Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

Flip

Original poster

RAD ballet exams

15 replies

misshardbroom · 20/02/2010 10:49

DD is 6 and has been going to ballet since just before she was 3. She's currently in Primary ballet, having done her Pre-Primary exam in July last year (just before her 6th birthday).

To be honest, I'm not really bothered about the ballet exams or how quickly she progresses through them, the main thing for me is that she's enjoying it. But I don't know much about the exam schedule and how quickly or otherwise you would expect them to move through the grades.

She does ballet once a week (although she does other dance disciplines too) and fwiw (with a nod to a thread earlier this week ) she's at state school.

Can anyone give me some idea about when she might do her Primary exam, how old they usually are, how a dance teacher decides they're ready? Are they into 'big girls' navy blue leotard territory after that?!

I know I could go and ask her ballet teacher this (and she's very lovely and approachable), but I don't want to sound like a pushy ballet mummy because I really don't mind when she does it, I just want to get clued up on the process.

OP posts:

JohnnyTwoHats · 20/02/2010 17:42

My DD's ballet school does exams every year (as long as they are ready, and they normally are after a year). However, I know other schools sometimes take an approach of 'show one year, exams the next'.

Grade One is lavender leotards, but still little socks instead of tights, and she will need a character skirt and character shoes too.

Think Grade Two is same lavender leotards but unsure about when the navy kicks in, sorry!
Anyway she certainly isn't too young, my DD is 7 in March and will be doing her Grade One exam in July this year, so sounds about right.

flossie64 · 20/02/2010 17:50

My DD did primary last june ( she was6), I don't think she will be doing her grade 1 this summer ,maybe towards the end of the year. they seem to do this at her class about 18mths between exams.

JohnnyTwoHats · 20/02/2010 17:53

Oh, I should say as well that from Easter we will be having two lessons a week- the exam girls always have an extra class a week for about a term.

drivinmecrazy · 20/02/2010 18:02

The jump from primary to Grade 1 is quite big. My DDs teacher does a show and exam each year, and says even if a child is not ready for an exam must still do the work because that will be the basis for the show.
DD has jumped from grade 1 to grade 3 and the difference is massive. think they start slowing at this stage.

ByTheSea · 20/02/2010 18:09

My DD1 is currently 10 and in Year 6. She has been taking ballet (and later other disciplines) about the same she was 3. She and the others her age are currently doing Grade 3 ballet, so have taken an exam about every other year. I believe there are one or two girls her age at her dance school who are currently doing Grade 4 ballet. In Grade 3, they move to two classes a week. Her dance school does not put them up for an exam until they are sure to pass with at least a merit.

JohnnyTwoHats · 20/02/2010 18:11

yy to big jump, have noticed this but we have DVD at home and DD seems to be coping ok with that. DD's school does two shows a year (a panto and one at the Royal Northern College of Music in September) and I would say those children who are in the shows progress better because they have the extra rehearsals, even if not doing the grade work in them they get extra dancing time. And I suppose it cultivates their sense of performance etc which they also gain marks for in exams.
We have a summer school too which is wonderful for keeping it up over the summer (otherwise i think 6 weeks quite a long time and they tend to lose it a bit, lots of work to make up in September etc)

Original poster

misshardbroom · 20/02/2010 20:33

Thanks for all the responses. She has a show coming up so I don't know whether they would do exams this summer anyway, possibly wait until November at the earliest. I've certainly noticed how much better her dancing (not just in ballet but tap & jazz too) has become since they've been doing extra sessions of rehearsals for the show.

I'm also interested because I need to try and reschedule some of her classes... dancing on 4 separate days of the week at the moment which DD doesn't complain about but it makes doing anything with my DSes almost impossible. But there's no point me moving her into a different Primary ballet class (same teacher teaches on different days) if within a couple of months she'd be doing her exam and moving sessions anyway.

OP posts:

JohnnyTwoHats · 20/02/2010 22:03

It does tend to take over your life, doesn't it! Just before Christmas we were having three or four rehearsals (and I'm talking five, six hours) a week, plus normal ballet, tap, jazz. The girls who were taking exams in January had extra lessons as well. It's a lot to cope with for the little ones but it has certainly done my DD's dancing a lot of good, she has learnt to listen and watch the older ones, take criticism on the chin and can pick up sequences of steps very quickly (owing to the teachers' idiosyncratic approach to organisation, some of their dances weren't choreographed until a couple of weeks before opening night!)

Amazing fun for them, hopefully she will look back on her dancing days with fond memories, as I did and I hope my DD will too.

maggiethecat · 22/02/2010 00:49

I was a bit naive in thinking that my dd could go to ballet classes for fun without worrying about exams (not sure how I thought she would progress from one stage to another without doing the exam?). The teacher informed me last Sep that she was going to enter dd for primary and I just went along with it. She passed and now she's doing grade 1 which seems like a massive jump in terms of the routine, more complex etc. The teacher recommends 2 lessons/week but does not insist on it. Suspect that dd will be at this level for at least 2 years since she does 1 lesson/week but that suits me fine.

Original poster

misshardbroom · 22/02/2010 10:54

DD's ballet teacher told me as well that there have been some changes to the syllabus recently which mean that the expectations at each level have increased.

We have an 'open' lesson each term... I'd gone to the summer one when she was still in pre-primary and it was all still good toes / naughty toes and pretending to be a butterfly. I went to her Primary one just before Christmas and suddenly ballet had got hard-core !

OP posts:

ninamag · 22/02/2010 11:49

My dd1 is in Grade 5 rad. She has danced since she was 3 and is now 12. She has taken an exam every 18 months at her ballet school. I think it depends on the school. I think it was in Grade 2 that it all got a bit more serious and she started going twice a week. She now does three times a week and has started on pointe. She loves it the only problem is she is one of four and the little ones are all doing ballet now too. It is going to cost me a fortune.

Original poster

misshardbroom · 22/02/2010 11:54

oh no, ninamag, that's going to turn into an expensive hobby! Does your ballet school offer reduced rates for siblings? Ours deducts 5% from the bill for each subsequent sister. Ironically, if I had 3 daughters each doing 1 dance discipline it would cost me a lot less than one daughter doing 3 types of dance, iyswim!

OP posts:

islandofsodor · 22/02/2010 12:21

Dd has just done Grade 1 RAD. She didn't take the exam along with 2 others when the rest of her class did as the exam board states that you have to be aged 7 to take Grade 1 and she was only 6 then.

You have to be aged 5 to take pre-primary and aged 11 to take Grade 5.

As dd's school does everything on class when they do a show which is once a year they don't do exams hence it took longer this time. I am happy with this as it means no hidden extras, we pay for the classes, the emphasis is on training and the show is all done in class.

There is one extra exam prepration class (bit like a dress rehearsal) the week before the exam that you pay for, that is all.

I would expect if she works well for her to take her Grade 2 in 12-18 months time.

islandofsodor · 22/02/2010 12:25

And as for the leotards. Pre-primary and primary are the pink/white/blue leotard and voile skirts (changing to pink or lilac and different skirts with the new syllabus.

Grades 1 & 2 are the leotard only (choice of colours from white, levender, pink. blue or navy and a character skirt and character shoes.

Grade 3 onwards is a different leotard with a ruched front in either navy, red or mulberry.

Vocational grades are black I think.

islandofsodor · 22/02/2010 12:26

Also in reply to maggie, at dd's ballet school exams are optional, if you don't want to take them you progress up as and when the teacher deems you are ready.

It is an excellent school I was very picky as I work for a children's theatre school myself.

Flip