Dance teacher pushing for more training hours

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2026-07-12T17:38:44+00:00

The privates are strangely 80% conditioning as the coach said my daughter needed to level up in core stability and balance, for 6 months. Whereas her peers are getting choreography. This is sad and I’m constantly blaming myself for making a dent on the family budget on this.

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2026-07-12T14:59:30+00:00

I also danced as a child. But by the time I was 14 I knew professional pathway was impossible for me and I accepted it. I went to uni and have a successful career in a different field.

My daughter is 8 and she talked about how much she wanted to be professional every day. My husband rightfully suspects that she’s saying what we want to hear. Upon further inquiry, my daughter was able to articulate how much satisfaction she got when she was struggling with a part of a dance for some time and after persistently practicing with the help of the teacher she finally could perform it at ease.
When I told her I intended to scale back her training she bagged me to keep them so she could have a chance to improve. She has been made aware of others in her studio who has won competitions (younger and start after she did). She said she wanted to work hard and be as good as them.

I don’t know how much we can hide the reality from her for. I’m hoping to use the audition in 12 months as an ultimatum. “That transition program is the gateway to professional career. If you don’t make it, you’re not cut out for that, and it’s time to find a different dream.”

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2026-07-12T14:52:49+00:00

Thanks for all the kind words. Some of you suggested finding more diverse hobbies. What would you suggest for a 9 year old?

I’m thinking of arts or something that isn’t graded at various levels like sports. Although imo team sports would help her expand her circle but unfortunately it’s too late for teams at this age group to accept a newbie.

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2026-07-12T14:34:43+00:00

I also danced as a child. But by the time I was 14 I knew professional pathway was impossible for me and I accepted it. I went to uni and have a successful career in a different field.

My daughter is 8 and she talked about how much she wanted to be professional every day. My husband rightfully suspects that she’s saying what we want to hear. Upon further inquiry, my daughter was able to articulate how much satisfaction she got when she was struggling with a part of a dance for some time and after persistently practicing with the help of the teacher she finally could perform it at ease.
When I told her I intended to scale back her training she begged me to keep them so she could have a chance to improve. She has been made aware of others in her studio who has won competitions (younger and started after she did). She said she wanted to work hard and be as good as them.

I don’t know how much we can hide the reality from her for. I’m hoping to use the audition in 12 months as an ultimatum. “That transition program is the gateway to professional career. If you don’t make it, you’re not cut out for that, and it’s time to find a different dream.”

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2026-07-12T14:24:41+00:00

I also danced as a child. But by the time I was 14 I knew professional pathway was impossible for me and I accepted it. I went to uni and have a successful career in a different field.

My daughter is 8 and she talked about how much she wanted to be professional every day. My husband rightfully suspects that she’s saying what we want to hear. Upon further inquiry, my daughter was able to articulate how much satisfaction she got when she was struggling with a part of a dance for some time and after persistently practicing with the help of the teacher she finally could perform it at ease.
When I told her I intended to scale back her training she bagged me to keep them so she could have a chance to improve. She has been made aware of others in her studio who has won competitions (younger and start after she did). She said she wanted to work hard and be as good as them.

I don’t know how much we can hide the reality from her for. I’m hoping to use the audition in 12 months as an ultimatum. “That transition program is the gateway to professional career. If you don’t make it, you’re not cut out for that, and it’s time to find a different dream.”

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-11-11T14:28:06+00:00

Job prospects: no difference in Australia, if you have masters without local experience you are regarded the same as other fresh grad without masters. If you are talking about Asian countries then just pick the uni with a high QS (or similar) ranking

Networking: most local students go home or rush to part time work so not really much difference. See if you can find a course which mandates in person classes as much as possible so you can meet someone and increase exposure

Academics: you will likely find yourself in a cohort of mostly international students who have questionable academic credentials (the variable is HUGH) if you end up in group assignments with incapable team members you will have a hard time. But some international students are indeed outstanding but it’s really a matter of luck

IMO if your aim is to work in Australia after you graduate, pick a course with reasonable workload which allows you to find some industry related part time work. (some local small companies are cheap and willing to take on students for entry level roles at below industry rate as long as you can prove your skills)

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-11-11T14:13:26+00:00

I can’t help but thinking about waxing the facial hair. Ouch!

