Ballet boarding school - what do I need to know?

[AntennaReborn]

DD is in Y7, has been dancing since age 4, and has now told me and DH that she would like to go to a ballet boarding school.

I'm not exactly keen to send her to a boarding school, but equally if this is what she truly wants to do then I want to support it, so I am researching options to see whether it would be feasible.

I have started looking into what is available in the UK, cost, standards of education, pastoral care etc. but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and don't really know where to start or what to look for / avoid.

I would be truly grateful for any advice or insight from anyone whose DC attend this type of specialist school, or teachers, etc. (I have asked DD's ballet teacher, she is doing her own research and we have planned to have a chat in a few days)

I don't know anything about ballet school but dd was grade 6 aged 10 when we were offered a place at residential music school, we decided against it after considering carefully

That's impressive! RAD Grades don't quite align with music ones in terms of standards, annoyingly. (And DS' schools used NCDTA grades which were different again!)

Nearest one is 4h round trip in good traffic, unfortunately not doable but thanks for the suggestion

Ballet school is incredible difficult to get into. In the nicest possible way do you think she is exceptional for her age, as I'd not be putting her through the stress of it all. She's also missed the year 7 intake so imagine it will be year 10 now. You could try The Hammond in Chester as I know they take in most years, but it's a dance school, not just ballet. There's Elmhurst and Tring but again so so difficult to get into.

I wish her all the luck if this is what she wants to do though.

My cousin was left with similar and unable to dance as was injured during her finals but was told to dance on.

A 2+ hour round trip is not really too far for
most people. Is this why she’s mentioned boarding, does she know you can’t travel?

Is her dream very specifically to be a ballerina? Or a dancer? Or a stage performer? Has she got West End Stage on her mind or a dance company or “wants to be famous”?

I ask in a nice way, thinking of one of my closest childhood friends, I’ll call her Jane. Growing up, Jane was always at dancing, quite often missed birthday parties due to dancing or rehearsals. When we were younger, lower primary school age, she would always say she wanted to be a ballerina. As we got older, this changed to dancer / actor. Jane trained a lot - ballet, jazz, tap, musical theatre, lyrical. Plus weekly drama and 1:1 singing lessons. School holidays were often dance festivals, we used to go and watch her in professional panto each Christmas right through secondary school. She was in 3 west end shows as a child. Her life (and family’s life) revolved around it.
However, she was at a normal state school and went to dancing after school. She also stayed and did her A Levels. Her parents made her, she wanted to leave for performing arts college at 16. She got into all the colleges she applied for (think Laines, Bird College, some London ones….) and did a 3 year diploma.
I don’t know the ins and outs (apart from that the pressure was incredibly high along with the pressure to maintain a very thin physique) but she loved it. She has been in the ensemble of a few West End shows, a principal understudy a couple of times….adverts, little bit of modelling here and there. Jane and I meet a lot more these days and she’s now running her own dance school and I think from what she says this is the reality for lots of her old classmates. So few make it, but she has no regrets and says the stage will always be her happy place and she’s setting her daughter down the same path!

Tbh from what you say, I would keep her in normal school, maybe increase her training if that’s affordable and then look for further dance training post GCSE, and be realistic discussing what she can be in the future. Likewise summer schools, and maybe increase her involvement in local drama societies.

It's probably more affordable than you think.

The majority of children at the Royal Ballet School, Elmhurst, Tring Park and the Hammond receive financial support from the Music and Dance Scheme.

I would be genuinely worried about my daughter developing an eating disorder at ballet boarding school. I think safer to go to a mainstream school and for ballet to be a hobby amidst other interests.

Dd was in Grade 3 when she got a place to start in Year 7. However a current year 7 would be expected to be if the standard of the current cohort which would be minimum Inter F.

funding is very difficult to get after year 7. If you can afford fees Hammond, Tring or Moorland would be possibilities.

But a child needs to really want to do it. The school owns your child, they don’t get to have other hobbies as such, can’t do external performances. It’s very tough and the atmosphere can be toxic at times.

