01/02/2022
No.22: Should my child be learning a particular Ballet Syllabus? (Melissa via FB)
Question:
My child is 10 years old and attends Ballet classes 3 times a week. She is currently learning a particular ballet syllabus however I am hearing from other parents that she should be learning another syllabus. I am sorry I do not know the names of the Syllabi as I am not familiar with the world of dance however she is greatly encouraged by her current teachers and they say she has a natural gift for dance. Did you follow a specific syllabus?
Answer:
No Syllabus or methodology of teaching is perfect. Each Syllabus has something to learn and gain from however not all dancers & teachers will agree to what a dancer should be taught and the method it should be taught in.
The most important element here is how good the teacher is. Having a brilliant teacher is crucial at a young age. Bad training at a young age just means a dancer will spend many of their teenage years fixing all the bad habits picked up from their teacher.
I was initially trained in Classical Ballet following the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) system. The RAD provided me with the fundamental basics of classical ballet as I only attended 1 ballet class a week from the age of 8. My school enforced that I did a ballet class once a week for my technique in order to help my Jazz and Tap! Little did I know that Ballet would be the career I'd pursue.....
As I progressed through the grades of the RAD, my teachers progressed with me. My initial teacher employed another teacher to help the school and myself develop classically. This teacher then sent me to my final teacher, Hilary Kaplan in Sydney, before moving to london. The key to acknowledge here is that I was surrounded by brilliant, selfless teachers.....
Having said that, the RAD also gave me a wealth of knowledge and experiences. The Academy provided me with a platform to start my career through exams, bursaries and competitions. The exams of any syllabi gives a student a goal to strive for.... Exams are also useful for general life experience as it teaches you at a young age how to prepare and cope with these scenarios. As I grew up away from the exposure of the ballet world, the exams were also a way of monitoring my progress. Later on, the RAD also provided me with an international platform to showcase my training at their GENEE International Ballet Competition. This competition was the beginning of my move from the Sydney suburbs to the Royal Opera House in london.
My classical training was not all RAD focused..... I also learnt some Cecchetti Syllabus work and completed some of their exams as well as competed in their competitions. As I grew up and started taking more Classical Ballet classes, my teacher had her own daily teaching style that she taught me and it was clearly influenced by multiple methods of training as well as different ballet companies. This was of course combined with the other multiple styles of dance I was training in.... Jazz, Tap, Modern, Spanish (which also had exams)..... Like a well rounded academic education, I believe a dance education should also be well rounded.
I was raised with the RAD syllabus work so I would naturally advise your child to try some RAD classes however it was my teachers that gave me my fundamental technique...
No syllabus will be of any use if you do not have an intelligent teacher that has the capability of nourishing your child.....
