RBS Mids Associates

[Dancing_Mae]

My child has auditioned for Junior associates 2 years in a row and been unsuccessful. If she auditions again it will be for Mids and I’m aware applications open much earlier. My question is should we audition for Miss if she hasn’t been successful at getting a JA place? She’s starting a different associate program in September which she is really excited about and I’m unsure whether to apply if it’s even harder to get in at mids stage? 

[Dance-mum]

We have only auditioned once for Mids and are still on a waiting list for the 24 intake. ( don't have a lot of hope now). 

 

My daughter however said that the process and preparation for auditions were helpful with her exams and she has improved a lot regardless. I'd say if you can afford it, do it. I would manage expectations with your daughter before the auditions. This also teachers them the reality of the industry.

 

[Neverdancedjustamum]

3 hours ago, Dancing_Mae said:

My child has auditioned for Junior associates 2 years in a row and been unsuccessful. If she auditions again it will be for Mids and I’m aware applications open much earlier. My question is should we audition for Miss if she hasn’t been successful at getting a JA place? She’s starting a different associate program in September which she is really excited about and I’m unsure whether to apply if it’s even harder to get in at mids stage? 

If she would really like to, then there’s no harm applying but also explore the reasons why she would like to be an MA. Is it the timetable? Is it the RBS reputation?  My DD was never a JA so was surprised to be offered an MA place a few years ago. She only applied as a lot from her then dance school were applying and she thought she might as well but was never really focused on or had RBS as goal.  Last I heard also, it seems like the London centre had opened a new MA class so there should be more places now. My DD seems to have done most associates schemes known to us and MA is actually the shortest in terms of actual class time (2 hrs 15 mins). Some associates schemes have longer days with timetabled classes so factor this in when you’re going to have to travel a fair bit. My DD also found that their associates also have a very distinctive class style, quite different from other schemes. One of the upsides of being in an RBS MA class is that the students in the class are mostly very serious and focused young dancers, who train long hours or are already in full time schools, so this does raise the overall standard of the class. The downside to this is if your DD is like mine, and only has dance as one of their activities and isn’t focused on dancing as a future career. My DD was a bit of an outlier as outside the MA class, she only did 1-2 dance classes a week at one point, which is way, way less than what others were doing and at some point you can really tell who were doing long training hours and who were only doing it as a serious hobby. In addition, at that level (though I’m not generalising or stereotyping) , it gets increasingly hard not get sucked in to who’s doing most hours a week, who’s doing privates with whom, who managed to squeeze in the most summer intensives etc, all of which my DD and I found quite exhausting after a while. I digress but do let your DD try if she really wants to be an MA. I don’t think her not being a JA previously would matter as much as how she performs on audition day. I have to say that DD’s then MA class was still mostly former JAs but there were maybe a handful of them (max) who weren’t.

Edited August 1 by Neverdancedjustamum

[Dancing_Mae]

@Neverdancedjustamum My daughter only takes 2 ballet classes a week and an extra prep for pointe class too. She also takes part in workshops and will start associates in September, but I’m aware it’s not as much as others do. Her goal is to get into full time ballet school when she’s 16. I’ve heard that if you don’t get into RBS as a JA then it’s much harder to  get in later on, as places are fewer. I think I will still let her try but be realistic about it. Our centre is one of the smaller classes too I believe. 

[DingDongDancer]

I would say best to audition now. Everyone has to re-audition for mids so all the places are theoretically available.  In a years time it will be harder as you get your space for three years so getting in relies on someone else dropping out.

 

Always worth a try if your daughter enjoys the audition which mine always does. She auditioned for a y8 mids place and got a no, then for a y9 place and got waitlist and finally auditioned for Senior Associates and has a place starting in September!! 

[glowlight]

 

What you don't say @Dancing_Mae is whether your dd has expressed an interest in auditioning this year, or whether this is coming from you. If the former, and if you can afford the audition fee I think it's worth giving it a go. As my dd's teacher used to say: 'If you try you might, if you don't you won't.'

 

If nothing else it's good audition practice. My dd auditioned for mids almost every year of her teenage years. She never got in, and I think stopped expecting it, but she enjoyed the audition and it was good experience for upper school auditions, and professional auditions later on.

[Ruby Foo]

On 01/08/2024 at 18:42, Dancing_Mae said:

@Neverdancedjustamum My daughter only takes 2 ballet classes a week and an extra prep for pointe class too. She also takes part in workshops and will start associates in September, but I’m aware it’s not as much as others do. Her goal is to get into full time ballet school when she’s 16. I’ve heard that if you don’t get into RBS as a JA then it’s much harder to  get in later on, as places are fewer. I think I will still let her try but be realistic about it. Our centre is one of the smaller classes too I believe. 

