Flit and float

Vote vote vote for them in Friday's final! You get ten votes online for free (it's really easy) & I think they won't necessarily have the following like the big groups, I loved them & Kaine for the beautiful natural simplicity - not loads of tricks & spectacle of the groups, just actual lovely technique & presence! Vote!!

The studios are huge & lovely! And Glasgow has a real buzz about it just now because of Commonwealth games! Enjoy!

Ooo now the medals are a separate thing, I was under the impression you needed at least Elementary to do associate (teaching) as it is with most exam boards. However, maybe it's Elementary standard/any ballet Elementary (or Intermediate as most commonly known now)? I know years ago girls who did associates without having done the appropriate BATD grades (could've changed) all very vague & bizarre!

Oops! Obviously not complete!

Esme, PM me next week (very busy up till Thurs!) & I'll type you an outline of the syllabus. As I only have up to Elementary then Associate it's

I have the ballet syllabus just now and it doesn't mention anything about grade order or going back to grade 2 etc (maybe there's a rule book somewhere!) I do remember ages & ages ago when I'd done BATD tap & modern medals & stage (tap & modern) grades that when my dance school started doing the seperate tap & modern grades we (Seniors so pretty experienced) had to do Grade 1 tap & modern, which seems pretty ridiculous now! They were easy & we all came put with top grades (we didn't do the exam with 7 year olds!) seems a bit of a money maker?!

Petit assembles are just a little jump to get your feet into 5th (ie no swish like a normal assemble). Say you did glissade jete, you'd end one foot sur le cou de pied, you just do a little petit assemble to get your feet into 5th. RAD inter - the sissies ordinaries exercise, doesn't that have petit assembles inbetween the sissones to get your feet to 5th?

Oh and in RAD you wear soft blocks for all exams Inter foundation onwards alongside pointe shoes

There are a few threads about soft blocks on here, but basically their purpose is: - to get used to dancing in a heavier blocked shoe (as ballet dancers wearing pointe shoes in a ballet need to do allegro etc in pointe shoes & so dancers need to learn how to control landings etc in a heavier shoe) - to help strengthen the feet for pointe - thicker some provides resistance to work against & makes it harder to balance. Of course it's absolutely not the only way to strengthen for pointe, & many dancers are perfectly able to gain strength without soft blocks. They are a kind of inbetween shoe, I suppose going from split sole satin shoes to pointe is quite a leap so soft blocks kind of prepare for the difference.

You just "bin" all the ones you don't want them to send, & "love" all your favourites. I've binned olives as I don't like them, a lot of the flapjacks, salty popcorn (they always seemed to send that, I've got 4 in the cupboard!) etc.

BATD - British Association of Teachers of Dancing. Grades go in the normal order. Pre primary ballet can be taken age 4, medal tests are also for ballet, First Steps, Pre Bronze, Bronze & so on...includes ballet, character, national solos & mime (depending on level)

Really?! That's interesting! I'll need to get an updated syllabus!

I know a fair bit about BATD & RAD...I didn't know you had to go back to Grade 2 with BATD! They are pretty strict on doing grades in order though. In terms of content, there is quite a lot more technically at a young age e.g. Pre-primary is quite extensive and involves turnout, quite a lot of steps and a long exam, very different from RAD. Although, it (from my experience anyway) seems BATD is not so strictly marked as RAD, definitely not the same marking scheme (more old school - watch each section, hand written comments from examiner). I've seen lots of lovely BATD ballet dancers but the best ones all seemed to also do RAD/BBO too. The syllabus definitely has gaps that a good teacher needs to plug (but I guess any syllabus isn't really a complete system, something for a teacher to use as a guide & supplement?) I do prefer the slow build up & training of RAD, however maybe a syllabus like this is more for the commuted recreational student? More accessible for all types of body? Just an idea! In terms of where/how, it's HQ are in Glasgow & there are lots of schools in Scotland that teach it (more than ISTD I'd imagine) but there are BATD schools in the rest of Britain, Canada & I'm not sure where else. They do have quite an extensive list of dance styles - ballet, modern, tap, stage, disco, baton twirling, jazz, national, ballroom, Latin, cheerleading etc....not all the subjects have grades (some are medal tests)& not all do the full pre primary - Advanced 2 (ballet for instance goes pre-primary to Elementary at the moment). I've been out the BATD loop for a while & just revisiting lately, but when I contacted them a while ago (10+ years!) they happily sent me a selection of syllabi that you'd normally pay for! Seems strange as mentioned not to at least outline what's involved!

