Amount of dancing/grade

[LinMM]

Absolutely!!

 

I was just wondering that even with not that much dancing experience or classes behind them some young people just seem to have some sort of natural ability perhaps a mixture of dance expression/ body type/ reasonable physical strength with no obvious joint probs showing and some sort of ease with it all etc. it does seem difficult to know what exactly they are looking for when looking at someone's potential even.

 

I know it's certainly not just flexibility though because all those years ago a girl from our local school I was certain(as an 11year old) would get into the Royal because she seemed to have a good physique and was very very flexible .....didn't!!

I remember though being taken with how well some girls used the space(as well as not looking too much at the floor!) They really danced the space and covered much more ground. This was a bit of an eye opener. So I became aware at 11 at just how tough the competition was......well we all did.....but it didn't put me off just spurred me on to get better(changed dancing schools immediately).

 

I suppose the thing is that because everyone is so different some students may not need to do so many classes to reach a reasonable standard. Others can get there but may need to work harder. However I don't remember any of us at age nine doing more then 4/5 classes a week......and that was only if doing tap or modern as well. At nine (I started at 7) I became a ballet only person and did just three classes a week. By 12 that became four plus three of us did one private coaching class together. So really not loads of classes.

I was the only one of the three of us who were coached who did not make it professionally! Mainly because I gave it all up suddenly to concentrate on academic studies.

 

What I can't remember now is on applying for these auditions did my parents have to fill in any info about themselves. Or would that have come later only if considering offering a place. Just wondering how important the parents are in all this......whether they can pick up how much behind you the parents really are etc!!

[2dancersmum]

I think that the schools can certainly see past how many classes a child does or does not do when looking for that certain something to offer a child a place. There was a girl a few years older than my DD at her old school. She took every class available for her level, was a JA and did weekly private lessons and summer schools/workshops when she could. At one point she was significantly ahead of her peers in terms of grade. She was unsuccessful at 11 for vocational school. By the time she reached 16, her grade class consisted of some her age, some a year younger and my DD. She took the classes for the vocational exams but not the exams. She left at 18 for university after years of trying her hardest at ballet. I do sometimes wonder if all the extra classes she took at an early age, compared to her friends, raised both her and her parents expectations of her potential.

[Moomin]

I would be interested to hear the opinions of some of our teachers? It would seem to me that everything apart from physique can be improved, even things like musicality. Is 4,5,6 classes better than 1 or 2? Personally I find in some areas it is possible to overpractice & you are no longer learning but not sure if that is what teachers observe for dance too?

[All4dancers]

My dd started having ballet lessons on her 9th birthday!

[taxi4ballet]

At 9 my dd was Grade 2 and having one ballet class, one tap and one modern a week.

[spooky]

At 9/10 my dd was doing two ballet, one tap and one modern class (all 45mins). She then gained a year 6 JA place and I was alarmed at how many more hours most of the other girls seemed to be doing. Naturally I was concerned particularly as our dance school couldn't offer any more classes but when I spoke to the JA teacher about my concerns she said not to worry as it was definately quality rather then quantity. Even at 16 she was still only doing about 6hrs a week ballet max plus a little modern, contemporary & pilates but she was still offered three 6th form places (Central, Rambert and Tring) and got to finals for ENB. As another poster said it really depends on what is available and individual circumstances/finances and if a child has 'it' (facility, musicality and passion) this will usually be spotted by a school at auditions.

[Thecatsmother]

I do agree that it is quality of classes that is key and can always be augmented by a few conditioning exercises at home. If you are training to use the right muscle groups and gradually learning new steps in a class which is of an appropriate level compared with peers then this should be fine.

 

The physique of a dancer is an additional factor as very mobile, long limbed dancers will take longer to strengthen and these types of dancers in my opinion seem to gain a lot from vocational training but that does not mean that it is essential to audition at 11. Growth spurts also impact upon a dancers strength and this is a time when some additional strength training exercises can be of use again.

[CeliB]

 

If a child has a suitable physique for classical training, POTENTIAL, musicality, a love of dance, and a good basic technique then a good school will see that.

 

 

 

Would like to add though that DS auditioned for RBS associates twice and was turned down twice; since then Mary Goodhew pegged him as soloist material, vocational school in USA gave him 100% scholarship and he was offered his first professional contract aged 15...Arguably he hasn't 'made it' yet, but enough knowledgeable people have identified massive potential where RBS quite clearly didn't!!! So wanted to point out that you shouldn't write off your DC just because they don't get a place at a 'good school' .....

ps sorry spanner am not implying criticism of your post- just want others not to necessarily give up hope just 'cos RBS doesn't like them!!!

[Anna C]

Would like to add though that DS auditioned for RBS associates twice and was turned down twice; since then Mary Goodhew pegged him as soloist material, vocational school in USA gave him 100% scholarship and he was offered his first professional contract aged 15...Arguably he hasn't 'made it' yet, but enough knowledgeable people have identified massive potential where RBS quite clearly didn't!!! So wanted to point out that you shouldn't write off your DC just because they don't get a place at a 'good school' .....

ps sorry spanner am not implying criticism of your post- just want others not to necessarily give up hope just 'cos RBS doesn't like them!!!

No criticism taken. :-)

 

All schools look for different things. One example would be an Artistic Director who likes "performance" and can easily miss something in a very quiet shy child which another school may be able to see past.

 

Plus there are children who, for a variety of reasons, may not be ready at 10 but by 11, 13 or 15 have suddenly come into their own. Hence the reason I always think "don't panic" if a child isn't at Vocational School by year 7. :-)

[LinMM]

Well it's certainly interesting that some girls go to RBS at 11 but dont get selected to follow through into Upper school there and others who have failed when younger to get into a vocational school do get into the Upper School at RBS!!

 

 

Not to say that those who don't get to upper school aren't still really lovely dancers and may have success somewhere else. Even at this level sometimes seems difficult to know what they are looking for!

 

To come back to theme a bit with the number of classes.....there are probably only a certain number a child can do before they stop improving.....there will be a threshold somewhere! So not much good doing 12 classes a week if the child isn't progressing that much. They may be fine with six. In the end it's a case of just assessing your own child.....what are they comfortable with and to some extent how does it fit in with the rest of family.....I think someone already mentioned this anyway.

[Legseleven]

Sometimes a child who seems to 'have it all' at 11 may not progress as expected and hoped - or their proportions may change to a less balletic shape - - or they may have been unable to overcome a particular physical difficulty - or they may lose their passion for ballet - or they may decide that classical ballet just isn't the life they want to lead - or they may be outshone by applicants who may only have started ballet late or have developed their passion for ballet late - or they may be outshone by applicants who weren't able to audition at a younger age - or, or...There are lots of reasons why WL students may not go to the upper school and indeed why students who have been through the lower school of other vocational schools don't necessarily go to the sixth forms.

 

And sometimes vocational schools may even - whisper it - make mistakes and fail to recognise a star of the future. The admissions panels are human and to err is human...

[taxi4ballet]

With our dd we also try as best we can to maintain a balance between her dance training and spending time with schoolfriends, homework, family time, and just chilling out and doing teen-stuff.

 

Having said that - she usually chooses dance over all else!