Summer intensives when already at a vocational school

[LexBallet]

I’m curious to know what support is given to children already at vocational schools to apply for summer intensives. Are the schools supportive, do they recommend which ones to go for, do they help with the photos/auditions? Or is it very much the case that now you are here we prefer you to work with us?

thank you

[Jewel]

IN our experience.

 

You have to ask permission.  Photos have to be taken at home during exeat weekends.  No help is given.  Occasionally an individual teacher will recommend somewhere but not usually.

[Farawaydancer]

19 minutes ago, Jewel said:

IN our experience.

 

You have to ask permission.  Photos have to be taken at home during exeat weekends.  No help is given.  Occasionally an individual teacher will recommend somewhere but not usually.

Yes, this is our experience - except I’ve never asked for permission, we’ve just got on with it. 

[Lifeafterballet]

Dd was offered a place at Paris Opera Ballet Summer School, from YAGP, but it would have meant missing the last two weeks of the summer term, including the summer shows, so permission was refused. We declined the place and she didn’t go. Two years later she was offered a scholarship to attend a 5 week US Summer Intensive which she did attend, missing the end of term show etc. Permission was always given for intensives that didn’t involve missing school time but not for those that did. 

[Dancing unicorn]

Yeh both at Elmhurst and Hammond we asked permission. No help with photos etc at either. 
Whilst permission was given, always felt that wasn’t encouraged, and felt guilty doing them but still did them and enjoyed them 😆

[Balletmummy18]

Only asked permission for dd  when in yr 10 as she had received sponsorship to attend European SI. As the school had already made it clear in yr 9 that she wasn’t going to upper school , they were happy to let her attend in the middle of the Summer Term although we were asked to keep it quiet from other parents!😂🤣😂

[LexBallet]

Thank you very much for your replies. It’s very helpful to hear that it is quite normal to just have to work it out yourself and get permission. My daughter is at Rosella Hightower and we thought that the complete silence about intensives may have been particular to the school/the French system. Thank you

[dancefanatic]

I spoke with the AD at Elmhurst a few years ago on this subject and he said to me "No more than 2 weeks over the summer" was recommended "to ensure sufficient rest time for students".  I also asked for any recommendations which he was more reluctant to give although he approved attendance at OPES and Yorkshire Ballet Summer School for my DD in the past with no problems.

[glowlight]

16 minutes ago, dancefanatic said:

"No more than 2 weeks over the summer" was recommended "to ensure sufficient rest time for students".  

 

I think this may be one of the main reasons that some vocational schools don't seem to encourage summer schools.  They work very hard at vocational school and bodies need time to rest.  When dd was dancing on ships her company tried to give dancers at least 6 weeks between contracts, not only so that they had time to go home, but to give them time to rest and recover from any injuries that they might have been pushing through during their contracts.  I think most ballet companies have complete breaks as well.

[dancefanatic]

Glowlight, I also see the rest period as being essential for vocational students. Something I had to explain to my DD when she was younger and seeing other students at the same school dancing at numerous weekend events during term time plus holiday intensives week after week both at Easter time and during the summer. She did get to understand that choosing one or two intensives carefully during the summer made more sense for her body's ability to learn after a hard terms/year (as well as helped the very stretched coffers). I've also ensured she always had the first week of the summer holidays as rest after the frenetic last two weeks of term with shows etc.

[glowlight]

Just to be clear - I wasn't suggesting that they shouldn't do any summer intensives - just that having rest time is important too.