What it takes
Royal Academy of Dance Ballet examinations.
The RAD is a world wide international examining body, including places like Australia and China.
RAD examiners visit us from all over the world to examine our students.
This blog is to help parents who don’t have any dance background or dance knowledge to understand what it takes for a child (or adult) to pass an RAD exam with Merit or Distinction. You have to get 45/100 to even pass the exam.
Each child needs to know the dances and exercises fully from beginning to end and that is just the basic requirement. They don’t even get marked on this in the exam, it is just expected. What a student is marked on is their ballet technique, including Posture, line of the body, use of turnout, leg extension and footwork, to name a few. They are then also marked on their musicality and timing, along with their ability to perform and have a sense of presentation whilst dancing. They are marked on their use of space, their spacial awareness, their allegro (jumps) as well as their coordination.
They are also marked on their free movement and Character sections on top of this.
The RAD require a student to do at least 70 hours of study before entering an exam at Grade 1 level and this increases with each Grade/Level.
For example, if a dance school runs classes for 40 weeks of the year, and a student did 1 hour a week, taking into account time off and shows/ performances, they would need to study Grade 1 for at least 2 years, on one class a week.
That is why we recommend at least 2 classes a week. We also recommend 2 classes a week as this helps maintain their stamina and reinforces the work they have learnt in class, as 1 hour out of a whole week is not much for a growing child who spends most of their week learning and filling their minds with lots of other things at school. Which of course is good and necessary, but to put it into perspective, they are trying to learn their dance steps and technique alongside learning to read, write, maths, piano etc, so more repetition, encourages greater memory of the steps and the elements that are needed to create a talented dancer. Like in all aspects, some children learn certain things quicker than others, they are all individual and we all grow and learn at our own pace, so it is important we don’t rush students through their grades as they will miss their fundamental basic technical requirements needed for ballet.
Exams are not the be all and end all of course, and many students can just dance for pleasure and fitness and not be entered for exams, but if they wish to obtain high results in their exams, they need the time to learn the skills and they need repetition and continuity of their classes.
If a child decides they would like to dance for a career and wish to take their ballet or any style of dance further, their exam results will be taken into account in auditions. So it is worth taking your time, learning it correctly, and not rushing through, giving them the opportunity to be the best they can be, and be as ready as they can be.
Ballet is an extremely particular and exacting art form, it requires absolute dedication, determination and a lot of hard work to dance at a professional level.
At En Pointe our Ballet teachers have all studied and performed at a professional level, Elmhurst, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Studio centre, Northern Ballet Theatre, Royal Academy of Dance HQ, so with us you know your child is in good hands, you can and should always trust professionals in their field and trust that they are genuinely doing what is best for your child. We believe you shouldn’t set a child up for failure, so to give your child chance to fulfil their potential, have regular lessons, and they will shine when it is their time.
Check out our YouTube Channel for videos on RAD Graded syllabus
