VBee

Hi Aileen I don't think I will be able to answer all your questions but I can help with some of them. I guess it depends on whether your dd's teacher thinks she will be ready to take the old grade 5 before Christmas, if not then obviously it would be best to follow the new syllabus since the old one won't be available after Christmas as far as I am aware. This would also depend on how many hours of teaching she is having on grade work too. Having just taken the old Grade 5 I think the old syallabus could be learnt in time. I'm not sure about when grade 6 and 7 are being changed I thought that they were newer than the current grade 4 and 5 anyway. You don't have to follow the higher grades in order. But I think that grade 6 and 7 are quite a step up from grade 5 and that they definitely take longer to get to being exam ready, the exercises are a lot longer and I think need a bit more maturity to perform well. I think there is guidance on the RAD website that says how many hours of teaching they expect for each grade, that may help. Does anyone know where this is? Ooops didn't see that hfbrew had replied before I posted, must have been too busy typing!

Thanks for the replies, I guess I'll just turn up then, hopefully they won't be too busy on a Friday afternoon. Dancer Sugar Plum, thanks for the recommendation, but you might have misread my post. Although they looked really pretty on my feet I found that the shank went really quickly on grishko 2007's, whilst the demi pointe stayed solid. Which was a shame because they did look very nice. So I'm not sure that the proflex would suit me, I have got quite high arches.... I appreciate the recommendation though!

Hello, just a quick question. I'm planning on going to London in a couple of weeks and thought I'd get some new pointe shoes whilst I'm there. I've had about 4 pairs of pointe shoes before (either grishko or gamba) but just from local shops and thought it might be good to try on a wider variety of shoes. My favourite shoes were my first ever pair, gambas (from about 1999) but i've tried new gambas again recently, since starting back at ballet, and they just aren't the same (maybe it's since the manufacturing went to France, or probably that my feet have changed). And I didn't get on with the grishko 2007s, they looked lovely on my feet but they were so stiff to roll up through demi pointe, and by the time I'd just about broken in the demi pointe the shank had gone and gave me no support under my arch and that was just dangerous. Plus I found them very noisy when walking and jumping, has anyone else found this? Anyway after all that, I just wondered do I need to make appointments or just turn up? it'll be a Friday afternoon when I'm there.

Thanks everyone and fingers crossed for your DD 2danscersmum!

Well the results are in .... and it’s not too bad. I passed my RAD grade 5! With distinction! Feeling pretty happy, thanks for all your kind words and encouragement!

An interesting topic Balleteacher, I too think that the hover really brings the grand jets to life. I also think that it needs a sense of effortlessness, and a gentle landing. Anjuli I know what you mean about the landing being tough on your joints too. As an amateur I find I can get quite good height into my jumps, and when I manage that hover it feels so right, but I find the landing harder to control and keep soft. Does anyone have any tips on how to do this other than bending my knees? Which I know I should do more than I do!

So I took my grade 5 exam, and I think it went ok.... I haven’t had the results yet, why do they take so long!? The examiner seemed nice enough and I don’t think she treated us any differently for being adults, other than I think she might have given us a longer break between the allegro exercises and the dance than usual good to have a bit of a breather! There were no major disasters, I came in a little late for one of the centre exercises (I don’t know what happened I think my brain had switched off with all the adrenaline), pirouettes weren’t great, but I managed to get round. I got through the character work (my worst part) although I could have performed this section better. So all in all I don’t think I was really distinction material on the day and I know I’ve done everything better in class, but fingers crossed hopefully I’ll have passed. I’ll come back and update you when I get my result. Now I’m just looking forward to the Grade 6 work. Having watched some of the clips on youtube it looks really lovely, each of the exercises look more like a mini dance and the music seems much nicer than grade 5. Has anyone taken grade 6 recently? If so how did you find it? Merry Christmas all.

I'd be interested in this being 5'7" but only having size 4 feet! Which one is more dominant, height or footsize?

That's an interesting point Anjuli, have you come across this before? Do you know why taller people would jump the count?

Huddsballetmum and dtadmin, I got the same message earlier. I also noticed that I've now had a refund into my account too. I had asked for an exchange, but it wasn't an essential item, so I'm just happy not be be out of pocket.

Just to add to everyone else's comments. I ordered some leotards a few weeks ago, which turned up on time, but I didn't receive any confirmation emails from dance direct that the items had been dispatched. They only replied to my email after I'd received the leotards in the post. I have returned one of them to exchange for a different size, but haven't heard anything and that was almost 2 weeks ago now. I've sent them an e-mail but not heard anything back yet. Fingers crossed it gets sorted out. I've used Planet Dance before they were really good, but as Spannerandpony mentioned it's worth checking whether items are in stock, otherwise I found that they do try and wait until they have everything in your order before they send it out.

