Doing it all

[Letitshine2]

Advise please. I have a 13 year old dd in year 8 at high school. She's always wanted to go in to acting but not sure if it's acting or musical theatre she wants to do ..I think she's better at acting but that's just me. The point is I think she stretched to thin at the moment on Monday she has a 1hr lamda, Tuesday, tap, modern and 2 jazz classes nearly 4 hours of dance, Wednesday pointe and then of to a drama workshop, Thursday ballet, contemporary, Friday nothing, Saturday ballet and musical theatre and Sunday singing lessons. As well as normal school home work, learning scripts for auditions and pieces for lamda exams and singing exams. Her agent has said that my dd needs to prioritise and I agree but the dance school say she needs all the dance to go in to musical theatre. I'm confused about what to cut ....advise please none of my friends dds do this much ...are we crazy

[riverdancefan]

Dear Letitshine2

My DS is also as busy as your DD, he does spread himself thinly and could probably be better at - say tap , or piano for example as he doesn't practice as much. We also spend alot of time travelling so he is either asleep or working on his laptop.
But he loves it all - especially Irish dance and does not want to give up anything. He does struggle to fit in homework and on occasion for certain projects such as Art (which he will never do at GCSE) we have helped him with research.
He is busy every night, sometimes only for an hour but it's still a disruption. All day Saturday at Conti's and also at the Globe all day Sunday currently.
He doesn't know what it is to have a school break or holiday - he is always busy.
Our compromise is - he is going into year 10 in September so for the next two years he will not do any LAMDA exams, or MT exams , will take on less performances to leave Sundays as free as possible, drop Irish to once a week, and not take on anything like NYMT etc that needs an Easter commitment.
In some ways I do appreciate that he isn't particularly commercial looking and he is tall, so castings are few and far between, I don't think we could cope.
I guess in summary, I am saying if she is happy, and she is enjoying what she does and keeping up at school, it's really not up to her agent, with due respect. She is 13 and needs to get as many skills under her belt as possible, it sounds like she loves doing it all, and if she and you are ok about it, then why not?
I am more concerned with adult employment and training ready for college, all the time he is improving and most of all happy, I am ok with that
(I am totally broke) - but happy that he is happy.
Hope that helps as I guess your DD and my DS are in similar situations and the same school year.

RDF

[Hecouldshine]

Letitshine2 I can understand your concerns. It is always so hard to cut down. Everything seems important doesn't it, and every teacher will feel their classes are crucial.

If she definitely doesn't want to be a dancer then I feel she doesn't need all those dance classes at 13. 2 jazz classes, modern AND contemporary - that's a dance training programme, not musical theatre - I would say she could safely drop a jazz class and modern or contemporary and still be on course to be a dancer, let alone musical theatre performer. She would easily cope with auditions at one of the dance orientated musical theatre courses like Laine, Urdang and Bird, having cut those out. She could even cut out the tap and manage, although it is a useful skill.

If you were still after more cuts, could you cut down the LAMDA and singing lessons a bit, make them alternate weeks? I'm not sure they need to be too intensive at 13 - just up their frequency a year before auditions for colleges start?

I would worry that my child would lose their enjoyment with so many classes, but some children thrive on that number. I feel you have to watch and know your own child, and be flexible year by year, or term by term, depending on the pressures on them. Another useful thing to consider is a private dance class: with the right teacher, you can cover an awful lot when they are focusing on one child who picks things up quickly - could she have a private class that gives her the jazz/contemporary, and just stop all the other jazz/modern/contemporary classes? Just have her own tailored course!