Taking Ballet Exams as an adult

[Viv]

On 10/06/2023 at 07:16, Angela Essex said:

I had a kind of mock exam this week - My teacher has said in comments over the last few weeks that I should get 7 for barre, 6 for adage and decent marks for port de bras, pointe and musicality/presentation. I think the centre, allegros 1 and 3 and variation 1 are passable too as far as I can tell. It’s just the allegro 2 - I’ll be lucky to get any marks for it at all in my estimation.

 

Just remember that for Intermediate Foundation, the three allegros are all assessed together as part of "technique 4". This means that if you do a good enough job on allegro 1 and 3, allegro 2 might not bring you down as much as you fear. Even if if you don't get all of your beats, if you manage a 6 for both the other allegros and only a 3 for allegro 2, you will probably still average a 5 for technique 4. One way you can think of it is that allegro 2 as an exercise on its own is worth about 3% of the overall exam. There's no point getting stressed about 3% (something I conveniently ignore every time I have to learn a new allegro 2 - they are always beastly!)

 

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Also any tips to minimise sweating? It literally looked like someone had thrown a glass of water on me during the mock exam. Any advice would be very gratefully received. 

 

I got one of those evaporative cooling towels that you can buy from sports stores (https://www.amazon.com/Ergodyne-Chill-Its-6602-Evaporative-Cooling/dp/B001B5I57I?th=1). I wet one half of the towel and used that to cool my face and chest in between exercises. I didn't wet the entire towel so that I would have one more absorbent side if things got to the very drippy stage (the joys of dancing in Australian summer). 

[Angela Essex]

55 minutes ago, Viv said:

 

Just remember that for Intermediate Foundation, the three allegros are all assessed together as part of "technique 4". This means that if you do a good enough job on allegro 1 and 3, allegro 2 might not bring you down as much as you fear. Even if if you don't get all of your beats, if you manage a 6 for both the other allegros and only a 3 for allegro 2, you will probably still average a 5 for technique 4. One way you can think of it is that allegro 2 as an exercise on its own is worth about 3% of the overall exam. There's no point getting stressed about 3% (something I conveniently ignore every time I have to learn a new allegro 2 - they are always beastly!)

 

 

I got one of those evaporative cooling towels that you can buy from sports stores (https://www.amazon.com/Ergodyne-Chill-Its-6602-Evaporative-Cooling/dp/B001B5I57I?th=1). I wet one half of the towel and used that to cool my face and chest in between exercises. I didn't wet the entire towel so that I would have one more absorbent side if things got to the very drippy stage (the joys of dancing in Australian summer). 

Aww thanks heaps Viv yes that’s a really good way of looking at it. Problem is my allegros 1 and 3 aren’t great either. Anyway, as long as I pass overall it’ll be a major win. 
 

That cooling towel looks amazing - definitely going to get one of those thank you for that. 

[Angela Essex]

So I did my intermediate foundation exam today by film which went okay. I did the best I could with my 47year old mum body and am really pleased that I’ve managed to get this far. Forgot to curtesy at the examiner (my teacher) at the start though.
 

Barre, port de bras and adage went off without any drama. I let myself down by a couple of suboptimal pirouette landings and managed to nearly fall over in the run in allegro 3. Luckily I managed to self correct, but then got late and was out of time to the music for a couple of bars which I’m annoyed about. 

 

I had a bit of a wobble in Variation 1. I’ve definitely done the centre work, allegro 3 and the variation better before, but I did the best I could in that moment.

 

By the time I got to the pointe work I was struggling stamina wise and so I’ve definitely held myself up more effortlessly before. It was taking a monumental effort not to press down on the barre and the barre kept creaking every time I pressed down on it which really gave me away. Plus I did a wrong head in the echappe releve courus at the barre.

 

I asked my teacher at the end if she thought I’d passed and she said I definitely had so I’m taking that as a major win. Next stop grade 6 and maybe one day intermediate although I need to gain a lot more strength and technique before then. 

[LinMM]

Great achievement Angela. It’s so annoying when you know you have danced something better on other occasions…the same thing happens with performances…but I’m sure your dedication showed through and us dancers are always our own worse critics!! 
Hopefully you will get at least a Merit and who knows you may surprise yourself! 
Did you have a chance to have a practice run through of the exam (under exam conditions) as this is often a good idea especially stamina wise and can help to get rid of some nerves. 

