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Different exam boards for ballet?


Mrs Brown

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Hi I am new here, I managed to take primary and grade 1 RAD when I was a child but then gave up ballet because it clashed with brownies when we moved house.  I have 2 daughters both of whom do ballet, tap and modern (1hr ballet, 1hr modern and 30 mins tap) they are 5 and 7. 7 year old will shortly be doing 1hr tap a week.

 

Could I ask a little question about different exam boards etc. my knowledge of ballet is limited and I doubt my girls will become amazing dancers but I would like to know more about it all and be able to answer their questions and support them as they need me to so seem to be trying to do lots of reading up on it and finding out about it. (I am not looking forward to dance moves having french names though, I don't 'get' French at all and I certainly can't pronounce anything)

 

as I understand it there is RAD which is just ballet and which has 8 grades as well as intermediate and something else (advanced is it called?)

and there is ISTD which has 6 ballet grades and then does lots of other styles too and also has intermediate and advanced.

then there are others like IDTA, BTDA and I have just discovered there is a Russian Ballet one as well and they all seem to have different numbers of grades.

 

So we know lots of children doing ballet doing different boards and some seem to go through exams really quickly on very short lessons a week and with short exams then others seem to do exams much later (ours) and the exams seem to be longer and have more in them. Yet from what I can work out all of the boards are classed as the same standard when they get to grade 6 (or 8 in RAD) so how does this work out? We know children who are in grade 1 ballet (so taken preparatory or preprimary and primary) just as they are turning 6 whilst in our dance school they are generally 7 when they take preprimary. Why does it take so much longer to start in some boards than others. do the others have a bigger jump later on say between primary and grade 1?

 

thank you.

 

 

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Can't answer for all the others I'm afraid but there is also the British Ballet Organisation (BBO) which is graded very similar to RAD though there may be different jumps at some point as you put it because I'm sure the BBO grade one is much easier then RAD grade one but their grade 6 and Intermediate is very similar to RAD level........so very difficult to know.

 

In the end probably initially at any rate choose a school that is not too far away. I always tend to think as a general rule though and .....because there are more of them .......RAD is the better one to follow especially if any of your DD are really keen on ballet.

 

I like the Russian system myself but it does depend on a good teacher being near you etc.

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Welcome to the forum, Mrs Brown. :-)

 

Of the exam boards (as opposed to non-syllabus work at Associate classes), I only have experience of RAD ballet. The graded exams run as follows:

 

Pre-Primary

Primary

Grades 1-8 inclusive.

 

There is no pointe-work in any RAD graded exam. There are, however, both Character and Free Movement sections -Character teaching various national steps (Polish, Russian, Hungarian etc) danced wearing (for girls) a calf length black circular skirt with three coloured ribbons around the hem, and black canvas shoes with small heels and pink elastics. Free Movement began - I believe - as the RAD's interpretation of Contemporary, and preparation for such. It is often danced with bare feet.

 

The RAD Vocational exams, originally intended for those students keen to dance as a career, and/or teach dance professionally, run alongside RAD graded classes and are as follows:

 

Intermediate Foundation (optional in that there is no requirement to pass it in order to take the next exam)

Intermediate

Advanced Foundation (again optional)

Advanced 1

Advanced 2

Solo Seal

 

These exams do have pointework sections but do not include Character or Free Movement. For those students taking vocational exams, preparation for Intermediate Foundation begins - in my dd's school - at around 10, and is studied for at least one year, often 2. This will obviously vary between schools though, but there are minimum ages at which a student may be entered for RAD exams, as well as recommendations by the RAD as to approximate number of hours studied.

 

Our personal experience was ISTD Pre-primary and Primary ballet, at a school which only entered the whole class for exams every other year, and would not enter individuals nor small groups for exams. Wanting to learn Character dance, my dd asked to move schools aged 7, and took her RAD Grade 1 a term or so later. She took Grade 8 aged 14 and Advanced 1 aged 15.

