Is your daughter's ballet school like this?

[emkana]

I've been thinking of sending dd1 to a new ballet school (because the current one is quite a long drive away), but I'm put off by their obsession with the "correct" outfit. Every child has to wear the school's leotard which costs £22 - and that's just the leotard, then you need a cardigan as well which costs another £12 or so - and during every lesson the hair has to be tied back - dd1 has just had her hair cut in a short bob, why should she tie it back????
The lessons take place in a manky church hall, and the children are four or five... I think this is really extreme!

Hey! 2 words for you, Cod. Billy Elliot

Our last dance show (DD wasn't it it, luckily) featured 3 costume changes - one of which was a Scooby Doo outfit FFS [eyes rolled heavenward] emoticon]

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We just watch dd's last lesson of every term. No costumes, costume changes, make-up, or having to pay.

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My dd's lessons are £42 a term (inc £2 insurance!!), each lesson 45 mins. Has gone up a lot since the pre-primary level.

I'm with Cod ... so glad I've got boys

Emkana - if you think the outfit is causing you problems, just wait til you see the competitive mums. I've occasionally lurked and chuckled on threads on here about mums in the corridor outside ballet lessons. Then I went with a friend and her daughters; and it was just like that! Yummy mummies (and nannies) looking down their noses and my friend's gorgeous dd's - who are very energetic and eccentric, and rather stockily built ... more rugby physique than ballet LOL!

Oh no we do get a twat with a camera Cod.

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Oh god yeah they are all stuck up at Dd's class. If I stay and have a coffee not one person speaks to me at all.

And the ballet teacher is always secretly hoping she discovers the next Darcy Bussell, and there's always one mum who takes it very, very seriously - usually the mother of the fat 14 year old

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We're not allowed to video the show - there will be one official film (shot by the teachers husband no doubt) that she can then flog to parents at the 'reasonable' price of £14.99.
Actually, that's given me an idea for MIL's Christmas

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I have participated in more than one of those shows as an adult.
They are hilarious.

My DD's dance school is RAD as well but at pre primary and primary they are not too strict, we have little ones in angelina ballerina outfits and the regulation ones. DD is still wear last years one witht the attached skirt, I think for her exam it is just a plain pink leotard. My gripe is with the shoes, they have to have satin for the exams and leather for leasons, why?

DDs school is an actual dance school in its own building with a great little cafe and a huge notice board with lots of secondhand outfits and shoes for sale. i don't really mind £14 for a leotard and £9.99 for shoes once a year though.

At least she is not doing disco, I hate the outfits for that, DD does jaz and tap and the little ones wear an assortment of garish outfits, I have managed to persude her to dress like the big girls in dance trousers and a little top, her trousers are joggy bottoms £4 from tescos and top £2.

Where in the country are you Skribble? Your daughter's ballet school sounds like dd's current one! We're in Gloucester.

I have to say I love the shows, the dance school does one in the local theatre. Kids aged 5 to 18. DD had 3 dances so 3 outfits but you just pay a "hire" fee for each one and volunteer mums help to change them. We get a little show at Christmas and one at the end of the summer school.
The shows are amazing and the older classes are outstanding. We went to a professional ballet and it sucked in comparison.

No not glouster. I really like it. The older kids help in the younger classes and even serve in the cafe. I will be quite happy if DD spends all her free time hanging out there when she is older, rather than the local bus stop.

They do a great pasta and I look forward to my coffee with the other mums once a week.

my dd gave ballet up because they were so strict she had to wear white dress with pleated skirt (£14.00) pink wrap around cardigan (£9.00) pink sash around waist (£2.00) pink ballet socks(£2.50) pink ballet shoes (£10.00) and she had to have her hair in a hairnet.She did look beautiful but very pretensious.If hair was left loose they would be sent back out,bearing in mind she was only 4yrs old.The lessons worked out about £7.50 a lesson, for 40 mins.

My boys do ballet and have to have the regulation stuff for exams. As they refuse to wear it for lessons (and unlike the girls, aren't forced to) it means an outlay of about £60 each once a year for something that gets worn once. I keep meaning to sell their smaller gear but it keeps going missing. In theory I should be able to pass DS1s last year gear to DS3 but it never seems to work out sizewise.

You think girls stuff is bad- boys have to have regulation white leotard (about £21) plus regulation navy tights (another £19), white ballet socks (£2.50) and white ballet shoes! For the show they have black ballet shoes. Hmm. In the lower grades they had lycra shorts instead of the tights but they were about £14 as well.

DS1 takes his grade 5 next week. Now that he is working he has bought his own gear. Hooray!!! Especially now he is in Men's size shoes.

DD's dance school is great. Black loetard and tights, tap and jazz shoes (she gave up ballet as we couldn't get there on time). Held in a dance school not village hall. They have all the mirrors and proper floor and air con in the summer.

Shows are spectacular - held at Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall every two years. Ticket about 9 quid each; hire professionally-made (to measure)costumes usually around a tenner each. Teacher asks for payments at diff times so you don't get hit with a big bill.

Lessons cost 2 quid per dance type per week.

emkana it sounds just like dd1s ballet school. She has a short bob and just wears a headband which is fine. Uniform does cost a lot but it has lasted for a year. The shows cost a fortune and I really moaned about it at the time but she loved it and when I look back it was amazing really that she did it.

agree with cod about lumpen 14 year olds. Some of them are really cringemaking.

Ours is a bit like Skribble's- they do have to wear pretty much the right stuff, at least once they start exams (when they'd have to anyway), but I have yet to meet a competitive ballet mum, they're all really nice. The shows are just brilliant, and I happily pay the money (not exorbitant) for the costumes because it's such a fantastic experience for them all.

I liked the discipline of it in a way

although couldnt have picked a worse time of year to have to fork out for a character skirt and shoes

I agree, I think it is quite good for them in all sorts of ways. Dd is doing Grade 1 on Friday, eeek.