Can someone explain the ballet process to me?

[MrsWobbleTheWaitress]

DD2's just started ballet lessons at age 5. I think the teacher told me she wouldn't move up from pre-primary to primary until she's done an exam.

I'm a bit scared of who I think is the principal (well, not scared, but not exactly happy approaching her as she's really snappy!), but will ask DD2's teacher next time these questions.

In the meantime, can someone explain to me the following:

1. At what point is she likely to do her first exam? She's the oldest in her group and they're impressed by how quick she's learning.

2. The paperwork suggests that you have to pay for 6 exam coaching sessions and 1 exam preparation session, all of which must be paid for!!! It's sounding more and more to me like ballet schools are a lovely little money-spinner for the principals! Does this mean that, unless I fork out another £50 or so, DD2's stuck in pre-primary forever?

3. I've heard that ballet schools normally do shows as well, which I would have to fork out for too. Do I need to remortgage the house to finance this hobby?

DD2 is going to be very good at ballet - she has great musicality and moves very easily and beautifully, so, as long as she wants to do ballet, I'm going to find the money to enable it. But I'm getting very disheartened at the hundreds and hundreds of pounds it looks like costing each year

My daughter started ballet Feb last year and did her first exam this year - pre primary . They do a show every 2 years and exams are every 1-2 years depending on stage .

I think Dd was 7 when she sat her first exam and it was roughly yearly after that. It was about £60 to pay for the actual exam, extra classes, the pianist for the exam.

It's nothing to worry about to not to have done an exam a year in. It varies very much between schools and exam boards- if they do IDTA exams, children can be doing rosette exams around the age of 4 and can do quite a lot of them before taking preparatory grades around 5/6, primary around 7. If they do ISTD or RAD, preprimary will usually be their first exam. In my daughters first school, there were three IDTA exam sessions a year and the children took an exam in one of the core subjects (exams in ballet, tap, modern, musical theatre, freestyle) most sessions but they are cheaper exams and didn't tend to require extra classes. But in all the exam costs were huge.

it's not at all unusual that a year into classes she hasn't done an exam. My daughters current school, children tend only to take one exam a year, they only examine them in ballet. Other styles are studied in additional lessons, but not examined. The exams are more expensive and require extra exam clas for nearly a term and need new ballet shoes/character shoes. But it's once a year.

Some schools only do a show every two years. Most do some form of presentation of work/watch week the year there isn't a show, but not all. For us, old school did a biannual big production and alternated it with a presentation of work. New school does one presentation of work a year around Christmas and a biannual summer show. There's so much variety in how schools chose to run these things xx

Thankyou, he's a great teacher and says he wants them to get the passion and enjoy it more than sit exams. They practice for them, just have other dance mums from different schools saying she should be doing exams but only coming up on one year

My dds loved dancing at a point in their childhoods.
I would say though i think dancing is like childminding. It seems a lot to pay but not a huge amount to charge.
Most people who run local dance schools do well to make a living. I certainly cant see it as a nice little earner. Things like shows and the like are run at cost. Costumes and the like are down to the sort of out come the school wants

just have other dance mums from different schools saying...

They will say a lot. Often about how much better their dc/teacher/school is than yours.

Most of it can be safely disregarded - there's an awful lot of 'competitive' parenting in the dance world, the best thing to do is ignore it all, and just let your dc enjoy themselves. As long as they are making progress, they are happy and the teacher is pleased with how they are getting on, then there's nothing to worry about.

My daughter has been doing ballet for a year and has only done one show and NO exams even though she's very good, she 5 and we adore the teacher but feel like there should be more progress

What grade/syllabus is that?

I wouldn't worry about other dance mums from other dance schools. I have to admit I love being nosy and like to hear about what other kids are doing but it shouldn't affect what your child is doing unless you have concerns about where they are. if the child and you are happy then that is all that matters, whether others think elsewhere is better or not. My daughters have lots of friends who dance, some at schools I personally wouldn't want to send them to but that is just my opinion. They obviously like where they go and we like where we go. Interestingly it is worth noting that although these dance schools all start doing grades at different times and are doing different boards the schools starting exams later don't seem any further behind the others. Some schools have a real focus on shows, others on exams, some on pure fun, some on festivals and competitions. It really depends what you are looking for.

DD(10) has just done her grade 2 at one of the less-pushy dance schools where we live. On the basis that 5/6 of her cohort came out with distinctions I'm not too upset that the dance teacher popped on 4 or 5 extra ballet classes on a Sunday plus a dummy run (at £5/session).
We do RAD for ballet and this is what they say about exams:

Graded Examinations.

These can be taken from Primary onwards. Candidates go into the exam, in a group of 4 max, wearing a number 1 - 4 to identify the individual. All of the required barre and centre exercises in the syllabus are performed including 2 solos. Your child will receive an individual score, Pass, Merit or Distinction with a certificate and a medal. To achieve the standard required to take a graded examination ideally, from grade 2 upwards, they should take two classes a week or at least take a
second class during the term of the examination.

Class Awards

These are for any grades pre-primary to Grade 8. The children go into the room as a class ( up to 8 candidates ) and are numbered. The exercises from the syllabus, barre and centre. One dance is performed as a pair. They do not have to perform anything as a solo. The child will receive a certificate and a medal. These are ideal for the once-a-week child, late starter or a child who is not so confident. The exam is structured as a class with the teacher in the room which reassures the
student and gives a more familiar feel to the award. There is no mark given.

I was lucky my daughters costume for show last year was only £11. She's starting tap in September so ready to be paying double for everything ..

not such a bad thing we rarely have shows. saves me a lot of money (that the dancing daughters spend on other things of course)