Northern Ballet School Audition

Bit of an adventure this one! I had Northern Ballet School's audition yesterday and as NBS is in Manchester this is quite far for me to go in the morning so I went up on a Sunday evening to Derby to stay with my Aunt and Uncle. I had trouble with my trains as the first one was cancelled so I missed my connection so had to be put in the next one.

In the morning I got 3 trains to end up at Manchester Oxford Road. NBS is in the Danchouse theatre, a 3-minute walk from the station. I popped into Spar on my way to get some water. When in the building you walk up to the 2nd floor to go to the NBS reception; I signed in and got told to wait in the cafe. Once everyone had arrived, there were 12 of us (including 2 boys) which was a lot less than I was expecting, we were taken to the changing rooms to put down our stuff. We got taken back to the cafe to rejoin parents - I was the only one there alone. The vice-principal met us and took us on a tour of the studios in which we caught a glimpse of a ballet and jazz class. The tour ended in their theatre which looks really nice. Here we met the Principal and she gave us a talk about the course.

After the talk we were taken back to the changing room to make sure we were ready for the audition. We had to take all our dance stuff with us meaning our pointe shoes as well as what we wanted for jazz. For jazz I'd taken my shorts and half shoes as I don't own jazz shoes. I also took my phone and purse as we were advised to not leave them in the changing room. I thought I would just add in here that most of the girls wore black but another two girls and I were in blue, another in purple and I feel like there might have been another colour. We did the audition in one of the main studios. First we were given a bit of time to warm up and then did barre. We stood in our number order; I was '4' which was a surprise as thanks to my name I'm normally near the end. We did a normal barre then into the centre for some exercises. These were all fine but I got lost and messed up in the 2nd allegro which is annoying but expected as that's my weakness. We also did some exercises from the corner including pose turns on our own. Next all us girls got our pointe shoes on whilst the 2 boys did an exercise. We only did echappes at the barre and an echappe and pas de bourree exercise in the centre. I had thought that we would do more than this and think that they sometimes do as the teacher asked the Principal if she wanted to see anymore pointe but she said that she didn't.

After ballet we took off our pointes and got ready for jazz. In jazz we did a couple of corner combinations and then a short centre routine which was fun.

Following the audition, we got taken back to the changing room to put warm clothes on and then we waited in the cafe again. While we waited I chatted with a couple of the other girls and one of the boys. Next it was time for my interview which was with Principal and Vice-Principal. I was asked about what I wanted to do, if I had any injuries and where else I was auditioning. I thought that was a bit of an odd question. After my interview I had a physical assessment. This included plies in 1st and 2nd, tendus to see my feet, crunches, lying down and pulling my leg towards my face and holding onto the wall to do an arabesque on each side and a back bend. One of the students took me back to the changing room to get my stuff, I chatted with her a bit about her experience and about the audition. She took me back to the cafe and said I could leave now. I waited a bit whilst getting my things sorted and then left, saying goodbye to those I had talked to.

I had about 2hrs before my train so found a Costa down the road and got some lunch whilst messaging some friends. Before heading back to the station I picked up some food to eat as supper on the train.

When I wrote this I was on the train from Manchester into London, I had been watching Billy Elliot on the Virgin trains BEAM thing to continue my ballet mood. I should hear the result within 2 weeks via a letter which is scarier than an email!

Updates: I got an unconditional firm/conditional insurance offer from De Monfort Uni and a RECALL!!!! from London Studio Centre!!!! Ahh!!! I am so happy! Hopefully I can prove at that that they want me. It involves learning a solo though so one more thing on my long list of to-dos.