KIDS CLASSES
Learning to dance is an incredibly special pastime for numerous reasons. At Sans Souci Dance we study Classical Ballet and its theatrical folk dances that have been used for centuries in the great classical ballets. Ballet is a great foundation for all dance styles. Contemporary and Jazz Dance is also taught. Social dance and cultural dance are not neglected, however, encouraged to be celebrated at the studio but not a studied genre as such.
Students can join in anytime throughout the year. Dance education is best, when each year is celebrated by obtaining a goal and completing assessments in various forms. Not forgetting the important yearly concert where students are able to be on stage and perform in a tutu or other costume. It is strongly encouraged to complete examinations as these give students a sense of achievement. With the various programs as a guide teachers encourage students to comment or write in journals on aspects of technique, performance, and music skills. Class and peer comrade is developed carefully in friendly, polite, and sensitive ways so students learn to assess their own dance achievements and those of their friends. The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is well recognised and celebrated one hundred years in 2020. The studio follows the syllabus content of the RAD. Class Awards, Solo Performance Awards and the individual Units of the Repertoire Syllabus are alternative assessments to examinations whereby students could also find a sense of achievement. The following paragraphs are a description of the various grades that students would be able to study from 3 years to 18 years at Sans Souci Dance.
Pre School-Dance: These classes are for 3-5 years. This fun and joyful program covers the most basic elements of dance movement. Students are beginning to coordinate and control their moves while moving and balancing on one spot. Simple movement skills while exploring different qualities, mood expressions, musicality and directions are also taught. All learnt through stories and concepts suitable for this age. Simple props are introduced to help young students learn and to motivate. Guided discovery and other teaching methods are used to give the students a sense of autonomy and confidence in their movement choices.
Pre-Primary in Dance: These classes are for 4-5 years. This is a syllabus program offered where students are expected after a year of one lesson per week attain a reasonable level of body/fitness/strength of their control and co-ordination. A good demonstration of musicality and performance abilities are also learnt. All this knowledge and skills are shown through the techniques taught such as good posture and whole-body alignment principles. A movement award can be obtained from the Royal Academy of Dance. This is an exam/test with an examiner present, but the class is guided by the teacher. The mark will be an overall general mark of either not shown, occasionally shown, or always shown during the test. Students obtain a medal and certificate of achievement.
Primary in Dance: These classes are for 5-6years. Students start to begin the fundamentals of ballet however they are still beginning to control and co-ordinate movements. Musicality and Performance Skills are becoming more important. The level of cardio fitness has been raised and the speed in which they are required to move through space. This is the grade that they will take their first pre-ballet-exam.
Grades classes 1-5: These classes are for students 6 years and up. These years cover the fundamentals of Classical Ballet.
Grades 6,7,8, and the Repertoire Syllabus are for students to continue to study the art of classical ballet. Students may need to attend a minimum of two 75 min lessons a week to cover the work in the program to participate in an assessment or examination. In the Repertoire Syllabus there are options to learn point work and study the repertoire of the more renowned classical ballets such as Coppelia, Giselle and the Sleeping Beauty. Students need to be at least 11 years old and twelve in the year they do an exam. They also need to have studied dance for at least 4 years to participate in these lessons.
Intermediate Foundation and Intermediate: These classes are for 11-14 years. Students will need to attend a minimum of two 75 min lessons a week to cover the work in the program to participate in an examination only. There are no alternative assessments in these grades. They are also for students wishing to obtain a prerequisite to study the CBTS. (Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies. Usually, students will do the Intermediate Foundation examination the year before they dance the Intermediate Examination however it is not essential to dance the Intermediate Foundation examination before the Intermediate examination. Both these grades have minimal point work. These grades are essential for the budding ballet dancer however and highly recommended as the harder technical work prepares students for the Advanced levels.
Advanced Foundation, Advanced 1 and 2. These classes are for 14-18 years. These are the highest grades of the RAD. Sans Souci Dance will advise students on the ongoing training at this higher level.
Contemporary Dance: These classes are for 7-18 years. The Rambert Grades syllabus is followed. The program consists of technique, creative movement exploration/composition and performance components that are examined online. Ballet Rambert has been an avant guard institution for many years and has produced many choreographers. Founder Marie Rambert had a vision to create dance and to encourage her young students to create. I am extremely excited to offer this syllabus to the students. For more information. https://www.rambertgrades.com/what-is-rambert-grades
In the book “What is Dance” A collection of essays edited by Copeland and Cohen, 1983 it says on page 20 as follows, “The classic world was a beautiful and elegant one and it deserved all the praise allotted to it. But it could represent few forms of emotional conflict. However, the classic language has been supplemented it has not been eliminated.”
At Sans Souci Dance classical ballet remains to be the foundation of learning how to dance. Once student’s bodies are well trained in classical dance technique its skills and steps movement vocabulary can expand, and a variety of movement vocabularies will be confidently learnt and /or created. By learning Contemporary Dance students understand that body movements can talk about a variety of contemporary issues. Students enjoy dancing to modern and up to date music while at the same time expanding their dance training skills, creativity, autonomy, strength, and most of all freedom in a safe and encouraging environment.
https://members.royalacademyofdance.org/Portals/0/2021%20Specifications%2020210527.pdf