London Adult Ballet ("LAB") RAD vocational courses

[Meetmeatthebarre]

Hello forum, 

 

I was doing some research for a dance friend who was exploring taking a syllabus class as an adult (in her late 50s, started a year ago without training as a child, but very active and I think can manage Intermediate Foundation with time). The motivations are a feeling of progress whilst acknowledging physical limitations, and which aren't being satisfied by open classes, with changing variations and limited time to focus on technique. 

 

I came across London Adult Ballet (https://www.londonadultballet.com/copy-of-courses), which appears to have been founded last year, and specialises in adult vocational exam training. However, I'm struggling to find any information other than their own site, which doesn't list teachers (in the public area of the site at least), or any reviews. 

 

I'm wondering if anyone has come across or taken any of their classes? In particular, this friend seems quite dejected after lockdown, and I think will respond far better to a positive, encouraging environment. 

 

Any experiences, or thoughts, much appreciated

 

[NJH]

The only syllabus class i'd be looking at with a year's experience is Discovering Repetoire level 2 .   

It's taken me nearly 4 years of regular classes  ( multiple classes a week after the first year until lockdown hit) to be  in a position to think about  starting to properly train for a vocational exam  - although it's likely i'm going to be jumping straight to Inter   rather than IF 

Edited August 21, 2020 by NJH

[glowlight]

Have you/she looked at classes at RAD headquarters.  Looking at their website they offer a range of different adult classes including Intermediate Foundation and Intermediate.  They ask for 2 years training for IF - but maybe if she started with their non-syllabus she could move across to syllabus when they think she is ready.

 

https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/classes/our-dance-school-in-london/adult-dance-classes/

[Kate_N]

8 hours ago, Meetmeatthebarre said:

The motivations are a feeling of progress whilst acknowledging physical limitations, and which aren't being satisfied by open classes, with changing variations and limited time to focus on technique

 

Pre-lockdown, there was a regular RAD syllabus class for adult learners at Central School of Ballet on Sundays. However, I've heard from both teachers I've been doing class with via Zoom, who teach in the "Central Nights" programme, that Central School won't be re-starting that programme in the near future, as they need the evenings now for their extended full-time programme (it's happening everywhere - I'm scheduled to teach until 7pm at my university). But worth looking out for maybe in 2021.

 

If London-based is easiest for your friend, the other thing to look for would be the termly enrolment classes at City Lit and Morley College, and the RAD headquarters themselves. These offer regular progressive teaching, because students pay for a term's worth and so meet regularly and can work through a progression in learning. Which is all that the specific RAD, ISTD, BBO, or Cecchetti syllabi are!

[Meetmeatthebarre]

6 hours ago, Kate_N said:

 

Pre-lockdown, there was a regular RAD syllabus class for adult learners at Central School of Ballet on Sundays. However, I've heard from both teachers I've been doing class with via Zoom, who teach in the "Central Nights" programme, that Central School won't be re-starting that programme in the near future, as they need the evenings now for their extended full-time programme (it's happening everywhere - I'm scheduled to teach until 7pm at my university). But worth looking out for maybe in 2021.

 

If London-based is easiest for your friend, the other thing to look for would be the termly enrolment classes at City Lit and Morley College, and the RAD headquarters themselves. These offer regular progressive teaching, because students pay for a term's worth and so meet regularly and can work through a progression in learning. Which is all that the specific RAD, ISTD, BBO, or Cecchetti syllabi are!

 

Thank you so much Kate! I take those syllabus classes at Central and heard the same feedback around opening; I think several of the teachers are trying to find new studios but many are now much further afield... however, Clare doesn't teach IF to adults, and apart from RAD HQ and the LAB I originally posted, it seems that the London schools who offer the vocational syllabus to adults all skip straight to intermediate!

 

That's a great idea about the termly classes and not something I had thought about. Do you have any knowledge of the teaching style there? As mentioned, she'd love to have shorter and/or set combos and corrections thereon to really get things right. I suppose she can call and ask, but there's nothing like experience!

 

6 hours ago, glowlight said:

Have you/she looked at classes at RAD headquarters.  Looking at their website they offer a range of different adult classes including Intermediate Foundation and Intermediate.  They ask for 2 years training for IF - but maybe if she started with their non-syllabus she could move across to syllabus when they think she is ready.

