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2023 London Children's Ballet


BallerinaMum13

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30 minutes ago, BallerinaMum13 said:

My daughter has just turned 9. She did not get a place. Well done who all those who got a place. It's going to be a great production! 

Hope she is ok. Mine has not turned 9 yet. I wonder how many from that group they are taking. I think this is such a good preparation for the future and I must say they do the auditions in an exceptionally kind way. Getting to the final is an achievement. Come and do Coppelia for the EYB in February! My daughter has just done the Nutcracker and it has been an amazing experience. They run it very professionally It is in Hayes so close to London 

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My daughter had a waiting list place for tour when she was 9. A place didn’t become available that year but she tried again the next year and got a place in the main company that year. There was a small amount of movement last year but nobody gives up their place lightly as you can imagine. So tell your daughter to keep trying if she can stand it - doing the LCB summer school and lots of EYB helped develop performance. The competition is SO tough. It seems to get harder every year.

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  • 1 month later...

I would be interested in hearing people's opinions on London Children's Ballet - specifically their policy on allowing some children to participate more than once.  As I understand it, the current policy is that the same children can be selected to take part (obviously if they fit the casting criteria and have the talent), in up to 3 of their annual productions. 

 

I personally feel that this should be mentioned on their website, as it is not transparent - it is misleading as one assumes that they are recruiting an entirely new company every year.   

 

As LCB was created to give as many children as possible the wonderful opportunity of participating in an annual theatre performance, I personally feel that to allow some children to participate more than once, means that there is less opportunity for other children to be successful in gaining a place in their productions. 

 

It is a shame that the charity have not considered changing their policy to only allow children to participate in one annual performance, thereby recruiting a brand new company afresh each year, and giving the maximum number of children the chance to take part. 

 

I would be interested in others thoughts on this.  

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I’m afraid I disagree with you and your suggested approach. 
 

First, all the applicants start on a level playing field to the extent that they must attend and succeed at all the auditions. A previous appearance is no guarantee that an applicant will be successful again. 
 

Second, your suggestion would preclude dancers developing or gaining general experience of working as a group. 
 

It is often the case that a younger or less experienced dancer will have a small or limited role in their first production but will have developed as a dancer and be considered for a more prominent or difficult role. 
 

Equally, a small dancer may be asked to take on a difficult role at the outset but in subsequent productions be part of the ‘corps’ and dance in such roles. 
 

My daughter danced in three productions, and I always liked the fact that they were always selected and cast on merit and not because it was their turn. 

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6 hours ago, GBC said:

I would be interested in hearing people's opinions on London Children's Ballet - specifically their policy on allowing some children to participate more than once.  As I understand it, the current policy is that the same children can be selected to take part (obviously if they fit the casting criteria and have the talent), in up to 3 of their annual productions. 

 

I personally feel that this should be mentioned on their website, as it is not transparent - it is misleading as one assumes that they are recruiting an entirely new company every year.   

 

As LCB was created to give as many children as possible the wonderful opportunity of participating in an annual theatre performance, I personally feel that to allow some children to participate more than once, means that there is less opportunity for other children to be successful in gaining a place in their productions. 

 

It is a shame that the charity have not considered changing their policy to only allow children to participate in one annual performance, thereby recruiting a brand new company afresh each year, and giving the maximum number of children the chance to take part. 

 

I would be interested in others thoughts on this.  

Whilst I cannot comment from recent experience, I did see a recent list and noticed a vast majority have been in at least one (usually more) previous production. I don’t think it’s just you who noticed this too. Sadly, when I clocked this a few years ago, it didn’t really persuade me to take my DD to audition so it’s probably our loss but it’s hard not to see that it’s usually a lot of the same young dancers (who are brilliant btw so fair play to them). 

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7 hours ago, PrancingMum said:

Is this comment also levelled at EYB and NYB?

 I can't comment on NYB, but EYB has lots of kids who've done it multiple times.

 

However, since EYB's a lot less selective and works in so many venues each year (so probably 600+ places available a year?), that is less of a issue.

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I believe that LCB perhaps reflects what it would be like in a professional company. No company starts from scratch it has dancers performing with them year in year out. I feel it is positive that LCB do put a selection threshold on it all.


LCB do in our experience also choose dancers in leading roles who have performed with them before, who are I suspect also able to bring a more all round performance ability that they don’t have to start from scratch with.
 

All AD’s and choreographers do have their favourites or types of dancers that they prefer stylistically, this is the dancing world and choose accordingly. LCB are clear that they are looking for that ‘something else.’


The role my child wanted and was successful to be cast in was historically a female role but the choreographer and AD saw him dance and knew potentially they wanted him for the role. Casting confirmed this. It is an uneven process.
 

Also some dancers are not good enough to be selected, so if a company limited itself to a completely new intake each time they might not be able to fill all the roles they need.

My child has auditioned many times over the years knowing that certain roles will be given to certain children each time; this is part of the dance world process. No it’s not fair, but it is the world they’ve stepped in to. 

 

The other issues auditionees face is that the selection of dancers is quite small, 40ish children only of the 100s that audition. 


I don’t believe in the world of children’s ballet saying this is a one time opportunity is at all realistic. Children want to try and progress from corps to soloist or even Principals. They may need a few goes with a company to see if this progression is possible. three seasons with the company affords them this opportunity. 
 


