hfbrew

Snap! Lol

I was going to suggest Centrals summer school. Ds always enjoyed going there. Looking at website its 28th July to 9th Aug. And of course all are always welcome at Harpenden! As Spanner and I posted at same time I thought Id edit the post to say at Central you can do one or both weeks.

Hi folks just to say that Mary Schon has now updated the Harpenden Summer Dance School to include 2014 form. And I got my sums wrong (maths never my strong point) and next year 2015 will be our 10th anniversary. Please dont hesitate to contact us (details on www.harpendensummerdanceschool.co.uk) if you have enquiries or pm me. Email enquiries are best as we cant amswer our phones whilst teaching which is a 7 day a week job for us! There is already a fair bit of interest so book early to guarantee a place. Best wishes Helen Brewer, co director Harpenden Summmer Dance School.

I envy you your weekend and the fact you can get to Leeds! Alas the lot of us dance teachers is that we usually cant get to dance performances especially those far away. I dont even get Sundays off! ( good job I love you all students isnt it?! )

Damn and botheration! Will miss them because Ive agreed to help with a friends show! Please folks report back! I love this company!

He was a very fine dancer, rather good looking too!

How about David Wall? He was lovely! Edited to add one for dh. He says Widow Simone!

The company tour Ireland next week but sadly many of the venues are very undersold. Doesnt help that some venues list it as childrens dance thus putting off serious adult ballet goers and then as seems to be normal in Ireland, shows start at 8pm and so are too late for most children anyway! So if any ballet.coers live over the water or know someone who does please ask them to go and support these hard working dancers. Tour dates on BalletTheatreUK.com.

And if all else fails I can get grains from our local mill and get ds to take them to back to Hinckley with him after his home visits! (He is one of the professional dancers.)

Giselle for me! Id love to do the mad scene! And no pink tutus in sight...

Well I know talented students who could pay fees not get offered dance course so ignore that comment for starters. My ds chose Tring sixth form over multiple offers and we got similar disdain, possibly more as he trained at WL for 5 years. Id be lying if I said it was perfect but for my ds the dance training was excellent and he ended up being one of the first from his peers at WL getting a contract. We certainly felt the training as equal if not better at times.(Especially classical and pas de deux) Pupils of mine who went at year 7 were very happy and I have friends who also liked the first three years in particular. You have to go with whats best for you. No one place is right for everyone, its very much down to what the individual makes of it. For example I loved my time at Hammond whereas others who went at the same time, were in the same class etc, hated it. That didnt mean it was a bad school! Good luck. Sorry I dont know the answer to the question about transition days.

All this came from one performance. Your lad is helping to make a lot of people very happy - me included. So good to hear because this is one of the reasons he has chosen to remain with the company for now. He really believes in Btuks mission to take Ballet back out to audiences that see very little, if any in their home areas. I remember one theatre where the audience clapped after the first parade came on for Sleeping Beauty, they were so overwhelmed by the beautiful costumes! The dancers hadnt danced a step. If the lady you met does indeed get to lessons or another performance then its a job well done indeed!

Terpischore, was just telling dh that you are a cricket fan. (He supports Lancashire.) He said did you post the names of your brothers' actionmen? Well of course I hadnt but the names might mean something to you. One brother called his actionman Jon Snow, the other Basil D'Oliviera (it had a beard) ! Oh the joys of "not dance" for facilitating random posts!

Wow Terpsichore, you ve made me want to visit Southport now! And thank you for taking such time and thought into your excellent post. I saw both shows in Dunstable by the way and they were excellent, especially the evening. Ds has just texted to say they got back from Blackpool just half an hour ago and he will read your post before going to sleep! You are right, this is no ordinary company.All the dancers perform every performance and they even help load and unload the van! They really do know the meaning of hard work. I am so glad you enjoyed the performance. And thank you also for putting names to some of the tunes that I couldnt quite remember!

Thank you for a lovely review. Ds and I also bemoan the lack of cast list, it would be so simple to get the theatre to run off a few to put with the programmes. Or do as they do for Les Miserables in London and have one big notice in foyer. For anyone going to todays Matinee at Blackpool, Helena Casado Cortes is Mermaid, David Brewer Prince and Ines Ferreira, Princess. Edited to add Claire Corruble as witch!

Drama, I feel can be picked up later whereas if there is a chance that a student could make a career as a dancer, whether classical or musical theatre then Id go with the course that has the strongest dance training for now. Ds is very keen on acting which is one reason why he chose to finish his training at Tring where he got top marks for Theatre Arts A level. Prior to that he had only group drama classes as part of the WL curriculum. Guess what I am saying that I agree with Regattahs point above that it is less of an issue to pick up on drama focus later. But I am biaised towards Hammond anyway being an ex student there!

When ds was at White Lodge I had couple of dreams in which I was trying to convince the Principal that I was actually a bona fide student and could do class. The most vivid one though was getting a contract with the Royal Ballet with principal dancer Laura Morera trying to find me a size 14 tutu...I was sooo disappointed when I woke up!

You can get to Worcester and Malvern by train from Paddington!I was born at home within sight of the Malvern Hills in the days of proper country doctors... But I digress, it is a lovely part of the world.

Ds and I had great fun snuggling up together to watch cbeebies Three Little Pigs yesterday! It was like rolling back the clock 16 years, he wouldve loved it when he was 4! And we both enjoyed watching this although not quite as much as Ugly Duckling. Nonetheless if we ever got the chance to see this live then that would be wonderful, I appreciated that it was adapted for a childrens programme but would like to see it without the narration. The dancers were lovely, especially Olivia Holland as the rabbit!

Well what you were told by the White Lodge pupil is probably true, certainly this was the case when my ds was in year 11.

Well if anyone else is up North, they are in Keswick, Thursday 24th, Runcorn Friday 25th and Blackpool on 27th! Cast for Southport is Sarah Mortimer as mermaid (the beautiful mermaid on the poster) , Luca Verone as the prince,Jessica Hill as sea witch and Natalie Cawte as princess.

Both! Helena is mermaid at the matinee and Jess Hill in the evening. Its going to be a long day... Do say hello if you spot me! Re Brighton, ds says they are interested in Christmas Carol so its a matter of finding time to rehearse.

Lin I have it on good authority that they have been invited back to Brighton in December possibly to show both Swan Lake and Christmas Carol! Possibly... Btuk are thrilled to be invited back.

Such a shame for those sitting near, I wear hearing aids and rustling crisps and sweet wrappers magnify in noise unbearably when close so I am even more irritated by those who seemingly cant wait til the interval to eat! And the end of this Ballet is very moving and I can well imagine the atmosphere being spoilt by those too young to appreciate it. After all it certainly wasnt a Disney version was it?!

What a lovely thoughtful post LinMM and I agree with all your points. Ive only seen it once but will be going to Dunstable on Tuesday to finally see ds as the Prince. You might like to know that he refers to the ship as "a right madam!" Plan b in the case of prop failure (to be fair its rare thank goodness!) is, as far as I understand it curse under breath and improvise. So glad you enjoyed it and thank you for going!