Dance lessons. When do they do exams?

[88milesanhour]

Just that really,

Dd does modern, ballet and tap. I appreciate this is probably a very open ended question but was just wondering how they typically progress and pass exams etc. If people with older kids could give me an idea that'd be helpful. Did you do anything outside lessons to help them when they were little? She's only 4 currently so obviously nowhere near taking any yet but just curious. Thanks

At 4, nothing extra needed. It should be fun and no pressure.

Cant remember when DD started exams, probably 6? Early exams were very low key, all prep was done in class by teacher.

As she got older we always arranged some private lessons in advance of exam. And much later I learned it is possible to buy a DVD of the ballet exam work, these were handy for practice at home.

Thanks. I wasn't meaning anything anything massively structured outside the lesson but for example she loves to do the fun dancing lessons on youtube and just wondered if there's an equivalent or anything specifically aimed at the first exam requirements x

Not every dance school will do exams

If you search for RAD prep primary (or whichever exam board her teacher uses) you’ll find videos of the things she will be learning. Or if you know any older girls who dance I’m sure they will be happy to demonstrate - my dd has been asked to demonstrate her pointe shoes a few times by younger girls.

Our's do LAMBDA I think.

Thanks. X

Serious ballet training doesn’t start until age 10. The foundation for serious training start at around age 7 At age 4, your DD is learning about moving to music, listening, appropriate expression and socialisation in a purposeful productive and nurturing environment.

Don’t be one of those parents who puts the cart before the horse. Good dance training doesn’t need exams. There are 3 trained dancers in my family (2 worked as professional ballet dancers) and none of us took exams past about RAD Elementary.

A properly trained teacher can develop his or her own curriculum which enables age appropriate progression. Exams simply mark progress but they’re completely unnecessary. They should not be the aim, but the result of a child’s dance training.

In the profession, dance exam results are irrelevant. A dancer is either
up to professional standards or not ….

Thanks. That's a really useful and interesting take on it. I certainly want her just to enjoy dancing and use it as an outlet for expression and physical activity rather than anything 'academic' as such and at age 4 it's obviously not possible to know how seriously she's going to take this or whether she's even going to want to carry it on. Her school aren't super strict or serious but it seems there's definitely potential to be or to audition for other schools if wanted

I think although like you say exams aren't the be all and end all they do seem to dictate what class they're in and to what level they're being taught (at her school at least) I could see it being disheartening if a pupil is stuck with kids half their age and it won't be long before they realise this and it puts them off. Interestingly my dd's school does the primary classes at the weekends and midweek. Dd has been a few times to both. The midweek has much less kids but one of the instructors was telling me that they progress slower. I do indeed note that most of the kids on the weekend seem around 5-6 whereas some of them midweek look much older. I have no idea how they aren't progressing QUICKER when there's less of them. The instructor thought it's coz there's more 'competition' in the weekend groups. I have no idea but it's interesting...

I think year 1 was dd's first grade exam. A class one, no individual. Timetable had exams for a different discipline each term, but each school will vary.

Ballet particularly benefits from the “slow and steady” approach. At about age 12-14 - when a student might start pointe work if it’s anatomically safe- there can be a huge speeding up. And it’s at around 14 or so that a lot of dancers make decisions about how seriously they want to pursue their dance studies.

I decided at age 15 that plies and tendus bored me so I cut back and did other things. But I went back to a professional studio as an adult at 20, and 40 years later I still prop up a barre 3 times a week

My DD is a professional dancer and has never taken a dance exam. She had her first dance lesson at eight and a half. Most of the rest of the world will never have heard of dance exams. It’s really only in the U.K. that they seem to be prevalent.

Sorry, should have added, this is for ballet. It may be that Irish dancing or ballroom or other sorts do have exams worldwide.

My son started ballet in September at the age of 15. He’s got his first ballet (RAD 5, I think) in two weeks. He went straight in at this level. My niece (13) has been doing ballet for years and is only on level 5. She had to do earlier levels because of age. They’re at different schools though so I don’t know if that’s relevant.

