Northern Ballet School Manchester

A place to talk about full time schools and post 16 training.

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woody
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Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by woody »

Hi all, I was wondering whether anyone has experience of the school they can relate please. DD has auditioned there, and we are not sure whether it would be the right place for her.
JayLou62
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by JayLou62 »

Hi,
I'd have alook on www.balletcoforum.com under the forum doing dance as there is a thread on Northern Ballet School there.
A friend's dd is training there and she is very happy there.
The audition process is lovely and my dd loved the audition there.
woody
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by woody »

Thanks, yes I found that thread already, but there isn't all that much detail. We got the impression on the audition day that ballet isn't the foundation and core of the training that we thought it would be, and that it is more all-round dance, with most of the graduates going on to theatrical/cruise work rather than classical. Would that be right?
Katymac
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by Katymac »

I thought they had 2 different course Jazz theatre & Classical Ballet

http://www.northernballetschool.co.uk/en/the_course.php
2dancersmum
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by 2dancersmum »

from the 2nd year the dance choose to go down the classical route or the jazz route, with the majority I think choosing jazz. Graduate destinations are more cruise ship/theatre based but that reflects both the choices of specialisation and the personal preferences of those seeking work, rather than the quality of the ballet training, in my opinion. My DD is at vocational school in her graduate year of a professional dance level 6 diploma (though not at Northern though she has friends there). She has lived and breathed classical ballet her whole life but is no longer sure if she will pursue a classical contract. I think this is often true of dancers in upper schools. The standard at this level is so high and such a step up from lower schools that they regularly reassess themselves, their capabilities and their goals. My DD started out as a ballet girl but is now a dancer - she wants to earn her living by dancing and will look at various options to get work she can enjoy. It may be ballet - it may not. Auditioning for ballet companies is a very expensive business, which is another factor - and it takes more time than auditioning in London or Manchester. What I am trying to say is that many students simply change their minds between entering professional upper school training at 16 and graduating at 19. It is also perhaps worth remembering that if you are applying for a level 6 diploma in professional dance then the course must include 3 disciplines as a minimum - you are assessed in 2 main disciplines and have a 3rd supporting discipline. I think some schools are more transparent than others with the fact that for Professional Dance courses you have to do more than just ballet.

Getting into any of the vocational dance schools is hard. My advice would be to wait and see what options your DD has at the end of the audition process. All the schools provide excellent training but it is down to the individual what they get from the school and how they use their training and I am sure they are supported for whichever destination they aim for. And as a complete aside I do know of a Northern graduate who works on cruise ships and has been performing ballet and dancing on pointe on board ship on a regular basis.
woody
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by woody »

Yes, she knows she needs to be versatile, and does contemporary and jazz as well as ballet. MT/commercial etc isn't her thing, her main focus is classical/contemporary and it's early days with the auditions so we'll see what happens!
Katymac
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by Katymac »

I was thinking about this

DD was always certain she was MT; but after a term she is thinking she might be 'a dancer' - who knows how she will feel in another term or next year or a year later

Things change :roll:
2dancersmum
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by 2dancersmum »

My DD was always dance.- ballet in particular MT is dance, singing and acting in equal measure and the dance element is more tap and jazz than ballet so far less interesting for my DD. The level 6 diplomas in dance typically offer ballet, contemporary, jazz and tap with ballet usually as the core subject. The Trinity course does offer an option of a vocal/acting module as a supporting discipline but my DD does not do these as choreography is her preference. Good luck to your DD with her auditions Woody and to yours Katymac. As you say, to some extent it is a case of see what happens.
woody
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by woody »

Well well well, she has an offer! Don't know what to do now because she also has finals somewhere else, and other auditions still to come. They want to know soon, and send the DaDa form filled in, but what happens to that if she gets in somewhere else with a DaDa and decides to go there instead?
2dancersmum
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by 2dancersmum »

Congratulations to your DD - she has done well. If she gets an offer and funding from another school at a later date - that she prefers to Northern - you just contact Northern and decline the place and funding and the DADA will be offered to the next person on the list. Each school has a pot of DADA funding and each person they offer funding to will be entitled to a different amount depending on family income. When someone declines funding from one school, the money goes back into the pot to be offered to the next person the list. Most of the ballet schools make their DADA offers in March after final auditions. There are always people with more than one offer (with DADA) and others with offers of places but on waiting lists for funding and yet more on waiting lists for places. There is always a lot of movement in March/April on these lists before places are finally sorted.
sapphire
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by sapphire »

woody wrote:Well well well, she has an offer! Don't know what to do now because she also has finals somewhere else, and other auditions still to come. They want to know soon, and send the DaDa form filled in, but what happens to that if she gets in somewhere else with a DaDa and decides to go there instead?
Congrats to your DD... fab news! Good luck to her with her other auditions ... it's always good to go into auditions with an offer already in the bag!
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CatKat_0
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Re: Northern Ballet School Manchester

Post by CatKat_0 »

Fab news on getting an offer - well done x
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