How do we know?

[Victoria Leigh]

MBF, it would be more appropriate for her to inquire, since she is 16. Are you saying that this is where I used to teach and they no longer do the meetings with the students, or the parents if requested?

[Georgia]

Gracegirls and MBF, you should also ask your daughters what kind of feedback they got while they were at the SIs. Dancers can usually tell if they are being noticed by the teachers. My daughter was never really advanced for her age, so when she was younger, around 12-13, there were always precocious dancers around that got the attention. As she's getting older she is doing extremely well and now gets attention from teachers. On her first day of a class this summer, the teacher called her over after class and asked her who she trains with. Teachers noticing you is very encouraging to the dancer.

 

Also, ask your daughters which teacher they really clicked with and hopefully that teacher can provide some feedback.

[Gracegirlz]

Thank-you, Georgia, that is encouraging to hear! My daughter didn't receive lots of correction or feedback, so she assumes that she did not do well enough to be noticed. But she still learned so much, loved the new challenges & recognizes she improved in many areas. She is quiet & tends to hang back & observe, rather than seeking the limelight.

[MBF]

Miss Leigh, if we are talking about the same place (where you are listed as summer faculty) I did not request a meeting. I am forever not wanting to bother even our home faculty with my questions as I know how pesky parents can be. Right now the school is in the middle of a very busy time so I was and am even more hesitant.

 

DD did get a lot of feedback from her teachers and has shared that with me. The feedback was all very good from both the regular and summer faculty. She was placed in what was supposed to be a middle level of an advanced intensive (although no one on staff ever labeled any of the levels as being higher or lower). Mostly what is going on is that she would like to return next year with eyes toward possibly attending year round. I think what she and I are both looking for in regard to feedback is what aspects she needs to work on to get to a point where she would be up to the expected level for a student her age as well as be a good fit for the school.

[Victoria Leigh]

Oh! Well, that could be a lot of places, MBF. I was actually speaking of WSB, where I taught year round for 13 years. What you just described does not sound like that program.

[MBF]

LOL, no Miss Leigh this is Atlanta (I might as well just say so since I am all over that board anyway). Did you teach there this summer? I know my DD did not have you but she thought you may have worked with one of the other groups. I am hesitant to bother anyone there right now since they have a lot going on with the move to the new studio.

[Victoria Leigh]

No, I did not do any classes there this summer.

[kobbymom]

Kobbymom, that program will send their "report card", but it does usually take a bit more time.

 

Thank you, we did get it, She got good for most things and excellent for things like dress and attitude. One of her teachers at her home school said she looked fantastic, but I haven't had a chance to ask her teachers if they see improvements. Thanks for your all your input, it is greatly appreciated.

[sienacrazy]

My niece is 14 years old and would also like to pursue a career in ballet. Her dance teacher has told us that she has a natural ability that she does see in any of her other students, but when casting parts in performances, my niece always appears to be in the background. Do you know of any place that we can bring her to get an impartial assessment of her development? We live near NYC. Thank you.

[Victoria Leigh]

Welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancers, sienacrazy.

 

Has she ever been to a Summer Intensive program? Is her school a pre-professional school? How long has she been studying ballet, and how many classes of ballet and pointe does she take per week? I'm asking these questions, because, since you are new, we don't know anything about her current training, possible additional training at SI programs, and what, if anything has been said about her potential by someone other than her teacher, which could be fine, but that would depend on what kind of school she attends and the quality and quantity of her training, in addition to her potential physical ability.

[sienacrazy]

Hi- Thank you for responding.

 

My niece does attend a pre professional school that is based on the vaganova style. She take an average of 4-6 ballet classes per week and about 2-3 pointe classes too. About once she has a partnering class. She has just finished her second year of a SI at the school she currently attends. Just recently she took her first intermediate class at Steps on Broadway. The teacher told her she did a good job. She has been dancing since she is 5, but began seriously studying exclusively ballet for the past 4 years. Of which the first two years was Balanchine and the past two vaganova.

 

We are concerned that the teacher is not giving an impartial assessment of how she is doing. She has told us that she is at the advanced professional level, but we are not sure what that means. We have told her teacher that she wants to pursue a career in dance, but the only response given was that she has natural talent and will make a beautiful dancer. Can she go somewhere for an assessment other than just auditions? What do you recommend?

[sienacrazy]

Correction- partnering occurs about once a month.

[Victoria Leigh]

Sienacrazy, I have edited out the quotes of the previous posts in your posts. If you go down a couple of lines lower at the end of the last post in the topic, you will see a FastReply and an AddReply button. Either of those will allow you to post your response without quoting the previous post.

 

As for another evaluation, since you are near NYC, why not take her there to any of the more well known professional schools, talk to the teacher before the class and ask if he or she would speak to you briefly afterwards about her potential.

[sienacrazy]

Thank you.

[sienacrazy]

Hello again,

 

I was wondering if you have any suggestions for professional schools. Do you mean a school like Steps on Broadway? Any others you could recommend?

 

Thanks