NotaPushyMum.Com

Hi All,
would love some feedback on west end kids... my son just auditioned & did not get accepted into the main west end kids group but was offered a place on their saturday training program. apparently they accept 1 in 500 directly into the group & offer about 30% classes. I have a mixed gut feeling, they have a glossy web site but it seems to be a sylvia young/ stagecoach type thing, i wonder if they take anyone just to make money??
any feedback really appreciated as i have to give them an answer in a few days.
thanks
R

Wow river dance that's shocking .... But as you said everyone has different experiances of WEK ... My dd was also offered a place on their training and after a lot of thought we decided it was not the route her at the moment ... I just wondered who was turned away from training as everyone outside our session seemed to be accepted in to one group or another... Have to say your ds sounds amazing ...well done him

everyone has good and bad experiences - they are a fantastic and talented bunch of youngsters, but everyone on here should be allowed to voice an opinion, it wasn't for me or my son and AS I have just been told in a very spiteful and rude PM, my son clearly wasn't talented enough to get in.. so that's cool.

Jason Robert Brian obviously disagrees. I know whose word I would trust.

islandofsodor wrote:Jason Robert Brian obviously disagrees. I know whose word I would trust.

thank you x
my main element of suprise was the dancing , when he auditioned he came out saying one choreographer asked him to turn one way, the assistant turned the other and he didn't know which way to turn , obviously turning incorrectly, he passed the singing assessment, but failed on dance, I had always said to them that Saturdays were out for him...
still it was for the best in the end..
I know two children in different coloured groups who enjoy it very much..

I of course know its Jason Robert Brown but my predictive text didn't!

riverdancefan wrote: AS I have just been told in a very spiteful and rude PM, my son clearly wasn't talented enough to get in.. so that's cool.

Ouch! Not cool at all!

I thought we were here to help and support each other. Don't we get enough to deal with outside this forum in trying to navigate our kids through a tricky and demanding world without giving each other grief?

How can we offer open and honest critique of the opportunities available to our kids (from our own personal experience) if our kids are gonna get rough treatment from other NAPMs? I'm used to getting trolled by complete strangers when I have been on TV/radio/etc because I work in a controversial field, but I didn't think I was exposing my kids to that via this community. I'm sure it's very rare here, but it must be quite painful when it happens.

I don't know what else to say (which is, in itself, unusual) except I'm really really sorry that this has happened to you, riverdancefan I'm sure your DS has confidence in his own capability and can ignore the comments you have received.

Take care

Deb x

WE all know your son is exceptoional riverdancefan and thank God, most of those in the industry agree, you don't get to grade 6 without being able to dance. Delete the nasty comment from your mind as you delete it from your in box!
We should all sent riverdance fan a PM full of love and praise.

Unfortunately there are a small number of people who seem to take pleasure from sending spiteful messages. These are usually based in jealousy and insecurity. I know I would be raging if someone unfairly criticised my children - it's much easier to disregard spite when directed at oneself!

This is an amazingly supportive site though and I am sure it will continue to be so. Debate is healthy and different opinions are inevitable, we should be able to express our opinions freely!

I'm sorry that you (riverdancefan) have felt the need to delete your response as I did not get the chance to read it and I for one always feel that you give fair and well- informed responses to questions posted.

This site is generally very supportive and it is populated by intelligent and opinionated people which is why I enjoy coming on here. We should be able to air our views honestly but at times people will disagree with us and anything that is to do with our children will always illicit strong responses. However personal attacks via PM are in my view unacceptable and cowardly.

I hope this will not put anyone off from posting on here as I for one appreciate the experiences and advice from the more experienced NAPM's.

Hi again,
unfortunately all the feedback about west end kids has been regarding the comment posted to Riverdancefan. I still ask the same question, what do you all think of west end kids? Do they offer their saturday classes to everyone? does anyone know of anyone who was taken into their group without the classes? are the classes worthwhile? thanks for responding!!
R

Hi Rmal,

My DD has been with WEK for quite a long time so maybe I can help you with your question, although my answer may be slightly biased!!

I would say that each term on average one or two kids gets straight in to the main WEK company, the rest are promoted from WEK:Training. This is for a number of very good reasons. Firstly the main WEKs have to learn a lot of new material to performance standards very quickly. For example in January the company had only three Sundays to perfect nearly 40 minutes of material before performing at Mansion House for the official Charles Dickens Bicentennial Dinner. So they can understandably only offer places to kids that they believe can keep up from day one.

WEKs need to be strong singers AND dancers, so depending on where you DS's strengths lie will determine which WEK Training company he has been offered. WEKs need to be very fit! Some medleys are 20+ minutes long! And some WEK performances are full 90 minutes shows. This means that some WEKs might dance full-out choreography for twenty minutes and then perform a solo immediately after!

The majority of main WEKs come through the ranks of Training. The WEK:Training companies work on exactly the same material as the main WEKs only a term or two later. There is no dumbing down of choreography. So if you watch the most recent WEK YouTube videos you can get a good idea of what material you might work on in Training.

Regarding offers for WEK:Training, I know for a fact that they do not hand offers out freely. They genuinely only offer to people who show the potential to progress to main WEK. They have hundreds of people auditioning every term and the company is probably only 120 strong across all companies, so the numbers speak for themselves.

WEK isn't for everyone, so come and go after only a term, but most stay for a long time. There is a very strong bond between all of the companies, they all support one another. If you watch the start of the WEK at West End Live YouTube video you'll hear exactly how much support the main WEKs had from their Training friends!!

Hope this helps and good luck with your decision.

I'm sorry to hear what happened to you riverdancefan, I hope nothing like this will be put on this forum again

Also can I ask what have some of the ex west end kids doing right now?? I've seen they've all gone off to some of the top drama schools, but kind of performances have they done/ are doing?

Just curious

My son auditioned at the weekend and was accepted into the main company.
He has attended his first rehearsal and absolutely loved it.
However, it is very full on, learning 4 routines at least a week with several harmony parts and dance routines. He leaves home at 7.30am and gets back at 7.30pm so a very long day

The main thing he has enjoyed is how friendly everyone is and how quickly he has been accepted into the group. For him, being with a group of equally committed and talented performers is a dream come true,

Not everyone who attended the scholarship auditions was accepted into the training school.

Thats great news moley!!!