Jump to content

RBS Junior Associates 2019


AllAboutTheJourney

Recommended Posts

@Bunny ok so when Newcastle results come in that’s when I’ll go into heightened refresh mode, as I think we were up next (May 3rd).. 😂 loads of luck to you and to everyone!  Looking forward to seeing how everyone does 🍀🙂

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 1.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Just now, Astrid said:

@Bunny ok so when Newcastle results come in that’s when I’ll go into heightened refresh mode, as I think we were up next (May 3rd).. 😂 loads of luck to you and to everyone!  Looking forward to seeing how everyone does 🍀🙂

 

Ahhh Astrid don’t encourage me! Ha! I’ve been so calm and collected about the whole thing all the way along and It’s like now June is here a switch has been flipped and I’m constantly email refreshing. Ridiculous! My DS absolutely loved his audition and had such a positive experience and really that was what it was all about, and I know his chances are exceptionally slim but there’s that what if isn’t there. Doesn’t help that he is so keen bless him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh definitely, there are so many wonderfully talented children vying for a very small amount of spaces so I have done exactly the same and whilst he certainly isn’t expecting a place, he is still definitely hoping and wishing for one, ha! At the end of the day the audition just cemented his love of ballet and that can only be a good thing :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 23/04/2019 at 17:41, Flora11 said:

You might be pleasantly surprised, all of you with 7 year olds!  My very inexperienced August born dd was a ‘Rising 8’ (as RBS referred to them!) at the auditions a fair few years ago and surprised everyone by being offered a place! She had the best three years as a JA. Good luck to all the little ones. Enjoy your special dancing day out! 

Was this in the London centre? What an amazing achievement to be accepted at 7. Just get a feeling they don't like taking very young year 3's. Xx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, pinkbex81 said:

Was this in the London centre? What an amazing achievement to be accepted at 7. Just get a feeling they don't like taking very young year 3's. Xx

I didn't realise it made it harder to get in for August born. Mine isn't 8 until right at end of August. I thought maybe it would be an advantage if she is so young in the group but dances really well, she would stand out. I am being too optimistic maybe!! She has already been offered a place at Elmhurst so we don't mind either way now but would be amazing if she got in. ❤ Good luck to all the 7 year olds!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Spamcat said:

I didn't realise it made it harder to get in for August born. Mine isn't 8 until right at end of August. I thought maybe it would be an advantage if she is so young in the group but dances really well, she would stand out. I am being too optimistic maybe!! She has already been offered a place at Elmhurst so we don't mind either way now but would be amazing if she got in. ❤ Good luck to all the 7 year olds!

I don’t think age has all that much to do with it, neither does how they dance particularly matter. They are 99% looking at bodies, and either you have it or you don’t! Obviously with children, bodies can change over three years, which is why they suggest you keep trying, if you want to. But if your 7 year old has the very specific qualities that they look for, then there is no reason why they wouldn’t take her based on her age. They wouldn’t ask children this age to audition if they are not prepared to take at least some of them!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Spamcat said:

@Sally-Anne that is what I thought, there must be at least a chance! Well it will be interesting to see if any of the little ones on here get in. There seems to be a few. 🤞🤞

 

My daughter will be 9 next month. She’s 125 cm, 20 kg and has all her baby teeth. 

This is AFTER her growth spur, last year she was even smaller, relatively to the others. 

And she’s muscular, because she does 14 hours of gymnastics every week. 

I’ll let you know. 😂

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, ExpatB said:

 

My daughter will be 9 next month. She’s 125 cm, 20 kg and has all her baby teeth. 

This is AFTER her growth spur, last year she was even smaller, relatively to the others. 

And she’s muscular, because she does 14 hours of gymnastics every week. 

I’ll let you know. 😂

At JA level, it's more about body proportions than about either height or weight per se. If your child has long legs, short body, long neck, small head plus a bit of hypermobility in the legs and feet then they will probably be offered a place (if numbers allow - classes don't tend to have more than 16 in them, often split across year groups). At JA level, they don't have to have much dancing experience to be selected - it's all about their body. When the RBS say a JA has to "show potential", they don't mean talent - they mean that the body type shows the potential to develop into the body type that is a pre-requisite for their older dancers. It's really important for parents and children to understand this as it saves so much heartache when the RBS say "no" - a "no" at this stage says absolutely nothing at all about how well or otherwise a child can dance.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, NicolaP17 said:

That does worry me slightly as my dd is of a slightly bigger build she is also tall 😔 she isn’t over weight by any means, but she was definitely one of the biggest girls in her audition.

