Dance Exams

[Markovka]

Hi Mums,

I am not from the UK, so I don't really know how this system works... Please talk to me. My daughter loves dancing, she has been taking classes in several disciplines this year (including ballet, tap, modern, acro, team, hip-hop). Now I've received 7 exam slips and the total price isn't low :( I asked the teacher if she has to do them all, and of course she said it would be desirable. My question is though if my daughter doesn't do these Grade 1, 2, 3 exams and when she is 14 she realizes she wants to be a dancer, will she be allowed to pass a Grade 5 exam if she continues classes? Thank you for any info.

Hi there, I felt the same when my DD had dance exams recently, they were expensive, so I spoke to the teacher who said that while they are voluntary, most kids do them. I don't think it would harm your DD's chances at becoming a dancer if she doesn't sit them. My DD wanted to take part as her friends were doing so.

I'm not a mum so no more recent experience, but I started dancing late (as a teen in the 00s) and I was put straight in for my Grade 5 modern before later doing my intermediate without any other grades, so it was certainly possible to skip early grades, although it might depend on the exam board so you might want to check with the boards they use.

Would it be possible to let her choose one or two exams to do rather than all of them so she has the experience without the full expense?

Most schools just allow students to progress to the next grade with the rest of the class even if they haven't taken the exam.

I would pick one or two from the 7 for her to actually take so that she gets used to the whole experience. There are very set procedures in exams for the more formal styles such as ballet.

Normally they can progress up the classes without taking the exams. It might become tedious to do so for little reward though. If you/she do not want to take them it might be worth looking for a less exam oriented school. Ime the exams are normally staggered over the year rather than all at once.

no I don't see why she would NEED them but equally she might want to do some to get experience and something to show for her work as others have said.

Out of the ones you have listed the main styles to me would be ballet, tap and modern but it depends what she likes the most and what she would feel most proud of having done exams in or what she thinks she might like to carry on doing perhaps.

I would probably advise doing ballet. It is the base of all dance styles. How old is she? I actually dared to add up recently how much money we had spent on dance exams for my daughters over the years... it was scary. and we are only on grade 4!

How old is your dd and how long has she been dancing? For recreational dancers it is nice to actually have proof of your achievements, and for parents proof of money well-spent.

It all depends on whether you are dancing as a hobby or if there is an expectation of a professional career. Some dance teachers and schools insist on exams and won't let you move up a class until you have taken the exam anyway. I don't agree with this, by the way.

When you are audtitioning for a place at a vocational dance establishment for full-time training, they assess the dancer performing in front of them, they aren't looking at pieces of paper. To get an audition for a first professional contract, they are either open auditions where you just turn up (and again, are assessed on the day) or closed auditions (where you apply in advance and they call you in based usually on where you trained).

So exam passes are not a requirement career-wise. Some application forms ask which grades have been passed, but they know that not everyone takes exams so you can put which level you are currently studying/performing at instead.

Having said that, in order to enter some competitions (such as the Genee) you do need to have passed exams at the required level.

When it comes to taking later exams if you haven't passed earlier ones, for ballet grades up to grade 8 (depending on exam board) you can take them without having passed the previous ones. Some people start taking classes as older children, so it would be ridiculous for a child of 12 to have to join a class with 5-year-olds. They would start in a higher grade.

For vocational ballet grades, however, then you do need to take (for instance) Intermediate before you can take Advanced.

My dd is now 18 and training to be a professional dancer. When she was young she did ballet, tap and modern and took graded exams in those. She also took classes in musical theatre jazz but didn't do exams.

Exams were entirely optional, it was nice to get a certificate but it's also not necessary to do everything. Ballet is the most important as it is the foundation, followed closely by modern or jazz and tap is also very useful though that can be picked up later on.

When she went to vocational school aged 11 they didn't do graded exams but they do the vocational grades. Not all schools do them but they are useful if you want to be a teacher as you have to have passed Intermediate to get onto a teaching diploma course.

When she auditions for college aged 16 exams did not matter as long as she was the standard. Attending an accredited college with a good name and an agent showcase will be what gets her a foot in the door (the audition), not exams taken.

