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Is this different from BBO then? I thought with them you could miss a grade and then take the next one....but perhaps this is just with their adult programme. I will check this out when classes resume in September.

The reason I say this is because I am sure there are people who have taken a particular exam...had a few years away and then eventually taken one at a higher level without having to take one they missed.

 

Perhaps it is different for people who are younger and possibly going to vocational grades.

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Hi Julie w the thought of my dd spending another two years in that class will drive her mad.But I no she will have to do the advanced 1 exam. so maybe if I suggest she does both classes at the meeting next week.But to tell you the truth I have had enough and ready to move on ,and try yet another school

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Is this different from BBO then? I thought with them you could miss a grade and then take the next one....but perhaps this is just with their adult programme. I will check this out when classes resume in September.

The reason I say this is because I am sure there are people who have taken a particular exam...had a few years away and then eventually taken one at a higher level without having to take one they missed.

Perhaps it is different for people who are younger and possibly going to vocational grades.

This is from the RAD Specification for Advanced 1 and 2:

 

"1.5 Required knowledge, skills and understanding

 

1.5.1 In order to enter for Advanced 1, candidates need to have passed an Intermediate level Vocational Graded Examination in ballet from the RAD or any other recognised Awarding Body. Please consult the relevant Specification for more information.

 

1.5.2 In order to enter for Advanced 2, candidates need to have passed an Advanced 1 level Vocational Graded Examination in ballet from the RAD or any other recognised Awarding Body. Please consult the relevant Specification for more information."

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Thanks for the info it's trying to get the ordinary grades 1-8 separated from the vocational ones.

 

So RAD advanced one and two are vocational. I suspect this will be true of BBO then that there will be different rules for the vocational grades.

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I know that changing schools is stressful, stardancer - but at RAD vocational level, especially Advanced, that (or attending more than one school) may for many non-vocational students be a necessary evil so that they have enough practice and coaching hours. I second spannerandpony's post re possible next steps for your DD and very much hope that matters are resolved for her. Interesting that she is being told that she cannot take exams until she smiles - by a teacher who seems to be trying to ensure that she never wants to smile - when she has already far surpassed most students by attaining her RAD intermediate (and as a youngster).

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When I was that age I was very different to how I am now. Very serious and intense and apparently seemed to be frowning a lot through concentration. I did look completely different when I did smile and that still stands today.....though I'm definitely more smiley anyway!!

The last thing that would have made me smile then was somebody telling me to smile and worse some sanction being put on not doing it!!

Being told that I couldn't take an exam until I started smiling more would be a bit embarrassing and depressing I think as its being told you are not acceptable as you are and need to be someone else....difficult enough for a teenager I think.

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Thank you both legseleven and LinMM it happens all the time at this lady,s class she goes on about her face and told me before the end of term ,that my dd will not be taking this exam untill she smiles this could be next week or untill she is twenty it is up to her.My dd got really upset and started to cry, and was told to get over herself as life goes The other teacher said my dd looks so unhappy she is putting the other girls off there dancing ,and making her and the girls uncomfortable.When she is in the changing rooms they all whisper and ignore her.The teacher even ask,s the other pupils what they think of other people dancing in the class my dd hates this ,but the other girls seem to take great pleasure in this.I am afraid if I move her to another school after leaving this one my dd will be persecuted by the next rad school and become depressed.My family do not understand and we have no support network

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Stardancer - you need to get your daughter out of there immediately!!!! Why are you afraid that your daughter would be persecuted in the next school as well??? This is not typical RAD school/teacher behaviour by any means. If I have a student, who wants to take an advanced exam and we are not able to offer her enough lessons at that level, I myself recommend that she take extra classes elsewhere. And I'm sure this is true of most teachers, who only want to help their students advance, not hold them back. This whole thing does not make sense. You don't pass an RAD exam by smiling! Of course you do have to pass the section on dance quality, presentation and musicality, but that does not necessarily mean you have to smile nonstop! You have to have an appropriate expression for the exercise - not everything calls for a smile. And if your daughter is being made miserable by the teachers and fellow students, then I'm not surprised she finds it hard to enjoy herself and smile. You know something, even if I thought that you were exaggerating or imagining things (which I don't :) ) I would tell you to take your daughter away, because no child deserves to feel miserable doing something she loves.

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I agree. Just because this teacher has behaved unprofessionally does not mean that the same thing is going to happen at another RAD School. Obviously you have your child's very best interests at heart, like all other parents, but do try not to let this experience at one school put you off all RAD schools because such behaviour is not typical and not indicative of RAD standards.

