All About Ballet

[xuanting]

I'd like to share something the father of a dance student wrote in his blog:

[quote]The other night someone asked me \"Why do you pay so much money for your girls to dance?\"

Well I have a confession to make, I don't pay for dance. Personally, I couldn't care less about dance. I grew up in a family of 4 boys and no girls. The \"Nutcracker\" was something you did on a dare off of the high dive at the pool or something you unpleasantly surprised your brother with. Up until the day I met my wife if I were asked to go to Swan Lake I would have asked if we were water skiing or fishing.

So if I am not paying for dance what am I paying for? I pay for those moments when my daughters become so tired they want to quit but don't. I pay for those days when my daughters come home from school and are \"too tired\" to go dance but go anyway. I pay for my daughters to learn to be graceful. I pay for my daughters to learn to take care of their body. I pay for my daughters to learn to work with others and to be good teammates. I pay for my daughters to learn to deal with disappointment, when they don't get that part they hoped for, but still have to work hard at the part that they received. I pay for my daughters learn to make and accomplish goals. I pay for my daughters to learn that it takes hours and hours and hours and hours of hard work and practice to create something beautiful, and that success does not happen over night. I pay for the opportunity my daughters have and will have to make life long friendships. I pay so that my daughters can be on stage instead of in front of a screen...

I could go on but to be short, I don't pay for dance, I pay for the opportunities that dance provides my daughters to develop attributes that will serve them well throughout their lives and give them the opportunity to bless the lives of others. From what I have seen so far I think it is a great investment!

I am sure that other parents get similar questions. \"Why do you pay for competitive baseball?\" \"Why do you pay for Quarterback training?\" \"Why do you pay for club soccer?\" \"Why does your kid swim year round?\".... I just think it is important to realize what we are really paying for.[/quote][Source: http://shadmartin.blogspot.sg/2015/10/why-i-dont-pay-for-dance-anymore.html]

[cool_hi]

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xuanting:

I'd like to share something the father of a dance student wrote in his blog:

[quote]The other night someone asked me \"Why do you pay so much money for your girls to dance?\"

Well I have a confession to make, I don't pay for dance. Personally, I couldn't care less about dance. I grew up in a family of 4 boys and no girls. The \"Nutcracker\" was something you did on a dare off of the high dive at the pool or something you unpleasantly surprised your brother with. Up until the day I met my wife if I were asked to go to Swan Lake I would have asked if we were water skiing or fishing.

So if I am not paying for dance what am I paying for? I pay for those moments when my daughters become so tired they want to quit but don't. I pay for those days when my daughters come home from school and are \"too tired\" to go dance but go anyway. I pay for my daughters to learn to be graceful. I pay for my daughters to learn to take care of their body. I pay for my daughters to learn to work with others and to be good teammates. I pay for my daughters to learn to deal with disappointment, when they don't get that part they hoped for, but still have to work hard at the part that they received. I pay for my daughters learn to make and accomplish goals. I pay for my daughters to learn that it takes hours and hours and hours and hours of hard work and practice to create something beautiful, and that success does not happen over night. I pay for the opportunity my daughters have and will have to make life long friendships. I pay so that my daughters can be on stage instead of in front of a screen...

I could go on but to be short, I don't pay for dance, I pay for the opportunities that dance provides my daughters to develop attributes that will serve them well throughout their lives and give them the opportunity to bless the lives of others. From what I have seen so far I think it is a great investment!

I am sure that other parents get similar questions. \"Why do you pay for competitive baseball?\" \"Why do you pay for Quarterback training?\" \"Why do you pay for club soccer?\" \"Why does your kid swim year round?\".... I just think it is important to realize what we are really paying for.

[Source: http://shadmartin.blogspot.sg/2015/10/why-i-dont-pay-for-dance-anymore.html][/quote]Thanks a lot for sharing!!
Have exactly same sentiments!!
& my girl went through most of what is described! Eg even when she has fever/sick,she will still wana go for ballet lessons...
When she was picked as one of the main dancers for chinese dance performance/competition,she was delighted..,but when given minor role,she was disappointed,but i told her,everyone has their roles to play,it's about teamwork,everyone is important..she learned a lot through all these valuable lessons..
& she also learn piano(g4) & violin(g3 after learning 1yr,&she learn because didi is learning:)..progress is slow compared to many others,but i am not so concerned & all these extra do affect her studies(a bit,but still can get Merit Award yearly),but i strongly
Feel that these will benefit her overall..
Something like helps to cultivate some kind of 独特 气质 & 修养..haha! & also learn to manage her time effectively...
(Just my 2 cents:)

[Junangie]

Hi all. Just took my 10 year old daughter out from ballet class at crestar school of dance @ thomson plaza ' as the dance fees are very expensive and also i have not seen improvement ever since she joined early last year. She was previously in a ballet academy called first pointe located at kallang area but after we moved to yio chu kang we found it inconvient to send her to first pointe so changed to crestar. She told me last night that she wants to do ballet again so i am looking for a dance school and im clueless she is doing grade 4 cstd ballet. anybody knows of good ballet coach / school around yio chu kang , ang mo kio area?