[Angela Essex]

11 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Great achievement Angela. It’s so annoying when you know you have danced something better on other occasions…the same thing happens with performances…but I’m sure your dedication showed through and us dancers are always our own worse critics!! 
Hopefully you will get at least a Merit and who knows you may surprise yourself! 
Did you have a chance to have a practice run through of the exam (under exam conditions) as this is often a good idea especially stamina wise and can help to get rid of some nerves. 

Thanks Linn 😊 Yes it really is isn’t it? I ran the exam through this morning with my teacher which went much better and I had a mock exam about a month ago. I wasn’t overly nervous I was literally just lacking the stamina to do my best effort in some of the exercises. My exam was at 5.30pm and I was up half the night with a sore throat and blocked nose which didn’t help. By the time it got to 5.30pm and I’d warmed up I was feeling hot and tired. To be honest if I do scrape a merit it will be a miracle as technically I’m highly average in the centre. We will see. I’ll take a pass as a major win though seeing as I only started taking classes as an absolute beginner 2 years ago. 

[Fiz]

What a shame you weren’t feeling well and felt that you didn’t do yourself justice, Angela! Hopefully it went better than you thought. My youngest dd did her Grade 5 after a vile tummy bug and couldn’t remember a thing about her exam whilst her partner in the mazurka was coming down with flu! They both got Highly Commended for their performance!

[Angela Essex]

19 minutes ago, Fiz said:

What a shame you weren’t feeling well and felt that you didn’t do yourself justice, Angela! Hopefully it went better than you thought. My youngest dd did her Grade 5 after a vile tummy bug and couldn’t remember a thing about her exam whilst her partner in the mazurka was coming down with flu! They both got Highly Commended for their performance!

Thanks Fizz - keeping my fingers crossed. Congratulations to your daughter on a fantastic result. 

[Fiz]

Thanks, Angela! It was quite a long time ago now. You never saw such a sad pair in the changing room and I was really worried but their lovely ballet teacher said she was sure they would get through it because they were both performers. Sure enough, they entered the studio with erect heads and 24 carat gold smiles! I have also seen a local theatre troupe give an amazing performance even though the whole cast was down with a particularly unpleasant virus. It’s incredible what the body can do when it has to. 

[LinMM]

I think sometimes slightly magical things do happen in ballet classes 🙂 
As an older dancer with some permanent aches and pains in left hip area there are some days in the changing room even if feeling like couldn’t possibly do a whole class and what am I doing here sort of thing somehow once I put my hand on the barre and the music starts some energy just seems to come from somewhere and the joy of dancing supersedes the hip pain! 
Though do occasionally do some “extra” barre work if allegro section is a particularly bouncy one lol! 

[The_Red_Shoes]

Well done Angela. You should be really chuffed with your progress. Don't fret about a few mistakes like the head or the behind the music, as the marks will balance out across the exam as a whole and if you mostly had correct coordination or timing then you can still  get a good mark for that component.

 

You are very brave doing an exam that late in the day. And after doing a run through? I like to take exams late morning or early afternoon while I've got myself going properly but still have some energy left. As Carlos Acosta says in the Observer today about being a mature age dancer:  dance in a way that you can still walk off and not need an ambulance!

 

Fingers crossed now. At least with the RAD's new speedy marking you shouldn't be kept on tenterhooks for long. Onwards to Grade 6 (which is a very nice exam).

[Angela Essex]

6 hours ago, The_Red_Shoes said:

Well done Angela. You should be really chuffed with your progress. Don't fret about a few mistakes like the head or the behind the music, as the marks will balance out across the exam as a whole and if you mostly had correct coordination or timing then you can still  get a good mark for that component.

 

You are very brave doing an exam that late in the day. And after doing a run through? I like to take exams late morning or early afternoon while I've got myself going properly but still have some energy left. As Carlos Acosta says in the Observer today about being a mature age dancer:  dance in a way that you can still walk off and not need an ambulance!

 

Fingers crossed now. At least with the RAD's new speedy marking you shouldn't be kept on tenterhooks for long. Onwards to Grade 6 (which is a very nice exam).

