White Lodge, the Royal Ballet Lower School

Day one of two for the Yr7 girls finals at the Royal Ballet School. We were surprised to get here after no luck at Elmhurst, but she is embracing the experience. We are both very realistic about the outcome, only 12 girls will get a place, but it is such a huge achievement for her to get this far from 850 original auditionees.

The dancer's journey is a long and potentially difficult one. This girl has already had more rejections than many ten year olds could cope with. Only two have rocked her (her second 'no' from Tring Associates at 8, when she really thought she stood a chance, and the lack of call back from Elmhurst this year) but she was quick to bounce back from both and use it to inspire her to work harder. In the case of the last 'no' from Tring, she screwed up her courage to ask her Ballet Boost teacher, who happened to be the audition teacher, what she needed to work on. This courage was rewarded with a short 1-2-1 of advice and exercises, which she has been doing religiously.

This girl knows what she wants to do,. She was the one who sat her Dad down in September and explained just exactly how much this meant to her, all the pros and cons, what would happen if she got in and was assessed out etc. She had thought of everything. We will support her every step along the way. This may not be her time, but if not she already has plan B and C in place.