How long to do RAD ballet exams?

[agenvoca]

A dance school my DC goes to seem to take approx two years before they do an exam, and that includes the early pre and pre primary exams. Some parents with older girls complained that their children are behind other similar aged children, in terms of technique when doing auditions. Also seem to delay exams while waiting for newly joined people to reach standard, so as to take the exam together (very small class sizes).

When queried have been told that their children are not ready and so on. I wonder if this is normal, as I'm considering looking elsewhere if this is really the case.

changes to the syllabus is fair enough but if they are in classes that small then their 'number of hours' surely has to be much higher than most children. Ours seem to be classes of about 14-16 in preprimary and primary for ballet.

I must have been told wrongly about the time between exams then - sorry.

That's what I thought. It's been just the three girls in the class for over a year, now it's four of them. And one of the other parents in the school has a child in a grade 2 class of just two girls. They've been doing it for over 18mths, no mention of an exam and not much chance of one soon I'd have thought, not having even started on the character work for that grade! And the girls are not hopeless dancers in my opinion.

Oooh, have just checked and RAD now have two pre school exams, minimum age 2.5. Not sure about that one!

I teach RAD and I haven't heard anything about an 18 month gap between grades. To be honest that's the average amount of time my once a weekers take to do an exam anyway, and we don't really put an awful lot of emphasis on exams for our company children.

canatavia could it be that she's ahead with the IDTA syllabus work but hasn't got to grips with the RAD yet? IDTA is generally thought to put more of an emphasis on performance, whereas RAD is more technically picky. We do RAD and ISTD (and Russian Ballet, but that's less mainstream) and I've had plenty of students who stand out in a ballet class because they can perform well, but the technical aspect isn't quite there.

I can't imagine preschool ones but I suppose if it perhaps keeps some parents happy that the kids can do an 'exam' of some sort?

I don't think I would be happy at all then in the situation you mention. Hard if the child is happy but I think I would be looking at other schools if she starts to feel disheartened about it. As our dance teacher said to me, different schools have a different focus, some do mostly show work and fit exams in round it, some do half and half and some do very few shows but concentrate on exams and teaching. Some are strict and others are more relaxed and you need to find the one that best fits what you want. For us we want traditional, quite strict and not worried about shows, just want the children to feel they are making progress which I suppose for many people is demonstrated by the exams.

I know classes get smaller as the grades go higher in our school but other than the girls going off to college where I think there are only about 4, the other classes all seem to be 8 or more? guessing there from the number I see coming in and out as I don't know any of the older girls but I think that would be about right.

DD has just changed to RAD
She is 16 and will be taking grade 4 with others the same age , this summer

You can buy the RAD on DVD and the book giving detail of each section. This would allow your daughter to review at home,
Is she taking notes straight after class? This could again help her remember any corrections/combinations from class ?

We're not bothering with the pre school exams, seems like a waste of time and money in all honesty. We don't really bother with pre primary either unless it's for the older ones that have been in the class longer. Some parents put far too much emphasis on exams imo- my DD started ballet when she was almost 8 and took her Grade 4 less than a year later. One of the parents expressed surprise that she wasn't working through all the exams

I was trying to explain to another parent that just because my daughter hadn't been doing ballet since she could stand didn't mean she couldn't match her classmates within a few weeks. I just don't see the obsession with exams, they are nice in that they give the child a new experience, a sense of achievement, something to work towards etc and a certificate to show off but I would rather they enjoyed dancing and learned to dance well. I learned an instrument as a child but wanted to stop exams after grade 3 because I hated the music and wanted to play jazz and musicals. sadly the teacher didn't want my parents to pay her to teach me without doing exams so I stopped lessons altogether.

I don't know if that's the case, because it's not very technical at primary RAD level is it, it's more about preparing for the proper steps steps later on at that level. She's doing grade 2 IDTA with steps they won't attempt for a long while in RAD yet. Plus she has a couple of IDTA private lessons and does a lot of gymnastics. I find it hard to believe being behind in primary RAD which I don't think is very demanding, in a class with three other girls, even by their exacting standards. Her teacher doesn't know she dances elsewhere or that she does gym.

New short dances and music from the new syllabus have since been introduced, so I'm wondering if the teacher simply hasn't got through it all. That's more than a bit off if that's the real reason. I just want her to do the exam and have something to show for her time there, before we decide what to do next.

Interesting thread.

We have the DVD and syllabus notes for all classes The prices RAD charge is shocking. The other syllabus DVDs etc much cheaper!

quite possible I suppose like you say with the new syllabus the teacher hasn't got through it but it shouldn't take more than a few weeks to learn a short dance surely. especially in such a small class. I can see why you want her to get the exam.

