hfbrew

I once came a cropper dancing the part of a bride. Fortunately my "groom" staggered over and picked me up and we both improvised like crazy- earning positive comments for our convincing portrayal of drunkeness....

Ballet Theatre UK begin their tour of Nutcracker tonight. Tour dates on Ballettheatreuk.com Some venues are already sold out so best to book before travelling!

Totally agree with Anjuli.

As a teacher I wear a watch and a discreet necklace. I cant remove my wedding ring anymore! I am strict with all students about jewellery such as bangles and dangly earrings. Not only is it common sense but I have to be mindful of health and safety. If someone accidently whips their arms out of control and hits another for example this would be so much worse if hard jewellery or watches are being worn.

Hope you recover quickly Anjuli and wishing you lots of chocolate! And more seriously I really hope the pain goes quickly. I really value your posts and you have thus by default taught many of my students! Especially tendus!

Seriously doubt public liability insurance would remain valid if an accident occurred in such circumstances.

Well thats what we did!

I agree that Laura Morera would be a good Kitri. I am sure she played the role years ago and was sad that yet again she seems overlooked for a principal role despite having that ranking!

I think its right to exercise caution here. Some teachers will be fabulous in some peoples eyes but not in others. Some teachers will have trained lots of dancers who were successful professionally simply because they are in vocational schools. And how is success for a ballet teacher defined? Is it managing to instil love and respect for ballet in students regardless of aptitude or is it the number of pupils gone into the profession? I think the suggestion about finding out which teachers inspired current or indeed past dancers is a good one. But even these wouldnt have pleased everyone. Some of the teachers I thought excellent are still remembered with dread by some of my old friends and vice versa!

Unless the reason for having leave is unacceptable behaviour then its usually until the end of the academic year.Very often parents will have had a letter expressing concerns about suitability of training ss we did. However I do know of those who thought they were safe due to high marks one year but found themselves assessed out the following year. Getting into year 10 is a huge relief as then the students are "safe" for two years due to gcses.

Ah yes the dreaded annual assessments. A time of stress for students and parents alike. It pays to have back up plans just in case the student is asked to leave. Fortunately for us it never happened although one year it was skin of the teeth stuff. There have been discussions before about assessing out. I underdstand why it has to happen. However I do wish schools would allocate a specific member of staff to help liaise with students and parents alike when assessing out happens. As I understand it, the level of support for those in this situation varies greatly and families have to take it upon themselves to audition elsewhere or simply find alternative education. An authorised support person or team dealing with these issues would be a great help. As a parent I would have been less stressed if there had been a support system in place.

They are arent they? Wish they had been around when I first lived in London as I ended up completely lost several times!

Please Billyelliott and Jess inform the house parents immediately as bullying is unacceptable whatever and wherever it takes place. I am sure you can do this discreetly and tactfully. Also encourage your dcs to find an adult or older student to talk to that they can trust. We all know that having to deal with teasing is part of life but there is a difference between general banter and words/actions designed to upset- and bullying texts are nasty. Its really upsetting as a mum isnt it, I was devastated by nasty facebook activities that targetted my ds and thats with him an adult! But with your dcs so young its important its dealt with quickly. Remember you are not fussy mums but loving ones.

I wouldn't have missed McRae and Solenka for the world!

Bravo!

You are right so hopefully you are one of the wise parents who can see who is right for their children and wouldnt dismiss a teacher just because he/she wasnt once a professional dancer. And loads of qualifications doesnt mean a great teacher either. But as a parent,when looking a vocational schools it was important for me that teachers had undergone some form of teacher training. My personal experience of many ex professional dancers teaching had been often very negative as they didnt have a vocation for teaching.

I am not surprised that the US has produced fine dancers if many of them have Anjulis pedigree! But I know some ex dancers who were horrified by the standards of some of the Ballet teachers in New York for example with apparently no regulation needed. Sadly many parents dont know what they are looking for so dont necessarily question whether a teacher is teaching appropriately to age,level etc. And I am well aware that there are unregulated teachers anywhere in the world. At least some form of accreditation shows that a teacher has taken some responsibility for insurance, first aid and general welfare of students. I have some sympathy with Anjuli over the RAD yeachers encountered. It was possible not so long ago before registration for teachers to teach RAD syllabus with fairly minimal training. This started to change when I began training and rightly so. I have mentioned elsewhere about the sort of training expected these days and it doesnt involved regurgitating syllabus. But sadly there are still many that teach that way.

