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RBS Junior Associates 2018


Sugarplummum

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I honestly don’t think there is any way you can guess what they are looking for. My dd has that classically tall ballet look, with long thin legs and at least a head taller than her peers. However there are a wide variety of body types in her JA class; some  like her and others who are tiny with more athletic shapes.  They are all lovely to watch whilst dancing but again have different strengths and qualities (some perfect technique, some very flexible and others just that certain something that makes you want to watch them) so I presume RBS see this and select those they like but who basically fit various criteria.

 

Please don’t be disheartened if you have a ‘No’ this time. My other dd was never a JA (or an associate of anything)  but is now at vocational school and doing very well 😊

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49 minutes ago, PetitJeté said:

 

😀 What class was your daughter in? Mine was the 1.30. 

 

 

3 PM on Friday the 1st in London. 

So pretty much amongst the last ones in the UK.

This is no curb to my embarrassing email watching habit. 

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@ExpatB😀 I’ve been working so far this week, it’ll be worse now I’m at home! I keep checking this forum first, to get a heads up before the email, as I know my stomach will lurch when I see the email! Have told dd to expect a no, although she really wants to get in (as do they all of course). 

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Every year I look at this and remember the awful waiting for the email with the JA results. My daughter auditioned for Yr 4 and Yr 5 and both times got a no. The places really are like hens teeth and it's easy to think reading the forum that there are lots of yes's which in a way made the no a bit harder. In hindsight, as has been mentioned on here before, the vast majority of results will be no's but they may not be on the forum. Also remember that JAs are only until end of year 6 and then the number that get MAs are significantly reduced. This can be very disappointing for children who have to accept that after initial Royal success with JAs that they have this path discontinued. 

There is always an upside to a no!

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This is my first post having followed this thread! My daughter got a no for RB (Birmingham) but a yes for Elmhurst. Last year she got no for Elmhurst and SWL for RB!! So the result this year was surprising as she’d felt she was more likely to get into RB! She is thrilled with being offered a place at Elmhurst! 

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Seriously hoping for answers today or tomorrow first question I get asked every morning from my little boy is have you heard. Poor little love getting equally as impatient as me. Trying to keep it played right down not getting any hopes up at all. Good luck everyone still waiting x

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11 minutes ago, amos73 said:

I did see some London results posted on fb by a school so must be coming out imminently - good luck to everyone waiting 🤞

 

Was that today, or were they from someone who auditioned at a different centre for London? Like other mums, butterflies in the stomach now, impatient to hear something.

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5 minutes ago, Meglorien said:

 

Was that today, or were they from someone who auditioned at a different centre for London? Like other mums, butterflies in the stomach now, impatient to hear something.

Eek!! Me too butterflies and feel sick! 

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To keep me a little distracted (but not much), what do they exactly do at the associates class? How many hours do they have, and what kind of sessions? In Cecchetti associates, they have 90 minutes, first session is classical ballet, second is repertoire, sometimes other kinds of dancing but that is rare. It's a series of masterclasses. At CBA they also have two sessions, but the first one is 1:15, again classical ballet, and the second is 30 minutes and it varies. Most of the time they seem to do choreography.

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Hi, Ladies, a shout out to all those lovely London centre candidates waiting for their results...I wanted some advice (may take your mind off for those who are waiting). DD (aged 8 ) does around 16 hours of gymnastics a week (on the NDS pathway so compulsories/grades for those in the know) . She auditioned and got into Elmhurst but it was a no from Royal. Her heart seems to be in her ballet more and we actively ask her if she wants to give up her gymnastics. We worry about her over training but mainly about the effect it may have on her ballet wise IF this is what she wants to go with. Her coach is pretty harsh and I am not sure I want her in that environment (eg you've annoyed me, made me angry not running fast enough to vault etc), I am worried that the hours of gymnastics may have affected her Royal result, height etc. My husband is tall I am not (his mum was not tall but both him and his sister are tall), so not sure where DD will lie. I know it may seem like I am overthinking things, but in a way we do need to think this through now because of the hours of gym she does. She is in Year 3 (one of the oldest in her year) and auditioned for the year 4 class. In her audition there were lots of year 4's going into year 5's. I know it's really impossible to second guess what went wrong, but all her ballet teachers are surprised she didn't get in (two other girls got in for other years from her dance school), and her dance teacher took her to insight day where her teacher was positive they loved her. Not sure where it all went wrong? The other thing I can think I did remember seeing her in line up and thinking she looked particularly 'gymy' that day!!  I want to be able to support DD with her decision in either giving up gym or not if that is what she wants. So glad she is in Elmhurst as it seemed such a lovely positive environment for her. 

