Dance

[ForBlueFox]

Hello everyone my DD aged 16 has just finished secondary school she was looking to do dance a level or dance betec but didn’t get in after the audition and now we have no other options as dance is the only thing she is intrested in
she dances 6 times a week commercial , lyrical ,Morden , tap ,ballet and acro
anyone been in the same boat or give us an idea on what to do

She is now saying she wants to give up dance completely

I understand what you are saying but she's really, really narrowing her options there! Lots of Newsies ensemble sang, maybe not all but again options would be limited. She wouldn't need to be strong, it could be the weakest of her skills but to look for only dancing roles on the west end is just so few jobs plus taking into account how high the competition is, she needs to be more realistic. My DD started singing and dancing late but without being potentially outing, hard work pays off so it's not.too late to start now. Or she needs to look into things other than the west end.

Has she looked at the acceptance rates for Bird and Laine? She's aiming really, really high there. Especially as she didn't get accepted into dance college. Acceptance rates there are about 5%.

I really would suggest open days to these and other unis and do some of the summer open days and workshops. She may find its too intense and change her mind anyway. They will also give her information on what casting directors want. What extra skills they look for. One Uni said it takes an average 10 years for new graduates to break into the west end! Unless you are really lucky or exceptional.

A long and honest chat with her dance teacher would be a good start. Or try somewhere else who can asses her ability and give you feedback.

That's quite possibly a temporary reaction to disappointment and feeling rejected.

The first reply you had got straight to the key - dance can be a hobby, but it would be cruel to encourage her to think it can be a career. It's absolutely brutal even for those who fly through qualifications.

She's so young that she can't see the wider perspective - she needs your help with that. There's a whole world out there that has nothing to do with dance, and she needs more varied experiences to work out what else she loves.

I'd start by looking for a job over the summer, she might enjoy it, but it also can work as a reality check that she'll want to plan how she earns a living so that it can be as interesting and enjoyable as possible, within her limitations.

Then you could talk about some of the vocational courses she could start in September - encourage her not to rule anything out.

I don't think her dance teachers have done her any favours if they haven't managed her expectations. It must have been clear to them that she was going to struggle, as a pp said, bluntly if she is not accepted on to a BTEC then it's cruel to indulge in ten fantasy that she could end up in the west end. There's always inspirational stories about the one who made it against the odds, but nothing you've said suggests that applies here. And that's OK. It will hurt for a while but she needs to widen out her world.

@SillySeal we were looking at other things today and she was thinking s dance teacher for sen kids the acceptance rate for bird is 15% and laines doesn’t have an acceptance rate but I know the person who runs laines and she is doing some summer workshops there too

Hmm - she's probably saying she wants to give up dance as she's feeling rejected. She's obviously very young so this might be the time to tell her that if she wants to be a dancer she will always get a lot of 'no's' when auditioning. She needs to look at the BTech and A level courses available in your area and try a few. As for colleges the ones she has mentioned are extremely difficult to get into - but places such as Preston or Shockout Arts (where my daughter went) are extremely good but not as big a 'name'. She obviously loves her dancing and has committed a lot of time to it - so I would speak to her dance teachers and get some proper feedback

@cossette ive just been on the phone to her dance teacher her new one said that she doesn’t think doing dance as a career will be right for her as she struggles to remember the rhythms and the steps although she is a good dancer and I also spoke to her old one who taught her for 10 years and she said I don’t recommend her going down that career path as being a dancer you need to pick up stuff fast and she is unable to do that plus she struggles with her lefts and rights and she also said in class she always has to go over things privately with my daughter so she can pick it up

@taxi4ballet ive just been on the phone to her dance teacher her new one said that she doesn’t think doing dance as a career will be right for her as she struggles to remember the rhythms and the steps although she is a good dancer and I also spoke to her old one who taught her for 10 years and she said I don’t recommend her going down that career path as being a dancer you need to pick up stuff fast and she is unable to do that plus she struggles with her lefts and rights and she also said in class she always has to go over things privately with my daughter so she can pick it up

Hi again, I've been trying to post all day but MN issues telling me I'm using the wrong username have prevented me. There's threads in Site Stuff about it.

I'm glad you have now had a chat with her dance teacher, as that will have clarified things a bit for you.

Dance A level is not really primarily geared towards being a professional dancer, it is the study of dance, albeit through practice.

Can she apply elsewhere to do the dance A level?

The reality is that professional dancers are required to pick up routines very fast, straight away.

As she has done so well in her exams she clearly does well once she has had plenty of rehearsal. I’m trying to think how she could make this work by starting her own dance business in some way. People employ singers with their repertoire but not dancers afaik

Can she make a niche for herself on TikTok? It’s full of people who make various dance videos

How much does she practice out of class? Some of it is ‘learning how to learn’ and accepting she has to work harder to retain routines.

