shygirlsmum Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Our local festivals are both All England qualifying festivals but our school does not participate in the regional finals even though lots of our dancers qualify. My DD would love to do more competitions and has qualified with all her solo dances, so I am considering entering her. I have asked our teacher who has said that they don't enter group dances as the finals are in August and its hard to get everyone together at this time of year also costly to get to London should they ultimately reach the finals but she is happy for soloist to enter (there is also the question of registration fee which I believe is £60). So, I wondered....... 1. Is it worth the hassle and expense of attending (our regional final is a couple of hours drive away). 2. I appreciate that DD has qualified all her dances but the marks do vary ie: she won her ballet with a mark of 89 but won her modern with a mark of only 86 (I realise that different adjudicators marking will differ) but I'm trying to work out if she will be up to the right standard, I don't want her to feel deflated if she's miles behind all the other competitors. I have such mixed feeling about this but I think it would be good idea for her to see other dancers perform outside of our own area, plus, on a selfish note I just love to see her dance so every opportunity is good for me. I look forward to everyone's opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLou Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 I have no experience of All England festivals, but this experience may be along similar lines! Dd won a regional junior modern championship a couple of years ago and duly qualified for the IDTA Champion of Champions event in Blackpool. We were the only ones from our dance school, but decided to go along for the experience. Never again. It seemed like a fabulous day for those from the huge dance schools, who arrived in coaches and wearing t-shirts specially printed to mark the occasion, but we felt very lonely and like we didn’t really fit in. All of the changing rooms had been taken over by the big groups, and dd ended up getting changed in a toilet cubicle. Her £20 Bloch leotard and standard stage make-up also seemed woefully inadequate. It was all very glitzy and we both felt way out of our comfort zone. We’ll be sticking with the local friendlies from now on Having said all that - All England may be very different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miracle Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 All England Regionals are run very well. I know people who privately enter every time have done for years so must be a good experience. The staff are always lovely and helpful.National finals are a wonderful experience too.x 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygirlsmum Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 I have no experience of All England festivals, but this experience may be along similar lines! Dd won a regional junior modern championship a couple of years ago and duly qualified for the IDTA Champion of Champions event in Blackpool. We were the only ones from our dance school, but decided to go along for the experience. Never again. It seemed like a fabulous day for those from the huge dance schools, who arrived in coaches and wearing t-shirts specially printed to mark the occasion, but we felt very lonely and like we didn’t really fit in. All of the changing rooms had been taken over by the big groups, and dd ended up getting changed in a toilet cubicle. Her £20 Bloch leotard and standard stage make-up also seemed woefully inadequate. It was all very glitzy and we both felt way out of our comfort zone. We’ll be sticking with the local friendlies from now on Having said all that - All England may be very different. I'm sorry to hear about your experience, great achievement to get so far though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygirlsmum Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 All England Regionals are run very well. I know people who privately enter every time have done for years so must be a good experience. The staff are always lovely and helpful.National finals are a wonderful experience too.x This is encouraging, thanks for replying. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyofdance Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Hi Shygirlsmum I think that if your daughter wants to do it then why not, I am sure you will have a great experience. I am like you, I love to watch my DD dance so we get involved with various festivals. We have experience with a dance school of attending All England finals a few times. We enjoyed our time, came away with some medals and made the most of being in London by exploring the city and having a lovely break as well as enjoying the dancing. It can be expensive with accommodation but you can get some great places to stay at a reasonable price if you look around. The standard of dancing is good but like most festivals it varies so don't let your daughter be put off. Why not let her do the regionals, see if she qualifies and then make your decision from there. Where are you doing your regionals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billyelliott Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Our experience of the regionals was great a few years back - we only came from a small school and my DS went all the way to the finals winning with his modern solo and even took part in the Gala! Everyone was friendly and it was well organised - Great memories .... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandsfoot Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 My DD has entered before and been the only one from her dance school. I would agree with Miracle, it is well organised and good fun and great to see some other dancers, very inspiring. I wouldn't worry about her marks, if she got the qualifying mark then she has just a good a chance as anyone else, 89 is pretty amazing though so she must be of a very high standard. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annaliesey Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 I'm personally not a fan of all England but I think all festivals and comps can have their merits especially if the feedback is good and the standard of dance good enough to be inspired by. Possibly it could just be a good day out and a lovely chance to dance but I wouldn't take it too seriously (from personal experience lots of people getting very wound up and competitive haha) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyofdance Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 I'm personally not a fan of all England but I think all festivals and comps can have their merits especially if the feedback is good and the standard of dance good enough to be inspired by. Possibly it could just be a good day out and a lovely chance to dance but I wouldn't take it too seriously (from personal experience lots of people getting very wound up and competitive haha) Lol Annaliesey, We did see some shameful competitive behaviour at All England but then again I've seen that at very small local festivals. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygirlsmum Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 Hi Shygirlsmum I think that if your daughter wants to do it then why not, I am sure you will have a great experience. I am like you, I love to watch my DD dance so we get involved with various festivals. We have experience with a dance school of attending All England finals a few times. We enjoyed our time, came away with some medals and made the most of being in London by exploring the city and having a lovely break as well as enjoying the dancing. It can be expensive with accommodation but you can get some great places to stay at a reasonable price if you look around. The standard of dancing is good but like most festivals it varies so don't let your daughter be put off. Why not let her do the regionals, see if she qualifies and then make your decision from there. Where are you doing your regionals? We would be doing the North Midlands regional final but after teacher initially saying she is happy for us to do it, I now get the impression that she doesn't want us to go ahead so I think we will give it a miss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygirlsmum Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 My DD has entered before and been the only one from her dance school. I would agree with Miracle, it is well organised and good fun and great to see some other dancers, very inspiring. I wouldn't worry about her marks, if she got the qualifying mark then she has just a good a chance as anyone else, 89 is pretty amazing though so she must be of a very high standard. Good luck. I'm really not sure about the mark, in all honesty I thought that her modern was much better than her ballet but in that she scored much lower. I'm not saying that I have clue what I'm looking for but I was surprised by the mark. Having said all that she has improved substantially in the last year so perhaps it is coming together for her rather than just being a fluke. We have been teasing her that the adjudicator was asleep and that she only won because I do the most amazing buns and that my awesome skill pushed up her score - she's not impressed by my hilarious banter 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandsfoot Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 I'm really not sure about the mark, in all honesty I thought that her modern was much better than her ballet but in that she scored much lower. I'm not saying that I have clue what I'm looking for but I was surprised by the mark. Having said all that she has improved substantially in the last year so perhaps it is coming together for her rather than just being a fluke. We have been teasing her that the adjudicator was asleep and that she only won because I do the most amazing buns and that my awesome skill pushed up her score - she's not impressed by my hilarious banter I think the marks are bit random anyway in my humble opinion -and hair style and overall presentation is also taken into account so I think you can take some of the credit too ! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygirlsmum Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 Ha ha, I'll take that ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akh Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I once talked to an adjudicator who said they had given 89 for a tap solo and afterwards the candidate came up and said "thank you so much" and when they replied that they thought it had been worth it the candidate said "but I only got 83 last week". Different adjudicators different marks, as so many of them say it's their personal opinion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygirlsmum Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 I agree that marks are totally personal choice from one adjudicator to another, this was the same adjudicator in the same week. I have never really taken too much notice of marks before but overheard other dance mums discussing all England and marks required so thought I'd look into it. It's not the first time DD has qualified but as mentioned before our school doesn't do all England so not relevant to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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