Another interesting article Anjuli, I'm looking forward to the "performing in public" one, which leads me onto something we were disucssing in class last week. Performance and Technique; we were discussing how performance and technique were two of things that we found hard to balance, and how sometimes they seem to work against each other. Some of us in the class are very focused on technique and find that we aren’t such great performers. Yet others in the class are far better performers however their technique is not as good. As one of the first group I think by nature I am not very confident and a bit of a perfectionist and so for me the easier part of dancing is to focus closely on the correct technique and placement etc. as it allows me to be in my own world and not be so concerned that someone is watching me. Yet when our teacher tells us we need to perform, to project and communicate with our audience I find that my technique tends to suffer as I have to focus so hard to be confident on the performance aspects, which are out of character for me. I know that dancing is all about being able to connect with the audience and this is never going to happen if you are always looking at the floor. As adults (and amateur dancers) who most likely have a strong sense of who we are, whether confident, shy, emotional etc, is this something we can overcome? I was wondering whether anyone else struggles with this and whether you have found it is a common feature of shy or less confident students to be very technique focused? And conversely for more confident individuals to not be as technically correct yet better performers?

What a great article. I hope I can still dance when I'm in my 80s!

Hi To add to what the others have already said, I don't think dancing with socks over pointes is a good idea, it'll make it far too slippy and dangerous, Like Spannerandpony mentioned, I've known people to put socks over their pointes whilst they break them in, but never to dance in. Maybe the teacher has misread this somewhere? I also think it's inevitable that they will get dirty, I darn the end of my pointe shoes, and even after one class, using a bit of rosin, they are pretty filthy. Is there a reason why the teacher wants the shoes to stay clean, like a performance or exam coming up?

Hi all, Thanks for your encouragement. LinnMM I'm glad to know that the ladies all found the examiner positive, and that there are other adults out there doing exams. I do wonder whether it's worth the fuss, but I'd like to test the water to get a gauge of where I'm at. Hadn't thought about how wobbly my pirouettes can be, I'll just keep my fingers crossed for those! I have got the music for the exam and have been running through it when I get the chance at home. As 2dancersmum mentioned I don't think we get asked questions in RAD, I remember in BBO we would be asked to clap rhythms or asked about the time signature of the music etc, I'll check with my teacher just in case. 2dancersmum, thanks for the advice about smiling, I'm the sort of person who wears my heart on my sleeve so I know it shows on my face when I'm not happy with how I've performed and especially if I mess up. Yet when I do smile it tends to relax me and make the dance flow more easily, hopefully the examiner will smile back!

Hello everyone I’m new to the forum and wonder whether you lovely people could offer me some advice? Moderators please feel free to move this if you don’t think I’ve used the right thread. So, I started ballet when I was 2 ½ after copying my older sister dancing around the house. My ballet teacher was a friend of my mum’s from school. I kept on dancing throughout school only about once or twice a week and as a teenager used to help teach the little ones ballet. I took exams up to about grade 4/5. Then I went away to university. I tried out the dance society’s classes, however they only offered complete beginners class or advanced ballet (e.g. the equivalent of advanced 1 level). As the one was too simple and the other well above me, I inevitably gave up. Almost 16 years of my life were spent going to dance lessons and then nothing. So...Just over a year ago, at 26, I bit the bullet and decided to go back to ballet! It was a bit daunting after an 8 year gap and I didn’t know quite what to expect or how I was going to compare to anyone else in the classes. But I found a really good school that offered 4 levels of adult ballet classes, which meant I was able to find a level I felt comfortable with. Once I had gained back some stamina, flexibility, stability and the ability to get my brain to communicate to my feet what I was actually supposed to be doing, I picked up the courage to try out an exam class. And in about a month I am going to take my RAD grade 5 exam! And here’s where I need your help/ advice. I’m feeling a bit scared about taking this exam. I’m loving being back at ballet, I have a new appreciation for it and it’s great to be in a class with people around my own age and ability who want to be there. But I really don’t know how I’m going to perform on the day. As I mentioned before, since returning to ballet as a fully fledged adult there are a number of things I have found more difficult than I used to as a child. It’s awful to think, but at 27 my memory just isn’t as good as it used to be and I’m not as steady on my feet when holding balances. I’m a bit worried that the nerves might get to me on the day and I’ll completely forget what I’m doing half way through an exercise or fall over when holding an arabesque! Obviously I can’t do some things as well as when I was younger, but on a positive note I do have more confidence as an adult and I am not as self conscious or as easily embarrassed as I was as a teenager. I also don’t really know what result to expect. Despite being corrected a lot by my teacher when I was a child, I always got good reports and my teacher often told my mum I was doing very well, however I was never sure whether this was just because my teacher and my mum were friends. As a kid I took BBO exams and passed with honours, but I don’t know what the equivalent is in RAD. I wondered whether anyone else on here has taken exams as an adult and how they found the experience. Do you have any tips for me? Do you think that examiners look kindly on adult students who are just doing dance for enjoyment and a sense of achievement rather than as a career? Also should I prepare myself for just a pass mark, or would it be possible to get higher? Thanks