Junior Associates

[MumofOlivia]

Hi everybody 👋🏻
I am totally new to this!

never posted anything on a forum,

but I was just looking for some advice.

I am also not very familiar to the ballet world,

so I hope somebody can help me.

my daughter got a place with the Ballet West JA and also in the RBS JA.

She is 10 years old.

Would you advice to take both or just go for one?

It is only a small 1,5 hour drive.

Thank you x

[Ed_DanceMum]

How exciting for your daughter. Congratulations! I think it can be useful to do both because there are different styles of teaching which really benefits at that age. But only if you can fit it in without stressing the family out and rushing about too much. Plus there will be homework exercises given that she will be expected to do. And both programmes come at a cost which is expensive on top of the normal ballet classes. 
One thing the associate programmes are all agreed on is that they don’t like students missing classes or leaving early.  But sounds like the travel isn’t too much of an issue for you. I’m assuming DD is keen to do both! 

[MumofOlivia]

Thank you for your quick answer, Ed_DanceMum!

The homework exercises would not be a problem, as my daughter loves dancing and can’t sit still 😁

Travel and money wouldn’t be an issue either.

The only thing is maybe missing a lesson, as I saw that 2 Sunday’s are on the same date.

we know the time for RBS, but not yet the time for BA.

[Ed_DanceMum]

Shame they are both on Sundays! It is really good to try out different schemes and see what works well for your daughter and great to have these under her belt which will help her in the future! An exciting journey ahead! 

[MumofOlivia]

Yes, it is!

Thank you again for your advice 😊

[Proudmumofdd]

1 hour ago, MumofOlivia said:

Hi everybody 👋🏻
I am totally new to this!

never posted anything on a forum,

but I was just looking for some advice.

I am also not very familiar to the ballet world,

so I hope somebody can help me.

my daughter got a place with the Ballet West JA and also in the RBS JA.

She is 10 years old.

Would you advice to take both or just go for one?

It is only a small 1,5 hour drive.

Thank you x

Oh how lovely congratulations! I’d do both if possible. I only know RBS as DD has been a JA MA and SA and had learnt so much!

whatever you choose to do good luck and enjoy it all 

[MumofOlivia]

Oh wow!

So you have already been doing this for years🤪

Thank you for the advice, Proudmumofdd.

My daughter’s local dance school recommended that both would be too much for a 10 year old.

But she soon turns 11 and all she does in the house is dance anyways.

xx

[Crazylifecrazykids]

My daughter is an RBS JA and a Ballet Boost JA year 5, she did both last year, she also was part of Birmingham royal Ballet swan lake dreams.. it was hectic but she coped really well and learnt loads, having alot of fun along the way! It's also good to listen to her teacher too, so you can weigh up the pros and cons so to speak... we found Ballet Boost complimented her RBS training really well too, BB is once every 3 weeks or so, RBS weekly, then her BRB rehersals. She had a great time, sadly never got to perform swan lake as COVID had other ideas but despite that she still loved it.. She even manged to squeeze in a Panto 😂😂😂. I think if you know your child could cope with both then try it.. I guess she could leave one programme if it wasn't working out for some reason, nothing is undoable. Congratulations to your DD for being offered both x

[MumofOlivia]

Thank you Crazylifecrazykids!

I love your forum name, as that could so

suit my family life 😁

What a shame, that your daughter was not

able to do Swan Lake, because of Covid.

The BW JA is only once a month and

the RBS JA for us is twice a month.

I am pretty sure my daughter can handle it all.

I just started doubting, as her local dance school teacher said that it was better to focus on one Associate Programme and that she was still growing, so too much strain on her body is not good.

 

[Crazylifecrazykids]

3 hours ago, MumofOlivia said:

Thank you Crazylifecrazykids!

I love your forum name, as that could so

suit my family life 😁

What a shame, that your daughter was not

able to do Swan Lake, because of Covid.

The BW JA is only once a month and

the RBS JA for us is twice a month.

I am pretty sure my daughter can handle it all.

I just started doubting, as her local dance school teacher said that it was better to focus on one Associate Programme and that she was still growing, so too much strain on her body is not good.

 

Difficult isn't it... because I'm new to this I too listen to her dance teacher and ask her alot! I usually go with her advice. Maybe have another chat with her, does your daughter do alot of classes at dance school? Or other things? Mine never had dance on a weekend with her dance school. Although you've got me thinking now, maybe it was too much for my DD as she's not long 10... She had a great time but I'd hate to think it's affected her physically 🤔

[MumofOlivia]

Yes, she does a lot of classes!

