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Ballet boost associates Manchester


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Can anyone tell me if this associate program is worth applying for? My daughters dance teacher only puts her forward for RBS and NBS associates but I’ve been looking at other options too. 

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My daughter did RBS, Elmhurst and Ballet Boost and Ballet Boost was by far her favourite (she found RBS boring and its refusal to provide anything other than fully generic feedback was frustrating). We found BB by contrast nurturing and approachable. 

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Our daughter has applied for a few associate programs (RBS, Elmhurst, Tring, Central), she is 7, turning 8 in August.

We saw the ballet boost, but the example video for 8-10 year olds put us off a little. The video shows more advanced moves which our daughter simply hasn't been taught yet. She is currently working at Grade 1 IDTA and taking her exam in July.

Wondering if anyone else found this when looking into the audition process?

 

The 8-10 yr old example video is on this page: https://www.balletboost.com/auditions/ 

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39 minutes ago, Pdexter said:

Our daughter has applied for a few associate programs (RBS, Elmhurst, Tring, Central), she is 7, turning 8 in August.

We saw the ballet boost, but the example video for 8-10 year olds put us off a little. The video shows more advanced moves which our daughter simply hasn't been taught yet. She is currently working at Grade 1 IDTA and taking her exam in July.

Wondering if anyone else found this when looking into the audition process?

 

The 8-10 yr old example video is on this page: https://www.balletboost.com/auditions/ 

I’ll message you 🩷

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We’re not going for ballet boost for various reasons but I found the same thing - wrote it off on the assumption they’d be looking for more advanced dancers. And mine is at the older end of juniors. 

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We applied and auditioned for ballet boost Manchester 

they were very friendly and helpful. Emma Northmore who runs ballet boost was very approachable 

my daughter got a place on senior 

They also do contemporary which is a bonus 

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Posted (edited)

Not intrinsic to it. Just a bigger commitment in terms of time/travel/cost than we felt ready to make at that point even if she got in, and we currently have some other irons in the fire. My dancer has accessed some of their holiday courses and had a good experience and I know of plenty of kids who’ve really enjoyed it. It’s definitely on the ‘maybe in the future’ list! 

Edited by WhensMyDayOff
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Good luck with it all! I’m interested to hear you were offered mids actually as it sounds like our children are similar ages and standards (mine is y5, prepping to take RAD g3 soon and I would have assumed very much at junior level. Also waiting on RBS although fully expecting a no). I’ll follow your decisions with interest!

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My advice would be to trust Emma Northmore’s advice on placement. She looks beyond what grade they are doing in their local school.

 

Meeting Emma and joining Ballet Boost and ABA was a life changing experience for my daughter. 

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2 hours ago, Sunflower said:

My advice would be to trust Emma Northmore’s advice on placement. She looks beyond what grade they are doing in their local school.

 

Meeting Emma and joining Ballet Boost and ABA was a life changing experience for my daughter. 

I would agree. I had to query my DD's class for next year, as it was higher than I had expected but Emma replied with 'she's doing very well'. Emma has watched her and knows more than I do so I trust her judgement. 

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Associates tend to take a different point of view from local graded classes, so in general I'd go with the flow. They don't exactly care what grade you're doing, they expect to teach you their exercises anyway.

 

The 16 year old likes the Ballet Boost classes in Dublin and feels they're worthwhile, he's been doing them for a few years. So do a good number of his Irish National Youth Ballet colleagues, who are turning up on a Sunday morning after a full day in studio on the Saturday. 

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It does depend on the teacher in the specific centre, like anything else. There's one occasional replacement he doesn't like much and one he's really enthusiastic about.

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Got some questions if anyone can help me? If you know beforehand there’s a few classes you can’t do are they ok about this and can that be taken off the fee you pay? Also when is the deadline to accept/ decline a place? Can’t find it on the email.

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Never any problem with missing classes in Dublin anyway - some classes were scheduled on INYB show days so 7 or 8 people would be missing.

 

It’s a term system, so I wouldn’t expect them to take it off fee, though I’ve never asked. 

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30 minutes ago, Dancing_Mae said:

Got some questions if anyone can help me? If you know beforehand there’s a few classes you can’t do are they ok about this and can that be taken off the fee you pay? Also when is the deadline to accept/ decline a place? Can’t find it on the email.

I have always found them to be perfectly understanding about missing classes. My DD has missed quite a few - one was illness but the others have all been dance clashes - ballet exams, festivals, AED Regionals, dance school show etc. They won't take it off the fee though so it is effectively money lost (as my husband likes to keep reminding me!).

 

We joined last year and I remember there being no acceptance deadline. I queried this with them and was told that by the end of July would help them out. 

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Do you pay termly and if your child decided they didn’t want to do it after the first term, do you still pay the rest of the year? This is very unlikely to happen, as my daughter adores ballet but I’m just trying to get the full picture so I know what to expect. Thank you for your replies so far ☺️

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Yes, you pay termly. I believe they need a full term's notice for cancellation so if your DD decided half way through the first term that she wanted to stop, you may well end up paying for the second term. However, as we have not tried to cancel, I don't know how flexible they are about this. 

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Hi Everyone 

Emma here and thanks so much for the support as always.

 

Just to explain a little in terms of levelling at Ballet Boost. 

I totally ignore Grades and assess their potential, current strengths, cognitive ability to understand and apply corrections alongside many other factors.

 

The aim of the programme is to ensure they are in line with international standards and therefore yes, its above what they will be used to in uk but then had them well prepared to stand amidst all at audition time.

 

Please don't be put off by any audition video material as that is simply a guide and you can adapt it to suit.

Like any junior programme we work to each dancers ability and what they need in a bespoke way. This age is based on potential but the challenges show me cognitive understanding and co ordination too.

 

Feel free to ask further should it not make sense!

 

Manchester is a particularly "young" venue where they make so much progress with our fabulous junior teacher that they are ready really early for mids! Each place, dancer and level has an individual specific reason - nothing is done as a group as such and dancers move up as soon as we feel ready or remain longer if needed.

 

Feel free to ask me anything. 😀

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