English Youth Ballet

[Fiz]

Lovely idea and names, but crumbs, talk about expensive!

[BankruptMum]

Hmm looks like they are taking every advantage of a lovely opportunity for these young dancers - parents beware!

[DancingDays]

A Nottingham florist did a similar thing last year....but actually offered a discount for EYB parents which was a clever idea but still expensive (we took our own gifts from local florist) 

[Fiz]

That's what we used to do when our dds were in any sort of show. As we live in a very small town, the florist knows us all really well and she would always pull out the stops for us.

[Interested Parent]

Bought some lovely pink and white-green roses this morning from Tesco. I'll pop in a card and deliver to the stage door at 6 tonight. All for £10 and I don't charge delivery ;-)

[Dea]

How amazing was that performance?!!! EYB have given my daughter so much and the show was magnificent!

[ElllieP]

Agreed, Dea - a great experience and confidence-booster for my dd - who now has withdrawal symptoms! - and a really vibrant, enjoyable and entertaining show for the audience. Just listening to the positive comments of the matinee audience as they were leaving was lovely. EYB know how to put on a great show, never mind all they do for the children. 

[Lottiesmum]

Hi I'm new to the forum.  

 

The English Youth Ballet is coming to Belfast to perform Sleeping Beauty.  My 9 year old daughter enjoys ballet but is no Darcey Bussell.  She really wants to attend the audition.  Having looked at the information, if she is lucky enough to be successful in the audition the cost of over £400 for the perfomance experience seems rather steep.  100 successful auditionees works out at over £40,000.

 

I would like to hear from other parents who have had the experience to seek their views as to whether it is worth the expense.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

  

[chaperone]

Do you also have to buy tickets for the performance they are preparing for?

[Lottiesmum]

I assume so as there are 3 performances over 2 days in April. 

[Anna C]

Hello Lottiesmum and welcome to the forum. :-)

 

This thread may be of use to you: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/5256-english-youth-ballet-eyb-frequently-asked-questions/

 

To answer your question about the cost of EYB, yes, when you add up the £400, fuel or train costs to get to rehearsals, shoes, tights and makeup, and theatre tickets, it is quite a costly experience!

 

However, to be fair to EYB, they must have considerable costs to cover. If you think of staff wages, travel expenses, accommodation, theatre hire, costumes, lighting, sets, school hire for 60-ish hours of rehearsals, etc. each production must cost a huge amount.

 

They do offer a few whole and part scholarships for each production though, and if you do as we did last time they came to our area, and treat the experience as a summer school, it actually works out to a reasonable cost per day. I think it is especially worthwhile experience for students who don't do festivals or get much performance experience.

 

My dd has done EYB twice and loved both times, making friends who she has kept in touch with. There are families who seem to be fortunate enough financially to do EYB several times every year, but we are not. However, I would say it has been well worth the money and I'm very glad my dd was able to experience it.

[Anna C]

Tulte, you don't have to attend all the performances; many people buy tickets for one. You can of course buy tickets for all three if you wish.

[Lottiesmum]

Thanks spannerandpony, that is very helpful. 

[Anna C]

You're most welcome. :-)

[Pups_mum]

Hi Lottie,,

My daughter has done EYB 3 times now and will definitely want to do it again should the opportunity arise before she is too old. She has thoroughly enjoyed it and so have I. It does seem a lot of money, but when you add up the hours of rehearsals, it's not a bad hourly rate really. They do get a daily ballet class as well as learning and rehearsing for the performance.

EYB is a commercial enterprise with quite a few employees, so of course they need to cover all their costs, pay the wages and make enough profit to invest in further developments, just like any other business.I help out with a lot of my daughter's dance school shows so I have some knowledge of what it costs for theatre hire, sets, costumes etc and that is only for our little local shows. I hate to imagine what it costs to hire a big theatre. EYB do put on a very professional looking performance with quality costumes and sets. If you look on their website you will get some idea of where at least some of the money goes when you see photos and videos of previous performances. I have certainly found it a very worthwhile experience for my daughter and do think it is worth the expenses. If you look at what some summer schools, workshops etc cost, EYB fees aren't outrageous and the students do get a real sense of satisfaction from having produced something at the end. I would recommend it - best of luck to your little girl if she auditions.