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Cecchetti grades as compared to RAD / ISTD


Confuddled

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I’ve been googling but can’t seem to find the answer - how do the Cecchetti ballet grades compare to the better known ones like ISTD and RAD. I know they cover different things, but I just wanted to know roughly which grades were equivalent to each other.

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My experience of studying both syllabi (although I've never bothered with the exams) is that Cecchetti is more "dancey." I've had  teachers who don't know me (eg in open classes) pick me as "Cecchetti trained", although when I travel & do classes in the US, they always pick the "English" training. I think that's the RAD influence in British training - very upright and somewhat more controlled, compared with the extended lines of, say Russian-style training, and the more fast & furious style that influenced in the USA (via the popularity of Balanchine). BUt I do find the Cecchetti work more interesting & challenging.

 

But I think the grade levels are meant to be pretty much interchangeable. I wonder if in recent years, the RAD has stretched out their curriculum because in the UK it is almost the "default" syllabus and needs to meet the needs and education of a much wider variety of dancer skills & abilities.

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DD does Cecchetti and is currently studying grade 5. Her other teacher who is RAD said she would put her into the Interfoundation class if doing RAD. When DD did an RAD Associate course last year, there seemed to be a disparity of a couple of grades between the two. E. G. DD was working at grade 3 and was put into class with girls doing RAD grades 5/6.

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On 26/11/2018 at 21:37, Kate_N said:

But I think the grade levels are meant to be pretty much interchangeable. I wonder if in recent years, the RAD has stretched out their curriculum because in the UK it is almost the "default" syllabus and needs to meet the needs and education of a much wider variety of dancer skills & abilities.

 

Paula Hunt, who taught at our dance school until she left for the RAD in London, led the development of the new RAD syllabus. One of her colleagues was telling me that she wanted to get away from the notion of 'little RAD robots' and get more expression into the syllabus.

 

DD's current teacher trained in both Cecchetti and RAD in Sth Africa (Cecchetti is rarely taught in NZ). She regularly uses Cecchetti exercises in open classes, including my adult class last night. What I really liked was the exercise called 'Centre Practice' where you literally stand in fifth just 'dancing with your arms'. RAD Centre Practice usually involves pirouettes, and even the exercise the RAD calls 'Port de Bras' always has the feet moving as well. I really like the space to just focus on movement of the arms!

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