How good is her flexibility and acro? This unfortunately also matters.

Has she danced competitively and in been in shows regularly over those ten years? Or just the leisure classes?

I notice she choreographed her own routine which may not have been up to the same as those coached by their dance school principal. Ours seems to be fiercely involved in supporting students to choose and get into colleges. I’m wondering if her tuition - although frequent - isn’t that good?

My other question is how many kids get into dance college from her dance school each year? If it’s not a good handful annually getting into decent dance colleges that might be a clue.

@RantzNotBantz she has applied to three places now for the dance a level didn’t get into any of them , she does well in some exams but last tap one she practiced for hours and hours and even had multiple private lessons she got 30% when all the rest of her class got 90 and above and ballet she got 25%
@BananaPeanutToast she practicises every evening for a couple of months plus private lessons every day in the lead up to the exams or shows , she is quite flexible I would say
she does shows twice a year and a comp every month never placed in them though , for the audition she cheorographed it mostly on her own but the teacher went through it with her to make sure it was perfect and changed a few bites but her dance teacher doesn’t think a carrer in dance would be the right thing for her due to the timing issues and memory
this year 6 have got into dance collages in her dance school as there are only 6 others her age there they all got into really good dance collages last year 8 Girls out of the 8 girls who auditioned got in

Oh ok, sorry, I was thinking of her 86% in the commercial exams.

If she finds remembering and timing hard at this stage professional dancers really isn’t realistic. Which is fine: she loves it, she works hard and commits and hopefully enjoys it. It is SO competitive as a career, even if you get into a top college.

As much as your DD loves to dance the teachers are telling you that she’s not good enough to follow it as a career. To be honest, they should have told her this a long time ago. They clearly know she’s not at the level needed for a career in dance.

I hope your daughter finds something else that suits her. She’s clearly a hard worker. Her idea to help SEN kids may be one to peruse.

Oh bless her. She must be very resilient. But did no one manage her expectations before now? It seems cruel to keep letting her raise her hopes. Did she not suspect she’d struggle based on never placing in competitions and the difficulty with exams, and the contrast with others at the school?

I get that it’s devastating- I can’t imagine doing all that for a decade in hope of dance college, especially if you’re not academic to fall back on. It’s also heartbreaking for you as a mum. But it seems cruel to let her keep trying given her school are producing a lot of dancers who do get in and the support she’s had.

Is there another related field you could steer her towards- theatre production, theatre management, set design, costume design etc. that would allow her to use her passion in a different way professionally and just do dance as a hobby?

I’d strongly encourage and help her to seek much more realistic options for her next steps. If she gets all the gcses she needs for some good 16-19 options she can do one of those, if she doesn’t would focus on getting the gcses first or alongside the college.

Would encourage her to continue to dance for fun but reduce the time commitment since it could impact negatively on her getting qualifications that will help her much more.

OP you need to support her to look at other options, the reality is she has issues with timing, left/right, picking things up quickly and also remembering routines. If she spent 5 months practicing her auditions and they weren't to standard and every other dancer at her school for the last two years got into a dance course, you both need to accept that a future in dance outside of a hobby isn't realistic. I know that's hard for her but I'm not sure how she was allowed to pursue this dream so doggedly when her dyslexia makes it impossible for her.
People are saying teach but if she can't remember routines, struggles with timing and left Vs right she won't be able to teach.

@JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn thank you so much I haven’t told her about what her dance teachers have said yet as I know she is going to be devestated
@BananaPeanutToast she knows she struggles with timing issues and memory issues but she loves dance so much and it was her dream to do it in collage she is now thinking about doing an health and social care course in college as she did that for GCSEs and really liked it
@Surreyblah yeah I was thinking about reducing the time but she is adamant she wants to do more classes next year

It must be costing a fortune to do so many dance classes? Maybe talk to her about putting the money aside for driving lessons instead? Or something else that will help her build her future

If she is going to carry on with dance classes, then doing so many different dance styles each week is really not helping, especially since she struggles with remembering things. She would be far better off dropping some styles and doing extra classes in the remainder.

The technique and use of muscle groups for acro is the complete opposite of the technique required for ballet, for instance. So continuing with acro is going to actively hinder her progress in ballet.

It sounds like she is at the point of moving to dance as a hobby. Which is honestly what happens to most dance obsessed children.

Saying you will give it up altogether is a very natural reaction to being turned down. However she is showing great resilience by thinking about what else she has enjoyed at school such as Health and Social Care.

Perhaps the next step is to thin out quite how many different dance classes and styles she does. She's old enough now to know just how much this is costing you and that she'll need to have enough time to focus on her college course.