Companies: The Royal Ballet

[Daniil]

Hi!

 

I would like to know if anybody knows if there is an annual Audition for the Royal Ballet and when it normally takes place.

This would be very helpful to me

Edited January 22, 2005 by Daniil

[BW]

Daniil, I'm assuming your mean for their school? Or for their summer program? Since you're in Germany, have you checked out this site DanceEurope.net and The Royal Ballet School's, itself?

[Daniil]

Hello!

 

Well, I actually thought about the Royal Ballet Company. Are there any official auditions?

[BW]

I'm afraid I can't help you with that, but I'd think that you might contact the company directly and check the links I've posted as well.

 

There's always the possibility that someone reading this board will have some answers, but I wouldn't wait if I were you.

[mirabray]

fyi

 

http://www.royal-ballet-school.org.uk/Info...n/stopPress.htm

 

 

audition information is under title stop press, above web will link you to information. This is for USA,

 

for europe

 

http://www.royal-ballet-school.org.uk/Appl...ditionDates.htm

Edited January 23, 2005 by mirabray

[Mel Johnson]

I don't know that the Royal Ballet itself auditions for entry-level (corps) positions except from the school. In earlier years, it would have been fairly treasonous to have employed any but a Crown subject in the company. Now, especially in the upper ranks, it is getting harder and harder to find a Brit. I wonder if Dame Ninette de Valois, still alive, wielded some kind of forbidding power over the employment of foreign nationals. Now that she's gone, the floodgates of the EU and beyond seem to have opened, and the British are relegated to the corps!

[Guest Lori64]

The RB do not - as far as I know hold "open" auditions. Entry to the company is usually through the school - even the non Brit members of the company will have done a year or two in the RB Upper school, with exceptions of notable Guest principals such as Sylvie Guillem etc.

 

Oh and I would say the low number of British trained dancers in the higher echelons of the RB is probably becasue for some reason, we are unable to produce dancers of the required quality for a great many reasons...........our current "yoof culture" being one and the lack of focus from our young dancers.

 

I think the majority of our young dancers tend to prefer MT for some reason..........

[Guest Clare]

In an article giving an interview with Monica Mason in the October edition of "Dance Europe" she is asked why the policy on engaging dancers not trained at the Royal Ballet School appears to have relaxed recently. Her reply is that this has been necessary to fill gaps in the higher levels. She says that they have between 80 to 100 audition applications each year and she probably sees about half of those.

 

She also says that she has no plans to hold open auditions because she prefers to see people singly who will join a class for 2 to 3 days and have a chat about their aspirations.

[nlkflint]

It's funny, really. So many companies, no matter whether they are here in the US or abroad, are hiring from outside their company schools and even their home country because they feel their "own" students are not measuring up. So just who is it that is getting hired? Are there proportionately more students being hired from a certain part of the world more so than another? Many US teachers and companies seem to have made comments about the lack of proper training and the type of student now-a-days being "softer" and the schools not able to be as vigorous with the training hours.

Oh and I would say the low number of British trained dancers in the higher echelons of the RB is probably becasue for some reason, we are unable to produce dancers of the required quality for a great many reasons...........our current "yoof culture" being one and the lack of focus from our young dancers.

Now this is coming from Britian as well. So where is it our young people need to go for the proper training? I can relate to the common sentiment, but I am serious in my wonderings about where it is a dancer needs to go and train.

[dbleon]

At the risk of having others complain I am "beating the dead horse"......this has been my mantra for some time......

If we send our DK's to "national training schools" and they "graduate" from these said schools, would a parent or dancer not expect that they "qualify" to be offered employment by said company affiliated schools?? Surely the training in these schools must be of the quality the companies require in a dancer????

 

While not naive enough to think that every graduate should be asked or employed by said school affiliated company, a certificate should mean the said student, at the very least, be viable company professional material...

 

Just food for thought

[Dance_Scholar_London]

Oh and I would say the low number of British trained dancers in the higher echelons of the RB is probably becasue for some reason, we are unable to produce dancers of the required quality for a great many reasons...........our current "yoof culture" being one and the lack of focus from our young dancers.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

At a "Mock Audition" seminar at RBS, the examiners said that they noticed many bad feets at all levels (at the auditions in the UK). Students audition for the associate programme or upper/lower school. It was interesting to observe the audition, the age group 14/15 was not supposed to do pointe work at the audition. Also the barre was rather simple, though she gave one really difficult combination in the center to see how quickly students can pick up long combination. Some of them where quite struggling, especially the boys.

[Guest Lori64]

I would say that dance eduactoin in the UK is poor to say the least - not due to the lack of good and dedicated teachers, but because the whole "work ethic" is absent from our young people.

 

A dancer's life is a hard one and from my perception, our young people want things instantaneously rather than having to shed blood sweat and tears! Also, for some reason, since classical dancers today appear to require many multiple turns, enormous extensions and essentially "fireworks", our schools don't seem to be able to produce that!

 

Look at Genee, Prix de Lausanne, Varna etc - a relatively small number of medal winners are British - Australians however appear to do very well generally - is this a climate thing? Many of our young dancers before they begin their pre-pro training, train in drafty church halls or inappropriately equipped studios!

 

So, perhaps we are talking more about an issue of how seriously Dance is taken as a true performing art here!

 

Oh and another thought to the original questoin by Daniil - a success in a major international ballet competition is, I would say as good as an audition for the RB!

[Dance_Scholar_London]

One has to distinguish between training at conservatoire level (mainly in London and pre-professional training. It is certainly true that pre-professional training schools often dont have the facilities to provide proper training (too small rooms, bad floors, etc.). However, there is a considerable number of schools whose students attend associate programmes of Royal Ballet School, Central School of Ballet and others. There is no guarantee that these students will enter these institutions but their previous training allows them to be considered for entrance into the top pro schools in the UK.

 

On the other hand, the UK is more known for producing excellent contemporary dancers and a lot of international students are attracted to study at The Place, Laban, or London Studio Centre.

[Daniil]

Hey!

 

Well, I informed myself a bit by googling and found out, that Monica Mason only makes auditions and so offers dancers contracts only by single auditions. It means you have to phone and arrange a meeting. Then you'll be probably going to make a class with the company and show your skill.

Personally I think this is a better way of doing audition, because so you don't have this competition feeling...

 

About the discussion of dance education in Britain, I don't think it comes from a lack of self discipline or in general how seriously the art is taken.

 

Well, I actually don't train more then 1,5 hours a day (This means one class) Of course it is more intense then in a normal ballet school, because i'm the only one in the class and teacher is my mother, but somehow we manage to go on. In the morning I go to school and make my high school degree here in Germany (1,5 years to go ). In the afternoon I do some class. I participate in our Opera in small parts, but nothing big.

Even so I managed to win some important ballet competitions and have still my own life

 

So, I just wanted to say, that i don't think it depends on the general attitude of young people. It depends on every single student and how he or she thinks about it. Also an important role take the facilities and teachers...There are so many thinkgs...

 

PS: Sorry for my poor english

Edited January 29, 2005 by Daniil

[Dance_Scholar_London]

That is a good pointe, 1-2-1 training is quite intensive and students gets 100% attention. A regular class size in the UK has about 25 students at Conservatoires.