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I’m not sure ‘what went wrong’ is the way to think about it....as many have said (and I am clinging to) you never know what they are looking for and clearly it isn’t just body shape as so many examples on here of girls of different heights/build being accepted. Combine that with the huge number of applicants to spaces and it becomes not that the ones who didn’t get in did something wrong, but that the ones who do get in were a bit more ‘right’ on the day.

 

As for hours of training- Probably only you and your daughter knows what is right. Is she already at Elmhurst or starting in sept? Maybe see how the first term goes doing both if Elmhurst is a new thing and you can see how you both feel then/get input from teachers? 

Gym coach is clearly trying to ‘push’ your daughter, maybe the technique would work if her heart was more in it but sounds like it might not be and it’s doing the opposite?

 

others will be able to help with effects of extended gym training in ballet bodies but strength and flexibility is a good thing...you might just need to find the right balance of the two activities for your daughter x

Edited by Hazel
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33 minutes ago, amos73 said:

Girls

That’s interesting as boys auditioned first. I wonder if they auditioned at a different center. It’s a minefield of speculation and worry for us parents! Amos73 are you waiting london results too and which day was audition?

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2 minutes ago, Tiredtoes said:

I think they might have auditioned at a different centre as London auditions were in half term so sometimes people are away. I haven’t heard any other London results. 

 

Me neither and I’m watching like a hawk.

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1 hour ago, BalletShoes5 said:

Hi, Ladies, a shout out to all those lovely London centre candidates waiting for their results...I wanted some advice (may take your mind off for those who are waiting). DD (aged 8 ) does around 16 hours of gymnastics a week (on the NDS pathway so compulsories/grades for those in the know) . She auditioned and got into Elmhurst but it was a no from Royal. Her heart seems to be in her ballet more and we actively ask her if she wants to give up her gymnastics. We worry about her over training but mainly about the effect it may have on her ballet wise IF this is what she wants to go with. Her coach is pretty harsh and I am not sure I want her in that environment (eg you've annoyed me, made me angry not running fast enough to vault etc), I am worried that the hours of gymnastics may have affected her Royal result, height etc. My husband is tall I am not (his mum was not tall but both him and his sister are tall), so not sure where DD will lie. I know it may seem like I am overthinking things, but in a way we do need to think this through now because of the hours of gym she does. She is in Year 3 (one of the oldest in her year) and auditioned for the year 4 class. In her audition there were lots of year 4's going into year 5's. I know it's really impossible to second guess what went wrong, but all her ballet teachers are surprised she didn't get in (two other girls got in for other years from her dance school), and her dance teacher took her to insight day where her teacher was positive they loved her. Not sure where it all went wrong? The other thing I can think I did remember seeing her in line up and thinking she looked particularly 'gymy' that day!!  I want to be able to support DD with her decision in either giving up gym or not if that is what she wants. So glad she is in Elmhurst as it seemed such a lovely positive environment for her. 

 

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19 minutes ago, 2Graceko said:

 

Hi, 

My daughter audition for Royal junior associates London last year for year 4 place. At that point sshe was doing 14 hours of gym a week. 4 days and the rest of the days of the week she did dance. My DD got offered a place at royal ballet and is enjoying it. So is possible to do both. It’s true gym will be detrimental to her ballet but I would say that starts to happen more around 11. I presume she does artistic gymnastics? Some other forms of gym like rhythmic which Encorporate dance can compliment but not artistic as it builds up wrong muscle groups for ballet. Posture an issue too. My DD Ahmad just given up gymnastics but not because she wanted to, but because her coaches left her gym and then it also meant her having to increase to 6 days a week which we couldn’t do alongside dance!  I’d say keep up it’s as long as you can if that’s what she would like to do. It didn’t affect my DD getting into royal ballet school, she does however have a very slim build with long limbs as oppose to a lot of gymnasts with shorter limbs. 

Hope that helped? 