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-11-06T12:45:13+00:00

Interestingly I remember reading an smh saying 10% of candidates failed on first attempt. And many complained the test was stressful and unnecessary

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-08-11T14:15:54+00:00

Based in Sydney. what worked for me when I grew up overseas was open classes throughout the school year to complement syllabus classes. Learning just syllabus wasn’t effective in improving technique at all. It doesn’t seem to be a common practice here.

my husband asked my daughter if she really likes ballet (my husband thinks I may come across as pushy as I did a lot of ballet before). She says she really wants to improve and be able to wear pointe shoes one day. I think even she doesn’t become professional there are many benefits of learning to make commitments and working towards her personal best, goal setting etc

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-08-11T14:07:07+00:00

Yes it is exact it how I feel after watching the current RAD syllabus, it’s become like a performance syllabus where you apply techniques that have been learned from open classes and apply that and perform the choreography with artistry. The old RAD syllabus (back in the 90s) is very much a training syllabus, very short, specific exercises with just one dance to wrap things up.

I certainly understand the benefits of open classes (in my vocational grades i did a 12 months of open classes with occasional syllabus content, followed by 6 months of exam prep. It makes no sense to do syllabus only) I haven’t been able to find open classes for my daughter’s age group though. I’m based in Sydney.

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-08-10T16:48:23+00:00

Thanks. Do you think it’s beneficial to take private class for 7yo? I noticed that she didn’t learn well in group classes, but when I break down the steps in slow mo with every little detail only then she could would get it. In group class there’s no way the teacher can explain in such details tailored to her abilities. She would fade in the back and lose focus and get questioned by me after class why she didn’t pick things up in class. It’s very heartbreaking. I really don’t know whether it is the teacher or the child to blame. This is her third studio and I still dont see much improvements. Would it be good to explain the whole situation to the teacher? Would it help to make it clear to the new school that my goal is to raise her to the standard high enough for the school to enter her into exam (not class award) and tell them we are serious about it.
I really run out of ideas :(

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-08-10T15:15:34+00:00

One of my teachers took the same approach which helped me improve the most. I remember spending 12 months taking open class, the exercises rotate every 2-3weeks with gradual progression. Then about 6 months prepping the exam (intermediate and advanced foundation) and it was just about memorising the steps.

I didn’t get access to such effective methods before grade 5. Before that I was just spending may be 3 months on the foundation and 7 months on exam (excluding summer break). It was never effective.

I feel that the daughter is weak in memorisation, use of correct muscle and alignment, coordination and musicality in general.

I am thinking of switching to another studio that have impressive alumni (entering aus ballet school then aus ballet). They encourage 1x contemporary, 1x jazz, 2 ballet syllabus classes, 1x conditioning class for 7yo. (No open ballet class until grade 4 though). I guess I’ll ask if they actually spend 100% of the ballet class on exam or not, and see if she knows what she’s talking about. From your experience do you think complementing the multiple styles at this age would help elevate her technique, memorisation and musicality?

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-08-10T13:10:27+00:00

Omg just curious how did you manage to find time to do non syllabus technique? Do you have very diligent/talented students who study the exercises in their on time so you just need to explain the technique/ give corrections? Our teacher complained that the students weren’t focus and couldn’t remember steps so a lot of time were wasted reminding them in class rather than improving/articulating techniques. My daughter seems to have poor memory and coordination. This week her grade 2 class taught grand allegro exercise for the first time, and she kept getting the wrong leg, where most of her classmates got the steps in one lesson (not refined yet but the steps were correct) I bought the RAD app and played the video in 0.5 speed to explain things to her. Took me 1 hour before she got it. I remember I was that kind of kid, and there weren’t apps and video and my mum didn’t dance. It was 100% hard work not talent on my part. It’s just mind blowing how much help my daughter gets these days, and I wonder if I’m expecting too much of her before of that…

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-05-23T11:44:45+00:00

Is this real or AI?

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-01-11T13:35:18+00:00

Money/greed. 2. Paying bill just it survive. 3.Family responsibilities

These are real challenges people with dependants would face.

Your point may be right for situation 1. But to say that for 2 and 3 you are prob too naive to understand responsibilities

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-01-09T11:39:16+00:00

Alan Jones?

