miss.pointe Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 (edited) This is on behalf of a friend of mine and I would deeply appreciate any advice! She is a relative newcomer to dance - she's been taking weekly classes (only one or two) in adult ballet and contemporary dance for perhaps the past two or three years or so. She hadn't dance before that although she was very fit and did yoga classes, workouts, etc. Her ballet teacher has been very supportive and encouraged her to not rule out a dance degree so she must feel she's got talent. She is 31 at the moment and wants to enter the dance world in some kind of vocational way. Obviously she is too old to be a ballerina! But perhaps eventually dance therapist, dance teacher (of maybe a less technically demanding form), etc. She is very discouraged as she feels she is too old and doesn't have the training and experience but with all the fantastic comments I've been reading here about how dance should be available for everyone, does anyone have any suggestions for where she could go for more training or a website or forum dedicated to this kind of person? My knowledge is limited as my background has been in RAD/ISTD as a child and teenager, so even though I've had a break before coming back to dance, I feel like I don't know what advice to give her at this stage except to be realistic and adjust your expectations and keep your options open away from the traditional dance career path most youngsters grow into. She lives in Milton Keynes but is open to travel. Thank you ever so fantastic BalletCoForum community!! I should add she has spoken to Northampton Uni about their dance degree who think she hasn't got enough experience although she has a meeting set up with them shortly to discuss in person. Edited August 11, 2012 by miss.sp8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurora Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 If she's hoping to teach then she needs to try and get through her intermediate exam, not impossible at all at her age though harder than if she were younger I'm sure. Then there are distance learning courses she could do with the RAD or she could get private lessons from an IDTA examiner to train to teach. A dance degree sounds like its also an option for her but for most adults it would be financially very difficult having to pay fees and give up their job. The university she spoke to, and indeed anyone would really need to see her dance before they could decide whether she was up to the required standard or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 Perhaps she could approach a local dance school and help out on a voluntary basis for a little while? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss.pointe Posted August 11, 2012 Author Share Posted August 11, 2012 Perhaps she could approach a local dance school and help out on a voluntary basis for a little while? This is interesting. Have you experience of anyone doing this before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 I just thought it might giver her an insight into what it's like to be a dance teacher, and whether or not it might be for her... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Would she need a CRB check to do that, I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DancingPixie Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Not if she is supervised at all times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 It might be a good way of acquiring one 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss.pointe Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 This is really long overdue but she ended up getting accepted at Lewisham College one year foundation degree course and as far as I know they take ballet everyday so she's very happy and it's a great start 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Beelam Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Thanks for the update - great to hear your friend is on her dancing path! - oh to be able to do class everyday! Heaven 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomuchtallent Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Lewisham college is great!I had friends who went there.they did ballet,contemporary,jazz,tap,singing,pilates,among more and they have a touring company.lots of students go on to some of the big named schools after and some with scholarships!and love the fact that it was free for 16-19 years old,not sure now though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss.pointe Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 I am slightly envious I have to say at dancing full-time instead of balancing a 40 hour a week job with teaching and my own classes - thanks for the support, I didn't know much about Lewisham and she was a bit worried about whether this was the right choice above uni but it seemed more versatile than the contemporary only uni courses 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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