I became a professional dancer and my best teachers had not had that opportunity. But they still had had experience as descrbed above-anyone who is or has been at vocational school will not be "recreational dancers",the productions they will have been involved in being very professional- look at Ballet Central for example. My ds has learnt from lovely professional dancers the most successful of whom had also undergone teacher training.

I agree that teachers should have performing experience. But it doesnt have to be professional. There seems to be a perception not necessarily on this forum that all a teacher has to do to get qualified is to learn a syllabus of a particular board. Well in some cases this once was true but not anymore. As well as the understanding needed to be shown of the art of classical ballet , trainee teachers have to cover all aspects of anatomy, safe practises,nutrition,history, music etc. And... a big part of the training is the production and performing in of productions to a professional standard even if its not "paid". Any person who has had full time training will have experienced this even if they didnt ultimately get full time contract for whatever reason. And yes some people do have a natural ability to teach and others do not. But parents can be assured that those who have passed a recognised qualification will be deemed to be competent. Anybody who is in sole charge of students should have a least undergone some basic teacher training,as others have pointed out even the most naturally gifted should still have had to learn basic regulations in terms of student welfare etc. .

Thanks for putting it into words Jenny! It was rather good wasnt it? Even from way above in cheap seats everyone was projecting, Gary Avis in particular for me! McRae was wonderful as always and I was charmed by Solenka the moment she came on stage.Those balances were quite something werent they but musical too. Also thought Anna Rose O Sullivan was fabulous but then Ive thought that since she was 11!

When my ds got a ja place he had only passed grade 2. In less than a year he had a place at WL.If your child is a ja then he/she has obviously shown the attributes they are looking for, grade is irrelevant. If anything those who have not done too many grades are more likely to be able to be trained a certain way as its hard to undo ingrained habits and stylisations .

Yes it is ok to audition just for the experience. It does give a good insight into what to expect in the future. But its important the child is prepared for the fact they will not be going if successful. And yes its harder to get the funding when older. But I do think going into year 10 is desirable if it can be achieved because then you are guaranteed 2 years training because the schools dont assess out during gcse years. I had a pupil join WL in year 10 and was envious that the family not only saved 3yrs worth of funds but also escaped the dreaded appraisal stress! But for us personally going at 11 was the right thing for our ds, there simply werent matching alternatives both in terms of academic schooling or ballet training.

The fact you cared so much shows you as a good teacher, this would have shone through last week and I dare say you were probably still very good anyway!

Very true and I think it can be worse for these young people who are expected to be more independent too. As dh said when I told him about this topic, University is grown up boarding school - most people have to go away from home at some point! But it can be so much harder for young adults for al the reasons BankruptMum describes.

Im really upset that anyone especially children should send such texts. Am even more outraged having met your lovely daughter pictures, please send her a hug from me and remind her how popular she was with all her fellow dancers in August! Back to homesickness- we too found hot chocolate and cake great visiting or going back treats to store in memory banks. And I felt motherly pleasure at sending silly things in the post- ds liked getting them! In my case though it was definately reverse homesickness! Incidentally I was once VERY judgemental about boarding schools due to close contacts. Thank goodness I didn't let my opinions stop ds from going.And all doubts were quickly dispelled. Not everyone will thrive in any environment that is true. But I quickly realised that for many, boarding school is the best place for them and things are nothing like they were 20+ years ago. And whatever personal experience one might have of family or friends boarding experiences, if you and your children have not chosen the vocational boarding route themselves, then great it does show a viable alternative training option. But it does NOT give a right to make gloomy predictions or judgements to those currently on this brave journey. Any one can get homesick, its a natural feeling just as knowing whats right for ones children- and for many this is vocational boarding.