Tring Classical Ballet Academy

[dancing10]

Can anyone give me any info on The Tring Classical Ballet Academy.

[Peach3]

Yes, what would you like to know?

[dancing10]

Do you have to audition and if so when are the auditions, is it difficult to get a place, is it good teaching, anything you can tell me really, my daughter heard about it at her local dance school and would like to try for a place.

[Peach3]

Yes you have to audition, not sure when the auditions are but if you check Tring's website I think the info is in the outreach bit. I should think there are auditions coming up in May or June as that was when my dd had hers last year. The teacher who takes my dd's group is lovely and has given her some good corrections to work with. I think about half of the class are RBS JA's including my dd.. As with any other associate scheme they are looking for potential. I know that there will be atleast 6 spaces in dd's group in September because of kids leaving to go to vocational school but that is because it is the group that encompasses current yr6's, there may not be so much room in other groups but I am speculating I don't know for sure. I am glad my dd has had her time there and feel like it was worth the travel and time it took up. There is a uniform,lilac leotards for younger girls and dark purple for the older ones. The leotards are expensive but extremely good quality, my dd wears hers for other things because it looks nice on. Happy to help with any other questions x

[dancing10]

It sounds really good, my daughter will be going into year ten in september, have just looked on website and it says auditions are in May, hope we can get an audition and we wont be too late applying!

[dancing10]

do you have to wait a long time for audition results? Is the audition a ballet class?

[Peach3]

I may be wrong but I think they have auditions later in the year too so even if you have missed the closing date for the next one ( which I shouldn't think you have) there will be another chance. Another good thing is once a term they have a watching class ( parents are invited) and both times so far this year there have been senior artistic staff from the main school watching. Good luck to your dd, I remember at my dd's audition they got them to dance to a couple of very short pieces of music just to see them improvise and watch them move a bit I think. I don't know if they did that with all of them though.Let us know how you get on x

[dancing10]

thankyou so much for your help, you are very kind and it is greatly appreciated. Will keep you posted xx

[Peach3]

We had to wait a while for audition results but can't remember how long. I think it was because they had more auditions to do before they offered places, someone else may be able to help with that question. Just realised that there were no senior artistic staff from the main school at the second watching class but they had been in on the session prior to that one to asses the children and we were given written reports at the watching class. The audition class was just ballet. I don't know if the older girls had to do pointe work my dd wasn't old enough at the time. Hope this helps x

[Interested Parent]

My DD is at CBA and loves it too. There will be spaces this time as the older girls will be leaving post-16. The higher groups do an 1.5 hr ballet class and a 45 min pointe class (there are 6 classes per term). There is more than 1 audition day so if they are interested you will get letter advising you are on the selection list but you won't know if you have place until all auditions are done and you get a final letter confirming.

[charlie4dancin]

It sounds very good but unfortunately too far away for us logistically we made a decision not to audition for y7 at Tring for this reason!!

Cx

Edited April 6, 2012 by charlie4dancin

[Peach3]

That is right, the younger girls and boys have stretching and coaching instead of pointe work. Then on the last session of term that stretching and coaching class is a musical theatre workshop for my dd's group but I think a contemporary workshop is offered to the older kids. Is that right Interested Parent or have I got it wrong?

[Interested Parent]

Spot on. Good luck to anyone who decides to audition this May! For those of you who are far away and need to 'come for the day' there are plenty of things to do. Tring is set Inbetween the Aylesbury Vale and Dunstable Downs and has some beautiful attractions..... Wendover Woods, canal walks at Bulbourne with a lovely pub, decent Sunday shopping and market at Berkhamsted although you would need to drive. Tring itself has several coffee shops and places to eat. Hope this helps!

[Anna C]

Ah, I still miss my fried breakfasts at Tring's "Time for Tea"! :-)

[Janice]

What is Tring like on a Sunday? Does public transport run. Dd would like go to one of Trings days of dance. We will have to travel to Tring by train.

[Anna C]

Ooh, thank you, because you've just reminded me about their Contemporary Day of Dance later this month! :-)

[Millie3]

What is Tring like on a Sunday? Does public transport run. Dd would like go to one of Trings days of dance. We will have to travel to Tring by train.

 

The train station is quite a way out of Tring, just under half an hours walk. There is a bus, but I don't know how regularly it runs on a Sunday,

 

Dd has really enjoyed CBA and would recommend it.

 

Millie

[hfbrew]

What is Tring like on a Sunday? Does public transport run. Dd would like go to one of Trings days of dance. We will have to travel to Tring by train.

Trains do run on Sunday but busses don't, well not the one DS has to use anyway! Its a goodly walk from the train station so would suggest booking a taxi in advance, I am sure Tring would provide you with telephone numbers.

[gazelle]

My DD has been at Tring CBA since it started in September 2010. When she auditioned, I think we were told that 150 auditioned for 60 places in total. Originally there were 4 groups, but there are now 6 (with about 15 in each class). To give you some idea of the standard, several of those in her group when she first started either were, or had previously been, RBS JAs and quite a few of her current group are also Central Associates. I know that several have also gone on to vocational school.