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Hi linMM my dd has been at this school for a year.And two more before.My dd had a lovely teacher but at the time did one advanced 1 class ,so I asked could my dd go to other classes somewhere else for extra lessons.This worked for about 4 months and my dd was very happy,untill her teacher told me she did not want her to go anymore, as another child going to a different school reflects on her.We left and went to the other school, but six months later that school stopped doing advanced 1 and told us she could do advanced foundations class instead.She tried it but found it not challenging after being in advanced1 for a year .I explained this to the teacher but as we had come from another school her loyalties are with the other girls.And this brings me to this school and my story begins.

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My dd will only be doing one Advanced 1 class a week - I don't think that is a problem to be honest, as long as a student gets enough good quality training overall. Too much time going over the same syllabus work with no non-syllabus work for variation can lead to staleness in any case.

 

For example, as well as the one Adv 1 class, my dd will do Pilates, non-syllabus Senior ballet, Grade 7, non-syllabus private lesson, and two different Associate schemes (all her choice, I might add, in case anyone thinks I sound like a slave driver!). So I don't see only one Advanced class as a problem at all. Extra coaching nearer the exam or the intensive RAD courses are also an option.

 

Would it be an option to go back to the lovely teacher who only ran one Advanced class, as it sounds as if your dd was happy with her - and top up her classes with an Associate scheme?

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Just my thoughts S and P! As I thought this child has not always been unhappy then it's a very recent thing.

It may seem difficult to return to a teacher one has left but if your daughter was happy there and they got on I'm sure the teacher would be delighted to see her back. We all make mistakes sometimes. As this was a year ago now it seems one can hope this teacher still has the Advanced one class. Anyway just an idea. How would your daughter feel about going back?

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My DD will only have her private lessons to do Advanced 1 in (assuming she passes adv foundation of course, I shouldn't be so presumptious!) There isn't currently anyone else at her school who is at that stage, and there isn't another school that does the RAD vocational exams for a very long way, so going elsewhere isn't a realistic option even if we wanted to.

She also has a non syllabus ballet class and sometimes does the intermediate class. She's going to make the intermediate class a regular feature. She did the old syllabus so learning the new one is interesting and there are quite a few girls in that class so she enjoys being in a bigger class rather than being on her own.

She's thought about doing the grade 8 class too, though she did the exam a year or so ago, but that clashes with her intermediate modern class which is something she really wants to do, so that's not really an option.

In an ideal world, I would like her classes to be scheduled differently so that she could do all the classes she wants at times that are convenient for me, but of course that is never going to happen! Her teacher is incredibly helpful and does whatever she reasonably can to help DD, but she is running a business and has the needs of a lot of other pupils, herself and her other staff to consider. Ideally yes, my DD would love to have an advanced 1 class a couple of times a week as well as what she currently has, but that is not practically possible. I know she will get extra classes near the exam, just as she has this time, but I can't reasonably expect more than that.

Sometimes we do just have to make the best of what we have available to us and accept that we can't have our ideal.It's good to try to get the best we can for our children of course, but "the best we can" might not be "exactly what we want". My DD has great teachers who she adores, and she is really enjoying her dancing. To me, that is more important than having the exact classes she wants. She's doing pretty well I think. Admittedly her ambitions are to teach rather than to perform professionally, which maybe makes a difference, but whatever their ambitions I really don't think a child will thrive in an environment where they are unhappy.

Stardancer, if I were you, I would give serious consideration to going back to the teacher where your DD was happy. If she wants to teach, then intermediate is enough to enter teacher training, and if she wants to perform then it will be her dance quality that matters, not her exams. I understand why she wants to do the exam, having studied the syllabus for 2 years, but I really don't think it is worth getting as unhappy as it sounds like you both are over it. I would focus on finding somewhere with good quality teaching that that she actually enjoys, even if it is not an advanced 1 class. Dance is meant to be joyful, if it's making you miserable then something needs to change. Good luck.

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Oh dear so that was an unfortunate response then too Stardancer and there's me saying the teacher would be delighted to have her back!! What do I know! Still you have tried in this respect so it does look as if its on to somewhere new!! And I wish I could magic up another lovely teacher for your daughter.

 

Now this is just a thought and maybe your daughter is not feeling that confident after everything that has happened recently but what if it was she who contacts the previous teacher.....perhaps by a letter asking if she would mind accepting her back and she has missed her classes etc. Coming from your daughter herself may just sway her.....but it's difficult situation I think and one doesn't want to go from the frying pan into the fire if there is residue bad feeling there.

