Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Other subjects
Original poster

Royal School of Ballet Exams - is this OTT?

70 replies

Tanzie · 26/02/2005 09:24

DD1 (who is 6) is being entered for the presentation part ONLY of the primary exam. Her teacher is demanding that she (and others taking the exam) have about 10 extra lessons each (at vast expense of course). Having read the leaflet about the exams, it seems to me that there is no pass or fail for this - they just get a certificate for participating, and do very simple stuff that they do in class. Surely weekly lessons should be enough for this - so what am I paying for? Teacher has also said she won't enter children for the exam who do not have the extra lessons as well.

OP posts:
Pinotmum · 26/02/2005 09:52

It sounds like this is for the teacher's repuation rather that the children's progression. I suppose she can say "oh I have x amount of my pupils entering the Royal School of Ballet Exams". I think if they don't have to do the exam and your daughter isn't too fussed opt out. It does seem expensive for little reward imho. My dd does ballet and the teachers do take it very seriously considering the avg age in her group is 4 yo fgs!

Yorkiegirl · 26/02/2005 09:52

Message withdrawn

Cam · 26/02/2005 15:38

My dd has taken the prep and primary exams and they did entail some extra lessons. I think its because not everyone in the ballet class takes the exam so they have to carry on the weekly class as normal. The exams require specific things though and I felt my dd couldn't have too much practice (obviously time is costed) so I was pleased that this was taken so seriously (for her sake). She was given a certificate with a mark and a written assessment each time. The first time she gained a merit and the second she gained honours. This summer she will take grade 1.

Cam · 26/02/2005 15:38

Also, dd has to have brand new ballet shoes and socks for exams - must be completely unworn before the day.

SeaShells · 26/02/2005 15:44

Ahh the memories of ballet exams come flooding back, I always remember my teacher making an absolute fuss each time and being immaculately dressed and my hair pulled so tightly into a bun with 100 irritating hairgrips and a can of hairspray sprayed into my eyes!
I did love it though and pased them all at honours.

Mirage · 26/02/2005 15:46

Hmm-this bit about brand new socks & shoes seems ver OTT.My sister is a ballet teacher & has never insisted on new shoes ect for exams.I can understand about the extra lesssons,as Cam says,not all children in the regular class may be taking the exam,but I would have thought any extra lessons would be by choice,not because the teacher says so.It does sound as though the teacher is concerned more about her reputation than anything else.

Cam · 26/02/2005 15:51

Dd's ballet teacher says its part of the ballet discipline to look "perfect". Ballet bun as well.

expatinscotland · 26/02/2005 16:15

Had to have brand new shoes to audition to take classes at ballet academy! Not only new but also pink and made by Capezio. No socks, though, but pink tights mandatory. I think it's all about being uniform and not a hair out of place so the examiners/instructors can focus on the pupil's movements instead.

pleaserewind · 26/02/2005 16:30

I remember having to have new when i did ballet exams. I had leather shoes for classes but it had to be satin ones for exams. Hair was a bun, totally scraped back, those girls with fringes had a terrible time
we were told also that if we looked at any of the other girls in the exam room we would fail!

SleepyJess · 26/02/2005 16:38

My 6 yr old DD is in a show in two weeks. (Tap and ballet). She has to wear so much make up!, red lipstick, purple eyeshadow, FOUNDATION!!! and mascara! She often likes me to put a little makeup on her.. but I have never touched her delicate little eye lashes with mascara!

I have just had to buy new white ballet shoes..and the costume..and all the tickets at £9 each for family members to come and watch her.. AND a ticket for her, as she has to be collected from the stage door partway through the show.. and if we wish to return to our seats, then she needs to have paid seat as well! (It's in a theatre).

My sister did all this dancing malarky as a child and Iremember all the fuss and bother and 'professional correctness' of it all.. but am still balking at it now it's DD! This is DD's first show.. I have been quite happy for her not to do it until now.. she just likes to dance and her Saturday lessons were enough. But she really wanted to do this show.

Oh and we have to buy Aussie/Ozzy??! hairspray to try and scrape back her wispy fringe! Poor DD is going to look unrecongnisable from the cute little girl that she is. I understand the need for stage make up.. but I have seen the photos of other girls in previous shows. Quite why a 6 year old has to be made up like a professional tart I don't quite know!

SJ x

pabla · 26/02/2005 16:46

My dd just did her primary exam at half term. They didn't have to have new shoes and socks but I did have to sew on ribons instead of elastics and the shoes and socks had to be clean. She did have extra lessons for the half term leading up as well so i think this is fairly common. She didn't do her pre-primary exam because we had already booked a holiday for the week it was on and she was a bit upset when everyone got their certificates afterwards except her... I think if you are going to continue with ballet lessons and want her to do the exams you have to go along with the teachers requirements (or find another dance school with a different focus?)

Pinotmum · 26/02/2005 16:47

Sleepyjess, when I did it as a 6 yo all the mothers used to pinch their dd's cheeks to make them red so I think the make up is kinder . I agree with you it's a bit OTT though.

Original poster
Tanzie · 26/02/2005 17:20

Thanks for this.
My deep suspicion is that it is for the teacher's pocket rather than her reputation. The presentation is 6 of them in the room at the same time, not dancing individually. And as I have said, there is no pass or fail. Hair is another problem as it is in a bob and wouldn't go into a bun. Think we will give up after this exam - she has new teacher whom she hates anyway, and who told me that DD should not be doing ballet as she is asthmatic...

