YBSS 2013

[sparkledust]

Thanks Lottie. My dd also thought that photos hadn't been taken of her group although the photographer was definitely there, so some of you should have some lovely shots - last weeks were super.When I suggested I take our camera tomorrow my dd said "please don't" 

[LinMM]

Perhaps you could be a bit cheeky and ask the photographer to take some of the B group!!

[Interested Parent]

My DD did this summer school last year and absolutely loved it, made lots of friends who she still FB's and would love to go again.  HOWEVER, she did say that as a non-voc girl, the school can be quite intimidating at times.  The top A groups are filled with vocational students and they are generally picked to do the masterclasses whilst everyone else watches.  We were also a little upset about the photos as there seemed to be so many of the vocational students, ie A groups, but very little for the B groups.  After discussions with her friends back there this year, that seems to be even more of the case.  Its a shame because we are all paying the same.  Of course, this is just me/my DD's personal feelings and as I said, DD loved the apres-dance (not sure if that's a new word!) and the many friends she made, both from vocational and non-vocational backgrounds.

[Gingerbread]

InterestedParent, I am LOVING the notion of apres-dance (and I fear it's something my own DD values almost as much as the actual Dance)!

[Moneypenny]

Dd has today returned from two weeks at ybss and has had the most amazing time ... was just buzzing when we picked her up today. After a hellish journey to York, we just made it for the demo and I'm so glad we did as it was lovely to see all the dancers. Dd was in the A1 group and although she already knew some of her peers, she has also met some great new friends, from both the uk and overseas. The teaching has been fabulous and I think the après-dance (love that) has also been ace (judging by some of the photos which are starting to appear on fb)!

[Seagazer]

My DS has done YBSS since he was 10, and I think only missed last year. The groups used to be A,B, and C, he spent many years in C group, and one year a few pupils from each group were chosen to do a master class with Wayne Sleep. He was fortunate to be chosen although he was non vocational. A couple of years down the line watching a master class given by Mr Haigen with his pupils from Hamburg, my DS was so inspired and knew from that moment that he wanted to dance ( bang went my hope of him getting a sensible job).

Without having had attended YBSS as a non vocational pupil I doubt very much he would have been accepted to vocational school mid way through a term ( and I was his ballet teacher).

He has watched the selected few A students do the master classes for 7 years and it has been a real eye opener for him. He was humbled and privileged to have been chosen this year for the masterclass.

[audsjcanuck]

Dd is sleeping around the clock - yes 'après' ballet was perhaps a little too much fun! She wants to come back next year but I have to remind her that I can't think that far ahead. It's been a wonderful ride .... I think we are both in love with England!

[audsjcanuck]

... Also, my dd has posted a class pic I took of A1's.

[amber21]

Hi I really enjoyed the showing yesterday, all of the dancers were beautiful, it was a real inspiration for my dd who is only 10 and was in group b. . . . DD was in total awe with the older children, it's lovely to see how they develop from being DD's age into the talent we were watching yesterday!

Ax

[sparkledust]

It was wonderful to see so many talented dancers yesterday. Everyone danced beautifully and I particularly loved seeing so many fantastic male dancers - like watching the stars of the future!

[Lottie]

Watching yesterday was lovely to see but tinged with sadness at this was DS last YBSS after 5 years of having a great time there.

 

Like Seagazer's DS mine was from a non vocational background and YBSS originally gave him a chance to see what those from vocational schools were like and to live, eat and breathe dance for a week or two and to know that he wanted to go on to apply for 6th form to dance professionally (all being well after his 3rd year at Central, in this coming year).

 

Margaurite said that YBSS would be moving 'down the road' in York but didn't say where.

 

DS says YBSS will supposedly 10 mins or so from where it is now and to possibly accomodate more students but was not 100% sure,

[LinMM]

Your son has done well if he is a non vocational student then. Often students from schools like RBS finish their training at Central and one boy from Central did really well at Prix de Lausanne this year!

[Lottie]

Yes, thank you he has.

 

When he started at Central in 2011 there were several young students from a non vocational background who had been to various associate classes and not just RBS Saturday classes. 

 

You can look through previous threads about Central as I've posted quite a bit over the past year or so.

[taximom]

Your son has done well if he is a non vocational student then. Often students from schools like RBS finish their training at Central and one boy from Central did really well at Prix de Lausanne this year!

Tom has gained a contract with Scottish Ballet and is due to start there this month.

[DancingDays]

It was lovely to see the older dancers yesterday - and it was obvious that there was real affection and warmth in the room from all the teachers, pianists and staff.  The house parents were a hoot and I was just so happy to be watching some very talented dancers of all ages.  

 

It was a little bit stressful dealing with the homesickness that my little DD suffered but she's right at the start of her dancing journey and emphatically wants to go back again next year which is testament in itself to the team in York!  

 

All in all, definitely a valuable and worthwhile week for her!

