afab Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 As my DDs are embarking on the round of Paris auditions starting tomorrow with the POB and since some people have shown interest in knowing about schools and auditions in France, I can tell you about the auditions as they go... Let me know if it would be useful... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomuchtallent Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 would be great,thanks xxxx and the best of luck xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pups_mum Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 The very best of luck to your DDs afab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomuchtallent Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Did you have to sent audition photos off?And did they say what the day will be like? xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afab Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 At POB, you can apply between the ages of 8 and 12. Your kids' height and weight have to be in certain boundaries and you go to a first audition which is purely physical. Tomorrow DD will be measured and weighed, they will check her natural outturn, natural suppleness and make her do demi-pliés, pliés, jumps, walk naturally, do a frog and so on... If she passes, she'll be invited to a lesson in 2 weeks time... The difficulty at her age (12) is that she has to have natural potential and technique to sort of match the kids who are already there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 It all sounds fascinating. The very best of luck to your DDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afab Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 I forgot, they also wanted the parents' heights... She also has to get there with her school reports from the year to prove that she's a good student as I think they said they cannot have kids with learning difficulties because they do the whole year programme in half the time. In France, you can't choose your subjects for A levels as you do in the UK, you sit for all the year subjects and you pass only if the average of your marks is above 50%. Being at the POB school, academic school is compulsory and one cannot opt out of A levels (baccalauréat). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petipacat Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Good Luck Hope your DD enjoys the auditions x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Is there a 6th form at this school? I have tried looking but with no joy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primrose Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Hope your dd has had a wonderful day audtioning for POB, exciting times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soodle Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 At POB, you can apply between the ages of 8 and 12. Your kids' height and weight have to be in certain boundaries and you go to a first audition which is purely physical. Tomorrow DD will be measured and weighed, they will check her natural outturn, natural suppleness and make her do demi-pliés, pliés, jumps, walk naturally, do a frog and so on... If she passes, she'll be invited to a lesson in 2 weeks time... The difficulty at her age (12) is that she has to have natural potential and technique to sort of match the kids who are already there... Out of interest, how tall/heavy do they want girls to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 (edited) Precise requirements are on the POB school website. I've just tried to import the table, but it lost all its formatting, so became a huge jumble of numbers! Edited May 9, 2012 by rowan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afab Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 Is there a 6th form at this school? I have tried looking but with no joy. It depends what you mean by a 6th form... There is no such thing in France... After the equivalent of GCSE which you take at 14 or 15, you go unto the last 3 years of school (lycée) to prepare for your baccalauréat and yes you can do that at POB school. I suppose you could call it a 6th form but then there is Lower 6th, Middle 6th and Upper 6th... Am I being clear ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afab Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 Out of interest, how tall/heavy do they want girls to be? It depends at what age, DD (12) had to be between 1.5 and 1.55 meter and between 34 and 40 kg. But they are slightly flexible... DD weighs 41 kg! You have all their measurements on their website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afab Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 News from the day... Unfortunately it was a no for DD who sort of expected it on the 2nd round but not on the first! She knew exactly what she had to do and what was going to be done to her but we didn't know that all that probing and checking flexibility was going to be done without being warmed up first!!! They were left to wait for about 20-30 minutes and told to sit when we parents thought they would be using that time to warm up! of course very few people can do a perfect frog on cold legs! And we waiting patiently in the car playing games so that she wouldn't stress when she could have warmed up in the car park!!! Grrr... I did see some kids doing it after DD had gone in! DD is ready to stretch and warm up in the carpark, the metro or on the bus if needed next year! By the way, no nice welcome like in Tring here! Parents drop kids at the door and wait outside! I had to beg to use the loo! And I thought some of the private schools in Paris were not welcoming enough! That's the update for today! Next week Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris (known as CRR de Paris). There is one in every département but the Paris one is supposed to be the best! As opposed to POB the audition at CRR is a class on demi-pontes and pointes and if you are called back a solo has to be performed the day after on pointes from the age of 11-12 (5e at school which is, if I'm not mistaken the UK year 8)... DD1 & DD2 are trying. DD3 decided to wait a little longer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All4dancers Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 sorry for the disappointing news today. Best of luck for tomorrow. Will be keeping fingers crossed! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomuchtallent Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 sounds like a long and stressful day! i hope your dd wasent to upset.At least if she tries again she will know what to expect.Good luck at the next audition. