to be irritated by ballet teacher telling the mums we can't watch any more...

[jamsandwich]

they're doing pre-school ballet FFS, none of us expect them to become professional. It's just a laugh for them (and oh, such enertainment for us); learning real ballet moves is way down the list of why she's there as far as I'm concerned. DD (3.7) started ballet last term and the mums started off in the hall and we have gradually and happily backed off into a little foyer area where we can still see each other, but they generally get on with it.
But there is one kid who does quite often come to talk to her mum, so disrupting the class, so I feel like it's just a reaction to her.

DD is anxious in social settings, selectively mute and I just think if she can't see me and be reassured by that, it's going to stop being fun for her and start being like going to nursery on her own, which she does 3 days per week.

Do other pre-school ballet mummies have to leave the building when their Dying Swans take to the floor?

My DD does 3 different classes with 3 different teachers ( ballet, cheerleading and creative dance) and will start jazz next year. Parents are not allowed to stay at any of them. I do think parents do distract their children and dance does require concentration, team work and discipline. I think learning dance from a young age is more about learning these skills than about developing technique. I think people don't take dance seriously because they think it is easier than football, violin or whatever.

If a parent just wants their child to have fun dancing without learning to dance a specific type as part of a group, they could join or set up a baby disco.

blossom with the ISTD it's called modern theatre isn't it? Do they do one exam which is modern and one exam which is jazz or do they do one exam which incorporates both styles?

Right, you've all convinced me that it's normal. So I'm going to have a chat with the teacher next time and see whether I can have a sneaky peek during the first class, so I can see if she's looking anxious. I think there's a hatch from the kitchen I might be able to peer through, on covert operations.

Poor mite could be upset over being given the wrong colour scarf or because someone has hugged her and no one would know except me as she can't say. She'll probably be totally fine and I'll wonder what I was stressing about (could be the title of my autobiog).

But I still think that 3-4 is too young to be kicking us out!

Jamsandwich, if it is any consolation I was just the same when ds moved up into the Tumbletots parents out class at 3.

He doesn't do change very well and sobbed the first few times but he was fine and I learnt that he got on bettter without me.

It's all very well me saying what is best as a teacher but I still revert to paranoid parent when I am there with my own child!!!!

Before you think how cruel I was the change was a change of venue, not the fact I wasn;t there any more.

nappyaddict, Modern Theatre with the istd is usually just called Modern and this does incorporate Jazz dance aswell. You can take examinations in this.

You can also do jazz classes with the istd and take Medal tests with this, they class that as a 'medal' test, not really sure what the difference is as you still get examined, a certificate and go up the grades!

You are right though, in saying that Modern does incorporate the jazz aswell. Just in my dd's experience she finds jazz more fun and more up-to-date than 'Modern'

So with jazz do they do bronze, silver and gold medals but with modern they do grade 1, 2, 3, 4 etc?

What age does bronze jazz start from?

Is modern more like ballet?

Oh no, modern is nothing at all like ballet! Ballet is more structured and a very disciplined genre of dance, whereas modern is more expressive and 'free'.... It is really hard to describe, sorry if i am not doing very well!!!

As for the exams, they normally start at the very beginning and work up, so it all depends how old they are when they start taking exams. Not very many teachers would let a child skip exams and I wouldn't have wanted my dd to do that.

The younger children usually start off with rosette awards and then do, say, under 6 exams working up to bronze etc., Forgive me if i am getting the ages wrong, but it has been a while!!!

Are you thinking of this for your child? If so you are best to pick an organisation, maybe istd or RAD and then find a qualified teacher in that org and speak to them, or go and have a look at a class.

DD1 has just done her Jazz Bronze medal. She is 11 and preparing for her Grade 4 modern. She doesn't do extra classes for the Jazz medal stuff, the teacher just sees it as a "fun" thing to liven up the more structured modern syllabus.

I know a little bit about this because my 13 year old takes ballet very seriously, and also helps her teacher to teach the little ones - 3 to 6 year olds (not all in one class lol) on a Saturday morning.

Firstly, the ballet exams are preprimary, then primary, then the grades. Then if you are really serious you go on to do majors (all the pointework stuff). You have to be 5 to take pre-primary, 6 to take primary and 7 to take Grade 1. Modern and tap work much the same way, except that you usually have to be a little older to do modern and tap. Jazz medals are a bit of fun, usually once the child is 11+. My 13 year old daughter has just done her bronze. She is in Grade 5 modern, Grade 6 ballet, and a ballet major called Intermediate. My 9 year old took primary at 6 and is about to take Grade 3. That gives you an idea of where the teacher, at least, might be heading.

It is absolutely the norm for parents to be sent out of the room. If a ballet teacher insists on this, and on strict hair and uniform, it's usually a good sign. A child who isn't ready to cope with this really should be doing something else. However, I would make sure the ballet teacher is aware of the selective mutism and can keep an eye on your daughter for any signs of distress.

As an aside, you might not be taking it seriously, but if no teacher took it seriously at 3 or 4, there would be no future dancers. It might look like skipping about and rocking dollies to you, but it is setting the foundations for everything to come.

It may be that something different in the way of dance classes would suit you more?

Lady so she just does Modern classes and that prepares her for both her Modern grade 4 and her Jazz medals?

That's right, Nappy addict - they did the Jazz medal as a bit of light relief in between doing grades.
They all do ballet as well though.