 

Hope that helps somewhat as a rough guide. :-)

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Hi,

 

There are lots of different exam boards, but the main ones are RAD, ISTD (who offer exams in both Imperial and Cecchetti styles), BBO, IDTA and BTDA. Others include BATD, NATD (again with 2 different syllabi), PTD and UKA. I'm sure there is another one but can't remember its new name (it used to be called DDF).

 

Lin, BBO Grade 1 is harder and more "traditional" than RAD Grade 1 - you start the barre in Primary in BBO, but not until Grade 2 RAD. The new RAD Grade 1 is more free movement-based. IDTA have also recently changed their syllabus and offer Pre-Juvenile, Preparatory, Primary and Grades 1-5, then Classical Awards 1 & 2 (equivalent to the higher grades in RAD and BBO).

 

UKA have Preliminary 1-3 and then Grades 1-8. Unlike RAD where Intermediate Foundation comes after Grade 5 and the vocationals run in parallel with Grades 6-8, in UKA you are expected to do all 8 grades before starting on the vocationals (you do not do a full pirouette until Grade 8 in UKA, the same grade as when you start pointe!)

 

ISTD offer two completely different syllabi in both of their styles - the Standards (for "once-a-week" students) and the Grades (for those with the capability and committment.)

 

The progression in each style is completely different. For example in ISTD Imperial you start pointe in Grade 6, whereas in most styles it does not begin until the Vocationals.

 

Confused yet? :-)

Edited by youngatheart
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There is also ARBTA (Association of Russian Ballet and Theatre Arts).  Their syllabus is designed to follow the progression of teaching through the different levels at the Vaganova school in St. Petersburg.   The exams are in classical ballet, and there are also Bronze, Silver & Gold Awards for both Juniors and Seniors in Jazz, Tap and Character.

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IDTA have preparatory, primary, grades 1-5, intermediate, advanced 1, advanced 2. They also do medal tests that run parallel to grades but are shorter than exams (ie 1 or 2 teacher choreographed dances). Grades can be taken from age 7, intermediate from age 13 (not sure of other ages.

Having said that children learn at different rates. My daughter is 13 and hoping to intermediate in spring, there are girls that took same exam before Xmas up to age 17

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Thank you all, I am not sure if I am more confused now or a bit clearer! There are even more boards than I realised and for some of them to have more than 1 syllabus makes it even more complicated.

 

I didn't realise ISTD did 2 different things, I knew IDTA had rosettes and medals as well as grades but they don't have much information on line so very hard to know how boards compare if only some give out syllabus info freely.
 

I suppose if they all end up at the same level then it doesn't matter too much how they get there. It is just hard to understand initially.

 

Our school seems to take a long time to take preprimary and primary (ISTD) compared to others doing IDTA and BTDA which I think is what has surprised me. It doesn't seem to be that the children taking longer aren't very good, just seems they have more to cover and perhaps higher mark expectations by the school (wanting to get distinctions maybe?).  I will just stick to the 'boards are different' answer then when they ask why they are on lower grades than friends doing other boards.

 

I didn't realise that intermediate and advanced were vocational and ran alongside grades, I had assumed they followed grades. I also didn't realise about pointe not being in grades for RAD, I just assumed it was.

 

Our school seems to be frightfully old fashioned and fussy about technique and mastering the basics well so I think it is probably a good one, hopefully anyway.

 

 

thanks again

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yes I am concerned it could become boring as they do take so long to seemingly get going but so far the girls are happy with what they are learning so hopefully it will work for them. they are both conscientious and like routine so I think a traditional ballet school is probably the best fit for them.

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DD school don't do classical awards, but according to syllabus these exams are used to prepare for intermediate and advanced exams. Not sure if they are both done before intermediate or if its classical award 1 before inter & classical award 2 inbetween inter & advanced - would make them approx rad inter foundation +/or advanced foundation

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Re: IDTA Classical Awards 1 and 2, they follow on from the grades, with increased difficulty of steps/technique etc. They are designed to encourage artistry and performance, there is no pointe work and there are no "unseen enchainements".

