are all held at the same time so overlapping isn't possible. She is now in Adv 1 however with most of the rest of her year group but most of the others will probsbly take their exam before her.

 

The exception with overlapping was a child who was taken ill on the morning of the Intermediate exam & so couldn't take the exam. They were allowed to alternate Adv 1 & Intermediate classes until the next exam season.