Intermediate Foundation vs Intermediate? (Esp. as an adult in London)

[Meetmeatthebarre]

Hello forum, 

 

I've been thinking about taking a vocational syllabus class for a while now, to supplement the open classes I do. My focus is the syllabus rather than taking the exam, and I have already considered the reasons carefully 🙂

Intermediate Foundation would be the most obvious option. It is where I left off as a kid, and looking at the content from videos, seems to be the level I'm currently working at or towards in my open classes but would like to polish (except pointework, which I'm expecting to be cleared for when we start at my community class next month). However, I can't find a drop-in class that suits my time and location.

 

What DOES suit is the Sunday *Intermediate* RAD classes at Central School, but I'm nervous about jumping straight in with that label, even if it's *working towards* Intermediate and IF is optional!

 

Compared to IF, the most obvious differences other than working leg angle, seem to be double pirouettes (I am not the best turner), and battu (I am a reasonable jumper, but rusty). 

 

So my questions are, 

1.  Do you think it would be reasonable to start with Intermediate?

2. What did you see as the biggest differences between / challenge when going from IF vs. Foundation? 

3. Does anyone have specific experience with the Central classes?

 

Thank you so much 🙂

 

P.S. I did a search, but there wasn't much information, and the teacher has recently changed, hence the new topic. 

[MAK]

Hi, is Clare not teaching those classes now? My teenage daughter did them for a while when she could fit them in and really enjoyed them. Clare was really good at working with each individual and was really supportive. The classes were usually quite small so plenty of individual attention. I was thinking of suggesting she go back when she turns 16 (and can be left) to do the Advanced 1 classes.

[SugarPlum2000]

Hi,

I jumped straight into doing intermediate without doing IF after having taken a 2 year break along with doing grade 7/8. There was nothing in the class that I didn’t know step wise, it was just the fact it is much more technical and the speed of the exercises for allegro were much faster than I was used to. 
As My teacher said to me when I suggested doing IF first, the RAD wouldn’t allow for students to miss IF if they thought that you needed it to do intermediate. 
I would suggest giving it a try, the worst that could happen is that you hate it and do want to do IF first. 
Good luck ☺️

[Meetmeatthebarre]

55 minutes ago, MAK said:

Hi, is Clare not teaching those classes now? My teenage daughter did them for a while when she could fit them in and really enjoyed them. Clare was really good at working with each individual and was really supportive. The classes were usually quite small so plenty of individual attention. I was thinking of suggesting she go back when she turns 16 (and can be left) to do the Advanced 1 classes.

Thank you so much! Yes it is Clare teaching - the only other reference I found on the forum to this class was another teacher, so I just assumed it was a recent change. It's really good to have some feedback from someone who has taken her class. Would you know if the class was taken in the "soft pointes" required for the exam? If so, I have some de-shanking to do this weekend!

 

36 minutes ago, SugarPlum2000 said:

Hi,

I jumped straight into doing intermediate without doing IF after having taken a 2 year break along with doing grade 7/8. There was nothing in the class that I didn’t know step wise, it was just the fact it is much more technical and the speed of the exercises for allegro were much faster than I was used to. 
As My teacher said to me when I suggested doing IF first, the RAD wouldn’t allow for students to miss IF if they thought that you needed it to do intermediate. 
I would suggest giving it a try, the worst that could happen is that you hate it and do want to do IF first. 
Good luck ☺️

That's a really good reference point, thank you. We've been covering Grade 5 with a bit of 6 in a local class, which I'm pretty on top of apart from the turns (having to rework their consistency after a recent foot issue). 

 

Argh, *logically*, I know this class should be fine, but the self-deprecating part of me doesn't feel like I belong. Time to put my big-girl tutu on and just give it a shot!

[MAK]

My daughter said she wore soft blocks but they weren't compulsory (when she did the Intermediate classes).

Hope you enjoy the class - it's drop in/pay as you go so you could always just try it out! Honestly, Clare couldn't be nicer 😃

[The_Red_Shoes]

I returned to ballet three years ago after a 25 year break and went straight back into an Intermediate class. Like you, I had really wanted to do IF but there wasn't a class available so Inter it was. I had been working beyond Inter level as a teen and as a "young" adult (through my 30s), so I was familiar with the vocab and everything at a theoretical level but the difficulties were general stamina, and getting pirouettes especially doubles and beats back up to scratch - - in fact doubles are still hit and miss two years later! And pointe work - that was the bane of my life. If I could do it again I would try to do IF first, but if I couldn't I would relax and take my time over it. I passed but not with a good mark - it could have better if I hadn't rushed to keep up with the teens.

[Meetmeatthebarre]

16 minutes ago, The_Red_Shoes said:

I returned to ballet three years ago after a 25 year break and went straight back into an Intermediate class. Like you, I had really wanted to do IF but there wasn't a class available so Inter it was. I had been working beyond Inter level as a teen and as a "young" adult (through my 30s), so I was familiar with the vocab and everything at a theoretical level but the difficulties were general stamina, and getting pirouettes especially doubles and beats back up to scratch - - in fact doubles are still hit and miss two years later! And pointe work - that was the bane of my life. If I could do it again I would try to do IF first, but if I couldn't I would relax and take my time over it. I passed but not with a good mark - it could have better if I hadn't rushed to keep up with the teens.

 

Thank you for calling me a "young" adult 😆 This is really encouraging, thank you. I just saw a few of your other posts about your exam journey and it's pretty inspirational! 

 

32 minutes ago, MAK said:

My daughter said she wore soft blocks but they weren't compulsory (when she did the Intermediate classes).

Hope you enjoy the class - it's drop in/pay as you go so you could always just try it out! Honestly, Clare couldn't be nicer 😃

 

Thank you so much once again. I'll report back 🙂