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Tring Christmas Ballet Weekend


swanprincess

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Hi, can anyone who has attended this course give me some info about it please? What standard were the classes etc? I am 15, and so is it mostly younger children who attend, or would there be other students my age? Obviously the £200 course fee is rather expensive, so I'd want the course to be challenging enough to not seem just like 'a bit of fun', if you know what I mean! Is anyone else's dd/ds thinking of applying this year? I'd love to meet some of you there, if I did decide to go!

:)

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My DD will be there but she's 11 so will probably not be in the same class as you. She's not done the Ballet weekend before but has done Easter and Summer schools and a few of Trings days of dance and she also attends the Classical Academy. There were more older dancers at Easter school than at Summer school, my DD was in the top group at Summer school but she was probably the youngest in the group. The standard of ballet teaching is very good at Tring but the standard of dancers is very varied, even in the Classical Academy.

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My dd has done the course twice, and had a really good time.

 

There are older students as well, and everyone is dormed with people the same age. The ballet classes are grouped into classes according to the standard you are currently working at.

 

She's always really enjoyed it but can't do it this year due to rehearsal commitments, and she's so disappointed as it was becoming a sort of Christmas tradition!

 

You could always ring them to ask if they are likely to have people your age and level.

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When dd used to go to this lovely weekend, she was younger - I think 10 or 11 last time she went. The oldest then were about 14, if I remember. There was no pointe work, and each group did a dance from Nutcracker. It is a really lovely weekend but the dance side of it was not challenging at all. Very Christmassy though! ☺

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Thanks for all the replies. What is the Easter course like in comparison? Due to finances, it would probably be either the Christmas course or the Easter one- although the Christmas one sounds lovely, it is quite expensive for only 2 days... ;)

Well in that case do the Easter course. My older students certainly preferred it terms of being challenging enough for them.

 

The christmas one is lovely, my ds worked on it last time and said everyone seemed to really enjoy it but that it really suits the younger students better.

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My dd did the Xmas weekend last year and had a fabulous time. She was 10.5 at the time and I thought she would be nervous being away from home and not knowing anyone. How wrong I was! Not only did she love the dancing, but she totally threw herself into the whole boarding experience. We had a few prank calls at home from her and her friends, all part of the fun!

 

And I will never forget the look on her face when we watched them dancing the Nutcracker on the last day. Dd is not the most smiley dancer but her eyes were literally shining as she danced. I haven't seen her dance like that before or since.

 

She would love to go again this year but I don't know if she'll be allowed to miss a 3 counties rehearsal.

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I’ve just had a look at their website, the breaks are for youngster only, which is a great shame. I have dropped them an email asking them to look at the feasibility of running breaks for adult ballet, starting with a one day taster.

 

I go to a number of dance workshops anyway but not ballet, my next is just before new year run by MamboCity near Heathrow. If any one knows of any adult ballet breaks I would be very interested.

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Oh that's odd though - arrival on the Friday is 2-4pm but that's still a school day. Do people take time off school to go??

 

Schools around the country have different Easter holidays. DD was dissappointed a few years ago when it looked like she couldn't attend as she was at school all week! Tring changed the date on that occasion, so she was able to go in the end.

 

Millie

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Schools around the country have different Easter holidays. DD was dissappointed a few years ago when it looked like she couldn't attend as she was at school all week! Tring changed the date on that occasion, so she was able to go in the end.

 

Millie

That's Christmas holidays though, I thought most schools break up on the same day for Christmas.

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If you are weighing up whether to do the Christmas or Easter course, I suppose that the main differences are that at Xmas it is just ballet - you rehearse an excerpt from (probably) the Nutcracker, and perform it to family etc on the Sunday afternoon, followed by mince pies and carols round the tree in the Mansion. At Easter, the classes are ballet, jazz, contemporary and tap, and are definitely more challenging (according to my dd). Parents can observe the classes on the last day. I'm not sure, but I don't think either of the courses include pointe.

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There's several groups - last Easter my dd was 13, the group she was in was 2nd from top and the classes were at Inter level or thereabouts. The top group were all older teenagers and I suspect the standard of that one was more advanced level.

 

We've always thought of the Xmas course as part of dd's Christmas present, and the Easter one as intensive training, if that helps.

 

Edited to add: When it comes to getting time off school, we say that it's an intensive training course at one of the top vocational schools in the country, and the school is happy to accept that, and grant absence.

Edited by taxi4ballet
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