[LinMM]

I thought the standard at York was fantastic and only wished I could have hung around for another week!! The high standards were throughout the groups and already think have spotted a few future stars from the 10-13 age groups!!

[Pavlala]

'Tom has gained a contract with Scottish Ballet and is due to start there this month.'

Taximom what lovely news!!

Edited August 4, 2013 by Pavlala

[taximom]

'Tom has gained a contract with Scottish Ballet and is due to start there this month.'

Taximom what lovely news!!

His mom is VERY relieved as he has been messed around by a number of companies and being asked to fly to Europe a number of times at VERY short notice and at great expense by people who had seen him at the Prix so kn his height for them to turn round and say he wasn't tall enough!!

[All4dancers]

It's a little bit disappointing that no further photos have been added from the second week.  I have emailed the photographer, but have had no reply.  Has anyone else heard anything?

[Moneypenny]

Dd said that a load more photos were taken on the second week, so I guess they will get uploaded at some point.

[sparkledust]

Some photos are now up of the second week. (not a huge number though)

[Dance*is*life]

Just got back home from a wonderful holiday in the UK and France.  We drove up to Scotland via York and I left my hubby sightseeing whilst I went to watch class.  I have heard such good things about the YBSS and was really excited about seeing it for myself at last.  I studied at RBS upper school the same time as Marguerite Porter and was thrilled that she remembered me!  She does look amazingly young and was charming!   I saw her dance Juliet at a Covent Garden matinee once and she was exceptional.

 

I was lucky enough to be able to watch the Master Class with Anthony Dowell as well and was sooo impressed.  The beautiful tall boy is Scottish, by the way.  And yes it was the boy from the RAD video there and definitely from Elmhurst - he was wearing their uniform.  I thought they all did fantastically well - it is an extremely difficult solo - and lovely to see so many good boys.  The next morning I was able to watch the barre part of the youngest group and then I moved to A1 for the rest of the class.  I also popped in to see a bit of the A2 group afterwards as they were doing adage and pirouettes.  There was such a high standard in all of the groups and the teachers were wonderful.  I was so sorry not to be able to watch more.  Anyone who had children there can be very proud of them. As a teacher I found it quite inspiring, picked up some useful hints for corrections and am determined to try and persuade some of my students to make the long journey to York next summer!

[kiwimum6]

I was happy to find some other photos of my ds dancing he had a fab time and made so many new friends. He found the teachers inspirational and thoroughly enjoyed dancing with the older boys in A1 ( he was in A2) . Trouble is... He wants to go back next year.....

[All4dancers]

I've also found a few pictures of my dd now not particularly action shots, but beautiful artistic poses.  

Kiwimum6, I think YBSS should perhaps come with a warning - it's addictive!

[Happymum]

Looks like YBSS is a fantastic SS focused on ballet. Can anybody tell me how did the timetable look like? what kind of classes, how many hours etc. Also, for boarding children, what did they do in the evening? My DD will be 10 next year so I'm interested mainly in the youngest group. Sorry, I couldn't find this info on YBSS website.

Edited August 11, 2013 by Happymum

[Karen]

We have also been very interested in the positive comments about YBSS and are seriously considering it for dd for next year. Please could someone enlighten us as to how dancers are grouped - is it age, grade achieved or are they assessed when they arrive? Also, any info about the day structure, boarding, food etc that hasn't already been posted would be most appreciated. Thank you.

[audsjcanuck]

My dd is 16 so I cant give much details on the littler ones but I can share a few generalizations. The classes are large and split based on a combination of age/level. As in there were 14 year olds in the advanced one class but 16 years olds on the level below. DD's class had 14 - 19 yo's but the other class probably had 13- 16 yo olds. The youngest ages were in another class.

The teachers are incredible and very motivating and inspiring. The students are treated on a professional level so although they may lack the individual comments they are used to, they gain confidence and knowledge from being treated like professionals. Unique.

Food was basic and simple. Lots of pasta and roast beef.

Evening activities seemed limited but perhaps for the little ones, there was more. The older students were left to their own devices but seemed to make it work. Under 16 can not leave campus past 5:30.

Older students had ballet, pointe and contemporary. Younger students had ballet, character and not sure of the third class.

Royal and Elmhurst students seem to favor this program for summer and I believe it is because of the high level of teaching.

[Karen]

Thank you audsjcanuck. Do you know how the appropriate class for the student was decided and did dancers move between classes?

Food sounds right up dd's street!

[LinMM]

Yes my friends DD seemed to eat a lot of pasta which she loves!!

In her case she was looked at presumably with some other girls as well to see if she would be in the B group or A2 group(A1 being most advanced and usually had older students). Mum asked for this as daughter is only 13 and doing Advanced one exam later in December this year so thought she would fit better into the A2 group which in fact she was put in and coped well with this so was the right decision. I don't know whether ALL students were assessed in this way or you could ask for a student to be assessed for a higher group etc. but can find out.

