Ballet lessons in more than one school

[Oakmaiden]

My daughter is interested in taking more ballet lessons than she currently does - she is 11 years old, and when not preparing for a festival/exam she does 45 mins ballet, and the same for tap and modern, as well as 30 mins limber. This is all her dance school offers for her age group - and to be honest I cannot find any other schools in the area who offer more. However, she feels she should be dancing more than once a week to progress, and I am unsure what to do about it. Is it OK to train with more than one dance school? I don't, realistically, think her current school will offer any more hours...

Yes, it's certainly pushing it doing Grade 3 on one 45 min lesson a week. With privates I could see it being managed easily, and then over a shorter time period, as pp's child has done.

Oakmaiden, it would be well worth asking this question on Balletcoforum, as there are a number of ballet teachers as well as parents who post on there, and they would be able to give you a better idea of where your dd needs to be grade/level-wise at her age.

If it were me in charge I would probably skip grade 2 for the whole class and move them on to grade 3. But I am not the boss, and funnily enough they don't even ask my opinion.

Just as perspective, DD is 11, and has just done Grade 5 ISTD ballet.

She does 3 hours of ballet a week + 45 mins of pointe.

She is slightly ahead of her peers exam wise - most of the other 11 year olds at the studio have done Grade 4 and are working towards Grade 5.

She has Grade 4 Tap and Grade 5 Modern. Nowhere good enough for vocational school - and far too tall - though she has a distinction in every exam and was a finalist at the ISTD ballet awards for Grade 4 last year. She is often placed for ballet at local festivals, but seldom wins.

taxi - I have joined up the forum now, and asked a general question about facilities in my area.

Someone has pointed me to the Cecchetti Associate programme, which whilst not of use right now, is interesting as they want children joining them at my daughter's current age (ie 10 at the beginning of September/in Year 6 at school) to have passed grade 2, and at the beginning of next academic year to have passed grade 3. So that is going to be a problem, because without skipping a grade she will not be able to get grade 3 by the time applications go in for Sept 2015. Even if she does skip a grade it would be tight.

I feel a bit cross actually, that she has been allowed to slip so far behind...

Perhaps it might be worth her starting at that RAD school now, rather than waiting until after Christmas...

I had a quick google & found a few schools in your area. One in particular talked about children studying ISTD & RAD simultaneously, the importance of more than one class once you got to a certain level & preparing children for vocational school/dance college.

Of course anyone can say anything on a website but it gives an indicator of the ethos.

I be surprised if she met the admissions criteria for associate classes, or achieve success in the auditions, as she's quite behind for her age. It's really quite competitive for places.

I'd build on the technique and catching up first.

I suggested looking at the RAD school now but OP wants to wait.

It is possible to get into Associates or even vocational school without ever having taken a ballet class before as they look for potential, physique, train ability.

However it gets harder as you get older & certainly for more dance based rather than pure classical ballet places a certain standard is expected.

Yes, I know it is possible, to get into associates etc without having taken a class. I think this an even less likely scenario for an older child
The OP should be prepared that it may not be easy to secure a place as the competition is very fierce.

I don't know.

I suspect the one you have googled is Counterpointe? She did try a couple of lessons there, but in the end we went to the other school because they for some reason ran their modern and tap classes at the same time, so you could only do one or the other. They also talk about offering both, but certainly 3 years ago only did RAD. Plus (mumbles) I thought the choreography in their annual showcase was bland and uninspired...

The more I think about it, the more I think I might talk to the RAD teacher. It just feels so disloyal to her poor current teacher, when she is so poorly... But I am beginning to think that waiting will be the wrong thing - particularly if she wants to do associates of some type in the next couple of years. I have just made a mammoth post on the ballet forum, as suggested.

The best ballet school locally is Turning Pointe, I think. But they do festivals. And they don't seem to offer more than one class a week.

Just seen your post.

I'm trying not to let our own experience colour my judgment but prior to getting into vocational school at 11 (& dds acceptance letter pointed out some concerns with technique) dd has been going twice a week for ballet plus a modern & tap class to a dance school with excellent teaching & a good reputation.
However due to various circumstances her grade got behind. They passed Grade 2 ballet when she was 9 & moved up a class. The girls already in Grade 3 took their exam under the old syllabus which dd& her group spent 6 months learning, then doesn't 2 years on Grade 3. Meanwhile the other group took their Grade 4. I did arrange for her to go to RAD associates once a month for a term.

She was massively behind at her new school & we spent quite a bit of money on some private lessons. In hindsight I should have moved her to a school who could offer her more classes (her current classmates were mostly dancing 3-5 times per week plays doing stretch etc classes.

But dd liked her teacher & I know she is a good teacher. But she just couldn't offer enough classes.

Don't judge a school by its choreography. Some schools hire in very creative choreographers, but got day to day classes its technique that counts.

I guess the thing is, I am not sure they would offer her more than she gets currently. They still only do one lesson ballet a week.

Her current actual teacher is very good - she is just not teaching at the moment. And doesn't offer enough hours. Aaaargh! I am going round in circles.

Maybe I will encourage her to play football instead...

I guess the thing is, if there was a school I was convinced would be better - like Harlequins or whoever, then I would move her like a shot. What I don't want to do is move her and then regret it, especially as she has taken so long to build up positive relationships with the other girls at this dance school (who have all been together since they were 3).

I don't think Counterpointe do offer more - although I cannot be certain as they don't publish their timetable. But they operate from the local college, so as far as I remember they only generally run classes on a Saturday. So that is no good.

TP don't seem to offer a comprehensive programme either. One lesson a week for grades, no limber or conditioning classes.

The other school I was looking at (Kim Lewis) generally only has children for one lesson a week too, but because she runs from multiple locations we could probably arrange for dd to go to multiple classes. But she only does ballet.

Their website says that all exam classes are at least twice a week

Classes midweek between 4pm - 9pm & all day Saturdays.

What about something like a CAT - Centre for Advanced Training - the ballet training there is excellent with Contemporary alongside

Hm. So I talk to Counterpointe again and double check that.

Erm - a CAT? Where would I find out about those?

Ah. Google.

I think that is England only. I am in Wales.

A lot of people travel to dance schools, especially good dance schools; you'd need to travel to get to associates our closest class was 35 minutes away our furthest was 4 hours away

Oh, and another problem with moving her to a different school altogether. They have qualified as a group for the Regional Finals, so she needs to stay for that.

But I would have to cross... lip quiver the bridge...