RAD grades and prepping for professional training

[Lena]

Hello lovely dance community,

I am wondering about your views about the usefulness of RAD grades for vocational training. Is working through the grades good preparation or is the time better spent doing other types of training (if so what)? Many thanks! 

[Ruby Foo]

In my opinion the RAD grades ( also ISTD, BBO and others) provide a good basic framework on which to build.  I would say it’s more about the quality of teaching though than the actual syllabus itself although the syllabus is good too. There are some fabulous teachers out there who look beyond the basic syllabus work when they are teaching but are slow and careful at the same time. When a student gets to a stage when they are secure in the basics, (posture, holding their turn out correctly, weight placement and balance ,correct arm and head alignment, technically secure jumps etc etc) and they can mentally hold on to those!! then adding  additional Vaganova style lessons ( with an excellent teacher) or lessons with an ex principal dancer will give them something extra that RAD can’t. I do think that generally the UK syllabus work brings in all sorts of interesting ways to develop musicality and  rhythm, dynamics, movement and flow and spacial dimensions which some other styles are definitely lacking. And this shows! A dancer is not just about wonderful technique and it’s hard to replace those fundamentals at a later stage. When these important ingredients are incorporated in the training from the beginning they can build a very special dancer. RAD (and others) definitely have this built in. At the same time, the standard is incredibly high these days so mixing it up would be  very important too especially if a student is yr 9 or above.

Edited January 29 by Ruby Foo

[WhereToNow]

My DD only did ISTd exams until she was 10.  It gave her confidence for exams in general.  She moved to a 10hr programme that didn’t do exams.  She was successful at a lower school audition for yr10 entry.  It didn’t hinder her chances.  However she is now playing RAD catch up, because her yr is now on Advanced, which you can’t move onto with having the intermediate.  It’s not a major problem as they are pushing her through, but I guess it would be easier if she had RAD under her belt.

[2fairygirls]

My daughter (Australian) did RAD, she did all the exams and comps including the Fonteyn where she got a bronze medal. She then went onto Prix Lausanne, did the solo seal and is now training in the USA with the san fran ballet school in her final year, so I’d say it does give a very good foundation for many things! 

[Ruby Foo]

18 minutes ago, 2fairygirls said:

My daughter (Australian) did RAD, she did all the exams and comps including the Fonteyn where she got a bronze medal. She then went onto Prix Lausanne, did the solo seal and is now training in the USA with the san fran ballet school in her final year, so I’d say it does give a very good foundation for many things! 

 
That’s  a wonderful achievement. Congratulations to your daughter! I apologise to your daughter and everyone doing RAD, ISTD internationally for using UK in my post. I’m so used to international students not doing exams!

[2fairygirls]

My daughter was so “rad” she even wore demi pointes in the prix Lausanne !  Much to her embarrassment as she looks back now !   

[Kerfuffle]

My DD did RAD up until intermediate, which I think is the minimum grade if you want to go on and teach. This gave her a good grounding in the basics but at times it was repetitive. After this around 14 she  learned Russian style for two years, increasing her flexibility and expressiveness alongside some great performance opportunities. The Russian method  taught an artistic approach to the upper body and she really developed her response to music.  She was also during this time attending RBS SA classes to keep up with her British training . Now she’s at upper school in UK and although they don’t do RAD exams I think she’s benefitting from both experiences so I think Ruby Foo’s advice is a very good one - RAD is a great foundation that can then be built on through experiencing other styles. 

[taxi4ballet]

The higher grades give you UCAS points, and the vocational grades are a good grounding for the standard you need to be at if you are appying for vocational school, particularly the Adv levels, which you need to be at for upper school really.

 

But as others say, syllabus exams and grades aren't necessary. They give you an idea of your level of achievement so far, but what really matters is the quality of teaching you are receiving.

[Lena]

5 hours ago, 2fairygirls said:

My daughter (Australian) did RAD, she did all the exams and comps including the Fonteyn where she got a bronze medal. She then went onto Prix Lausanne, did the solo seal and is now training in the USA with the san fran ballet school in her final year, so I’d say it does give a very good foundation for many things! 

Well done to your daughter, she’s done so well, great to see positive examples like this! X

[Lena]

Thank you everyone for your amazing advice on this, very helpful.

[Kate_N]

Any 'system' is useful principally if it offers a structured and progressive learning journey. RAD does this, as do other curricula (eg Cecchetti, Vaganova). All these syllabi offer the foundations and the building blocks in an age appropriate way.

 

However, the focus on what grade a dance pupil is at, or what the exam results were etc etc can become a sort of tail wagging the dog situation. A lot of serious ballet schools elsewhere in the world (outside of the Anglo-Australasian ballet teaching world) really don't use set syllabi and external exams. RAD is not the only way to learn, nor do exam results mean as much in the industry as people might think.

 

And I notice in adult classes where young adult dancers largely taught in suburban ballet schools (the church hall type) where the teachers don't have professional experience, tend to have a lack of flexibility in doing things differently in an open class, because they've learnt on syllabus as the "correct" way. I think it's important that dancers are exposed to different teaching methods and different types of classes in an age appropriate way. 

[Doing Dance 1]

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