hfbrew

Wish this had been around last year. it would have been perfect for ds, especially as his initial ambition was to join Northern! Not that I'm complaining now hes in a good long term contract anyway elsewhere! But I do hope Northern new venrure is a success- lucky graduates!

I was upfront with all the schools ds had offers for some years ago. I told them all that I couldn't pay any money until he had made up his mind and one reason for the delay was that he felt he needed advice from his Ballet teacher in person so he didn't make up his mind until the beginning of summer term. As I was regularly in touch (with all sorts of questions to help stall time!!) this wasn't a problem, communication was the key and as such all the schools were extremely accomodating.

Hey, people can have my ds sweat shirt for £250 and he will even sign it lol Actually, there is no way I'm parting with it.

Wish I could come to the Tunbridge Wells perf and meet you. Have just booked tckets for Bishops Stortford this coming Good Friday, any othe ballet.coers going?

Good luck discouraged- and anyone else auditioning. Let your love of dance shine through.

As a teacher I have plenty of 11 year olds at grade 3 level (in terms of working for an exam) and my own ds at aged 10 had only just passed grade 2 when he got into JAS. (Subsequently went into full time training at 11 and is now professional). And my ds is not the exception- the only "big" school I've never had a pupil at is Elmhurst . (No ones actually auditioned there though!) I am very wary when I hear of youngster already in "higher" grades whilst barely out of primary school as very often it means that they have only been taught the required work in a syllabus to pass an exam at a particular level thus restricting their vocabulary and all round ability to dance. Likewise I'd be concerned if the reason why a child was still working at a "lower" grade was just because the teacher wants everything to be just so and is only working on steps in that particular grade Luckily most of the syllabus teachers,( like myself) that I know and work with are very aware that dance training requires so much more than just churning children throuh exams- the reason why some of our students are, on paper at least. at "lower" grades is because of a variety of reasons, the transition of old to new syllabus exams, the fact that we do big shows and also the fact that we do not start syllabus work on the next stage straight away. Clara it sounds as if you have a very sensible dd and its really good that you've recognised your own very natural parental concerns- yout dd is very lucky to have a parent who will be realistic about the whole dancing journey and of course as an ex dancer yoursel you will know whether the teaching she is getting is a high standard that she is enjoying- far more important than the number of the grade she is at.

Suggest you contact them and ask right away! I had to miss my ds induction day for similar reasons but dh went instead. Congratulations to you and Tango by the way!

This tour begins next week. If anyone wants to support a self funded, talented and beautifully staged BRITISH company then look at their website and book a ticket if they are coming anywhere near you! Particularly perfect for parents who would like their dcs to see beautiful, musical, dancers who can convey a story and who look healthy!!! Ive noticed that they have also now got comprehesive information and forms for their associate and appenticeship schemes.

Just wanted also to say welcome to the forum and the very best of luck to your dc- as you say it really isn't easy out there. Congratulations on achieving 5 years though. And hopefully your dc will end up at a place that will be better suited to to his/her needs, Certainly this was the case for my ds and he and others were amongst the first of their ages to get employment. And I feel I must also add that it was British students in his year at US also found employment quicker than many of the internationals. Do I feel bitter than my ds narrowly missed out on US that year when there was a considerably large number of talented overseas students? Not in the slightest but maybe thats because I know that there are plenty of other excellent schools out there. As for schools selections, well who knows what any are looking for - probably just as well because if all schools looked for the same things even more talent would fall by the wayside. There will be students from all over the world at these places- all at the time considered best suited to the training they've applied for. Some of the "best" students will be British, others international and they all learn so much from each other.

Absolutely, and many ger worthwhile employment world wide- getting into the RB isn;t the be all and end all Ex White Lodgers are found in companies all over the world. And believe it or not some choose not to go to US! People are far too obsessed with statistics of what is only a small group each year of vocational students in year 7. A great deal happens in 5 years and each year there are new sets of circirmstances, new life stories, so there is no pattern. In some years there are hardly any "original" students but this is a reflection on how lives, feelings , bodies change not the training. I know of some British dancers who opted to work abroad as soloists rather than start in corps at RB- and why shouldn't they? Non British people may just as well be asking why is it British dancers are being employed in their companies, is it the training etc.etc. The truth is that at the top thare will be dancers of all Nationalities who have reached where they are because they are the best. For every successful dancer emerging from any training system there are hundreds who haven't made it and very possibly been injured in the process. Incidently two of my favourite dancers Laura Morera and Ricardo Cervera trained at White Lodge and US. They happen to be at RB but I'd just as soon go and watch Northern or BRB, or indeed any of the fabulous smaller companies. Plenty of British talents in these companies too!