 

https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/classes/our-dance-school-in-london/adult-dance-classes/

 

That would have been ideal, although another dance friend spoke to them before lockdown, and apparently the wait list was over a year! I don't know if that will have changed. (If of help to anyone digging up this thread in the future, they did say that they could be flexible on the 2 year requirement, depending on the number of classes and level of classes taken since starting.)

  

14 hours ago, NJH said:

The only syllabus class i'd be looking at with a year's experience is Discovering Repetoire level 2 .   

It's taken me nearly 4 years of regular classes  ( multiple classes a week after the first year until lockdown hit) to be  in a position to think about  starting to properly train for a vocational exam  - although it's likely i'm going to be jumping straight to Inter   rather than IF 

 

If Discovering Repertoire were more widely offered I would completely agree with this! Or even the graded syllabi - perhaps it's worth her reaching out to RAD HQ to see if there is some hidden offering nearby. I think her focus is definitely on being able to be more expressive, which open classes rarely teach, and rarely give one time to focus upon. I perhaps should have clarified that my thoughts on IF were because I couldn't find any other adult syllabus classes out there. I don't think she has any particular desire to actually take exams, more the structure and having the time to think about performance. 

 

Have fun with Inter - I skipped too, and the Variation I and Port de Bras especially are dreamy to dance. 

 

Thank you all for the responses, a lot to think about.   

Edited August 22, 2020 by Meetmeatthebarre

[Kate_N]

3 hours ago, Meetmeatthebarre said:

Do you have any knowledge of the teaching style there?

 

Not really - I don't live in London, so have never taken those classes. A search of this forum would bring up quite a lot of first-hand information though. And really, if your friend wants to learn ballet in a safe and logical progression, with time to focus on details, a termly regular class would do that just as well as learning a syllabus would.

 

What I can say from first hand experience:

For the basic beginner who wants to learn excellent clean technique, Hannah Frost's open classes at Beginner level are ideal. They are not absolute beginner, but she teaches in a way that stops bad habits starting. I think if you went weekly to her classes at Danceworks, you'd get a really good technical grounding. She tends to do the same exercise for a couple of weeks, so you can get used to the choreography, and her sense of humour is just great. Danceworks re-opened today.

 

One of the people who teaches at City Lit (last time I looked at their prospectus) is Alexander Simkin (sp?). He is sometimes in an open class I do on Sundays with Nina Thilas-Mohs at Danceworks, and he is such a beautiful dancer to watch (and learn from watching!) in class. I haven't been taught by him, but watching him, I think anyone would be safe and learn great technique in his classes.

[NJH]

4 hours ago, Kate_N said:

 

Not really - I don't live in London, so have never taken those classes. A search of this forum would bring up quite a lot of first-hand information though. And really, if your friend wants to learn ballet in a safe and logical progression, with time to focus on details, a termly regular class would do that just as well as learning a syllabus would.

 

What I can say from first hand experience:

For the basic beginner who wants to learn excellent clean technique, Hannah Frost's open classes at Beginner level are ideal. They are not absolute beginner, but she teaches in a way that stops bad habits starting. I think if you went weekly to her classes at Danceworks, you'd get a really good technical grounding. She tends to do the same exercise for a couple of weeks, so you can get used to the choreography, and her sense of humour is just great. Danceworks re-opened today.

 

One of the people who teaches at City Lit (last time I looked at their prospectus) is Alexander Simkin (sp?). He is sometimes in an open class I do on Sundays with Nina Thilas-Mohs at Danceworks, and he is such a beautiful dancer to watch (and learn from watching!) in class. I haven't been taught by him, but watching him, I think anyone would be safe and learn great technique in his classes.

I 'd agree that Hannah Frost is brilliant teacher and her classes  less crowded  and she is less Marmite than another big name  in beginner classes in London ... 

[youngatheart]

I guess LAB haven't updated their site because they are still closed due to COVID-19. Judging by the dates on their site, they were partway through a block when lockdown happened, so they would need to finish off that block for existing students before thinking about taking on any newbies anyway - assuming they can even get their studio back.... 

 

Probably worth checking back to the site in a few weeks just in case. (And no, I have no idea who they are either BTW... but the course they are/were offering looks interesting!)

 

Unfortunately it is likely to be even harder than usual to find adult syllabus classes of any kind at the moment, due to having to divide students into smaller class sizes and the need to schedule cleaning in between adding to pressure on studio space.

Edited August 23, 2020 by youngatheart
correcting typo