OP posts:
Gumdrop · 26/02/2005 17:46

Someone once described ballet as being exercise with a steel fist covered in a velvet glove! I think she meant that it looked all very light and fluffy, but had a rigid discipline of movement - which also extends to the way they look, the way they are supposed to behave at exams (and the way their mums are supposed to behave as well it appears)

My dd's enjoy ballet, but I can't see me being a pushy ballet mum. it just raises my hackles that they can go so far, and then not any further because they don't "look" exactly as the type dictates. Since my beautiful DDs are both round faced, and "blessed" with "Jewfro" ringlets - Darcy Bussell they ain't! So my chances of waving them off to the Royal Ballet school are pretty remote in any eventuality.

But as long as they want to go to ballet, I'll keep playing along. Even if I am muttering "crypto fascist" under my breath

SleepyJess · 26/02/2005 18:00

LMAO Gumdrop! That is SO how I feel! DD loves to dance.. always has.. has had a great sense of rythmn and ability to move since she was a toddler.. but this whole ballet thing really p me off! Lots (although not all) of the mothers are so very 'into' it.. you can tell that ballet is such a huge part of their lives when their DDs are no older than mine..and frnakly don't look half as 'into it' as their mothers!! Many of the girls seem to have stage-type names.. I was in shock the first time I read the names on the board of two sisters that dance there.. Dollie-Mollie and Truly Scrumptious!!!! I kid you not! (God I hope their mother doesn't surf MS! )

It is very expensive.. and restictive, and we never seem to get any feedback/can't watch them dance etc! I once got treated like a 5 year old by the snotty cow of a teacher when I saw a little gap in the net curtain (of the room they dance in) and attempted to peer through the frosted glass to see if I could catch sight of DD. Next thing I knew, the music stopped and out stomped Snotty Cow and pointing at me, shrilled 'SIT BACK DOWN PLEASE!'.. then turned on her heel and went back in! I just sat there dumbfounded.. and eventually laughed at myself that I had immediately done as I was told!! Thought I was back at primary school for a moment!

We DO get the opportuinity to watch them once a year.. but they do a kind of half-hearted version of their normal class with another class squeezed in and all the parents standing along the side. And frankly, they all look bored! The last one of these I attended, the girl taking the class kept asking them questions about different steps.. and all the girls stared at her blankly while she said 'Anyone? Anyone?' and eventually answered her won questions! lIt was like that classroom scene at the beginning of Ferris Beuller's Day Off! PML!

I think we may be giving up soon after the show.. but we are supposed to give a whole terms' notice or pay a month's fees in lieu!!! (What if you get made redundant or something!! What a gold-digging enterprise!

SJ x

Gumdrop · 26/02/2005 18:04

SJ - Noooo, those names can't be real. Can they? What drugs was that mum on when she named them - I don't remember the Entonox being that strong!

roisin · 26/02/2005 18:05

Gosh this takes me back! I used to loathe ballet as a child, and I was clearly the worst in the class. I have vivid memories of this old hag shouting at me "Roisin! Ballet is about curves not angles!" She was always appalled when I passed each exam with flying colours, and absolutely horrified when I was 5 and I won a free holiday at Butlins by dancing in a talent competition

Pinotmum · 26/02/2005 18:06

I've just made a note of Truly Scrumptious for my next dd . SO it's common not to be allowed om the room then. I thought I was the only daft cow standing in a dafty corridor on a Saturday morning

Pinotmum · 26/02/2005 18:07

drafty even

Gumdrop · 26/02/2005 18:08

Ah you see, I was horses rather than ballet, so it's all new to me. Although I am pleased to see that hatchet faced bags come in tutus as well as jods .

SleepyJess · 26/02/2005 18:10

LOL Roisin! Serve the old hag right! :D When we lived up North, DD had a lovely ballet teacher.. she didn't LOOK like one.. she was down to earth.. and overweight.. but very graceful when she danced! Funny how most of them seem to have had a personality transplant..! Makes you wonder why they want to work with kids. The money one assumes!

Gumdrop, those names are real I assure you. The mother looks normal, but obviously can't be! I think it was more a case of 'my little girls WILL be on the stage!' than the entonox sadly...!

SJ x

KBear · 26/02/2005 18:36

My DD has the most wonderful ballet teacher. DD (age 6) did her first exam (Royal Academy of Dance)last autumn. Yes, the rules were skirt has to be a certain length and hair must be in a bun but the emphasis was still on enjoying it. It was a presentation class (6 of them) and they loved it. All passed (I think that's a given) and keen to continue.

I think some of you might need to find other ballet schools wehre the focus is on fun and enjoying ballet rather than the most ridiculous rules and regulations. Our one is wonderful and there are bound to be many more.

Sorry, original question - one extra lesson needed before the exam but at no extra cost.

batters · 26/02/2005 21:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MaryP0p1 · 26/02/2005 21:17

My dd's teacher didn't charge anything at all except for the fee of 25 quid with no extra lessons. However we never made to the exam because A) am crap mother and forgot exam altogether until 5 days later!!!! and B) dd was throwing up because MIL had food posioned her.

bensmum3 · 26/02/2005 21:50

Hi, The only advise I can offer is talk to your daughter and find out what she would like to do, my dd now 10, did 2 ballet exams,and got good grades, but she hated all the practice sessions, Once we talked about it she did'nt do any more exams, but she was still able to join in with the productions her ballet school did and enjoy her weekly class. If your daughter enjoy's it, I'm sure it' worth the extra expense.