BOOK A TRIAL

Academy of Dance Victoria - 2023 Important Ballet School Information

 

Dear parents of our ballet students

 

Welcome to 2023 ballet classes at Academy of Dance Victoria, we love seeing the passion the students are bringing to class and our ballet classes are filled with excited dancers who are ready to learn.

Term 1 is an important time for our ballet students as we attempt to teach the entire syllabus of RAD Ballet Exam work in Term 1 to then allow consolidation of the requirements for exam marking system in Term 2.  

This is just a reminder of some of the details regarding your ballet class for this year and includes important dates and details for all ballet students and their parents.

 

CLASS ATTIRE

UNIFORM FOR CLASS: Please check you have the correct leotard as set out in our uniform requirements, particularly in the Pre-Primary and Primary levels where some of the pink leotards and skirts we are seeing students wear to class are not the correct RAD ballet uniform.  The set uniform is compulsory and is listed in your 2023 information booklet https://www.canva.com/design/DAEh_3fdOSA/qRPUVekaJfwNtwIofe2Gvg/view?utm_content=DAEh_3fdOSA&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

 

HAIR FOR CLASS: Students must all have a neat ballet bun for class from prep ballet students to our highest levels.  Parents please help your dancers with this.  Buns are necessary to help teachers view and teach the correct alignment of the head and neck within the ballet exam work and is an important part of ballet discipline.  We understand that some students are bought to the studio for ballet by other parents or grandparents who are unable to do their buns - in those cases we do suggest that parents do their dancers ballet bun before school (some water and hairspray, hairpins and hair nets it stays in well all day ready for ballet after school).   Here is a YouTube video explaining how to do a correct ballet bun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSI-fuiBcKU

 

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CLASS

Some of the classes require additional or new requirements to what the students would have had last year. 

• Grade 1 ballet to Grade 6 Ballet (grade 2 at school  to year 7 or 8) need their set ballet uniform AND Character shoes and a Character skirt.   All students need their character shoes and skirt no later than WEEK 4 of term 1 as we have commenced character work already.   Students must bring character shoes and character skirt to EVERY class please. A reminder that these levels must also have a waist elastic around their leotard every lesson. 

• Grade 5 Ballet: Students will receive assessment inventations for pointe shoes and will require these only once they have received full approval. First pair of pointe shoes may only be purchased with an ADV teacher present.  Subsequent pairs of pointe shoes can be purchased without a teacher present. 

• Grade 6 Ballet: will need pointe shoes if they have passed their physio pointe assessment and this has been approved by ADV

• Intermediate RAD Ballet & Advanced Foundation Ballet(year 8 and above): Students in Intermediate Ballet and above are required to have Demi Pointe shoes and Pointe Shoes (this is required by ADV this year)

 

MISSING BALLET CLASSES

if you dancer will be away from class due to school camps or illness please ensure you now log this absence in your customer portal . A reminder that if your dancer is unwell and has to miss class they can log in from home via our virtual viewing window and still join the class.  You can log into the virtual viewing windows in our members login at www.academyofdance.biz. with password "2023 Excellence”.  (There is a space in the password and it is also case sensitive)

 

TERM 1 BALLET REPORTS

At the end of Term 1 all students in our RAD Ballet program receive a progress report.  The report includes feedback on the students progress and a recommendation as to whether they will be entered for an exam and the type of exam they will be entered for. 

 

WHY DO WE DO EXAMS?

All our ballet students prepare for the International RAD Exams. Preparing for exams challenges even our youngest ballet students to improve in class each week in preparation for presenting their work to the examiner.  The students increase in confidence and their skill level also increases at a much quicker rate.  Once the exam is completed the students have a great sense of achievement and receive their certificate and medal and valuable feedback on how they are progressing in their training.   The RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) syllabus is a world renown ballet exam syllabus that provides a progressive and high standard of training culminating in exams with the provision of internationally standardised results.

 

JULY HOLIDAY CLASSES – COMPULSORY EXAM PREPARATION 

3rd July to 6th July.  Primary, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6  ballet exam students from Primary level and above are required to attend preparation classes during the second week of the July school holidays (Monday to Friday).  Students are not able to enter the exam if they cannot attend the holiday classes.

26th, 27th 28th September Intermediate RAD Ballet  & Advanced Foundation Rad Ballet: Major students re required to attend preparation classes during the first week of the July school holidays. Holiday classes will take place on 27th June, 28th June, 29th June, 30th June, 1st July.  Students are not able to enter the exam if they cannot attend the holiday classes.

 

HOME PRACTISE - RAD APP & DVD’s: There is a LOT of work involved in the RAD exams for your ballet student. We do encourage as many parents as possible to download the Royal Academy of Dance App on their phone, iPad or lap top. The actual app is free but then you can purchase the video work for your dancersl level on the app which contains the entire syllabus for their level with video and music for each level. 

 

BALLET EXAM DATES 
Pre Primary to Grade 6 Ballet Exams will take place in 3rd term, and usually around the 3rd or 4th week of term (August Session) Dates are set by the Royal Academy of Dance.  Intermediate and Advanced Foundation Exams will take place in early Term 4.   ADV will not know the exam dates until much later in the year. All the RAD ballet schools in Australia have to submit their entries to the RAD head office who then allocate all the exam dates to schools and allocate interstate and international examiners to each school. There are thousands of RAD schools to allocate. The exams do take place during school time and the absence from school are written in as an eductional activity. ADV only receive notice of the exam date about 1 month before the exam takes place.  Parents will receive a specific exam entry notice in early April for PrePrimary to Grade 6 exams and in July for Intermediate and Advanced Exams

 

TYPES OF EXAMS
The ballet teaching staff at ADV decide whether or not students are ready to enter an exam. For those that are entered into an exam there are two types of exams offered under the RAD system for the Grade levels (Primary to Grade 5). The teachers also decide which type of exam a student is entered in and are required to decide by early April.  Major level exams are only available as a graded exam.

• Class Award: This exam is undertaken in groups of 4 or less. The teacher is present in the room and guides the students through the exam to give the students an extra sense of security. Exercises are generally performed 2 or 4 at a time and are not done 1 by 1. The feedback takes the form of written feedback in 3 sections sheet, certificate and level badge. All Pre Primary students undertake a class award exam.  This type of exam is also recommended for students who are undertaking exams for the first time, and those who are little unsure of their work or still working on confidence levels.

• Graded exam: This exam is the full exam for each level. Students enter in groups of 4 or less. No teacher is present in the room and the students perform for the examiner alone. Many exercises are performed one or two at a time. The feedback takes the form of a marking section with a total mark given out of 100 and students receive a grading sheet, a certificate and level badge. 

 

2023 CONCERT

All ballet classes are involved in the ADV End of year concert which takes place in December.  We are still waiting on confirmation from the theatre for booking, however we hope it will take place either the weekend of  8th &9th, 10th December or the weekend of 1st, 2nd, 3rd December . We present a fabulously costumed story ballet with all students involved in bringing it to life! Please keep these dates available for theatre rehearsals and performances.

 

Please always contact us if you have any questions.  

 

And don’t forget you can find all information also on our information portal at www.academyofdance.biz Information portal password 2023 Excellence.

 

Kind regards

Tamara Davidson

Academy of Dance Victoria

www.academyofdance.biz