I believe that RBS look at what they see in front of them at the time. Not being a JA won't have any bearing on the outcome. Dancers mature and change between auditions but obviously I can't comment on physical suitability for a particular type of training.

My daughter became a mid associate after just passing gr 2 and never being a JA. She got a lot from her experience but mainly because of the teacher.
I think there are 2 stand out points,

firstly RBS may not be the most helpful. Every child is different and there's lots of different ways of learning and lots of great teachers.

If she wants to do it then great, why not? As others have said you can't know unless you try. But  second, only you know your daughter and how she will feel if it doesn't work her way ( kids are good at pretending they're not hurt) and also how you will deal with the situation so that her love and joy of dancing doesn't diminish because of an audition that is really neither here or there in the big picture of Ballet training.

[Kerfuffle]

I agree, children  change a lot between 8 and 14  so someone who looked amazing at 8 can look less right at 14  and vice versa. My DD wasn’t offered JAs in year 6 but was an SA five years later. She always had the same potential but it took a while for it to become obvious to RBS.

 

It sounds like she’s already found a really good associate for the autumn so perhaps just stick with that one otherwise. 

[Dancing_Mae]

@DingDongDancer Congrats to your daughter! 

[Dancing_Mae]

@glowlight We wouldn’t have started auditioning for associates in the first place if it wasn’t what she wanted. We have been auditioning for RBS JA’s for the last few years, so we discussed if we were still going to this year. I wasn’t sure if it changes once they start auditioning for mids. I had heard there are fewer mids places than Ja’s and just wanted to get some info. She is only young but determined she wants to be a ballerina and RBS is the dream, as I’m sure it is for many ballerinas. 

[Dancing_Mae]

@Ruby Foo She is always initially a little disappointed but gets over it very quick and it helps that she has got into another associates programme and made the final rounds of another. But I do get worried about keep putting her through the process if her chances get even smaller into miss. Although I believe you need resilience if you want to be in the dance world. 
When you said ‘RBS might not be the most helpful’, do you mean if she doesn’t get the right teacher? 

[Dancing_Mae]

@Kerfuffle Congrats to your daughter! It’s nice to hear that children still get accepted further down the line! 
My daughter is so excited to start associates and money wise it would definitely be better to stick to one! However, maybe it is the name or the fact that her dance teacher has always encouraged her to audition, but RBS was always the ‘dream’ for her. 

[Ruby Foo]

35 minutes ago, Dancing_Mae said:

@Ruby Foo She is always initially a little disappointed but gets over it very quick and it helps that she has got into another associates programme and made the final rounds of another. But I do get worried about keep putting her through the process if her chances get even smaller into miss. Although I believe you need resilience if you want to be in the dance world. 
When you said ‘RBS might not be the most helpful’, do you mean if she doesn’t get the right teacher? 

Congratulations to your daughter for getting a place in Associates. I hope she'll have a lovely experience.

My daughter's experience of RBS associates was very positive and she improved a lot throughout the year. However, when her ( incredible) teacher retired and was replaced by another, the class completely changed. It's a certain style of class, that's all. It may not be necessarily the best for everyone just because of the name. It depends what a student needs really. I saw students going year on year, week on week who didn't improve but then I've seen this in other associates too. Maybe, they are going for other reasons, which is their choice. As I've said before, so much is about the teacher.

[Kerfuffle]

7 hours ago, Dancing_Mae said:

@Kerfuffle Congrats to your daughter! It’s nice to hear that children still get accepted further down the line! 
My daughter is so excited to start associates and money wise it would definitely be better to stick to one! However, maybe it is the name or the fact that her dance teacher has always encouraged her to audition, but RBS was always the ‘dream’ for her. 

Thank  you. It’s always worth having a go again if that’s her dream because your daughter will change so much over the years artistically, physically and in technique. Sometimes things just come together later so don’t give up! 
As Ruby Foo says (and she really knows her stuff) it’s about the teacher and what the student needs.  The RBS associates were good for my DD because the teacher was lovely and supportive  as well as being very good. If your daughter finds that at the other associate class or her regular class then that is most important.  

[Dancing_Mae]

@Ruby Foo @Kerfuffle Thank you so much for the advice! Hopefully she will be blessed with a great teacher in September 🤞 We have talked and she is going to audition for RBS again, but your definitely right that it’s about the teaching and not the name and I’ve explained this to her today. The main thing is that she gets the training she needs so that she can pursue her dream one day if she wishes to do so.

[No name]

One of the girls in my ballet school (not my class but she’s the best student in the school so I’ve heard about her) was rejected for JA but did Mid and was accepted into Senior this year. There’s no harm in trying anyway.