RAD Discovering Repertoire classes

[LinMM]

That's what I meant by it could be a bit dull to do in the end because week after week of the same two variations would personally remind me of piano exams where I was really fed up with the pieces in the end!! 

So perhaps if you just dip in for a term and try and go for the exam within about three months say then have a rest from DR and then go back for the next level .....again hopefully in one term 3/4 months at most then you wouldn't get bored with the pieces. 

It would be the thought of plugging away at them for a whole year that would put me off! 

I have sometimes found that if you keep doing the same thing over and over again it doesn't always get better and in fact has a "tip over" point where it starts getting worse!! 

I cannot explain this ....its a bit odd and may not happen to others I don't know! 

It definitely feels like a sort of additional syllabus which used in the right way could be fun especially for adults who are not attracted to taking the Grade exams so much ( but like doing the classes for technique progression etc) but might be able to give this sort of an exam a whirl. 

[youngatheart]

1 hour ago, Viv said:

So far I have only done the development exercises as a way of learning the variation, I have to say I hadn't really considered what it would be like to have to drill these exercises over and over to exam readiness, considering it only consists of steps that you will eventually show in the variation anyway? And then actually performing them in the exam, knowing you're about to perform the exact same steps in a slightly longer sequence...I'm not sure I totally see the point, and imagine it might actually be a bit dull for the examiner?

 

I can only guess that the point is to show the examiner that you have the correct technique during the development exercises, and then the variation can be all about the performance because (s)he already knows how well you can do the steps.....

 

And as Sophie Rebecca said above, they are not always exactly the same step as in the variation - sometimes they are the "pure" step from which the choreography would have been derived.

[Viv]

13 hours ago, youngatheart said:

I can only guess that the point is to show the examiner that you have the correct technique during the development exercises, and then the variation can be all about the performance because (s)he already knows how well you can do the steps.....

 

But learning ballet has never been about showing how well you can hold your technique separately from how well you perform. It's always been about doing both simultaneously, which is why my teacher encourages us to start 'performing' from the very first plie at the barre. If the exam is designed to demonstrate that you can do the step well enough on its own, or in a relatively simple combination, but then show that when you perform you can't maintain your technique throughout the whole variation, I'm afraid I'm still struggling to see the point. Honestly I feel that the development exercises are more likely to show the examiner early on where your weaknesses are so they know what to look for in the dance!

 

Really I can't wait for this syllabus to start being examined properly. I want to know how people who are studying DR in a proper class format, to exam readiness, and then performing it on the day, feel about all of this. That's the true test of a syllabus and the feedback of people who have done that will be the most valuable in my opinion. I'm thoroughly enjoying learning DR because I like rep and I like the idea of chunked 'exercises' to help you work on technique that you'll later perform. For that DR works perfectly for me. I suppose I only struggle with the actual exam part of it, or like @LinMM with the amount of time one would have to spend doing the syllabus before being ready to move on. But then, despite beginning ballet as an adult 5 years ago, I don't really feel like I'm the target market for DR either.

Edited October 20, 2018 by Viv

[youngatheart]

Actually Viv I do agree with you! I was just trying to think of a reason. I guess the other point is that the variations only have some of the steps on one side, whereas the development exercises have to be shown on both sides.

 

Most people who have tried DR so far seem to have plunged straight into learning the variation itself (which is, of course, what the "main attraction" of DR is in the first place!), whereas I would imagine that the pedagogic intention would have been to start with the development exercises and get these fully mastered before then learning the actual variation last.

 

Can't see many classes being that patient though! 🙂

 

I will be interested to see what standard of dancing would be required in practice to pass....

 

 

[Nicola H]

8 hours ago, youngatheart said:

Actually Viv I do agree with you! I was just trying to think of a reason. I guess the other point is that the variations only have some of the steps on one side, whereas the development exercises have to be shown on both sides.

 

Most people who have tried DR so far seem to have plunged straight into learning the variation itself (which is, of course, what the "main attraction" of DR is in the first place!), whereas I would imagine that the pedagogic intention would have been to start with the development exercises and get these fully mastered before then learning the actual variation last.

 

Can't see many classes being that patient though! 🙂

 

I will be interested to see what standard of dancing would be required in practice to pass....

 

 

 Thus is the nature of bringing in a new  (type) of qualification  in a field ,  the first  few  iterations will be  people who  were existing practitioners prior to the qualification coming around  rather than those who were genuinely new  to whatever activity it was .

