RAD IF uniform requirements

[DancingShoes]

Does anyone have a dd who has done the RAD Intermediate Foundation exam in the last 6 months or so?

We are struggling to get a straight answer from HQ regarding shoes. Do the shoes need to have ribbons? Do they need to be a certain type? The guidelines say split soles are permitted but it's a bit vague otherwise!

What has anyone else worn?

Also does it have to be a particular style/make of leotard?

Thanks

[balletbean]

Hi. DD took IF last July.

 

Ballet full sole pink satin ballet shoes with ribbons

 

Plain black cotton style leotard with belt. No mesh or embellishment. Thick straps preferred. Scoop front/back.

 

Hope that helps.

[shygirlsmum]

Satin full sole with ribbons for us too.

[Legseleven]

Hello DancingShoes, I hope your daughter is enjoying preparing for her IF exam! My DD did her IF a few years ago but I know that candidates aren't marked down on leotard or shoe choice. One of DD's teachers is an experienced vocational examiner and confirms this. (Having said that, she is also unashamedly 'old school' and says that she would like the leotard requirements to be stricter, as they were previously - but she has said many times that examiners are well aware that they may not mark candidates down in terms of dress and shoes.)

 

She advises a plain leotard in camisole or sleeveless style and agrees that higher-cut legs (within reason of course) tend to look better as they visually lengthen the legs. Her strongest advice, however, is for your DD to choose a style of leotard which is comfortable and which makes her feel confident about how she looks,as that will be reflected in her dancing. For example, DD likes camisole style leotards but her friend who has more in the bust department than DD feels better in a traditional sleeveless style. Ribbons on pancaked/calamined satin shoes are usual (I assume because they look more like soft blocks or pointe shoes), although when my DD took her Intermediate exam there were girls from other dance schools with elastics on their soft blocks. (IF candidates can wear soft shoes rather than soft blocks.) When we asked her, DD's teacher confirmed again that these candidates couldn't be marked down for elastics on their shoes but that it is more usual to wear ribbons on shoes in most countries.

[Legseleven]

I should also add that while DD's examiner teacher recommends that her students wear full sole satin shoes (whether flats or soft blocks), split soles are permitted. That goes for pointe shoes as well.

[DancingShoes]

Thanks everyone for your help. Looks like some new shoes are required!!

[theother51]

My daughter took her IF two years ago.

 

She wore split sole canvas ballet flats (no ribbons)

For her Intermediate exam a year ago she wore Soft Blocks with ribbons.

[drdance]

As a teacher, I always recommend a plain camisole/sleeveless leotard that the student feels comfortable in - usual RAD uniform colours are black, navy, purple or royal blue. With shoes, I tend to recommend a happy medium between the satin shoe with ribbons and split soles by suggesting the student wear satin, split sole shoes with pointe shoe ribbons. These shoes can be pancaked/calamined or left (up to the student). It does depend on the fit of the shoe though as some brands of satin shoes don't fit wide feet well and not many brands do split sole satins. But that's what I'd like to see students in.

[sarahw]

And ditto to satin shoes and narrow feet!!

Edited January 13, 2017 by sarahw

[Moomin]

Do you have to wear satin shoes with ribbons for classes as well? Buying new shoes for an exam is a bit alien to me as we just have leather with elastics (pre seen????) all year round

[dancefanatic]

Going back far more years than I care to own up to, we used wear satin shoes with ribbons for our RAD exams.  We were expected to have a new pair for each exam which we then wore for class until they either fell apart or we'd grown out of them.  No leather or canvas shoes allowed by the school but I know that was the school's preference.

[taxi4ballet]

According to the InterFound/Inter exam specification on the RAD website, it reads:

 

"Soft pointe shoes - pink with ribbons (soft ballet shoes may be worn for the Intermediate Foundation exam only - pink with ribbons)

Pointe shoes (pointe work section) - pink with ribbons"

 

So it looks like they want soft-soled shoes with ribbons for I/F, but it doesn't specify whether satin/leather/whatever. Satin would probably look nicest, maybe?

Edited January 13, 2017 by taxi4ballet

[Guest]

If ribbons are specified it has to be satin - canvas and leather would look odd unless with elastic. With soft blocks you don't have a choice, they only come in satin. Dd's teacher wanted those to be newish as well which is why I was in the garage the night before her intermediate exam, hitting them with a claw hammer as they had been deemed to be too clunky.

[taxi4ballet]

I hate soft blocks  Thankfully I don't have that task any more

[Legseleven]

DD's friend wore canvas flats for her IF exam because they were the best fit for her. They looked like pancaked satin She either sewed the ribbons on with the 'rougher' side on the outside or pancaked them and they were indistinguishable from pancaked satin shoes.

[theother51]

If ribbons are specified it has to be satin - canvas and leather would look odd unless with elastic. With soft blocks you don't have a choice, they only come in satin. Dd's teacher wanted those to be newish as well which is why I was in the garage the night before her intermediate exam, hitting them with a claw hammer as they had been deemed to be too clunky.

My daughter has always refused to do exams in new shoes. She always wants to wear well worn in & therefore comfortable shoes.

[DancingShoes]

Thanks everyone. We're going for split soles satin with ribbons. As long as we can get some to fit well!

[sarahw]

If feet are narrow it's worth trying the Bloch prolite ones. (Although Bloch were having one of their stock failures last time we tried!!)

[Sheila Beelam]

Yes I would second Bloch prolite split sole satin shoes - they go down to an A width fitting and start from a UK 2. Huge issues with supply from Bloch, so we stockpile them!

[Dilek Taptik]

Hi,

 

i regularly enter students for these exams:

 

Inter foundation: normal leather ballet shoes are allowed with split sole for this Vocational exam only.

In previous times it was soft blocks only.

 

You can add ribbons to the leather shoes but this is not a necessity.

 

In general i always advice soft blacks as these are a 'must' in Intermediate. They feel very different to soft leather ballet shoes, so it's good to know in advance how they feel and try the exam in these.

 

Hope it helps.

 

Dilek

[Jan McNulty]

Hello Dilek and welcome to the Forum!