4 other dance classes, next to her ballet class.

on top of that she assist the ballet teacher on a Saturday with the little girls for 5 classes long.

Of course, she would be willing to drop that or for example her tap lessons.

My daughter does not have a lot of other things besides dancing.

just an hour swimming and piano.

It is indeed very hard to decide, as our daughters all love dancing so much and they would of course want to do more and more.

But we have to sort of decide what is appropriate for their body at this age.

[Crazylifecrazykids]

39 minutes ago, MumofOlivia said:

Yes, she does a lot of classes!

4 other dance classes, next to her ballet class.

on top of that she assist the ballet teacher on a Saturday with the little girls for 5 classes long.

Of course, she would be willing to drop that or for example her tap lessons.

My daughter does not have a lot of other things besides dancing.

just an hour swimming and piano.

It is indeed very hard to decide, as our daughters all love dancing so much and they would of course want to do more and more.

But we have to sort of decide what is appropriate for their body at this age.

Yeah and that in itself is tricky lol... my DD does tap, modern and musical theatre. Then Ballet she has 3 a week inc JA and then 4 once a month for BB. She doesn't do anything else, I try to vary the stuff she does, so she doesn't do a huge amount of the same thing. She's auditioning for vocational schools for 2021 intake, that's scarey too lol x

[Jan McNulty]

Hello MumofOlivia and welcome to the Forum!

 

Having read your first post you should read this thread to see that certain topics are out of bounds:

 

 

[Proudmumofdd]

On 22/07/2020 at 11:08, MumofOlivia said:

Oh wow!

So you have already been doing this for years🤪

Thank you for the advice, Proudmumofdd.

My daughter’s local dance school recommended that both would be too much for a 10 year old.

But she soon turns 11 and all she does in the house is dance anyways.

xx

Yes been doing this for 7 years!!  DD used to do BBO once a month in London too but had to drop that once took a place as an SA in London as couldn’t do two in one weekend (one on Sat and other on Sun) 

 

Id give both a go and see how things go 

[Anna C]

A belated welcome from me too, @MumofOlivia ☺️

 

Personally, at 10 with 4 other classes a week I would take the advice of the teacher and just choose RBS JAs, especially with piano and swimming and - I assume - academic homework?  It’s very easy to think more classes and associates are better but with ballet training I would always advise quality over quantity.  Rest days are very important, especially for growing children and teenagers, otherwise you can risk burnout, either physical or mental.  

 

My dd did do two Associate schemes from around 13-16 (Central and Tring CBA) but by that time she had stopped swimming lessons, Brownies etc and was concentrating on ballet, music and academics.  Even then, her weeks were extremely full and had Tring been every Sunday I think we’d have encouraged her to drop a class.   In your position I would have started with JAs and then added in a second Associates class in a year or two (if your dd is not going to full-time dance school for Year 7, obviously).

 

Obviously you know your own child, how tired she’s likely to get and how much academic work she’ll get in the coming year, and if you can all manage both schemes then make the decision accordingly.  

[meadowblythe]

The other comment I would make is that your daughter is relatively young, and any relationship being built with a ballet school is not going to be enhanced by going against their advice.  You may like to consider whether it's the right school for your daughter.  

[Ed_DanceMum]

Agree that it’s important to get the balance right and not commit to too much but think the difference here is that the RBS JA is fortnightly in this centre and not every week like most JAs and the other class runs most of the time on the RBS free week apart from those days that clash. So I guess it is just like having one weekly associate class. 

[alison]

Of course, we are a load of strangers to your daughter, and her teacher knows her.  I must admit, I'd be inclined to play safe and follow her advice, at least for the time being: see how DD manages with the RBS, and then consider whether to add anything else on top of that?

[glowlight]

3 hours ago, alison said:

Of course, we are a load of strangers to your daughter, and her teacher knows her.  I must admit, I'd be inclined to play safe and follow her advice, at least for the time being: see how DD manages with the RBS, and then consider whether to add anything else on top of that?

 

I think that this is very wise advice from Alison.  As well as knowing the student, the teacher probably also knows more than we 'strangers' about how the two schemes run in their local area.  It isn't always just about the number of hours, but are there conflicts in style?  Whilst a 13 year old can handle this well and thrive on it, I think it could be challenging for a 10 year old.  I'm not saying there are - but it's a thought.