LinMM

So agree with thisCeliB! I don't believe Steven McRae for example of the Royal is that tall but I think he has a commanding stage presence!! And there is that extra undefinable something where you just want to follow a certain dancer which has got nothing to do with height but if its there in a taller person perhaps a touch more noticeable. And I did think your DS looked considerably taller than when I had previously seen him last June as a by comment!!! But I still thought a year ago WHO is that boy.....really is the last time will mention!!

I think the average height of males is supposed to be getting taller but not that I see, at any rate, in the ballet company's. we could do with some taller male dancers now I think. But obviously dancing seems to attract the not so tall or presumably there would already be taller dancers.....I only care about this re partners for taller females....always for me the height has nothing to do with quality of dancing etc.

Have looked at touring dates and places etc and although may have missed this time if they go regularly to Tunbridge Wells that's probably easiest for me so will watch out for future performances. Ive never been there yet but there's also the Hawth in Horsham which seems to have some good productions on.....are they looking for new venues or overwhelmed already!! As there is also a theatre in Wimbledon is it the Rose....or is that the Kingston one? Will check but definitely the Wimbledon one has put on Ballet before. There are even a couple of smaller theatres here in Brighton....The Pavilion and The Corn Exchange which could be interested but if its a one off performance you may even fill the Dome.....especially if local schools are targeted with the info and the Company wants to do any outreach work. I'd be happy to distribute programmes to local schools and do some initial liaison work etc!! But this is assuming they may want to extend their current touring. Anyway will try to catch next time round.

Thanks Primrose. I can't help feeling that perhaps there should be more reciprocal exchanges so to speak so that some uk students who choose to study abroad can be sponsored by those schools eg:Bolshoi with some Russian students being able to gain sponsorship to study at our schools and so on. It may not appeal to many but at least there would be that option. Is there any EU type funding available for ballet that you (or others ) know about?

Anjuli missed your comment but as it turns out I do know CeliB's DS....from class not personally I hasten to add.....(same teacher in Brighton) I dont want to say too much more now about this......except I can't resist saying he's one of the most striking YOUNG dancers Ive seen...with so few years under his belt too....but in my PM I did hint this can be one of the problems with smaller schools .....the Ego thing.....such a shame and I agree with your post above. The Ballet world can be a strange world sometimes!

Primrose did your daughter win a scholarship to the Bolshoi.....or are you having to privately fund this? Again I thought students could win scholarships to some foreign schools.....or are you saying the Bolshoi only funds Russian students? There seem to be a few American students studying in Russian now.....don't these big schools offer ANY scholarships to talented from abroad! Seems a bit unfair as the Royal do I believe....or have I got that wrong? Are there any private scholarships one can apply to who will agree to fund talented students to study abroad(or UK for that matter) otherwise I suppose DD's and DS's just have to train as hard as they can until they can audition for a company at 18. In the end if there is an exceptional talent a Company will not turn down someone who didn't train at Elmhurst or the Royal etc. and especially probably in America.....and there are some pretty good companies there to choose from and where the Russian style can fit well with. But I do really feel for parents of exceptionally talented students who cannot afford to fund places they have won....or cannot afford to continue etc.....the little ray of hope though is you do find exceptional talent tends to win through in the end against the odds even!!!

I do mostly agree with above.....this idea that teacher can somehow get him a place!! Especially a funded full scholarship place. I would be wary myself....but anyway CeliB have just PM 'd you in case it is your very talented son that I have seen in class! I'm not a professional but feel Ive some degree of knowledge and have expressed all this in the PM....I definitely feel he is "stand out "quality and quite remarkable as a latish start though I know this is more common in boys. Anyway hope a couple of suggestions were helpful but I feel sure you've got the situation covered mostly!! This school has a reputation to keep up but a couple of things you said do worry me and I hope the School itself is not in financial difficulties when standards could start to drop no matter how good to start with.....sincerely hoping this is not the case though and that he can finish schooling and training where he is but sometimes difficult decisions do have to be made if you start to feel the School is not serving you anymore.

I go to Judy Breen once a week in Brighton and love her classes.....as an oldie have never had private tuition with her but I'm sure she's good!! How interesting perhaps our paths will or have already crossed!! I may PM you CeliB in case I know who your son is and if it is him I would say he has a brilliant chance of a career!! But it may be another boy who went to Washington after studying with Judy and who also had a latish start. The boy I saw in her class and have now been in class with was extremely talented in my humble opinion!! Reading between the lines I guess your son actually feels very keen on the Vaganova style so perhaps the new teacher may not be his cup of tea.....in that case lets hope the current teacher can get him into somewhere with more Russian style but its the scholarship aspect that worries me......does this come from UK or US? Can he manoeuvre that situation? Typical of London Russian to offer to teach your son for free they are a generous lot but will go out of business if offer to do this for too many people I fear!!! Well lets hope that in the end your sons teacher is allowed to stay.....but perhaps this teacher is a bit unhappy there too? And I agree about being out on a limb at 16....I think some dancers are already at an establishment but take extra lessons with a particular teacher they like......would this be possible for your son? He stays where he is and still takes some extra lessons with this teacher Or is the teacher moving away to another city if he is fired?