What do you think your daughter really wants? Does she want to try somewhere new now?

For the time being she could always try a BBO class or Cechetti class if there are a local teachers for those styles so she can have a group to relate to and perhaps do Advanced one as an individual lesson?

I really hope this all works out for you both.

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Sorry to hear you're having difficulty with your dd's school, I seem to remember you've had issues with a lot of schools in the past though, more than just 3. Perhaps it's time to get a thorough assessment of your dd from somewhere like RAD HQ to get a realistic view of whether she has the potential to dance professionally?

 

I know your dd did the old inter right before it changed at a young age, perhaps there may have been an element of pushing her through before she was entirely ready (understandably!) and now she just needs extra time in advanced 1 as a result?

 

Is your dd still an associate with Peter parker's associate scheme in Newark? Have you had any feedback from them?

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As difficult as it is, sometimes with ballet schools - just like academic schools - you do have to take the good with the not-so-good and accept that no school is perfect (and to be honest, who is?). The ballet world is incredibly small and the same teachers, examiners and adjudicators pop up in the most surprising places.

 

Much like parenting I believe in picking your battles in the ballet world, accepting some things with a shrug, and appreciating the good. And if you leave a school, do it with good grace wherever possible, so that you don't burn your bridges for the future......you literally never know when or where a teacher may appear in future. :-)

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Some girls at dd's school took inter at the end of 2011 too, they were all a year or so older than your dd but their teacher had them do advanced foundation instead of advanced 1 as she felt they were still quite young. They've now just taken (and passed) their advanced 1 and will begin advanced 2 in September. Perhaps your dd being even younger would have benefitted from advanced foundation first too. Obviously it's too late for that now but in view of her age I think another year or so spent on advanced 1 would probably do her more good than harm. I agree though that she should ideally take it before the syllabus change so that means she would need to do it by next autumn!

 

What mark did your dd get for intermediate? Obviously a distinction might indicate that she should be ready for advanced 1 by now but a pass would imply that she would possibly benefit from further work....a merit could go either way lol!

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Thank you everyone.To LinMM you have been great and thank you for all your,e kind words

Aurora thank you yes she did go to the associates in Newark and loved it but we only went for six months as my dds school fees doubled over night ,then my car got stolen.Peter and Shannon were fantastic and even offered to pay our petrol, I was in tears but with no car.

Anyway they told me my dd would make a fantastic strong dancer and how proud they are of her.

And yes maybe she just need that little more but how can you tell.

Also linMm I am thinking of Russian or maybe cechetti with rad

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Oh well that's positive then! Did you get any feedback from EYB last year?

I'm not sure there are any associates much closer to you really other than northern ballet. Have you tried Midas? But that's just as far away I think so wouldn't help with fuel costs! Maybe ballet west? But that's a long way too.

Shocking how your dd's school fees doubled overnight - my dd is at private school and their fees only go up in September and never by more than a very small amount!

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It would be nice to find a non syllabus Russian or Cechetti class if poss. By the time they are 14 I think it's fine to mix styles anyway.

 

I'm so lucky where I live. I do one Russian class a week (as well as BBO classes) which is a free class and often there is a mum with her 13year old daughter in the class(who also does RAD) .Its such a great mix of people.....ex professional dancers, ballet teachers returning pupils from vocational schools(when on a break) newly aspiring to vocational schools and then some oldies like me returning to ballet after long gaps BUT it works.....because of the wonderful teacher involved.....she makes it work for everybody....It's hard work(especially for the likes of me) but lots of laughter too. Every so often throughout the class she pairs us up for a brief look at some aspect of technique from an exercise so we learn from each other too.

It really may be a very good morale booster to get away from all syllabus class just at present. I can PM you if you like with the particular Russian Association my local teacher belongs to.....as there are many associations so you may be able to find a local one to you but as others have said sometimes one has to make the most of your particular location and see what you can find with not too much travel involved.....one usually only has so much financial resource!! Linda x

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Thank you aurora for your,e advice,yes eye thought she had a lovely personality ,works hard and if she keeps it up will go far.

Thank you also about the associates ,I will look into them if you think it sounds good

LinMm you and your,e dd sound lovely,please pm me with all the details,that is very kind thanks

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Oh dear Stardancer I am sorry to hear that things did not go well. However iI am a great believer that things happen for a reason so maybe you are destined to find the perfect fit this time. Good luck with the search unfortunately I cannot be any help for that since I am not in the UK but you could try contacting the RAD and ISTD because they will have a list of registered teachers.

 

Hope things go better from now on!

Dramascientist

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