And generally those who don't make it to US get snapped up elsewhere. But this thread is about international students taking places. As I've said previously I'd much rather know a student is there on merit rather than Nationality. And as a teacher I've observed students from all the major 6th form schools and can honestly say that our safely trained British students do hold their own. Yes some international students are better , just as I am sure some British students who choose to train abroad will be better than their peers too. Again as i said earlier some internationals will turn, bend, do tricks etc but this often goes hand in hand with lack of musicality (I'd much rather see a clean musical pirouette than multiple spins) , untidy distorted lines, heavy landings on over turned out feet (rather than proper use of turnout through legs). Some of these youngsters will have been performing these feats for years but this does not make them more advanced, rather more likely to struggle with injury or in the case of girls have over pronounced bunions. Obviously I have also seen many beautifully trained international students and also badly trained British ones but this doesn't equate to all internationals being better, or vice versa for that matter. Finally, a student who doesn't get to the Upper School of whatever school they've been training at isn't necessarily a failing of that school- more a case of being then better suited to a another way of training. I have known many ex White Lodgers do very well in further training away from US. Certainly in my ds sons year many found themselves in employment before their peers at Covent Garden- a testament to their excellent training when they were young. Which leads me to the final point that there are British trained British dancers all over the world so is it any wonder that international students want to come to Britain?

There have been lots of discussions in the past on this topic. I personally like to know that the schools are accepting talented students internationally as it means that students can be assured they have places on merit not because of Nationality. I have seen many overseas dancers in class with British students and quite honestly haven't felt they were better- there is a reason why they choose British training. Very often international students can do all sorts of "tricks" and can bend and turn like no tomorrow but there is often no refinement, musical awareness or knowledge of placing. We in the UK are very lucky to have so many good schools whereas opportunities are not as varied in other countries. And when it comes to auditioning for jobs it is truly a global competition out there and the sooner dance students (of any nationality) realise it the better. It works both ways, we have British students going as far away as Russia to train having too got their places on merit. My plea to British students is don't be put off by "amazing" international students in audition, hold your own and know that if you get in then you are pretty special too!

Its perfectly possible. Ive had students join vocational school later than year 7. Some of the most successful dancers in my sons year at WL din't start til year 10. I sometimes envied their parents who had thus been spared the expense of sending their dcs from year 7- they also escaped the stress of appraisals as once you get to year 10 you are safe!

If you are into country walks and birdwatching, Tring reservoir is great. good parking and a decent cup of hot chocolate in the tea shop there. Entrance is free!

JAdad quite clearly says his dd was successful for year 8! All his posts have made for very entertaining and informative reading- I look forward to more!

Wow, its a double roller coaster in your house. Congratulations to your dd, commiserations to your ds but I can vouch that he will get excellent training and care at YDA.. He is also to be congratulated!

No problem. Re reading your original question I see that it was about your dd auditioning next year when she is year 10, for year 11. Well its not unheard of but as JulieW says,probably not that advisable mid way through gcses and of course, few if any spaces left anyway. Congratulations to all yesses! Today is the 9th anniversary of my ds audition at WL .It snowed that day too. In another 9 years he may well be retiring!

5 new students were taken into year 10 when my ds was at White Lodge. Sadly year 9 is when most assessing out is done so actually someone auditioning from year 9 for a year 10 place has better odds as it were than if auditioning for year 8 or 9. I had a student taken into year 10 from SA auditions a few years ago.

Neither were Ballet Cymru, Vienna Festival or Ballet Theatre UK. Ballet Theatre UK definately employs its dancers full time.

Congratulations and thankyou so much for sharing the news- I was actually sent home from work sick so you have made my day!

Bless you, how agonising for you but you are doing the right thing. My dh waited for me to return rom the school run- I vividly remember him waving the big A4 envelope from the comfort of the sofa- he'd watched tv to take his mind off it. It was a surreal moment opening it and I was on the phone to my boss before we'd finished reading the first sentence. We then had the agonising wait to the end of the school day. Incidently in the same post we got a letter saying our child had not been allocated a secondary school- we just laughed at it! Sods law your envelope will turn out to be some boring circular . If its any consolation we on Ballet.co are all waiting with bated breath with you!

Congratulations to all you yesses!! Enjoy the moment. You are in for a heck of a ride! Sigh, what memories....

My technique is quite simply appalling now due to age, arthritis and the fact I never really had the facility of a ballet dancer- I was a professional contemporary dancer. But the successes of my students speak for themselves- I've pretty much covered all the big vocational schools, the only one I've never has a pupil at is Elmhurst. When you get to a certain age you have to say do as I say, not as I do!

Wonderfulmum? Perseverance?

Wishing everyone best of luck and remember whatever the outcome your dc has done phenomenally well to get to finals, that in itself is cause for celebration. Enjoy the day and don't try to read too much into situations that may arise- everyone is there on a level playing field. Incidently its worth pointing out that if successful, candidates will have to get used to large panels watching, also days when us teachers descend en masse to watch class etc. So one of my tips is to smile and perform because afterall Ballet is a performing art. Indeed on our audition day we spoke to a teacher who asked us if we had a dc in the group. When we said that our dc would be the one performing with a big smile the response was "thats something you can't teach".. So everyone, go and ENJOY dancing! edite for spelling yet again