 

My friends only little gripe this year was that the A classes were quite large which some students especially younger ones may not be used to though the B group which did have most of the younger ones was smaller.

But her DD loved the summer school and even though probably shouldn't say this preferred it to the ENB one which she did the following week!!

[Goodytwoshoes]

A friend of mine sent her daughter and she loved the course. Thought the teaching was excellent and definitely worth the money and wants to go again next year. However she had pastoral issues in that she found it alarming that boys were sleeping in the girls bedrooms-sneaking in at night (yr 8/9!!). As a parent I was very concerned to hear this as was my friends mum and would be very apprehensive about sending her again.

[Happymum]

What about daily timetable? Did they start classes at 9 and finished at 5:30? I'm interested in how many hours of ballet dancing

[Happymum]

And I'm off to France for 2 weeks in 40 minutes but I hope to read all about YBSS ( especially the younger group) when I'm back :-) thank you for all the answers so far.

[DancingDays]

My DD experienced YBSS for the first time this year and is 10 so it was her first Summer School.  She followed it with a week at the Yorkshire Assembly and had 2 different experiences.

 

YBSS day for the younger students (group consisted of:

8.00 to 9.00 - Breakfast

9.30 to 11.15 (ish) - Classical

11.15 to 2.00 - Free Time (lunch between 12.00 and 1.00)

2.15 to 3.15 - Character

3.30 to 4.30 - Classical

5.00 to 6.00 - Tea

Evening activities or free time until lights out at 10.00 (I think they had to be in their rooms by 9.30).

 

DD absolutely love the teaching but got homesick, to begin with, in the periods of downtime.  The housemothers were brilliant and looked after the younger children very well - taking them into town one day in the lunch period to alleviate the homesickness, etc.  

 

It was a big stepping stone for DD in learning how to be a little more independent and responsible - they had to do their own hair buns, look after a room key and make sure they were in the right place at the right time (without us Mums pointing them in the right direction and helping them along!)  The negatives from my DD's perspective were the basic standards of room (squeaky uncomfortable bed and it looked like a second bed had been put into a single room so the young ones could share), basic food (DD lived on Bacon and hash brown for breakfast and pasta for both lunch and dinner each day), and too much free time.   Also, the noise of the police and ambulance sirens, nightlife, etc. can be a little disconcerting (the university is in the City Centre) when you're trying to sleep in a little room with just another 10 year old for company.

 

The final presentation was great to see - the standard of the dancers was amazing, however, there weren't enough seats for everyone and depending on which side of the hall around the perimeter you were sitting you ended up watching the backs of the dancers rather than the front.  It was very inspiring to see the older dancers, however, and some of them looked like they could be professionals now.

 

Yorkshire Assembly:

This was a four day residential and had children from 8 years of age.  The children were grouped again using age and ability and DD was in Inter B group here.  There were 5 groups, Junior, Inter B, Inter A, Senior B and Senior A.  The day consisted of:

Breakfast - 8.00 to 9.00

Class 1 - 9.15 to 10.45

Class 2 - 11.00 to 12.30

Lunch - 12.30 to 1.30

Class 3 - 1.30 to 3.00

Class 4 - 3.15 to 4.45

Tea then evening activities.

 

DD loved the facilities, the food (lots of yummy stuff!!) and the structure of the day however she didn't find the classes as challenging.  The classes varied in the timetable but each day she had Jazz, Contemporary, Rep and Ballet - she really enjoyed the contemporary as she hadn't done much of that before and the houseparents were a little stricter, i.e. all Juniors and Inter Bs ate together and couldn't leave the dining room until they were all finished whereas at YBSS you did your own thing.

 

The presentation was much slicker - there was afternoon tea waiting for parents on arrival and the children came through to join us before rushing off again to prepare for the presentation.  The actual presentation was held in a lovely little theatre and the groups danced in such a way that little groupings of children came on and off stage enabling parents to see their children at the front of the stage at least a couple of times.  The groups each did the 3 disciplines - jazz, contemporary and ballet so there were 15 numbers in all, followed by a raffle and a couple of awards were given.  The standard of dancing was a little more mixed - there were some gorgeous dancers and some who I would suggest were a little more recreational.  

 

Given that my DD said she she preferred the teachers and classes of YBSS and the facilities and timetable structure of Yorkshire Assembly, I asked her which one she would choose to do again if she could only choose one next year.  She emphatically and without hesitation said YBSS - she would much rather have the teaching and put up with the facilities (although YBSS appear to be moving 10 minutes down the road next year so that may not be a problem).  I was heartened and a little surprised that even though DD was more homesick and worked harder, she would take the teaching over the fluffy stuff

 

All in all, as a parent, I think both Summer Schools were definitely beneficial and worth the money and I would happily send DD to both again.  Although, at the moment we're thinking 2 weeks at YBSS rather than 1 week at one and one week at the other.

 

I hope this helps