Thank you so much everybody for all your replies, I see the situation clearer now. It's a pity I can't find anything that clear at he Examination board's web-site or the dance school pages ...

My daughter is 9, she's been dancing since 4, nearly 5, first doing only freestyle, then taking on ballet and tap, stunts and cheer, team and recently also hip-hop and contemporary (as I said lots of classes), She's done about 8 rosettes exams, several freestyle, ballet and tap, several team. She's been in the shows the school put up in the local theater, she's been in several competitions (team, tap, cheer, stunts), some with great results. She really enjoys dancing and she wants to do the exams, it's just getting really costly with all the comps and shows, so I am trying to figure out where I can save the money.

As I understand now you can keep training and start having the exams from Grade5 or even Vocational Intermediate, I mean if you realize at the age of 15 that this is going to be your carrier. Why was it a secret before? If this can save you a fortune why everyone goes for those Grade1, 2 etc. exams??? Lack of information?

Our school replied like this to my question: I’m one of the leading schools on offer, however I’m only there due to the pass rate and comments recieved. So the exams is really a way to pay for the school rating? that is they are beneficial for school, not for the student's family? I'd prefer to spend this money on comps and shows.

By the way, I learned from our school's web-site that some young teachers in our school have only passed Grade 5, no higher, so this level must give you the right to teach? Can anyone find any info on what each Exam mean and allows you to do further?

I THINK rosettes are ITDA but I could be wrong.

With regards to being able to teach after grade 5 well yes and no. basically anyone can currently set up a dance school and say they are a dance teacher without any background in dancing at all. BUT do they really have the knowledge? well....

To do proper teaching qualifications and to ultimately be able to enter students for exams it is necessary to study up to and including the Advanced vocational grades and then there are teaching qualifications after that which are a lot of work I believe, and rightly so.

A lot of dance schools only have 1 person able to enter students for exams and then other teachers at various levels. many use older students to teach so that is probably where the grade 5 thing comes in. I like the fact in our dance school there may be older students helping in some of the younger classes and they may be left for 5 minutes or so to do work with them or they may help take some of the lesson with the teacher there but they would never be used as the only teacher for the class. but it is important for these older students to get the experience of helping in lessons if they wish to become teachers in the future themselves.

why do people take the lower grades? well yes I have thought that too but then how do you know which one will be the last one your child might take? So far we haven't missed any exams but I do know others who don't take them or only take some of them.

To become a registered teacher with one of the dance exam boards you have to have passed Intermediate which will allow you onto the first level of teaching diploma. You can then teach the lower grades. Intermediate is a higher level than Grade 5. Its more on a par with Grade 6/7 if you look at where the qualification sits on the framework.

To train as a teacher of higher grade pupils you have to have passed at least Advanced 1. This is a level Higher than Grade 8 and is deemed to be on a par with 1st year degree level.

My daughter has just started some teaching, just non exam classes to 4-6 year olds and 6-9 year olds. She has passed Intermediate in ballet, Adv 1 in tap and is taking her Adv 1 modern exam next year but she is only at the start of her teaching journey and she is supervised by the more experienced teachers. There is no way on earth I would allow a child of mine to be taught by someone who only had Grade 5. What do they possibly know about pedagogy, anatomy & physiology (all things my daughter is learning in her full time performance diploma course).

I don;t know much about Rosettes, they always seemed a bit of an expensive frippery to me but I do think there is a lot of merit in taking the graded exams from Grade 1 onwards. it gives a child a clear framework and sense of achievement to work towards.

Contemporary isn't something a young child should be doing really. Its a mature style and requires an understanding of your body and how to disregard the rules.

My personal opinion is that when it comes to Latin & Ballroom IDTA do what they do very well. The system doesn't transfer very well to ballet, tap and jazz/modern.

The exam fees don't go to the school, they go to the examining body to pay for the examiner and medals/certificates etc. Some schools like to make a pretty penny out of additional exam prep classes though.

None of the dance exams train you to become a qualified teacher. You have to take teaching examinations in addition to having passed dance exams at a high level in order to become qualified to teach. In other words, you may have a fistful of A-levels, but you aren't qualified as a primary school teacher.