 

My DD has loved every minute of going to Tring CBA. She began at a time when her confidence in her dancing had taken a bit of a knock, but her enthusiasm and self belief has been completely restored and she has gone from strength to strength since being there. She finds her teacher very positive and encouraging, and feels that she gives constructive corrections and explains things very clearly.

 

The school is set in beautiful grounds and Tring itself is lovely and, although most of the shops are closed on a Sunday, there are plenty of coffee shops in the town and garden centres, pubs, lovely walks etc nearby.

 

There have been opportunties for parents and children to give feedback and the CBA continues to develop - there are now more classes, pointe work each session rather than 3 times a term and more involvement of the senior staff from the school.

 

 

The only drawback for us is that it is quite a long way to travel, but it has been well worth the effort.

[2littledancers]

Hi

Im wondering if anyone can assist be with a calendar typical to one issued by Tring CBA , I am aware that it is only 6 sessions per term , i was just wondering timings ,dates etc . Need to assess whether we can fit this in , as our dance school commits to festivals , Sunday rehearsals etc . I am finding it very difficult to find extra ballet for my DD on an associate basis , as dancing all day on a saturday seems to put pay to this . Tring sound perfect as not too far .

[Interested Parent]

I'm afraid the calendar of dates can change quite a lot from term to term. You are given all 6 Sunday dates prior to the term and they are supposed to be every other Sunday. However in reality there can be 2 in a row with 2-3 weeks gap between some. I believe it all depends on what other weekend activities there are.

[taxi4ballet]

It is usually 3 sundays in each half-term making 6 per term in all. They don't tend to be every other week as I expect they need to fit in around the main school and dance days / auditions etc.

 

On the feedback form we were asked to fill in at the end of last term, there was a question about whether we would prefer weekly classes, so they may be looking at doing that in the future...

[Lemongirl]

My dd is trying again for Tring CBA this year after not getting in last year.

 

Does anyone know what stretches they ask to see at the audition? I managed to get some feedback after the last audition and they told me it was mainly physical - I think to do with her hamstrings and ankles. She's been working very hard on flexibility and has improved a lot but I was wondering what they look for in the audition in physical terms?

[Anna C]

Lemongirl, something to bear in mind is that I think everyone who gets a "no" from Tring CBA gets a pro-forma letter which mentions physique and flexibility, BUT that doesn't mean that every student who gets a no is inflexible.

 

One of the things they certainly used to look for a couple of years ago was performance skills, particularly smiling. This was one of the things my daughter has come to only recently, and in fact she still struggles with it from time to time. She got a "no" for CBA despite an excellent report from her teachers at Tring's syllabus classes, and we received the standard letter about flexibility.

 

My dd is actually extremely hypermobile and shortly afterwards was accepted onto another Associate Scheme. :-)

 

So by all means encourage your dd to carry on improving her flexibility, but Tring may also be looking at other factors in addition to flexibility. Like all schools running auditions, Tring obviously can't feedback to every pupil, so I think that the nicely worded "no" letter which mentions flexibility may be a general one. If you think that your dd's performance skills might also need work then that would be helpful to work on as well.

 

What does your dd's local teacher think?

[Jellybeans]

I agree that flexibility is often used by schools as a reason why children are not accepted at audition. However, I think this is often just an excuse as I also know less flexible children that have been accepted over very bendy ones in the same audition.

 

I am not so convinced by the need to smile in auditions, though. Whilst it is obviously good to smile, I think that it is not so essential in auditions for schools and associate places as they are looking at potential. Auditions for performance based opportunities like EYB etc will place more emphasis on this as they Are looking more for the ability to perform in the here and now rather than several years hence!

Edited April 24, 2012 by Jellybeans

[Lemongirl]

Spannerandpony - I don't remember getting a pro-forma letter. But I phoned them and they emailed a personal response to me and it was about the physical element.

[Lemongirl]

I've just found the email - it said her turnout was good but she was not sufficiently flexible for the programme. And her ankes are a little restricted.

[dancing10]

Lemongirl, have you had your times for the audition yet?

[Millie3]

From my dd's experience auditioning I can definitely say that potential in flexibility is taken into account - she's become a lot more flexible in the past couple of years - when she auditioned she certainly couldn't do the splits etc. Also I very much doubt she did any smiling - she still has a very "serious" expression when performing.

Good luck to all auditioning - the oldest class has quite a few year 11's this year, so should be a fair number of places available, as well as year 6's off to full time schools.

Millie

[dancing10]

Has anyone else had audition information through from Tring yet? Had an email saying they had received our entry form but havnt heard times etc.

[Lemongirl]

No I haven't heard times yet either.

[twinkletoes]

times are getting sent out tomorrow, they were being finalised this afternoon

[dancing10]

thanks lemongirl, I was getting a bit worried that we had been forgotton. Dont think we have a chance of being accepted but my dd so wants to visit Tring and it is all experience isnt it.