My dd has two friends who got in last year for year 5 - both tall girls

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, ExpatB said:

 

My daughter will be 9 next month. She’s 125 cm, 20 kg and has all her baby teeth. 

This is AFTER her growth spur, last year she was even smaller, relatively to the others. 

And she’s muscular, because she does 14 hours of gymnastics every week. 

I’ll let you know. 😂

Sounds similar to mine - tiny! But there is more to it than just size. It’s head size, neck length, torso in comparison to leg length, turnout, spine flexibility, foot flexibility, and the list goes on ....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don’t think height has much to do with the decision. There is a huge variety of heights at White Lodge in each year group. As others have already said, it’s about fitting a very specific look which RBS like and which will fit with their future training. However, there is some variation on that theme in JAs. I have seen more muscular JAs and some with flatter feet too! I guess some of it will be dependant on who is there on the day. A ‘no’  could mean you just don’t fit the RBS mould but there are plenty other routes for successful training.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Pinkbex81 and all, 

Yes it was London centre that my little DD got offered her JA place with. There were six Year 4s in their mixed boys and girls 4/5 that started that year (three girls and three boys) and other there were many other Year 4s in the single sex classes too. Of the original 6 one girl (not my DD) and two boys went on to WL. I agree with other posters that body shape is important but there is still a lot of variation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My eldest dd was offered a year 6 place last year after only starting ballet a year before the audition she is however very petite, my younger dd is just taking her grade 2 rad ballet exam she has auditioned for a year 5 place she is currently 9 she does tick a lot of the boxes apart from her body shape she is tall long legs but she is more of a solid build little belly 😉 

i guess we just have to wait and see...

fingers crossed 🤞 for all of our gorgeous dc x

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, InOverOurHeads said:

In my DD's group there was 27 of them, who pretty much looked the same build and height to me.  An hours lesson seem quite short to make a big decision but I guess they know what they are looking for. 

 

I have a good friend who’s a senior teacher at a well known, large American ballet school.

She does auditions and she told me that to the trained eye everything is quite obvious after 15 minutes, even in an audition group of 40! 

They either have it or they don’t. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, ExpatB said:

 

I have a good friend who’s a senior teacher at a well known, large American ballet school.

She does auditions and she told me that to the trained eye everything is quite obvious after 15 minutes, even in an audition group of 40! 

They either have it or they don’t. 

It’s true that an expert eye can see the right physique very quickly but movement, elevation and musicality are all equally important and take slightly longer. I have seen at least one child with the perfect everything except she had such tight Achilles she couldn’t jump at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Spamcat said:

That is really interesting @ExpatB that they can spot the ones they want so quickly, and when it seems they do such simple things in the audition! 

It only takes a couple of pliées .... the rest of the audition is simply confirming initial observations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember my daughter coming out of her JA audition a few years ago. She was aware that ‘the lady’ was watching her for the first half an hour or so, then she stopped. I’m guessing that whatever they were looking for, they decided she didn’t have as she was never offered a place. 

But she went on to other associates and is now at vocational school, so a RBS no is definitely not the end. 

Good luck waiting for the results, I don’t miss that gut-churning email refreshing 😩

Edited by margarite
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t think my dd wants to be a ballerina at this point she absolutely loves tap modern and musical theatre just as much as ballet she just loves performing, I just thought an associate scheme would help her with her technique and discipline.. it would be an amazing opportunity if she got offered a place x

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, valentina said:

It’s true that an expert eye can see the right physique very quickly but movement, elevation and musicality are all equally important and take slightly longer. I have seen at least one child with the perfect everything except she had such tight Achilles she couldn’t jump at all.

They do check Achilles length in the JA audition. But I do agree with you, there are equally important things that are not immediately obvious, this is evidenced by dancers like Yasmin Naghdi who was not accepted at her first RBS audition, and there are many other examples.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 31/05/2019 at 09:18, balletboy8 said:

Hi Lottie77, thanks for the good luck wishes. Do you know how many Y5 there are in your DD class?  Thanks!

There are (i believe) 12 year 4/5 places

Edited by Lottie77
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...