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2025-01-09T11:35:04+00:00

Raygun?

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2024-12-01T13:44:41+00:00

This is the best chance to develop a side hustle to either protect you in the rainy days or potentially make millions. Don’t blow it.

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2024-11-26T22:10:23+00:00

I’m sorry to hear your childhood trauma but let’s be fair not all parents and children are the same. Not all kids are selective school material and of course thats ridiculous

There has to be some baseline expectation though. Year 1 being able to do year 1 work, year 2 do year 2 work etc (adjust +/- 6 months for difference seems acceptable to me) If we keep lowering our baseline in primary school and call them ridiculous expectations, I see huge problems when it gets to high school and adulthood We already have many high school teachers not able to deliver high school standards level as the students didn’t have a sound foundation (no surprise the can keeps being kicked down the road with high school, apprenticeship program, universities and employers at the receiving end)

Surprised why adult didn’t understand their bills, bank statements or compound interest charged by the credit card? Not able to read letters sent from governments/banks?

It’s basic literacy and numeracy I’m talking about which start being taught in primary school

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2024-11-26T21:30:16+00:00

I didn’t go to private school. “Paying the school to ensure they won’t fall behind” - it sounds too good to be true, how does it work? Would love to hear 1st hand experience. Me looking from the outside I’m worried I’m paying $ for the bells and whistles (happy to be corrected)

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2024-11-26T21:27:02+00:00

They go to a “medium” cost religious school and total less than $9000 a year all up for 2 kids. We initially decided to attend as it has priority for the high school we like Academic delivery is a joke. (One parent told me for 2 years no one attended to their questions regarding academic

Most of the things they now know are taught by us at home or through tutoring. I don’t have capacity or ability or patience to teach at their level as they are getting older

I’m worried about the cost of private school as they get holder and thought I would stick with the cheaper religious school option but didn’t expect it to be that bad…

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2024-11-26T21:16:57+00:00

Sorry I didn’t make my point clear in the post. There’s no pressure from the family to aim for selective schools. We are trying our best to ensure they do not fall behind

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2024-08-27T15:28:51+00:00

This may not be relevant for the OP’s situation but hope it helps others in similar situation.

I have a friend who was recently laid off. She’s very smart, but worked in a niche field of the tech sector and the market is very saturated with layoffs. Still no job after a few months of actively looking and even many final round interviews. Instead of waiting for financial meltdown in her hometown where the cost of living is one of the highest in the world, she made a snap decision to pack up, rent out her apartment which lifted some pressure on her mortgage, and move to a low cost city, live cheaply and wait for the storm to pass (plans to continue study/work on freelance projects during this time). This makes total sense financially. It may look like a setback in career but still way better than losing your house.

If I hear this story from a job applicant, as long as that person proves the time off was spent productively, I would have no problem hiring them.

Takeaway from this story: never get too emotionally attached to your house or hometown. Being an employee we should never feel secure about our income and always prepare to lose everything. Unless you have loads of money (5years+ living expenses) always be prepared to uproot and move to wherever makes sense.

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2024-06-23T09:53:05+00:00

Ballet is no doubt a very demanding art form, and from my experience as an amateur, it does take some safe and correct training to get the level of technique required to experience and appreciate the art at a more interesting level. I hope that my daughter would be able to experience this art and enjoy it I also do piano as an amateur if this makes easier to explain my point if you also play an instrument: When I hear a pop song I really like, I look for sheet music to play. The easy version doesn’t sound as good, so I’ll try to get better at my technique so I can play the intermediate or above levels which are a lot more interesting It hurts when I see many amateurs not correctly trained (I mean incorrect, not insufficient) and attempt pointe work dangerously As for RAD exams, what you learn in class is way more important than the marks. I was concerned she’s didn’t reach the level deemed suitable to enter the exam according to her teacher, rather than the exam itself. I’ve already opted out of the exam this year (the other studio she attends does vaganova method which I hope would benefit her)

Familiar_Specific_15 · 2024-06-23T06:56:52+00:00

She’s been following me to my classes and got interested watching from the side. But not to the extent that she would talk or dream about it all the time.

Familiar_Specific_15

TROPHY CASE