Yes this is the main reason because the girls are on pointe.....maybe inContemporary not such an issue etc. It reminds me of a pas de deux created for fun ...was it Elite Syncopations?.... Which places the smallest male with the tallest female and makes a joke of it. When I saw this it was Wayne Sleep as male and Vergie Derman as female. A very funny piece at the time. I don't know how tall Vergie Derman was but she seemed tall for the Royal then who used to not like females over 5ft 5 in those days but perhaps she wasn't so tall by some of today's dancers.

Well looks like there's hope for all then thank goodness!! I only know a few professional dancers over the years personally and I must say they've ALL been on the smaller side (5ft 2-5ft-4)! However times do change and perhaps they're going for the taller girls now....which I can't help feeling pleased at being tall myself!! But really I wish this height thing wasn't such an issue.....good dancing is what one really wants to see and think of difference between Nadia Nerina say and Yuliana Lopatkina!!

Also if you are based in Lewes and your son is home it would be easy to get up to London Russian in Clapham....all teachers there are Russian and teaching is Russian style. They are usually very accommodating about trying classes etc. Also as it is not such a big school I would think you would get a lot more individual attention at vocational level. Daily classes there are running until nearly the end of August. Again if you are based in Lewes do you know Judy Breen who teaches Vaganova style in Brighton and does individual private tuition etc. Having said that she is off to do a Summer school in Portugal for part of summer. But I can PM with details if you would like I could be wrong but is the school your son is at The Vaganova school in Washington? As I thought this school could be attended only via scholarship from UK and if he were to leave the school where would he stand with this? It would be horrendously expensive to fund privately I believe. I also always thought that the US system is a bit like the French where you have to keep going to 18 to get the main qualification as its slightly more generalised than UK system. In UK you could feasibly make an academic break at 16 and then later take the modern equiv. of A levels......I'm sure it's harder to make this break at 16 if its like the French system. But you will have some idea about this no doubt!! If your son is adamant about a ballet career though then NOW is the time to go for it. If it doesn't work out in next few years he will still be young enough to take up academic qualifications later......though having said this I know how difficult this particular dilemma is from personal experience!! And it's NOT easy. The level of talent becomes crucial at this point I think.....do the staff there think he has a good chance of a career inspite of his latish start? With regards to teachers or schools by senior level would say teacher comes first obviously depending on the level and standing of the school generally I personally have always been a "teacher follower" but individual circumstances are so different and of course if money is an issue(which it usually is) it may be much more difficult to fund. I'm not sure but I believe Beatrix Stix-Brunell in the Royal followed a particular teacher too and although we are seeing little of her at mo I really rate her as a dancer so I think paid of for her. Sorry this goes on a bit.....do you know why your sons the teacher is being "fired" as such?

Thanks hfbrew I was going to ask for more info as not heard of until came on this Forum I would like to see them too so will check out website.

The music was Albinoni...Adagio for strings in G minor and we wore long floaty white costumes....very nice!

I'm back to ballet again tonight after a week off......and yes it's great having a break every so often to give the muscles and joints a bit of recovery time and I usually really enjoy that first class back except this time for me it's the hardest class I do of the week so hopefully will be up to it!! And gardens start to need lots of attention for next few months......we've just had a nest (in box) of starlings hatch out....five babies and they are very noisy at about 5.30 am all screaming for food! The great tits should be any day now too. Pirouettes into arabesque sound quite hard too....though have done into attitude...extend leg.....place in fourth...probably easier as not having to hold any position that long! You are very brave to dance at a wedding....is this on your own? Will it be actually in the church? I have danced with a group in a largish church....not recently.....and it happened to be a nice space to dance in I remember...it was lovely music which I can hear.....but name of which escapes me it's a famous piece though! It wasn't for a wedding...so less pressure!! I will investigate the ENB classes for the Autumn to see if I can commit to one day a week up in London regularly(I can do it in a day easily) so will be either RAD or them. Do ENB have a sort of taster day at all to try a level out.....The RAD do....because if you are paying for a term up front it's important to be in the right class. I imagine too people who've committed before will get preference so places hard to come by......and we're just adults doing for pleasure!!! When is the choreography you are practicing for to be performed first?

Height can sometimes be fairly accurately predicted at around 10-11 but not really the eventual overall shape which of course can be very important in classical ballet. So have to just keep going and hope for the best! I would have thought however that for ballet 5ft 2 would not be that much of a problem ......being over 5ft 8 is much more likely to be an issue except in rare cases.