 

Edited by NotadanceMa
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I don't have any experience of LCB as it's nowhere near us geographically but totally agree with the comments above about children wanting to progress 'through the ranks'.

 

I don't think it is limited to ballet either -  we have a local musical theatre group who traditionally put on a large scale production each year at the same time (in the same way as LCB). One of my DC is involved and the same children tend to appear year after year, often starting at 8/9 and staying until teenage years. Often the same children feature in principal roles - and why not? They have experience with the director, they have generally started off in the ensemble and they have auditioned and shown that they can hold a part.

 

It's set up as a professional production and it would seem a bit crazy for the director not to cast in the same way as any other professional production. 

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I couldn’t agree more that LCB should not prevent children auditioning on as many occasions as they are able. Life is not fair and the dance world is certainly not fair. Not everyone who auditions is suitable, whether generally or for the production being cast that year, and casting should be done solely on who is in the production team’s opinion the best choice for each role in that year’s ballet.

 

AllAboutTheJourney, I have also seen the same happening in musical theatre and in theatre productions. They are cast in accordance with who the production team considers would best fit each role. Sometimes that is for example based on other casting and the actor ‘fitting in’ best - or in musical theatre the better actor may be selected rather than the more accomplished singer - and no selection process can feel ‘fair’ to everyone but that is its nature. Some children may never be successful and that does seem unfair - but the production team needs to put together the best possible cast.

 

To be honest, this is something which means I have difficulty in accepting the view that ‘it isn’t a no, it’s a not yet or not this time’ which is sometimes stated in terms of unsuccessful auditions. In many children’s cases, this will be true. However, for many others it may in fact be that a no is a repeated response. This isn’t just in the ballet world - or the arts world - it applies to academic and sporting worlds too. Not everyone can be successful. And if the successful children cannot apply to be cast in other productions, it may be that a production cannot be cast due to lack of appropriate candidates. 

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On 16/01/2023 at 10:49, GBC said:

As LCB was created to give as many children as possible the wonderful opportunity of participating in an annual theatre performance, I personally feel that to allow some children to participate more than once, means that there is less opportunity for other children to be successful in gaining a place in their productions. 

 

It is a shame that the charity have not considered changing their policy to only allow children to participate in one annual performance, thereby recruiting a brand new company afresh each year, and giving the maximum number of children the chance to take part. 

 

I would be interested in others thoughts on this.  

 

As in a professional company, I'm sure "new" dancers benefit from collaborating with more experienced dancers.

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30 minutes ago, Legseleven said:

 

 

To be honest, this is something which means I have difficulty in accepting the view that ‘it isn’t a no, it’s a not yet or not this time’ which is sometimes stated in terms of unsuccessful auditions. In many children’s cases, this will be true. However, for many others it may in fact be that a no is a repeated response. This isn’t just in the ballet world - or the arts world - it applies to academic and sporting worlds too. Not everyone can be successful. 

I have always struggled with this sentiment. From the off a ‘no’ has always been a ‘no’ for my child. Of course they can try again and it might be a ‘yes.’ It’s tough out there for our children.

 

‘Not yet’ is emotionally confusing to me and it does not allow for closure to that particular path choice at that time.

I get that it softens the rejection and reframes it as something else, and even helps the parent bear the brutality of the process, but it’s not for me.


A bit off topic I know.

Edited by NotadanceMa
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15 minutes ago, NotadanceMa said:

I have always struggled with this sentiment. From the off a ‘no’ has always been a ‘no’ for my child. Of course they can try again and it might be a ‘yes.’ It’s tough out there for our children.

 

‘Not yet’ is emotionally confusing to me and it does not allow for closure to that particular path choice at that time.

I get that it softens the rejection and reframes it as something else, and even helps the parent bear the brutality of the process, but it’s not for me.

 

I agree with you. I’ve never told and never will tell my DCs that a no could be a ‘not yet’. A ‘no’ is a no for a reason and they will get a lot of ‘nos’ in their lifetime but that’s how it is and it’s their own risk to take should they wish to pursue something repeatedly.  I would never want them to overthink things (I do that for them in secret - haha!). What I do tell them is that a ‘no’ is not necessarily a bad thing and could, in fact, be the best thing that could happen.  I understand that a ‘no’ can be a hard pill to swallow for a child, or adult for that matter, but I always remind them that some of the most wonderful experiences they’ve had, hobbies and activities they’ve discovered, places they’ve been, have all stemmed from a ‘no’. It helps them not dwell on things, not be fixated on things and overall results in more chilled and relaxed kids. This is of course very much a personal opinion from personal  experience and knowledge of my own DCs personalities- but it is an alternative point of view to the use of  ‘not yet’.

Edited by Neverdancedjustamum
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3 hours ago, Legseleven said:

I have difficulty in accepting the view that ‘it isn’t a no, it’s a not yet or not this time’ which is sometimes stated in terms of unsuccessful auditions. In many children’s cases, this will be true

 

I remember when my dd was about 11 she said ...'Miss x (school teacher) says if you work hard enough you do anything you want, but it's not true is it?'  Wise words.  

 

I must admit when my dd was young I used to say something like 'Things happen for a reason and maybe you got a 'No' because it's not the right thing for you now.  There might be something else for you just round the corner.'

 

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