The Various Assessment Options Offered in The Royal Academy of Dance
There are currently several great assessment choices offered in the Royal Academy of Dance, and both students and parents at The Dance Centre Peregian Springs can suit their child's ability, experience and temperament to either an examination, class award, solo performance award or presentation class from the levels of pre/primary through the eight grades, and on to the Vocational Graded Examinations.
In the Examination option for Grades 1-8, the students enter the examination room in sets of four, three or two dancers and present their work in pairs to the examiner and perform their set two dances as a solo. The examination is for students who will be fully accomplished and confident in knowing and mastering all their exercises and dances without their teacher or any help from the examiner, and will be judged on how they dance in the examination room on the day. Marks awarded for each exercise section lead to a final mark of a Distinction, Merit and Pass and the student is presented with a Certificate and a pin medal in gold, silver or bronze.
For students relatively new to dance or who may have missed some classes due to illness (etc) or for students apprehensive of an examination setting, the Class Award option for Grades 1-5 is the perfect choice. In this assessment option, up to six students present their work to the examiner with their teacher present who will be able to prompt or assist them if needed. The examiner will evaluate their work on whether she sees certain criteria presented. These students also receive a certificate and a class award pin.
For students serious about their classical ballet and enthusiastic about performing alone, there is also the Solo Performance Award option in Grades 1-5. As an additional assessment to the Examination, this option is very popular at The Dance Centre. In this assessment, the student performs three solos and is awarded a Distinction, Merit or Pass complete with certificate and medal. These students are confident performers who enjoy the challenge of performing alone. Many students opt to enter both an Examination demonstrating their set exercises and dances, and the Solo Performance Award.
In Grades 6-8, older students who may have missed classes, are very late starters to ballet, or apprehensive of an Examination can choose to take a Presentation Class instead of the Examination. In this option their teacher conducts the class in front of the examiner and at the conclusion each student receives a participation certificate.
At the pre/primary level only, the Class Award option is available.
