Is intermediate ISTD ballet same level as RAD intermediate

[abitwornout]

Hi, just after some information . My daughter has just taken her intermediate imperial classical ballet exam with ISTD . We are currently looking at the possibility of changing schools as my dd is taught alone at her current school as there are no other students at same level. The school we are looking at teaches RAD and said my daughter would need to take the intermediate RAD exam. I was wondering why ? Is ISTD intermediate not the same level?? Or is it a requirement of RAD to have done their exam before progressing??? ( I unfortunately was not at the meeting to ask questions my husband was and he didn't query it) thanks in advance 

[Loulou]

Hi

 

ive no idea if the same level as we've only ever done RAD, but you definitely have to have passed intermediate to take the next level in RAD , however if you check the Adv 1 exam specifications on the RAD site it says  the below, I would have though ITSD was a recognised body. 

 

1. In order to enter for Advanced Foundation or Advanced 1, candidates need to have passed an Intermediate level vocational graded examination in ballet from the RAD or any other recognised Awarding Body.

2. Maybe they just feel it is a different syllabus and she would find it harder if not done RAD intermediate ? 

Edited June 10, 2017 by Loulou

[abitwornout]

That's what I thought Loulou , but i wonder if my dd would feel demoralised after all the hard work she has put in to take her ISTD exam only to  to in effect take the same grade again and not progress to the next level. I know I would feel a bit cheated if that was me. 

[Pups_mum]

It's certainly not an RAD requirement - Intermediate with any of the major examining bodies is accepted as a precursor for Advanced 1, and the same is true in reverse.  In terms of how they are viewed by outside bodies, the exams run by the major dance organisations are equivalent in so far as they fall on the same point on the national qualifications spine and attract the same number of UCAS points etc. But the syllabi are all different and it can be a bit of a challenge changing from one to another. My DD changed syllabi for a while for advanced 2 and adjusted fairly easily, though she said there were some things she had already done in lower grades on her original syllabus, coupled with some things that were totally different. Overall her opinion was that neither was easier or more difficult, but they were different. I think it probably helps if a dancer has done non syllabus work and experienced different styles - changing syllabus at a late stage could be hard if you have only done one very specific style before I suppose. It could be that the new teacher thinks your DD might benefit from getting used to the RAD system at a lower level rather than going straight in at Advanced 1. I think it's a bit unreasonable to insist she does the exam though. Maybe you could reach a compromise whereby she starts off in the Intermediate class  for a little while until she has adjusted? Then both she and the new teacher will be able to assess whether she would be OK to do advanced 1. I'm told there's quite a big jump between intermediate and adv1 (my DD did adv foundation so didn't notice it as much) so there may be some value in a bit of an adjustment phase.

[abitwornout]

Thanks Pups_mum . I will talk to the newer school to seek clarification. My dd is quite used to different ballet styles and different requirements. I just wanted to double check that intermediate ISTD is equivalent to the RAD intermediate.  I guess all will be made clear when I speak to her and there is always a chance that my other half has misunderstood lol ?

[Picturesinthefirelight]

Perhaps as a compromise you could suggest your dd attend a few Intermedate classes for a short while to get her used to the style of that particular syllabus but not actually take the exam which to be honest would be a waste of money. 

[sarahw]

Or do inter and Adv 1 classes. ..

[Mummy twinkle toes]

It may be the Rad school do not realise that the rad will accept istd intermediate as a precursor to Advanced 1. I have heard of other people being made to do Rad intermediate despite already having intermediate with a recognised teaching body. It seems to be a common misunderstanding. 

[sarahw]

My dd did BBO inter and moved to RAD Adv.  She has found a difference in style but I think the time to take Adv will be as expected....

[abitwornout]

Thanks everyone , I think I need to have a chat with them to clarify  . I'm not against dd doubling up on lessons ie doing intermediate classes along side adv1 but I think taking the exam is of no purpose to dd and just extra expense for us!

[taxi4ballet]

There are some teachers who make up their own rules despite what the examining body says. My dd was at a previous dance school and doing InterFound and Inter classes at the same time, and was pretty much ready to take the Inter exam. The teacher insisted that she had to do the IF exam first and told me that it was the rules that exams had to be taken in order. I said I'd seen on the RAD website that she could do the Inter exam with out having to do IF first.

 

The teacher said "Well, she has to do Inter Found first at my school".

[Legseleven]

That is appalling, taxi4ballet. We had a teacher at DD's first school who insisted that at least 18 months and more likely 2 years was required to study grade 3 before even the most gifted or oldest student could even be considered as a possible exam candidate. We puzzled over this, especially as it was specifically stated to apply without exception even to a talented 13 year old who had started ballet relatively late and was still dancing with students often 3-4 years younger than she was; then discovered that this particular teacher only taught up to grade 3....Suddenly her apparently arbitrary requirement that everyone spend at least 18 months in grade 3 made sense and we moved DD soon afterwards. 

[taxi4ballet]

Yeah Legseleven, the biggest annoyance was that dd had already been in IF for over 3 years as she was caught up in the old-to-new syllabus change and had learned both. She was bored silly! The day she took the IF exam was her last day at that school, as we'd found somewhere else.

[drdance]

The transferability between different syllabi at intermediate level is a fairly recent development and isn't shouted about so it could be that the teacher simply doesn't know - it used to be that one had to take inter RAD to do the Advanced 1 and 2 exams.