My year 7 DD dances as a hobby yet does 4 ballet classes a week - 2 x grade 4 and 2 x Inter Foundation. If your DD wants to take ballet seriously then she needs to be doing the vocational exams (DD really enjoys inter foundation but says it’s hard) and I would look for a dance school that offers it. (DD’s dance school has a very good rep for getting dancers into the big colleges and has also sent them to some of the ballet schools at 16.) So although she’s missed the boat now, there are other options later on.

This sort of sounds like my daughter. She's 9 and lives to dance and signs up for every dance class she can . But her aspirations are actually quite simple, she just wants to dance and perform. And she loved being with her dance friends (school friends are a bit secondary, so she'd choose dancing over a party).

She'd be quite happy i think to be an ensemble dancer then a dance teacher. It's just a world she's happy in, she has no wish to be a prima ballerina or a global superstar.

She works hard at school too and knows that a rounded education is important too, but come break time he's out in the playground trying out new dance routines! (An anathema to me, I was always trying to spend break in the library writing or reading or in the science labs!)

DD is in her 5th year of boarding at ballet school. It’s been the right decision for her but not for everyone and there has been a fair amount of movement with students leaving and others joining. If your daughter has everything they are looking for, she will get in, as they will make sure there is space!

You have missed the applications for September, but that gives you time to seriously ramp up her training hours. Year 7s are doing around 20 hours a week of ballet, and although you would struggle to source this much outside a vocational school what she is currently doing is nowhere near enough. Include Pilates or PBT to help strength and double up on grades to increase hours, but always go for quality rather than just quantity.

Royal and Elmhurst offer MDS funding (means tested) to all UK students. The calculator on their website is very accurate, although there are other costs involved with boarding. Tring and Hammond have some MDS places, but far fewer and more difficult to pick up if not going for a year 7 place. Moorland offers bursaries, as do YDA and Bedes.

Your daughter will need facility (turnout, flexibility, feet), classical proportions and a huge amount of talent and that ‘special something’ plus solid technique and a high standard of ballet for Year 9 entry. Your teacher will know if she stands a chance if she has a track record of getting students into vocational lower schools.

It is possible, with a huge number of weekly training hours and frequent private lessons with a teacher who knows what they are doing, to get into vocational school at 16. I’m not sure that it works out any cheaper, to be honest, if you are entitled to a decent MDS bursary, and the whole ‘boarding experience’ is missed, if that’s what she is longing for. It’s more like an early university experience in upper school.

As Punch said about marriage, DON’T! Dance is a very hard way to make a living. Young women are expected to work punishingly hard on little food to maintain their figures. Careers are short, and dance isn’t a stable or long career unless she wants to teach in a provincial town.

I also recommend Doing Dance, join and start a post there saying what you have here, and you’ll get good advice. I found an amazing teacher for my dd through a DM on there, after a bad experience with a local school.

But I think your dd will need to travel - dancers on the same Associates scheme as my dd travel several hours to be there on Saturday. At secondary age they usually bring themselves by train as it’s near a station. If they are serious about vocational careers (and many from her scheme go to vocational training at 11 or 16) then it does require a lot of hours.

I have a few friends who’ve been through the Royal ballet school (white lodge). None of them became ballet dancers in the end but they all have careers in related areas now - either dance teachers or one is a Pilates instructor. They all enjoyed the experience and weren’t left with eating disorders or other issues as far as I know - (though I would say they are the most careful in my friendship group about what they eat - so I think the pressure to stay thin probably never leaves you but it’s not anywhere near disorder levels).

But ballet as a career is incredibly difficult - I think you have to want it so much - to the point that you couldn’t not do it, if you see what I mean. The dedication required is immense as well as needing just plain luck. One of these friends got a place in the upper school and then the company and was all set for her dream career in ballet but then had a freak injury which ended her career. It took her years to come to terms with it.

My Pilates teacher is an ex ballet dancer. Her Pilates barre classes are brilliant.

DD gave ballet up early as she decided it wasn't for her but from memory I think they were doing grade 3 when she was 8 or 9 and some of the more talented girls were already started on grade 4 at that point. DD knew she was only doing it for fun by that point really. It has come in handy over time as she's a good actress but no more than that.

Sadly I don't think grade 4 in year 7 is verging on competitive. Sorry