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1 hour ago, Meglorien said:

To keep me a little distracted (but not much), what do they exactly do at the associates class? How many hours do they have, and what kind of sessions? In Cecchetti associates, they have 90 minutes, first session is classical ballet, second is repertoire, sometimes other kinds of dancing but that is rare. It's a series of masterclasses. At CBA they also have two sessions, but the first one is 1:15, again classical ballet, and the second is 30 minutes and it varies. Most of the time they seem to do choreography.

My DD currently in a mixed year4/5 group in London. And they do 2 and 1/4 hours. I think it’s mainly ballet and they were asked this year to not bring character shoes as they wouldn’t be needed, although they do use character skirts and do partner work with the boys. 

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1 hour ago, Hazel said:

I’m not sure ‘what went wrong’ is the way to think about it....as many have said (and I am clinging to) you never know what they are looking for and clearly it isn’t just body shape as so many examples on here of girls of different heights/build being accepted. Combine that with the huge number of applicants to spaces and it becomes not that the ones who didn’t get in did something wrong, but that the ones who do get in were a bit more ‘right’ on the day.

 

As for hours of training- Probably only you and your daughter knows what is right. Is she already at Elmhurst or starting in sept? Maybe see how the first term goes doing both if Elmhurst is a new thing and you can see how you both feel then/get input from teachers? 

Gym coach is clearly trying to ‘push’ your daughter, maybe the technique would work if her heart was more in it but sounds like it might not be and it’s doing the opposite?

 

others will be able to help with effects of extended gym training in ballet bodies but strength and flexibility is a good thing...you might just need to find the right balance of the two activities for your daughter x

Thank you. Much appreciated. She starts at Elmhurst in September. I agree with the 'what went wrong' is probably wrong way to look at it. I think we have started thinking like that because her dance teachers were so confident in her and chance of getting in that we had gone with their thoughts on it all  but like you say she wasn't right on that particular day.

 

On 12/06/2018 at 10:59, Bluebird22 said:

I’m not sure I don’t know her personally, just something I saw on Facebook! 

xx

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9 minutes ago, DanceMum83 said:

Hi, 

My daughter audition for Royal junior associates London last year for year 4 place. At that point sshe was doing 14 hours of gym a week. 4 days and the rest of the days of the week she did dance. My DD got offered a place at royal ballet and is enjoying it. So is possible to do both. It’s true gym will be detrimental to her ballet but I would say that starts to happen more around 11. I presume she does artistic gymnastics? Some other forms of gym like rhythmic which Encorporate dance can compliment but not artistic as it builds up wrong muscle groups for ballet. Posture an issue too. My DD Ahmad just given up gymnastics but not because she wanted to, but because her coaches left her gym and then it also meant her having to increase to 6 days a week which we couldn’t do alongside dance!  I’d say keep up it’s as long as you can if that’s what she would like to do. It didn’t affect my DD getting into royal ballet school, she does however have a very slim build with long limbs as oppose to a lot of gymnasts with shorter limbs. 

Hope that helped? 

Thank you much appreciated. Yes it's WA. She has two afternoons a school off a week for it, and can be anything between 16 and 20 hours depending on comp season. There has been movement of coaching  - so not sure that has helped!  She's got into Elmhurst so like you say maybe continue the two and see where it takes her. 

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14 minutes ago, BalletShoes5 said:

Thank you. Much appreciated. She starts at Elmhurst in September. I agree with the 'what went wrong' is probably wrong way to look at it. I think we have started thinking like that because her dance teachers were so confident in her and chance of getting in that we had gone with their thoughts on it all  but like you say she wasn't right on that particular day.

 

xx

 

I sympathise with this feeling. When we have high exceptions of getting accepted, it is harder to accept a not yet. As other people have posted, there are lots of ways of getting the same result. The Royal Ballet Associates isn't the only way, and with so many dancers applying for just a few spots, there will be literally hundreds of brilliant dancers whose teachers are surprised they didn't get a yes. What you can do, however, is ask her main ballet teacher to phone them up for some feedback. We asked dd's teacher to do this last year, and some things they thought she had to improve we already knew, some things we didn't.

As for gymnastics, my impression is that doing some is beneficial (for core, strength and flexibility). If you and your dd feel it may be getting in the way, you could have a chat with her ballet teacher and express your concerns. From what you say, though, her teachers don't seem to be concerned and, as with everything, it's getting the balance right that is the key.

 

I hope she'll try again next year and enjoy her dancing in the meantime.