If the school is using unqualified young people to actually teach (rather than just assist a qualified teacher in class), then I'd be very wary indeed.

Personally I would do the ballet, tap and modern exams and check if she would still go up with the rest of the class in the others. It is quite good to have some exam practice but 7 exams is quite extreme. My son has recently done an acro exam and will be doing ballet, tap and modern at Christmas. These cost enough yet and some in his dance school have 3 children dancing. I can’t believe all the others in the dance school will be entering all their children for 7 exams. Also along with 7 exams will be 7 lots of exam practice which is costly and time consuming.

Can I just add that most of the exams are not grades at all. For example Double Silver Team - what is it? Tap Prelim Duo? Street 1 Dance? Stunt Team Exam? Wow should I categorize them? The exams in Stunts, Team, and Tap due is where other people depend on her. I may have been stupid but I never thought when I put her in those classes that all classes result in an exam.... One class was announced as a preparation for a show, another one - as a comp class. As I understand in our school you cannot attend classes without having an exam. Is this a usual practice?

That is not usual practice Markova

The One Dance exams originated in ballroom and Latin. They were a pre-cursor to the medal grades where you learnt 3 dances for Bronze, Silver Gold, Gold Bar etc. (or rather thats how it was when I did IDTA ballroom and latin many, many years ago). There were no numbered grades back then.

But what you are describing sounds quite bonkers.

There is a forum called balletcoforum.com. If you post on there members may be able to suggest other dance schools in your area to investigate.

Thank you for the link, Comefromaway

My daughter did her first RAD exams at Grade 6 I think. She's now doing advanced 2 (almost three years on). But does not want to be a dancer. I know a few girls who have gone on to be professional dancers and only one had exams (and only to intermediate) but they did go to Europe and not the UK. I don't know if that would make a difference.

She also did modern exams (can't remember awarding body) starting at the same age (14 I think, though she has been dancing since 6). She does it as a challenge and for fun and her teacher is a good mentor but, yes, they cost a fortune and only get more expensive. We're not in the UK and so can't even use these for university entry (which would be an advantage of doing them in the UK though only up to advanced foundation I believe)

Sounds like the school is making those 'exams' up as they go along.

I agree with egontoste. It sounds like the school is making up its own exams. Would love to know how much they are charging you for them (please PM me and tell me, i am very nosy)

for me as a parent I like my children to do the exams, I think it gives a nice "finish" to learning the sequences and exercises that they do. BUT if they went to a different dance school and focused on doing shows say twice a year and never did any exams would I mind? I don't think so. Would I mind if they said they didn't WANT to take the exams? not really and I wouldn't make them but I would encourage them to if their teachers feel they are capable of passing them. Ultimately they do dancing because they enjoy it not for pieces of paper but the pieces of paper can give them a bit of a goal.

I wouldn't pay for any exams that weren't from a recognised board. absolutely not. Complete waste of your money.

My 9 year old daughter is a reasonably serious dancer and only takes exams in ballet and jazz - what you describe sounds absolutely crackers. Another one here that thinks some must be made up!

Perhaps time to look for a different school. I too would have concerns about classes being taught by senior students. Whereabouts in the country are you? Another recommendation for the balletcoforum site.

No no , as I understand they are all IDTA exams :( But a class started as a preparation for future competitions, now they want to use it for a medal exam. I sort of didn't expect that all the classes have to result in an exam. I guess we just need to give up some classes. It's also a pity that they won't let her progress without having sat the exams as the IDTA person confirmed to me they don't require a lower Grade certificate before they allow to sit higher Grade exams, this is purely teacher's decision.

I wasn't aware of any exams which involve duets or teams personally. I think it all sounds very peculiar and I don't like the idea of a school that says they have to do the exams in order to progress. Exams aren't for everyone, some kids really don't like them and other families just simply can't afford them. All dance schools should offer a way to carry on once a level has been achieved without taking a formal exam. At the end of the day a teacher should be able to assess if they know the work well enough to move on.

Personally I would look for a different dance school if I was you.

I wasn't aware of any exams which involve duets or teams personally. I think it all sounds very peculiar and I don't like the idea of a school that says they have to do the exams in order to progress.

Me neither.