<B>char104</B> asked:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>if you study one syllabus for the school year and end up doing another at summer school would this confuse the YOUNG dancer? - charlene<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Before I could answer this I would need to know how young of a child. And whether the regular studio/teacher has made the student aware of differences in Syllabi.<P>I'll call that stament my qualifier to anything else I write.<P>For a student 11+ yrs I think it would be a good thing as long as they understand that differences in style/names of steps etc. do not mean that one is better than the other. They must go in with an open non judgemental mind understanding that different does not mean wrong or right.<P>For the younger student I think it can be very confusing. Training in dance takes many years and students should have exposure to different teachers and styles, however they must first have the maturity to discern between stylistic difference & technical error.<P>It is hard to say really and we must with a measure of trust encourage them to try other ways. We also must prepare ourselves that when they come back they may have learned/been exposed to something we would not aprove of.<P>As example; Two first year pointe students (of mine) attended a summer school in which other students were put on pointe during the two week session. also during this session these new to pointe students along with my 1st year students were given hops on pointe to do as a daily exercise (My girls were 13) some of the new to pointe kids were 10 & 11.<P>I had to tell them when they returned that they were to go back to my slow plodding methodical manner of teaching pointe. Lucky for me they had no problem with that as they were rather scheptical about the teaching method of the summer school.<P>So I could say my students were discerning however still they were thrust into a potentially dangerous situation away from home, family or any one to really adress theior doubts.<P>I think that it would be wise to research some summer programs as to what their curriculum is, their pricing & the qualifications and teaching methods of the instructors. Pick a few that you would support and only suggest them to your students.

i agree that the age is crucial to answering this question. the younger the child is, the less advisable this situation would be.<P>it also depends on exactly HOW strictly any syllabus or teaching style is followed....which would probably be impossible for the parent to ascertain.<P>to give some examples, assuming that any teacher claiming to teach these 'methods' REALLY is doing so:<P>all year vaganova/summer school RAD - child will be a bit lost maybe....<P>all year RAD/summer school vaganova - bit bored, not enuf 'fun'<P>all year Cecchetti/summer school vaganova - child will be bored witless!<P>all year Cecchetti/summer school RAD - mild irritation only! (& vice-versa)<P>-gross generalisations, of course, but MAY apply! <P>charlene, IF you are talking about your own 8 year old daughter, it depends on the atmosphere within the summer school - whether supportive or not - and on HOW different the two sets of work are. <P>personally, this is not a challenge i would set an 8-year old at a summer school, ESPECIALLY if it's to be her first time away from home for any period...could be entirely miserable...but you may be asking more generally....? <P><p>[This message has been edited by grace (edited September 26, 2000).]

thanks guys<BR>and yes grace it is related to my child<BR>she will be 9 for summer school and they are teaching her RAD and summer school will be cecchetti along with other dancing JAZZ etc.<P>I was wondering if this poor kid will be totally confused<BR>she danced with no syllabus for 1 1/2 years <BR>now she is with RAD and TAP classes<BR>she only complained that it was boring in RAD they didn't do very many differnet steps but i have now explanined to her that this class is taught this way and she is OK with it.<BR>I don't want to send her to a recreational sport camp that has dance because i don't trust the teachers there that is why i was thinking of a ballet summer school were i hope the teaching would be better?<BR>charlene

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>she will be 9 for summer school...<BR>they are teaching her RAD - and summer school will be cecchetti, along with other dancing JAZZ etc.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>i can understand that after Cecchetti grades, (and the non-syllabus, or freer approach she was previously used to), going into an RAD class would seem too simple to your child.<P>RAD syllabus has been beautifully revised a few years back (like maybe 5 or 10, but years go so quick, now!).....so as to carefully structure the progression of basic skills. there is also an appropriate emphasis on skills as technique building blocks, arther than on just learning ballet 'steps'. <P>the Cecchetti syllabus, also, is constantly under revision, but the changes have not been as marked there. <P>what this means is that the young Cecchetti student will have learnt MORE different STEPS at any age than the RAD student, and certainly than the vaganova student, but may not be able to DO them as well.<P>this is pretty much an impossible concept to convey to a child.<P>the child is more likely to dismiss the RAD 'simple' approach, and focus on how 'they' call an arm position something different (i.e "WRONG!") <P>i think one good suggestion might be that your child would likely cope better if she has a group of other students (her peers) from her own ballet school going with herto the summer school - that way they can all giggle together about the RAD 'babies' who call arm positions by the 'wrong' names!

True confessions time again, as I think I know the program Char104 is considering for the summer.<P>I don't know that all the ballet classes would be considered cechetti method... However, my daughter with RAD Grade 3 at her first summer school experience was challenged. As the youngest, there were certain things (usually involving strength) that she couldn't do as well as the others. I imagine there were other differences too, but they weren't as noticeable to the untrained eye and daughter didn't mention them.<P>The National dancing is another issue. The teacher who had been doing this class is - I believe- ISTD. This is, she told me, very different from the RAD character work. My daughter's shoes (the canvas RAD character ones) were completely toast, with the sole almost completely off, after 5 days of class. The teacher told me that her class is much different from (and she thought) much more demanding than the RAD character work. (She quietly commented about my choice of shoes, but I hadn't intended on a different pair of shoes for only 2 weeks) Being a non-dancer I really can't comment about the level of difficulty, but I WAS amazed at the state of the shoes. <P>Maybe one of the teachers here could comment on the differences between the RAD character work and the ISTD syllabus.