Does being a boy give you a bigger advantage of getting into a 3 year musical theatre/dance courses?

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

Moderator: busybusybusy

Dancecrazy
BRIT Award
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed May 13, 2020 10:26 am

Re: Does being a boy give you a bigger advantage of getting into a 3 year musical theatre/dance courses?

Post by Dancecrazy »

icantdance wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 3:19 pm DS is doing the Urdang summer school next week. Sadly it's not actually at Urdang but we are turning the conservatory into a dance studio for a week. It's 1-5 every afternoon - next week or the week after and costs £240 for the week, if anybody's interested. Hopefully it will be really useful and have a similar impact to your DDs experience of the 'proper' Urdang summer school. Urdang is one of the 7 he will be auditioning for next year.
I think that is so expensive for an online course in your own home .Im shocked to be honest . My dd did the Urdang summer school 2 years ago and as I recall it was around £280 for 10- 4 pm everyday though they always ran about 45 mins overtime . She got to meet so many teachers and students from around the country . It was a big wake up call to see the talent that’s out there and she really upped her game after that . They also got to put on a show on the final afternoon .
The costs of running an online course are greatly reduced in comparison to having it in the building and this should be reflected in the price .
MygirlsloveMT
GRAMMY Award
Posts: 264
Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2019 2:58 pm

Re: Does being a boy give you a bigger advantage of getting into a 3 year musical theatre/dance courses?

Post by MygirlsloveMT »

Dancecrazy wrote: Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:47 am
icantdance wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 3:19 pm DS is doing the Urdang summer school next week. Sadly it's not actually at Urdang but we are turning the conservatory into a dance studio for a week. It's 1-5 every afternoon - next week or the week after and costs £240 for the week, if anybody's interested. Hopefully it will be really useful and have a similar impact to your DDs experience of the 'proper' Urdang summer school. Urdang is one of the 7 he will be auditioning for next year.
I think that is so expensive for an online course in your own home .Im shocked to be honest . My dd did the Urdang summer school 2 years ago and as I recall it was around £280 for 10- 4 pm everyday though they always ran about 45 mins overtime . She got to meet so many teachers and students from around the country . It was a big wake up call to see the talent that’s out there and she really upped her game after that . They also got to put on a show on the final afternoon .
The costs of running an online course are greatly reduced in comparison to having it in the building and this should be reflected in the price .
Performers is £100 for a full 5 day timetable, they can also have up to 100 people in a zoom session at once hence the cheaper price as they can have more students. I think in 2018 we paid £330 for the summer school at Urdang x
islandofsodor
OSCAR Award
Posts: 1162
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:09 pm

Re: Does being a boy give you a bigger advantage of getting into a 3 year musical theatre/dance courses?

Post by islandofsodor »

You see I'd have willingly paid the higher price for a course capped at a reasonable class size.

100 students in a zoom class would be a total waste of money.
User avatar
Caroline A-C
BAFTA Award
Posts: 716
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:46 pm

Re: Does being a boy give you a bigger advantage of getting into a 3 year musical theatre/dance courses?

Post by Caroline A-C »

I think it is just a case of less competition for boys due to numbers but they still have to have what they are looking for.
All new to me!
User avatar
icantdance
GRAMMY Award
Posts: 133
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2019 6:17 pm

Re: Does being a boy give you a bigger advantage of getting into a 3 year musical theatre/dance courses?

Post by icantdance »

I know Performers was good but DS is also at CAT and the Performers summer school clashed with the CAT summer intensive, which is this week, so that's why DS is doing the Urdang summer school - which is better than no summer school at all. Next year he will be post A level so not worth the summer school, and tbh with the postponed holiday from this year, plus the holiday we'd already booked for next year, I don't think he'll have time to do anything else other than go on holiday!! :lol: Sadly this year we were left with what was available. I wish I'd only paid £100!!

He had a DADA offer from Performers last year (when he was only 16 and decided he wasn't ready to leave home) so fingers crossed they'll still love him next year as well!!
MygirlsloveMT
GRAMMY Award
Posts: 264
Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2019 2:58 pm

Re: Does being a boy give you a bigger advantage of getting into a 3 year musical theatre/dance courses?

Post by MygirlsloveMT »

icantdance wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:00 am I know Performers was good but DS is also at CAT and the Performers summer school clashed with the CAT summer intensive, which is this week, so that's why DS is doing the Urdang summer school - which is better than no summer school at all. Next year he will be post A level so not worth the summer school, and tbh with the postponed holiday from this year, plus the holiday we'd already booked for next year, I don't think he'll have time to do anything else other than go on holiday!! :lol: Sadly this year we were left with what was available. I wish I'd only paid £100!!

He had a DADA offer from Performers last year (when he was only 16 and decided he wasn't ready to leave home) so fingers crossed they'll still love him next year as well!!
Trust me they will, they love the boys there and give them opportunities before the girls (eg. boys can audition for Move It in first year, girls is second year, boys can audition for panto in second year, girls is third year)!
Marissa
GRAMMY Award
Posts: 444
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:25 pm

Re: Does being a boy give you a bigger advantage of getting into a 3 year musical theatre/dance courses?

Post by Marissa »

Ballet Cymru is doing a zoom summer school next week. 9-4 everyday for a donation of £50. DD is doing that and then her own dance school has one for £75 the following week. It will be interesting to see how they both go.
Although my DD will be going into her last year at The Hammond training must continue in the holidays xx
User avatar
icantdance
GRAMMY Award
Posts: 133
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2019 6:17 pm

Re: Does being a boy give you a bigger advantage of getting into a 3 year musical theatre/dance courses?

Post by icantdance »

Feedback from last week's Urdang Summer School. DS had classes of 14 - 20 and had the conservatory set up as a dance studio with special flooring. He absolutely loved it. They got individual feedback, especially on the singing and he was wringing wet every day through exertion (and somewhat smelly - straight into the shower!!). His main regret was that they only did 3 hours of classes a day, and obviously he would have preferred to do face-to-face. But overall I thought it was £240 well spent and he said he learned loads from it!
biscuitsneeded
BAFTA Award
Posts: 622
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 6:28 pm

Re: Does being a boy give you a bigger advantage of getting into a 3 year musical theatre/dance courses?

Post by biscuitsneeded »

Interesting question. Boys obviously have less competition in terms of sheer numbers. However, a boy of 18 who wants to perform is probably self-selecting. If they haven't really got what it takes their interest may well have fallen away during the teen years when they invariably encounter teasing if not worse about their interests. So although it may look as if boys have an easier ride, I would suggest those who audition at 16 and 18 are likely to be those who are talented and committed in any case. And they don't walk it at auditions - lots of great boys get plenty of rejections.
Post Reply