-I 've seen this with  qualifications  in volunteering work i've been involved in where the  first  2 or 3  sets of assessments  have  been 'conversion' courses  from what came before  or  the  previous local arrangmeents  before you  start to get significant numbers  of  genuine neophytes coming to assessment

[EverHopeful]

I wonder how many people have started sitting these exams. It would be interesting to see how the results compare to the graded and vocational ones. 

 

Also I wonder if it would be possible to take the same variation unit twice in one term - on flat and on pointe. That way you could get a good comparison and indication of your pointe technique. 

[The_Red_Shoes]

5 hours ago, DeveloppeD said:

I wonder how many people have started sitting these exams. It would be interesting to see how the results compare to the graded and vocational ones. 

 

Also I wonder if it would be possible to take the same variation unit twice in one term - on flat and on pointe. That way you could get a good comparison and indication of your pointe technique. 

All RAD exams can be repeated as many times as you like. I have come across several people who have repeated an exam that they have already passed once. There are some videos on Youtube of an adult student who seems to have retaken Grade 8 a number of times, choosing different options each time.  

 

Doing the DR variation units twice over once on demi and once on pointe seems to me to be a reasonable idea, allowing for  a lot of personal development. I'm hoping to do DR Level 2 next, after my Grade 6 exam. I would do all the units on demi but I have been thinking that the Coppelia unit on pointe would not be beyond me and I'd like to do that later on (ie not in the same exam session).

Edited November 10, 2018 by The_Red_Shoes
Spelling!

[Viv]

Coppelia en pointe was just about the death of me, because of the speed of those darn chaines turns! But then I learned it first in flat shoes and only tried the variation en pointe at the end of one lesson to see how it went. The giselle variation I have learned entirely en pointe, including some (but not all) of the development exercises and I find that one, while challenging, much more achievable. And fun! Of course, I'm also 6 months further down the road than I was the last time I did Coppelia so who knows, I might try it again en pointe soon and be pleasantly surprised  Pointe is also not my forte due to weak, hypermobile (yet completely flat) feet and ankles, so another dancer may not struggle with that aspect of things. 

[Viv]

Has anyone taken a DR exam yet? I haven't done a DR class since November last year but I'm still interested to hear how people who have stuck with this class to exam readiness have found the syllabus. 

[alison]

On ‎10‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 08:16, Mummy twinkle toes said:

The level 2 exam is equivalent to grade 5/IF. Do not forget these variations are danced by ballet principals so should be sufficiently challenging to do well although they have stated level 2 will be modified.

 

Ah.  That would explain why I didn't find it recognisably like any other Coppelia I'd watched!

 

On ‎16‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 15:31, The_Red_Shoes said:

Glad to see that they have finally dropped grand plie in 4th.

 

What took them so long?!  

[Sadielou]

I find this syllabus very badly thought through. The fact that both the male and female preparation exercises are set to the same music, although entirely different steps says it all. It is case of "what can we fit to this music" rather than what is actually helpful. I am working with a student on level 4 - all sections and we find that the preparation exercises in many cases hinder rather than help - Being on different feet, different timings and in some case entirely different steps. For instance the "gargouillades" in the Sugar Plum variation are something students come across quite rarely and therefore you would think that the preparation exercise would take this into account. But no - the prep step is plain pas de chats ? Not helpful. Some of the preparation steps are almost impossible for anyone less than a professional to do on pointe and other exercises with multiple releves are very heavy going on demi pointe. The fact that on the video demo for the Odette solo - prep steps are done on flat and the solo on pointe says it all. I initially thought the Rep syllabus was a great idea for those students who would not be technically strong enough to get through Inter and Advanced but still wanted to do "proper ballet"  however the class section is too easy and doesn't marry up with the solos which in most cases are too hard for the level. As others have said maybe better to mix and match, but exam wise I am not sure what that achieves - All way too complicated. Must be a nightmare for the examiners, with some examinees on pointe others on flat, how do you mark fairly and with an open mind ? - We will not be doing this syllabus next year - back to struggling through the vocational grades !

[LinMM]

As an adult dancer I got very excited about this when I first heard about it.

But after attending a couple of workshops have now changed my mind. 

I absolutely agree that the class section and then the solos danced are not on the same level. 

So what solo would you match with the level two class section....which is just about at grade five level ...of those on offer!! 

The solos all seemed at least a level above the class section .....though didn't do the level four class section so not sure what level that would be at? 

The idea of this is good in theory but maybe not that good in practise yet!!