[Yngmng]

Junangie:

Hi all. Just took my 10 year old daughter out from ballet class at crestar school of dance @ thomson plaza ' as the dance fees are very expensive and also i have not seen improvement ever since she joined early last year. She was previously in a ballet academy called first pointe located at kallang area but after we moved to yio chu kang we found it inconvient to send her to first pointe so changed to crestar. She told me last night that she wants to do ballet again so i am looking for a dance school and im clueless she is doing grade 4 cstd ballet. anybody knows of good ballet coach / school around yio chu kang , ang mo kio area?

Dance pointe has a branch at Greenwich V at Yio Chu Kang/ Seletar. Can take a look.

[ziltransformer]

hi i want to ask why some school had grade 6 after grade 5 while some straight go to intermediate level? is there any difference？

[hungrymuffin]

ziltransformer:

hi i want to ask why some school had grade 6 after grade 5 while some straight go to intermediate level? is there any difference？

hello. i assume that you are referring to the RAD syllabus and this is based on my personal experience.

the higher grades (grade 6-8) focus on a style of ballet different from the lower grades, known as the romantic style. this style requires much more maturity compared to the vocational grades, but is definitely less demanding in terms of the examiners' expectations on the technique of the dancers.

the vocational grades (intermediate foundation to advanced 2), was designed as a pre-professional syllabus for students interested to go into the professional field, or to be dance teachers (minimum requirement to apply for an RAD registered teachers status is Intermediate qualification). this syllabus is comparatively less \"dancey\" compared to the higher grades, but examiners demand much higher quality technique, inclusive of pointe work, which is not included in the higher grades.

based on my interaction with a few ballet teachers, the ideal situation will be for a student to do both the higher grades and vocational grades concurrently, to train both artistry and technique.

students who only do vocationals after grade 5 (eg. taking intermediate foundation within 1 year from grade 5 exam) may tend to see a big drop in examination results since the technique expectations are much higher than in grade 5. some peers of mine experienced drops of close to 20 marks. on the other hand, it is typically easier to score well for the higher grades syllabus, though many teachers would recommend students taking 2 years to do grade 6 to build up the maturity needed for the romantic style. from my experience, peers who did both syllabi concurrently or did the vocational syllabi after completing grade 8 tend to do better in the vocational examinations because the additional classes/time is good for technique building.

schools who choose vocational syllabi after grade 5 may do so to prevent students from quitting (since many do grade 5 close to psle year) since the novelty of pointe work may interest the students to stay on. on the other hand, schools may choose the higher grades because they may feel that the students may not have strong enough technique to pull off the vocational syllabus at this point in time, and would rather them wait a little longer, maybe after higher grades (which I actually am in favour of).

hope this helps

[Lucida]

I’m new to this post. My girl currently 7 yrs old and now she is in grade 1. She had completed a pre primary RAD exam. I am now thinking of changing her ballet school as i felt the current school lacks skills and exposure for students to acquire good technical skills in ballet. My girl is very interested in ballet and started since 4yrs old.


Currentlt i’m looking at Cheng Ballet and SBA. She did a trial in Cheng and we quite like the environment and teacher. Howver my only concern is that Cheng does not have RAD. SBA follows RAD but i have a feeling that the school is quite competitive and my girl might not get the necessary exposure. In additiin SBA requires the girls goes twice a week for her level. Cheng ballet does too but its more like encourage them to have 2 sessions and it starts at the next grade.

So now i in a dilemma… Would SBA be very taxing? I am concern it would affect my girl studies… if i go for Cheng and no certificatr, to what extent it would affect my girl in the future if she really develops a serious interest in ballet?

Any advice appreciated.

[Cynk]

Junangie:

Hi all. Just took my 10 year old daughter out from ballet class at crestar school of dance @ thomson plaza ' as the dance fees are very expensive and also i have not seen improvement ever since she joined early last year. She was previously in a ballet academy called first pointe located at kallang area but after we moved to yio chu kang we found it inconvient to send her to first pointe so changed to crestar. She told me last night that she wants to do ballet again so i am looking for a dance school and im clueless she is doing grade 4 cstd ballet. anybody knows of good ballet coach / school around yio chu kang , ang mo kio area?

Sylvia Mccully Dance School. Just 1 level above Crestar. Very professional teachers and staff. However, a trial is required to see if your dd is suitable to join in the existing classes.

[Cynk]

Sylvia Mccully Dance School highly recommended. Very professional teachers and staff. However, a trial is required to see if your dd is suitable to join in the existing classes

[Cynk]

Try not to call during weekends. Very busy.