My son does two hours per week ballet training. He also does modern, tap and jazz. He passed his level 5 modern a few weeks ago.

I think dd had her first ‘exam’ about age 6 but it wasn’t a real exam. It was the whole group and I think everyone passed. Now we tend to have lessons coming up to exams and she can focus on anything she is struggling with. You can usually book 1-1 lessons for extra money but you need to book them in advance.

However I’ve never seen a ballet class where students are ‘stuck with kids half their age.’ In dd’s class most girls are around her age or not far off. Most ballet schools will split by age and stage. So just because you’re a 13 year old beginner doesn’t mean you’ll be in baby ballet with the 3 year olds! Although most of the girls in dd’s group have been doing ballet for a long time, but I think if you were to start as a beginner you’d go on a different class with girls/boys of similar age.

But I agree not to over worry about the exams. I think they’re mainly to encourage a goal/see the progress you’ve made. A child who doesn’t take the exams should still be learning all the same technique etc.

DD gave up ballet at 6 when the next class would be an exam class. (She wasn’t put off by exams, but wanted to do Beavers instead)

Most dance schools will have exam sessions annually. Some do them every two years, either because it is a small school and you can't book an exam session unless you have a certain number of students taking the exam, or because the school concentrates on competitions, festivals or shows and they take up a lot of time that would otherwise be used in syllabus work.

What tends to happen is that all the children in the class take the exam if they are ready for it, and then move to the next grade up. Teachers do try to keep similar ages together and will sometimes move kids up to the next class anyway, even if they don't take the exam. Having said that, there's no point in tackling something more difficult if you haven't learned and mastered the previous stuff yet.

Don't worry about it, she just needs to enjoy herself.

Ours do exams bi-annually (with a show put on at a theatre the in between year) anyone ready to take the exam at the level they're dancing is offered the option to sit it but there's no requirement too. Kids still move up when they're ready/with their class.

I think they can do the first one when they're 4/5 they literally go in as a class and do a little dance, pretty sure they pass as long as they join in and they get a rosette and certificate

LAMDA is singing and drama.

The main dance examining bodies are RAD, ISTD, IDTA, BBO, NATD and a few others.

Each school does things differently. Some do exams every year, others less often, others not at all.

My daughter started ballet age 6 and was put straight into a Grade 1 class, she just spent a bit longer in there than others who started at 4. Ballet is about muscle training, you can’t rush it but on the other hand if you go too slowly children get bored.

good schools do a mixture of syllabus and free work.

Pre-Primary is the exam usually taken around the age of 6 and then Primary after that. Grade 1 has a minimum age of 7 in RAD but that’s only a rough guide.

It can depend on the dance school. Ours don’t do any extra classes before exams, means it can sometimes take a while between grades but I like that as don’t have to worry about commitment clashes. Another school I know asks for extra lessons leading up to exams…

My dd's dance school usually asked candidates to attend one extra lesson, so they could practice under 'exam' conditions, with the teacher pretending to be the examiner. I always thought that was a rather good idea. She didn't charge extra for that lesson either.

Thanks all. Sorry yes I think you're right LAMDA is just their theatre studies side and they're different boards for the dancing. It sounds like every school seems to have their own approach. I have every faith that the school she's at will make it enjoyable for her and get the most that they can out of her which is what really matters at the end of the day. They've been absolute sweethearts so far and really bought her out of her shell

At age 4 I really wouldn’t worry about them ‘getting the most out of her’ or doing exams. If I remember rightly at that age it was more about just learning to join in, follow along with the teacher, and having fun to music! When my dd was about 8/9 more girls stopped going or committed to other activities more. But before that it was just fun. I think building that foundation (this is a fun thing no pressure etc) is the most important thing.

Mine will do her primary exam when she’s in year 2 and then will move into a grade 1 class sometime next year once she’s done it.

I’m surprised your 4yo has been to the primary classes though. There is a massive difference between what my 3yo is doing in her class versus my 6yo in her primary one. The letter is much more structured, the pre-school one is much more about story-telling.