Regards Li Cunxin my friend in Sydney was just talking about this only yesterday and is pleased with this appointment as thinks there may be a bit more classical work now going on in that ballet company. I think he has written a book about his experiences that she keeps telling me to read!! Must get round to it.

And who knows maybe if he's mad enough will take up dancing again in his sixties!! Agree very much with above.

Do you do ballet as well Aurora?

Yes it does but may not include every item or sometimes shortened versions of articles in the week but worth a shot if you missed.

I could not imagine 2 years ago doing what I do now!! So I guess when you do start doing more exercise it somehow increases your energy levels. I know when have been feeling very tired and thinking should I give class a miss etc I usually go and then feel much more energised afterwards and am glad I went......and might even get other jobs done after whereas would have done one of those tv slumps if I didn't go to class!! A plus side is 3 yrs ago was slightly osteopenic and on a recent scan my bone count has gone up(to the GP's amazement) which I am sure is mostly due to the ballet! At some point will start new thread on this (ballet and health) so can give scores etc. Could be interesting for people in 50's and 60's particularly.

Zumba is great fun another one used to do at the gym but always looked forward to it....the teacher was South American and when he really let go he was such a terrific dancer fascinating to see how it should be done up to speed etc!! I really wish I could do that RAD repertoire workshop but hopefully if have one in Autumn will be able to do then. I must admit Michelle Ive never heard of setting a demi plié and back bend SIMULTANEOUSLY! I'm not surprised your knee popped!! Usually with plies the port des bras may be part of the exercise but in between the plies so to speak.....or if it is set like that should be for pretty advanced students!! However I don't know what level 3 means with ENB classes so perhaps it was at advanced level. However with lots of ballet classes for adults the material used is above beginner/ beginner improver level etc. Like grande ronde de jambe en L'air at the barre...usually more of Intermediate or grade 7 level!! especially if set with a releve as well....but often set in classes where adults only been doing1-2 yrs! Anyway no ballet for me now till next Wednesday so bit of a rest while in France.....but no swimming either as the weather is pretty bad cold windy and cloudy!! Good job I'm not here for the weather then.

Ashtanga sometimes known as Vinyasa yoga is the name of the style with lots of movement in.

Because I'm really a music person I wasn't that attracted to yoga until I found scaravelli which is a gentle form and concentrates on the spine and easing in and out of poses etc. I find it complements the ballet quite well. If you are younger and fitter the yoga style which keeps moving from pose to pose(name just escapes me) is often enjoyed by dancers because it has more continuous movement in etc but I personally prefer the contrast and time to really look at what the body is doing. I don't know whether Body Balance is to music? One of the most enjoyable things I did before taking up ballet again was something called Chi Ball which were sort of set routines based on the seasons to music but moving the small chi ball around....some of that was quite balletic but I rarely see this offered anywhere unfortunately so I think they need more instructors in this so just lucky my local,Gym at the time had one(don't belong to the Gym now though)

I agree in part with the bit about Miko and Jules mum in the film but in the end Jules doesn't stick at it because its not really his thing and although mum was a bit over upset at this she didn't force him because you can't really with something like ballet. Miko is the one with the passion and perhaps mum capitalises a tad too much on this.......my only reservation.....as with all kids into too many competitions will they burn out too soon.....will they get bored in a corps de ballet having danced so many main variations from the ballets already!! Some of the disappointment may also be around money.....they need to get access to funds I suppose. To me the most moving story was the boy from Columbia as I felt he was obviously homesick but at least he as a bit older....and the good news about him is he is now in the Royal Ballet Company so has at least achieved his dream from all the sacrifice. In the scene towards the end where we see Jules with that wry smile of his( what a dear little soul) concentrating on his books and muttering in somewhat desultory fashion about mum wanting him to "get to Harvard or something" .....I definitely got the impression he was a survivor and would probably in fact make a good comedian.....confounding all mums efforts anyway!! Also Miko was in the Prix de Lausanne recently(rather strangely had become Swiss!!) and when interviewed there she seemed pretty unspoilt and even shy still inspite of everything. At least all the kids in this film had the undying support of their parents even if some were a little too over involved.

Yes I can understand some kids not wanting to move away from home....it's a big step especially at 11 and maybe also depends exactly how far away!! 50 miles away is one thing 1000 plus miles away in another country quite another! Depends on personality a lot. Personally I would have loved it but I know other families where children have gone away from home to school,not necessarily ballet school, and two kids will love it and two hate it. So other decisions have to be made for the kids who hate it unless you are capable of completely overlooking or not caring about your kids feelings of course. But lots of dancers make it who didn't have to leave home at least not before 16. Again that might depend on where you live to have this choice. Also some lovely dancers who do get into companies even, may not necessarily last long there not because they are not good enough but because they cannot take the stress of the balletic life in the long run. Anyway thanks ChocChip this film also looks good and I would like to see it so will keep an eye out or is it only on DVD?