I run a RAD ballet school and have been for 17 years so am happy to answer any questions any of you may have. My students do exams every year or every four terms depending on whether they are ready. We do coaching in the term of the exam.

I personally don't do the pre-school or pre-primary exams for the same reasons as "fluterain..."

Rad grades are definitely harder than the equivalent ISTD and Cecchetti exams so if you are Grade 1 RAD you may be Grade 2 or 3 ISTD.

One of the problems at the moment is the new syllabus. It is harder for the children to perfect than the old syllabus and we are all new to teaching it. This means that your child may be in the grade a little longer so that he/she will be ready for the next grade which is a bit step up.

HTH

big not bit ;)

Your teacher will definitely know that she is dancing elsewhere and that she does gymnastics!!!!!! We always know!

She may well I suppose! Her physique is becoming fairly muscular from gym. But not much chance otherwise to demonstrate flexibility. I didn't know if they'd be able to guess at the dancing until they attempted a new step and found she could already do it?

shopalot - surely whether a board is harder will depend what type of dancer is taking it?

We have the same nonickname, there were two parents who complained to the principals when DD got accepted onto an associates scheme after just over a year of ballet on the basis that their children weren't entered and they had been dancing since they were 2. Before she started ballet, DD had taught herself double pirouettes and some barre work from watching her sister's rhythmic gymnastics class through a viewing window. It just came naturally to her.

The new syllabus definitely takes longer, just teaching combinations is going to take longer.

I agree with shopalot, we can sniff out gymnasts and other dance syllabi! And figure skaters. The principals at our dance school know DD very well as they taught me to professional level, they took her out for ice cream when she agreed to give up figure skating

it is interesting - both my girls like dancing, listen and work hard and are quite good IMO BUT the younger one seems to just be able to do it. the older one really has to concentrate more (mildly dyspraxic so that doesn't help her) and it just doesn't come easily to her. the little one can pick it up so quickly. I think some people are just naturally able to dance. others can still be good but might take a bit longer to achieve it.

I'm hoping the other dance syllabus isn't going to be objected to at some point!

I honestly believe anyone can dance to a reasonably high level with hard work and dedication, but some just have a natural flair for it and it tends to be those who make it professionally. My DD is adopted and comes from a long line of professional ballerinas and top level rhythmic gymnasts, she is one of those kids who was just born to dance. She does 5 hours of ballet alone a week and she works incredibly hard, but there are kids at that studio who have to work harder than her because it doesn't come as naturally to them.

canatavia other syllabi don't tend to be too much of an issue- I teach a mix of different syllabi within the same class. It's the gymnastics that will ultimately end up not compatible if she goes onto do both at a high level. DD has had to drop figure skating recently because she can't go en pointe until she does and her rhythmic coach was worried it was affecting her turns.

At our school the dc seem to be slightly behind some other local schools, they take 2 years between exams typically. However they also typically get a higher set of marks, mostly high merits, with a good number of distinctions. Very very unusual for a child not to achieve at least a merit. So I think that's a matter of choice.
They also don't take exams the term of a big performance (every 2 years) either.

DD (11, at an ISTD school - both the 'serious' schools are, locally) did ballet exams every year for the first few grades, then it slowed down to one every 4 terms, but she's now been entered for Grade 5 2 terms after taking Grade 4. It is very rare indeed (one every few years) for any child to get less than a merit, distinctions are the norm.

The way the school works it is that, after Grade 2, children attend 2 ballet classes a week - the grade they are working towards, and the one above that. So they do 2 hours of ballet at least per week, usually 3 in the term leading up to the exam. And although there is only a year or 4 terms between exams, they will actually learn the syllabus over 6-8 terms - because they learn for 3-4 terms while they are actually taking the lower grade, then 3-4 terms while they are working at that grade directly IYSWIM.

There are exams 5 terms out of 6 - no ballet exams during the biannual show term - so it is an 'enter when ready' system. DD is now between 2 terms and 2 years ahead of girls she started ballet with, even though many of the 'less able' purely recreational dancers have fallen by the wayside over the years.

(Sorry, should have said 'a minimum of' 2 ballet classes a week. DD does about 4.25 hours of ballet at the moment, would usually be a bit more)

My DDs follow the BATD curriculum and exam structure.

I'm really confused. because DD1 is 13yo & about to take her grade 5. She couldn't have learnt all her french terms much before now (for the Q & A element). It was tough enough to do an Enchaînement for grade 3.

She dances twice a week & does a big show once a year, but it's taken her & her class 2 years to take her grade 5.

I always thought of her as quite a good dancer, but by comparing stories on these threads I'm quite confused.

where does BATD fit into the exam board ethos?