Thanks @The_Red_Shoes I asked if I could go in the morning, and my teacher did ask if I could go first, but the studio owner wanted to get the little kids done first. To be fair the little ones pay the studio for their classes whereas I have private lessons with my teacher so I pay her direct so I was just using the studio as a venue to video the exam (my teacher usually teaches me in a different hall). That is, the studio owners priority is with her clients which is fair enough. Hopefully now the studio owner knows me I’ll get a better bite of the cherry beforehand and not do a run through on the same day next time. I think Carlos is 100% spot on 🤣

[Angela Essex]

I just had a stab at calculating my marks and think I’ve got 44 - 50 overall so a pass but sadly not enough for a merit: barre 7, port de bras 3, en dehors pirouettes 2 (1 if they’re being harsh), em dedans pirouettes 2, Allegro 1 -2, Allegro 2 - 1, Allegro 3 - 2 (optimistic might be a 1 as I got out of time after nearly slipping during a run), Free enchainement - went not too bad but it involved changemant battu and I didn’t get many of the beats so 5 I think, Pointe 5 or maybe 6, Musicality 7 performance 6 variation 1: technique 5 and performance 6 or 7: so 45 at worst and 50 at best. 
 

Let’s see if my prediction is accurate. I’m a bit sad not to be thinking I’m in line for a merit, but I’m not going to let that take away from the achievement of doing it at all at my age. Thanks all for your kind words and encouragement it really means a lot to have some people who understand. 😊

[Angela Essex]

Oh my good lord I got a merit for my RAD intermediate foundation with 60 marks - I’m so happy - I can’t believe it 😁😁😁

[Fiz]

30 minutes ago, Angela Essex said:

Oh my good lord I got a merit for my RAD intermediate foundation with 60 marks - I’m so happy - I can’t believe it 😁😁😁

Congratulations!

[LinMM]

Well done Angela Essex 🥂

[NeverTooOld]

12 hours ago, Angela Essex said:

Oh my good lord I got a merit for my RAD intermediate foundation with 60 marks - I’m so happy - I can’t believe it 😁😁😁

Fantastic, well done! Really pleased for you

[Peanut68]

14 hours ago, Angela Essex said:

Oh my good lord I got a merit for my RAD intermediate foundation with 60 marks - I’m so happy - I can’t believe it 😁😁😁

Congratulations on your achievement!! 👏👏👏👏

[EverHopeful]

Congratulations @Angela Essex, I’m so happy for you! Will you go on to do Intermediate now?

What exams are we all planning for this term? I’m resitting a previous one that I wasn’t happy with my result for at the time, and potentially attempting the Giselle unit too. But I find that one particularly difficult and allegro in general is not my strong point, so we’ll see how it goes! 

[Colman]

On 13/09/2023 at 21:47, Angela Essex said:

Oh my good lord I got a merit for my RAD intermediate foundation with 60 marks - I’m so happy - I can’t believe it 😁😁😁

Well done. 

 

11 hours ago, EverHopeful said:

What exams are we all planning for this term?

This year's plan is the (boys) bit from the Coppelia Discovering Rep. Our teacher was talking about February, but I don't think I'll be properly fit to dance it until Christmas, so might push it out to May. Probably doing grade 4 in the other curriculum class I do, not sure I'll bother with that exam. 

[Angela Essex]

20 hours ago, EverHopeful said:

Congratulations @Angela Essex, I’m so happy for you! Will you go on to do Intermediate now?

What exams are we all planning for this term? I’m resitting a previous one that I wasn’t happy with my result for at the time, and potentially attempting the Giselle unit too. But I find that one particularly difficult and allegro in general is not my strong point, so we’ll see how it goes! 

Thank you 😊 My teacher has said I could do intermediate but it would take a long time and be gruelling or I  could do grade 6 first and then go on to intermediate after that. I chose the latter since I’ve only been dancing 2.5years and I want to improve my technique, strength and flexibility before I do intermediate. Also IF was quite gruelling and I’m ready to do something a little less full on for a while. She’s said she’ll carry on with progressing my pointe work throughout grade 6 though.

 

What exam are you resitting? And what is the Giselle unit? @EverHopeful
 

@Colmanthanks! Good luck with the discovering repertoire - sounds lots of fun.

 

Side note - has anyone on here ever been on a ballet retreat? If so which one and what was it like and what grade / standard are the classes set at? I’d love to go to one but just not sure I could keep up. 

[RHowarth]

Congratulations on your result!