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Interesting discussion re gymnastics training (and hopefully it's keeping people occupied slightly while you wait 😉) . My DD is too young for JA at the moment but she wants to audition next year. She currently does 8 hours of gymnastics as well as a fair amount of dance and I have the same concerns about the two and the way her body may be affected. I'm particularly worried about her back/posture. 

 

The dance school say she has a natural dancer's body (which I would agree with) and that she probably won't 'bulk up' too much from the gym but that at some point she will probably need to drop gym if she wants to dance seriously. 

 

I'd say she is naturally a better dancer than a gymnast (and would assume the gym club agrees given that she is going to be on regional pathway as opposed to moving 'up' to 16 hours of training and national/compulsory pathway, as one of her peers has done) but at the moment she is determined to do both and says she can't decide which she prefers. 

 

I've found your answers very helpful, it's something that's been in my thoughts and will be interesting to see how it pans out. 

 

Hope the refreshing of emails is over soon. I totally sympathise... I'm waiting to find out if DD has got into a specialist ballet class within her own dance school and I'm even nervous about that so goodness knows what I'll be like if and when we're dealing with eternal associates schemes etc...!

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1 minute ago, Meglorien said:

 

I sympathise with this feeling. When we have high exceptions of getting accepted, it is harder to accept a not yet. As other people have posted, there are lots of ways of getting the same result. The Royal Ballet Associates isn't the only way, and with so many dancers applying for just a few spots, there will be literally hundreds of brilliant dancers whose teachers are surprised they didn't get a yes. What you can do, however, is ask her main ballet teacher to phone them up for some feedback. We asked dd's teacher to do this last year, and some things they thought she had to improve we already knew, some things we didn't.

As for gymnastics, my impression is that doing some is beneficial (for core, strength and flexibility). If you and your dd feel it may be getting in the way, you could have a chat with her ballet teacher and express your concerns. From what you say, though, her teachers don't seem to be concerned and, as with everything, it's getting the balance right that is the key.

 

I hope she'll try again next year and enjoy her dancing in the meantime.

Thank you, exactly like you said, we knew how high the odds were, and were not in anyway arrogant thinking she would get it in, it was more the advice we were given. Her dance teacher has already phoned up but was told they see too many people to give out individual results. Wouldn't even contemplate asking for feedback as no it's not the norm, however, guidance re. if it is her gym possibly with her physique would help guide us. The top dance teacher/owner keeps telling her to give up the gymnastics! So confused. But hopefully Elmhurst will give us clearer insight and great opportunity for her. 

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3 minutes ago, Waverley said:

Interesting discussion re gymnastics training (and hopefully it's keeping people occupied slightly while you wait 😉) . My DD is too young for JA at the moment but she wants to audition next year. She currently does 8 hours of gymnastics as well as a fair amount of dance and I have the same concerns about the two and the way her body may be affected. I'm particularly worried about her back/posture. 

 

The dance school say she has a natural dancer's body (which I would agree with) and that she probably won't 'bulk up' too much from the gym but that at some point she will probably need to drop gym if she wants to dance seriously. 

 

I'd say she is naturally a better dancer than a gymnast (and would assume the gym club agrees given that she is going to be on regional pathway as opposed to moving 'up' to 16 hours of training and national/compulsory pathway, as one of her peers has done) but at the moment she is determined to do both and says she can't decide which she prefers. 

 

I've found your answers very helpful, it's something that's been in my thoughts and will be interesting to see how it pans out. 

 

Hope the refreshing of emails is over soon. I totally sympathise... I'm waiting to find out if DD has got into a specialist ballet class within her own dance school and I'm even nervous about that so goodness knows what I'll be like if and when we're dealing with eternal associates schemes etc...!

Good to know I am not alone! MY DD also more natural dance way and like you I'm worried about her shoulders, bulking up etc. I'll post or msg you if have any clearer insight in the next few months which may help you! xx 

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40 minutes ago, DanceMum83 said:

My DD currently in a mixed year4/5 group in London. And they do 2 and 1/4 hours. I think it’s mainly ballet and they were asked this year to not bring character shoes as they wouldn’t be needed, although they do use character skirts and do partner work with the boys. 

 

Thanks for this. We've applied to two other associate schemes (not the ones I mentioned, she already does those), so I was wondering how they all compare with each other. Partner work sounds great!

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