Ballet grade questions

[balletmum13]

Hi, I was just wondering what grade you would expect a 13 year old too be on if they were doing Istd ballet?

Also. how many hours of dance would be a minimum to take?

Is gymnastics helpful as dd would like to start?

[Picturesinthefirelight]

How long is a piece of string?

 

A lot depends on what a child's ambitions are.

 

A child dancing purely for a fun, social activity could be dancing once or twice a week. A child who loves dsnce & wants to get to a high level could be doing more classes.

 

A child who wants to dance professionally & apply for vocational college aged 16 or 18 would probably be doing upwards of 6 or so ballet classes per week plus Pilates, modern, jazz etc.

 

I'm not familiar with ISTD ballet grades but the 2-3 times a a weekers at dds old dance school are doing roughly grade 5/Inter Foundation RAD ballet & grade 4 ISTD modern.

 

Dd & her classmates at vocational school are doing Intermediate or Adv 1 ballet & Intermediate Modern. Start nearby dance school offering more classes the girls aged about 13 are doing Grades 6/7/Intermediate ballet.

 

But grades sent everything. Some schools will move quickly through grades but focus totally on this whereas other schools may do more free work which cdm be very advantageous to a dancer.

[Loulabelle]

I would say grade 6 or Intermediate but I'm saying that from experience of my dd's school. I'm sure one of the teachers on the forum will be able to advise you more.

[Harwel]

At 13 my ds was working on RAD intermediate, that was on 2 ballet lessons a week both syllabus classes. As far as my own experience goes, there really isn't much difference in standards between ISTD and RAD. When I was young it was always considered easier to pass an ISTD exam but there were some harder steps at an earlier stage. This of course could all have changed in the last 30 years!

[chloe123]

My daughter is 12 and is just starting ISTD grade 4. The group above her are mainly 13 / 14 and are soon to do their grade 5 exam. 

 

She takes between 2 and 4 ballet classes a week.

 

Remember that this forum has a lot of dancers / parents who are on the path to a professional dance career. I felt like my daughter was seriously behind when I first started reading this forum. But then I realised that for someone who dances seriously but as a hobby (and also does other dance styles) this is probably quite normal. 

[ParentTaxi]

DD (just 13) has just taken Inter foundation ISTD, along with her cohort of 13 / 14 year olds, at a serious-but-not-vocational dance school. Most of the 13 year olds, however, are working towards Grade 6 or a few lower.

 

3.75 hours of ballet classes per week, plus tap, modern, performance groups at 2 age ranges, solo lesson and stretching.

[Anna C]

This thread may be of interest: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/9842-how-much-ballet/?hl=gymnastics#entry132291

[Littleone]

Hi - Like Parentaxi's DD my daughter also took ISTD Inter foundation at 13 and also does similar amounts of other styles and group work.

 

With regard to gymnastics I think that a well run class could enhance strength, flexibility and stamina and also teach skills which could be very useful in the future if your daughter is wanting to follow more of a modern contemporary route. My DD did gymnastics quite seriously from 7-12 and the tumbling/acro skills she gained I believe will be useful to her if she chooses to go down the modern/contemporary path - however with regard to ballet , she and her teachers have had to work quite hard to change the stance/posture/habits she learnt from all her gym !  

 

I think as Picturesinthefirelight says , it all depends on your DD's ambitions :-) 

Edited January 25, 2016 by Littleone