Classical and Contemporary

[Harwel]

I copied it and emailed it to my DS as thought it very inspiring and a must read for dance students.

[Guest]

But to return to the original question, just supposing your dd is told (however nicely and authoratively (spelling!)) that at 15 she does not have ideal body proportions for classical ballet? and that she should look at contemporary dance - which she does like. Given that most non vocational schools don't teach it, what would anyone recommend as a starting point for good contemporary classes? We are willing to travel and can get into London. Any advice gratefully received!

[TYR]

The Place would be your obvious first port of call. It's also the LCDS's base.

[Pas de Quatre]

Or equally Laban.

[Anna C]

But to return to the original question, just supposing your dd is told (however nicely and authoratively (spelling!)) that at 15 she does not have ideal body proportions for classical ballet? and that she should look at contemporary dance - which she does like. Given that most non vocational schools don't teach it, what would anyone recommend as a starting point for good contemporary classes? We are willing to travel and can get into London. Any advice gratefully received!

If you google "youth Contemporary classes London" you'll be shown links for The Place, Trinity Laban etc. If you haven't already investigated the CAT (Centre for Advanced Training) scheme it's also worth googling. Rambert may also have youth classes too.

 

Central (Central School of Ballet) Pre-Senior Associates get good Contemporary training alongside Ballet, Character and Pilates classes.

[prancerdancer]

Always tell your DC if you don't like your body wait a minute cos it will change.

[Ellie]

But to return to the original question, just supposing your dd is told (however nicely and authoratively (spelling!)) that at 15 she does not have ideal body proportions for classical ballet? and that she should look at contemporary dance - which she does like. Given that most non vocational schools don't teach it, what would anyone recommend as a starting point for good contemporary classes? We are willing to travel and can get into London. Any advice gratefully received!

Rambert also accept full time students from the age of 16.

http://www.rambertschool.org.uk/courses/fdba-degree/

[CeliB]

Just to add my twopennyworth:

 

My DS was turned down for RBS associates twice as a youngster, but at 14 with almost no training he he was offered a full scholarship to a vocational school abroad.

 

At Lausanne the ONLY school/company there who didn't tick the box to interview him was RBS - everyone else there offered him a place of some kind at their school/company.

 

He went to Amsterdam because the the junior company director loved him but once he got there it was apparent the Academy Director didn't and told him straight out there was no chance of him making it professionally (that's a long and distressing story in itself). However a month later he was accepted to the Vaganova Academy in Russia after literally 2 minutes of an audition class (he turned up late because they gave him the wrong time, missed barre and had to go straight to centre, did one jump and got a 'yes'!). He has this year been the only international student to get a solo in the Russian Graduation performance and is one of only a handful of students (Russian included) to get the highest mark achievable in all 4 ballet exams (after only 4 months of being there).

 

So I would add that ballet is an international occupation with many, many schools and companies looking for very many different attributes. Don't take the first opinion as gospel even if the person giving it has a reputation of being knowledgeable. If she continues to be wedded to classical ballet have a think about other countries/companies where she may be a better fit (even those students with so called perfect bodies will have to consider going abroad- there simply aren't enough places in the UK anyway). So long as you are not following the dream to anyone's detriment (e.g. you can afford the training in time and money and your DD is happy)  I see no reason at all not to keep going and see what happens.

 

Good luck

[Kate_N]

I'd second (or third?) The Place. The dancing child of a colleague is in the 3 year degree programme there, and it seems excellent.

[Anna C]

Rambert also accept full time students from the age of 16.

http://www.rambertschool.org.uk/courses/fdba-degree/

Rambert is not a purely Contemporary school though; if I recall correctly it's 50% ballet training and 50% contemporary? So if mnemo is looking for Contemporary classes or a purely Contemporary course then somewhere like The Place, Trinity Laban, or - outside London, Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

[Guest]

I think 50:50 would be ideal! You are a lovely and knowledgeable lot - thank you so much for all the ideas!

[Ellie]

Rambert is not a purely Contemporary school though; if I recall correctly it's 50% ballet training and 50% contemporary? So if mnemo is looking for Contemporary classes or a purely Contemporary course then somewhere like The Place, Trinity Laban, or - outside London, Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

Correct. But Rambert is a school which focuses strongly on Contemporary as well as Classical from the age of 16,(and, I think with funding) even if you are looking to a future in contemporary dance I honestly don't feel that classical should be discarded. I was under the impression that The Place and Laban only accepted from 18 +. I'm sure that Northern School and the Scottish Conservatoire also offer excellent training, but the OP did mention that they were in travelling distance to London. x

[hoglett]

Wow. ..have been on holiday so I'm just catching up...some really interesting and useful comments on here.