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Idta grade 5 (new syllabus) exercises are

Warm up

Plies

Foot extensions

Adage at the barre

Grands battements with battements en cloche

Progressive Demi pointe enchainement

Port de bras with balances

Set adage

Pirouette en Dehors

Allegro warm up

Pas de basque enchainement

Sissonnes en avant

Full contretemps

Petit batterie

Free enchainement

Creative impro

Dance

Reverence

We've experienced this too - there are a few kids that are congratulated / in paper etc for every achievement and others (my dd included) whose achievements are largely ignored - can be difficult and upsetting when dc's are young, but dd used to it now & knows it's a reflection on school/ teachers not her ability.

DD school don't do classical awards, but according to syllabus these exams are used to prepare for intermediate and advanced exams. Not sure if they are both done before intermediate or if its classical award 1 before inter & classical award 2 inbetween inter & advanced - would make them approx rad inter foundation +/or advanced foundation

IDTA have preparatory, primary, grades 1-5, intermediate, advanced 1, advanced 2. They also do medal tests that run parallel to grades but are shorter than exams (ie 1 or 2 teacher choreographed dances). Grades can be taken from age 7, intermediate from age 13 (not sure of other ages.

Having said that children learn at different rates. My daughter is 13 and hoping to intermediate in spring, there are girls that took same exam before Xmas up to age 17

I think it's someone thinking of buying them to use - even if for use as Demi pointes most people probably don't want well used shoes

This story says a lot about the student, but also a lot about you. Congratulations on being able to engage and encourage all of your students!

It may depend on the type of dancer you are hoping to attract. When did first started dance age 4, we knew very little about what to expect and nothing about exams. At that point a good teacher was all we were looking for. Dd is older now and has changed dance schools a couple of times. As she wants to dance professionally the exams are more important to us now, and has been a factor in choice of school.

There are successful dance schools locally that don't do exams though. The extra performance experience can be beneficial.

You don't have to make a decision about offering exams to start with. See how things go and discuss with parents / students to get their opinions, allow your dance school to develop gradually.

And good luck with your school

Hadn't thought about another venue - I'll discuss with the teacher at next class

Have asked about moving class, but teacher insisting has to do IF. I think standard of idta inter is between rad IF and rad inter, so if does idta exam March dd then has 18 months at advanced level, if does IF in March she might not have taken either of inter exams before auditions

I get what your saying, but it would mean she would potentially only have chance to do intermediate exams close to auditioning, if dd can get through idta inter this year she'll have more time working at higher level in run up to auditions.

DD only starting to look at which schools to audition for, but mix of rad and istd

Hi, DD's teacher wants her to do rad inter foundation in march, but this means that she won't let her do idta intermediate exam (exam session also in march). If she doesn't do idta exam then, may be year or more until anyone else ready to take it. She didn't do inter found last march as wasn't on pointe (but was ready apart from that).

Think we'll say no to rad exam, but is it still worth doing the class (teacher has said won't move up without doing exam).

DD is in yr 9 & wants to audition for sixth form MT courses, so in approx 2 yrs.

What do we do?

You should be able to buy the syllabus through the idta website. You don't need to be a teacher to buy from them

Is it possible to have a talk with the teacher? She might be able to give an idea of what your dd needs to concentrate on to get passed the 'wall'. Its possible that the teacher is trying to give feedback & corrections in class, but its coming across as criticism to your dd. I try to discuss comments with my dd & try to find actions to work on & move focus away from perceived criticism.

As others have already said though, it might be a good school but not 'right' for your dd.

Hi, my dd does approx 4 hrs ballet plus half hour pointe class, however I have known girls do pointe with less ballet classes (some small dance studios only have 1-2 hours per grade).

If you have doubts, and pointe is something you want to do, talk to your ballet teacher. Your teacher knows you and your abilities, and is the best person to advise you.

As a parent I want my dd to have a good teacher with qualifications. DD does RAD and IDTA, and does a variety of types of dance. In some classes there has been a second teacher who is learning the syllabus with a view to taking further teaching exams & expanding the range of styles they can teach. This may be an option for you with regards tap etc.

It may be best to concentrate on getting qualified in ballet, look for work & then see what (if any) extra exams you need.

Aileen, yes for classical ballet.

The main thing to remember is its about how well they dance on the day not what exams they've passed. That's why i suggested audition preparation classes. This will allow the teacher to ensure a wide dance vocabulary, on different ways of putting steps together, and for working on any areas of weakness, rather than purely on syllabus.

My dd was in inters a. Fullcontretemps - from posts on other threads i think i know who you are. One of 2 that go to same dance school, but i don't think you currently do any of same classes.

I have no experience of the audition process myself - however I have known students in past few years who have successfully auditioned when at grade 6 / inter level (idta syllabus) so don't be put off by those saying that you need to be at advanced level to audition. Some schools do audition preparation classes - talk to dds teacher to see if she could have a private lesson with this aim.

The performance was brilliant today, & very polished considering short time they had to learn it all. My dd had a great time

Although not for same reasons, my dd has changed schools in the past. Its never an easy decision, and dd was reluctant due to friendships. However, we discussed reasons for and against moving & agreed that moving was best. There are obviously some issues at current school, but weigh up the issues against any good points. If poss discuss issues with current teacher & see if situation can be improved. Ultimately you have to go with what is best for your dd. Good luck & well done to your dd for getting into york

Have you done google search of local newspaper. Some of local schools near have had achievements reported in paper. As mentioned its not only indicator of a good school. I'd recommend making sure registered with one of dance organisation eg RAD, IDTA, ISTD etc. I know IDTA schools are listed on their website

At dds dance school rad inter is being studied by same girls doing idta grade 5 & idta inter. Teacher is rad qualified & I'm sure she wouldn't have these girls doing both classes if there was that much of a discrepancy! Also rad website say all are level 3 qualifications, but idta adv 1 & 2 are level 4. Would definately check syllabus info to compare or find a teacher that teaches both and get their advice.

My dd going for first time - as mentioned the teachers are all experienced (we googled them as had no personal experience with any of them). Location looks good too. Dd's friend going too, also for first time & both are looking forward to it.

I didn't mention in earlier post that i knew nothing about syllabus /exams etc when she started.

I found it difficult getting info from dance school so turned to internet and examining bodies to get info (dd does both idta and rad). That meant i had some idea what questions to ask when looking for second school, but until having lessons you can't be sure. Dds current teachers encourage /support and give corrections. Most importantly we can see the improvement.

Dds first dance teacher was chosen due to recommendations / reputation. Unfortunately that dance school closed. The next dance school was chosen after some research but partly as class times fitted with other things we were doing. There were good aspects to this school but teachers aims seemed to change & we realised it wasn't the right school for dd anymore. Now on third dance school. There are different teachers for different genres, it has strong connections to first dance school we used so already knew some of teachers, and all teachers experienced& qualified.