 

I've done the Leeds ballet retreat half a dozen times. It's great fun. You would be totally fine at IF/Grade 6 standard.

[Angela Essex]

8 minutes ago, RHowarth said:

Congratulations on your result!

 

I've done the Leeds ballet retreat half a dozen times. It's great fun. You would be totally fine at IF/Grade 6 standard.

Thank you. I definitely don’t dance at IF level in an open class though. I forget combinations a lot and get the sides wrong and find myself turning en dehors instead of en dedans and vice versa 🤦‍♀️ It took me a long time (over a year) to learn the syllabus. If I was in an IF level open class and having to learn the exercises from scratch I’d not cope so I’m worried about booking one. 

[BalletEnthusiast]

Congratulations to you @Angela Essex! Have been skimming though this thread as i've liked watching ballet for years but never thought (yet) about doing it. Lots of flexibility is required I guess. So at what age is it just too late to start?

[NeverTooOld]

1 hour ago, BalletEnthusiast said:

So at what age is it just too late to start?

My answer to this would be it's never too late to start, it is all about the enjoyment. At one point a chap joined an adult class that I was doing who was in his 60s. He always wanted to dance but when he was young, boys were 'meant to do cricket, football and rugby' so his parents wouldn't let him take dance. He then started it at a later point in life and was loving every second. I danced as a child but then came back to it in my 40s. I've found that although children are typically more flexible, don't get so dizzy in turns and are more brave in terms of not second guessing themselves, as an adult I feel stronger, am more focused on my technique and my musicality and expression is much better than when I was younger. Basically, some things seem easier as you get older whereas some are more difficult but it is more about the journey. If you love to dance then you are a dancer! Go for it and have fun

[NeverTooOld]

On 15/09/2023 at 00:05, EverHopeful said:

Congratulations @Angela Essex, I’m so happy for you! Will you go on to do Intermediate now?

What exams are we all planning for this term? I’m resitting a previous one that I wasn’t happy with my result for at the time, and potentially attempting the Giselle unit too. But I find that one particularly difficult and allegro in general is not my strong point, so we’ll see how it goes! 

I am really hoping to get my IF exam done this term - almost there but just need to get the pointe bit in the centre. It is more of a mental issue than physical but I am getting there, just need to stop thinking myself out of it! I did start grade 7 a few years back but there isn't anyone else ready for it yet in my school and I can't afford a private lesson so just hoping for another student so they will restart the class. It is such a lovely grade to dance so I am looking forward to continuing with it.

[LinMM]

Agree with above and you certainly don’t have to be flexible as an older dancer but you will gain some flexibility just by attending classes. 
I hope you will give it a go. 

I’ve attended David Kierce’s London “retreats” in the past and as you repeat the bits of Rep you are learning lots of times it shouldn’t be too difficult to pick up throughout the couple of days you are there. 
The range in these particular retreats is quite wide though from around Grade 4 ish standard to Advanced …when I was there anyway. 
But I seem to remember David simplified some bits and you could choose which version to dance. 
It’s about 5 years now since I’ve attended one though. 
I still get the newsletters and yesterday one arrived saying they have a two day retreat in London in October and a one day retreat in December ( the 10th which is a Sunday) so could be a good idea to start with a one day one at first. 
 

Franziska Rosenweig also does Ballet Rep intensives and has one coming up in October too. 
I think David’s are all at Central now ( I did mine at the Rambert premises) and Franziska’s are usually at The Place. 

I believe if you are in the Leeds area David is even running a half day retreat in December which these days would suit me much better than the 10-5pm ones!! But I always used to enjoy doing them as it’s a very friendly atmosphere. 

 

 

[BalletEnthusiast]

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm planning things to do when I retire and thought ballet might be fun! Might keep the old brain cells going too! 

[Colman]

6 minutes ago, BalletEnthusiast said:

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm planning things to do when I retire and thought ballet might be fun! Might keep the old brain cells going too! 

Yes, and it’s exactly the right type of work to fend off the dangerous age related deteriorations that eventually lead to cascade failure. With a bit of luck you’ll be able to get better at it for a decade or three. (But why wait until you retire?)

 

15 hours ago, Angela Essex said:

Side note - has anyone on here ever been on a ballet retreat? If so which one and what was it like and what grade / standard are the classes set at? I’d love to go to one but just not sure I could keep up. 