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regattah Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 How frustrating for you both. Still, maybe the 'right' school is just round the corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellybeans Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 It depends at what age, DD (12) had to be between 1.5 and 1.55 meter and between 34 and 40 kg. But they are slightly flexible... DD weighs 41 kg! You have all their measurements on their website. This is interesting. I thought that POB were renowned for choosing a very particular physique but there will be quite a large difference between, for example, a 12 year old that is 1.5m tall and weighs 40kg and a 12 year old that is 1.55m tall and weighs 34kg!! Also interesting is the fact that my dd falls well within the published height and weight range - for a child several years younger than her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afab Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 (edited) Jellybeans, do you mean your DD is too small or too tall? I suppose too small... The point of those measurements is that the school prepares for entry into the corps de ballet where everybody is suppose to be more or less the same size. Mle Platel, the director, is supposedly trying to soften the rules... But I haven't seen any difference between now and 6 years ago when DD1 tried at age 8... Edited May 10, 2012 by afab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellybeans Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 She is too small, generally! She sits perfectly within the criteria for an 11 yr old but is two years older!! I realise the logic behind the measurements but see it as flawed, according to the examples that I gave. The two hypothetical children that I mentioned above would look quite different but would both fall withing the guidelines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomuchtallent Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 when you look at the students they all look the same height, body shape and are very slim,so the criteria they are asking for must work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomuchtallent Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 My dd is very small for her age and tiny boned.She has just turned 9 and according to the chart she is just under the height requirment,but i guess within 6 months she would be the correct height. Do you think its harder to get into the POB than the RB?POB seem to be more picky,maybe im wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisadebs Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Afab - just wanted to wish you and your DD's best of luck with the forthcoming auditions and to thank you for posting - it is really fascinating to hear about how the process works in other countries. Hope the rest of the audition process is slightly less stressfull! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afab Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 (edited) My dd is very small for her age and tiny boned.She has just turned 9 and according to the chart she is just under the height requirment,but i guess within 6 months she would be the correct height. Do you think its harder to get into the POB than the RB?POB seem to be more picky,maybe im wrong. I don't know toomuchtallent... We would need to have access to statistics to know for sure... At least at RBS you get to dance before you are either picked or turned down as opposed to POB! Yesterday I wax counting the kids coming out with a yes while waiting for my daughter. Out of 14, 1 got selected for the 2nd round... It's already less than 10% and I was told that on the 2nd round they take less than 20% of the first 10%! Somebody can do the maths!!! Edited May 10, 2012 by afab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glowlight Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 (edited) I think that the audition experience can be seen as an indicator of the school's attitude. Every candidate may be the one they want, so every candidate should be made to feel welcome and valued. If the audition experience doesn't give a good impression it's probably not the right place for your child, however good the reputation of the school. Good luck next week. And thankyou for the insight into how things are done elsewhere! Edited for Grammar Edited May 10, 2012 by glowlight 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afab Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 Follow-up for the Paris audition tour... Auditions for CRR (Conservatoire Régional) for ballet are on Friday. DD1 & DD2 are trying... The auditions are in 2 parts: a 45 min ballet class on demi-pointes & pointes from the age of 12. At the end of that class, someone comes out and reads the names of the ones who are lucky enough to be called for the 2nd part which is the day after. On that 2nd day, one has to present a 1.5 min max solo on pointes from 12 onwards. The dancers are given a studio to warm up beforehand and they have to do it on their own. The successful applicants are told at the end of the 2nd day. The success rate is very thin. They have been known to take 1 or 2 kids only except at 10 when a new class is opening of course. The classes are quite small. If you're successful, you automatically have a class in an academic school waiting for you. But that school (there are 3 in Paris) is not attached to the Conservatoire. In fact, you have to travel by metro between the academic school and the dance school. You also have to find a host family or a boarding place if you don't live in Paris. The academic school is either in the morning or in the afternoon depending on when your dance classes are. So there... Having written and read that harsh description, I'm in 2 minsd about my daughters being successful! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 The girls must begin pointe earlier in France if they are expected to dance on pointe at auditions from 12 upwards. In the UK, girls entering the vocational schools in Year 7 (ie at 11+) may not have done any pointe work before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellybeans Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I think it is fantastic that at all the auditions Afab has mentioned the results are known instantly. I'm sure that all UK mums are united in saying that waiting for results is often the hardest part of the whole proces!! Good luck with it all! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afab Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) They generally start around 10-12 depending on their level and strength. Teachers decide when to put them on pointes. I suppose the ones who try Conservatoire are the ones who already dance a lot of hours so have the practice... Our youngest DD's teacher just told me she should be fine to start pointe in the first term of next year. She turned 10 a week ago. Edited May 16, 2012 by afab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletla Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Good Luck Afab!! Fingers and toes crossed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletla Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Pointework is done in the RBS auditions for year 8 i.e. the girls auditioning for year 8 will be half way through year 7, so many not even 12 by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afab Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 That's right, DD2 (12) auditioned for year 8 in the UK so it would be the same pointe-wise in both countries for RBS and POB school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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