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Ballet class for 6 year old- too advanced?

28 replies

Cranberry2020 · 20/12/2024 13:05

Hi

My summer born 6 year old (so not 7 until until next end of July) is doing grade 1 RAD exam next summer. It just seems incredibly rapid to me and I wondered what other folk were doing? Is this too advanced? She’d be taking her exam in early July before she’s 7.

thanks
cranberry

OP posts:
eurochick · 20/12/2024 19:51

I don't like the sound of pointe work by 11. By daughter's dance school starts pre-pointe conditioning classes for grade 3/4 dancers so probably around 10-12 years old. I don't like the sound of a school that rushes to pointe. But the grade 1 age by itself sounds pretty standard.

taxi4ballet · 20/12/2024 21:12

I agree with @MrsAvocet on this.

When you mentioned that the teacher said about pointe at 11, two things went through my mind.

First was that none of the RAD grades from 1-8 have any pointe work in them at all and are designed for purely recreational dancers to gain a good standard right up through their teens. Pointe work is only included in the vocational grades from Intermediate Foundation upwards, and for that exam there is a minimum age of 11. If any dance school was routinely pushing all their students up the grades once a year so they are around grade 5 by age 11, are then all put into Inter Foundation and expected to start pointe irrespective of their physical suitability, then I would be very wary of that school, as Mrs Avocet says.

Second, and this one is a big 'if'... some good teachers will notice a natural aptitude and the right sort of feet very early on, and for those few talented students, starting Inter Foundation by 11 would not be out of the ordinary. So @Cranberry2020 it could be that the teacher has 'spotted' something in your dd and is thinking ahead.

Incidentally, there is very little pointe in IF, and they spend longer changing into their pointe shoes near the end of class than actually wearing them. It would be only a few minutes a week for quite a while. They can learn the pointe exercises in soft shoes, so they will only need to actually be on pointe when they are fairly close to taking the exam. Most dancers would expect to spend anything up to 2 years in each vocational grade.

ShortColdandGrey · 21/12/2024 16:32

Cranberry2020 · 20/12/2024 18:55

Thanks but my daughter will not be 7 when she takes the exam? Then will take grade 2 before 8…

She is a few days off of being 7 at her exam is she not? 😆 My daughter with be 8 when she does her grade 2. As a previous poster said if not for lockdown my daughter would have already done her grade 2. I think you are over reacting about this. If you don't feel she is ready say no to the exam until she is definitely 7 😆

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