I saw a life hacks thing that suggests using a tic tac container for pins/kirbies, and putting a magnetic strip on cupboard doors to stick pins to. Also had using a toilet roll tube to put hair elastics round & slot kirbies on the top.

Warwick is beautiful! I love the campus, I always think it must be great to be a student there. Not sure what the standard is like but with the arts centre there surely must be a lot going on. I'm sure I've seen photos of dance things advertised, & they have small tours in the theatre tour. Will be going there beginning of August so can find out more!

I go to a summer school at Warwick (not run by the uni) they have a big mirrored dance studio we use & a huge lovely arts centre with rehearsal rooms & a concert hall & theatre so lots of opportunities. In Scotland, I know people at Dundee & St Andrews have dance societies, lots going on. Think Glasgow Caledonian has dance, Glasgow Uni has musical theatre society, but outwith uni in Glasgow lots of opportunities (Scottish Ballet, RSC, Dancehouse etc as well as private schools/studios)

I think I did more dancing after starting uni! I only started in my teens & became more serious before just leaving school, but haven't really stopped since! I stayed at home so carried on with my normal classes (then eventually other schools in same city). Loads of students at one of my schools in particular, the most serious/loads of classes one! I know quite a few unis have good dance societies now that people I know go to & do various performances & competitions. Also there are a lot more adult classes now than there ever were in the city where I live. As a teacher, I've used dance A LOT & it's always welcomed! After school classes, shows, concerts....good skill to mention at job interviews!

Just to add into the mix, I'm the RAD Grade 6 DVD has them all in split sole canvas shoes! And that was made a while ago.(you've always been allowed split soles for higher grades I think, maybe because there's no pointe?)

I remember the first time I saw it "WHAT is this?!!" Haha and the weird way everyone stands in the line up & the strange bow...it's another world!

Ooo just had a thought, of your daughter does RAD ballet, the free movement section in the grades has Greek dance influences, it is ballet-ised a bit, but some of the steps are similar.

I had problems with my Grishkos too (there's a whole other thread!) having had them before and not being so bad. I put mine in the washing machine (they do shrink a bit so wear while a bit damp) & bashed more after, it helped a lot, although they do harden up again. Blochs are indeed nicer & easier to work with, think I might just switch to them!

I loved watching the Greeks too (never had a Greek solo as my teacher didn't do them :-( ) I'd still like to learn Greek...from what I remember, elevation, demi pointe, absolutely no turnout, strong angular arms in a lot of cases (arms more like jazz than ballet often, there are lots of angular set arm positions). Think Greek statues & figures on vases, positions like attitude (slightly different from ballet) come from there. Seems like it would be good for dancers who are pretty good at ballet but maybe don't have the turnout! There were lots of nature type dances - autumn leaves falling, spring, summer, snowflakes, listen to the sea, daisy chain, nightfall, storm etc and some more character ones like Sirens, Persephone, Pandora, Athena etc. Lots of girls had a leotard and various chiffony bits, as well as full on tunics. Lots of chiffon just from the neckline (ie no waist) type very short dresses for younger girls. Ribbons round forehead to make headbands/wreaths were popular. I remember everyone used to wear their hair half up half down till an adjudicator said the hair should be off the neck so then everyone had ballet buns...not sure if there's an actual approved way!

Could she get a copy of the DVD to practice with?(if it's ISTD, not sure you get DVDs for other syllabi). Or at least get a copy of the music, my teachers always did that for us, & my ballet teacher used to photocopy the syllabus notes too (copyright?!!)

I have been know to use masking tape before you could get stick on bras, surprisingly supportive, but def a couple of performances option only!

Love it! Leotards should be labelled with a boobage rating along with the info on size, colour, fabric etc!