If you’ve done IF you should be able to keep up with almost any of the adult workshops/retreats that people run. Karris Scarlette, London Ballet Classes, Everybody Ballet are the three we normally go to, but I’m trying to get around to the Ballet Retreat ones as well. You might be a bit overwhelmed by trying to learn rep at the speed they have to cover it in a workshop, but that’s normal. No one cares* so long as you’re not in the way, so the rule is: be in the right place first, then worry about technique. If the level is set much above IF/Grade 6 they wouldn’t be able to sell enough places!

 

(* Actually, there was one choreographer that I think wasn’t best pleased to see the group of less experienced people and less ballet shaped group I was in butchering his piece, but hey, he got paid.)

[Angela Essex]

11 hours ago, BalletEnthusiast said:

Congratulations to you @Angela Essex! Have been skimming though this thread as i've liked watching ballet for years but never thought (yet) about doing it. Lots of flexibility is required I guess. So at what age is it just too late to start?

Aww thank you. It’s literally never too late - I started 2 years ago aged 45, but there are people in classes I’ve been to in their 60s and above who are new to dance. And no - no particular amount of flexibility is required to start. You will develop and improve that as you go along no matter your starting point.
 

Teachers of beginners or absolute beginners classes are very welcoming to all no matter what age, sex or physique. They are just glad you’ve turned up and are trying to learn.

 

What part of the country are you in if you don’t mind sharing? Forum members will most likely be able to recommend some local classes for you to try. 
 

Definitely don’t wait until you retire though - why put off having such fun 😊

[EverHopeful]

I’m resitting grade 5, I was 3 marks away from a distinction last time and it’s my favourite grade, so I’m hoping to cobble together those 3 extra marks this time 🤞🏻 

 

@Angela Essex Giselle is one of the three exams at level 2 of Discovering Repertoire. I personally find it very difficult, but will give it a go

 

@NeverTooOld I also started ballet for the first time as an adult, and although I was so keen and hard working and excited to get my pointe shoes, there is a definite fear in the back of my mind regarding (one leg) pointe in the centre. I will happily pose onto pointe on one foot, but my brain will not allow me to releve onto pointe in retire 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Edited September 16, 2023 by EverHopeful

[Angela Essex]

18 minutes ago, EverHopeful said:

I’m resitting grade 5, I was 3 marks away from a distinction last time and it’s my favourite grade, so I’m hoping to cobble together those 3 extra marks this time

Wow! Fantastic result congratulations! and good luck this time. 🙌🙌🙌

[Peanut68]

55 minutes ago, EverHopeful said:

will happily pose onto pointe on one foot, but my brain will not allow me to releve onto pointe in retire 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

I had exactly that same issue….on one leg more than the other. I always put it down to it being my less naturally arched foot so I just couldn’t ‘get over’ as easily…. Only now I realise it was actually all about strength & my having favoured the ‘good’ foot had meant I’d actually just strengthened that leg & allowed my poor one to get weaker! It was doing the ‘relatively new’ (& definitely new to me!) single leg rises in sets of 8 turned in & turned out at end of barre section of class that identified this! The good leg was a total breeze…. Agony the other! And as I’ve got a little stronger, they have become easier & actually I find the ‘bad foot’ releve is far more ‘over the arch’ than ever before… so, it’s not the foot that was the issue but the leg muscles… 
Just to add…. Haven’t done any pointe since inter exam about 5 years ago & sadly my ballet level & quantity significantly dropped over covid times & has never really recovered….

I attended a 2 day ballet retreat a year or so ago when not at my fittest  - loved it but it did almost finish me off as I (stupidly) tried to dance as if I was at my Inter standard & fitness level! Also hadn’t realised the negative impact carrying a significant amount of extra weight is clearly having on my body….Would love to do more again & am especially aware to work on my weaker leg! Ok, I need to stop feeling sorry for myself & get on with setting some health & fitness goals again! 
 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Peanut68

[EverHopeful]

I don’t have trouble getting fully over on pointe, it’s just that my ankles (more noticeably my right one) are not stable enough so I fear just going too far over and injuring myself. 
I’ve also noticed a bad habit developing of doing literal push ups on the barre so that it almost looks like I’m doing a single leg releve, but in reality all the effort has come from my arms and shoulders propping myself up on the barre out of fear.