The CAs are also useful to provide an alternative to those who either are not suitable for or do not wish to engage pointe but still want to progress their ballet experience.

In terms of content then it would be useful/usual to take CA1 before Intermediate then CA2 before Adv1. But you could take both at any point. Some schools don't offer them at all. Personally, having taken them both and thoroughly enjoyed them and the break from the stress of Inter, Adv1 and Adv2, I would highly recommend them.

 

Hope this is of interest,

 

RK

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I meant the Classical Awards are "equivalent" to the RAD Higher Grades (6-8) in exactly the way Rhoda has put it in her first two paragraphs - following Grade 5 but more performance based and no pointe work, and can be taken by non-vocational students. CA1 is meant to be studied alongside Intermediate and taken first, whereas CA2 is meant to be taken while studying for Advanced 1 (it can be taken without passing Intermediate but it is assumed the student has studied the syllabus, even if they did not take/pass the exam).

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Mrs. Brown, it's a very good sign that your school is fussy about the basics!  The early years are really important and if you are taught correctly from the beginning then everything follows on naturally.  I don't think it matters much what syllabus you are learning, but how good a teacher you have.   I would suggest that you try and add on another hour of ballet a week once your older daughter is 8 or 9 - you'll see a great improvement once she does.

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thank you - I don't think they generally up the hours for ballet until they are about 11 in our school but I could be wrong. I have bought the syllabus DVDs so my girls can practice at home properly as I think it is important that they practice with the correct technique and obviously I need a guide to be able to help them when they ask me if it looks right! the teacher agreed this would help. If we can afford to then I will ask about upping ballet time when they are older, I suspect it would be at the cost of tap though.

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I suppose it depends on what your daughters enjoy most.  Ballet technique is a great foundation for most dance genres, except tap, I suspect!  In our school we start with ballet and build up from there, adding on other dance genres as they go up the grades, but each school has its own way of doing things.   I think you have to take your cue from your daughters as to what they want, but at the same time guiding them as to what is important as far as the right training is concerned. 

Edited by Dance*is*life
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ours do ballet initially but then start very basic tap at around 5ish and then they can start modern theatre around 5-6ish. They seem to tend to be about 6-7 when they do primary modern, and about 7-8 when they do preprimary ballet followed by preprimary tap. the school is very particular that whatever dance they do they must do ballet as like you say it is the basis for all styles of dance. I think the eldest much prefers modern to ballet and tap (she finds it much easier and it suits her more) whilst the youngest is definitely ballet obsessed. she likes the others but she seems to be a natural ballerina so I can see that will be her preference. It will be quite interesting to see how long the eldest perseveres with dancing to be honest, I can see the younger one continuing for many years but I have a feeling at some point it will become too difficult for her less coordinated sister.  How I will deal with the inevitable fallout from one being noticeably better than the other I am not too sure. Perhaps I will be proved wrong though and the eldest will grow into her body a bit better at some point. I do hope so.

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They are both very young and dance training takes many years.  You really don't need to make any decisions or come to any conclusions right now.  As long as they enjoy dancing, they should continue and you know, que sera sera! 

 

We have a lovely dancer in our graduate class - I always presumed that she would make a career of it, but apparently she doesn't want that.  She's hardworking and dedicated, rarely misses class and is very talented, but she'll leave school at 18 and that will be it.  Maybe she'll keep on dancing for pleasure - maybe not - she's loved her years of dancing with us, but her heart and soul are not in it and dancing is not like a normal career, if you don't want to commit totally, then you won't make it.  There have been many posts on how dance contributes to a child's development, both physically and mentally and how many "tools" for life's journey it gives us.  It's all good - whatever happens........

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oh I doubt either will even contemplate it being a career (one wants to be an author and illustrate her own books and the other wants to run a flower shop at the moment!!!) but I can see the younger one keeping it going as a hobby for longer.

 

It is funny that when we do a job we aren't that keen on we always imagine it would be wonderful to have a job that was also our most loved hobby but perhaps it is better to keep those most loved hobbies as just that so that they are an outlet, a joy to do and an escape from everything else.

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