Foundations for the Future 2011

The new Intermediate Foundation and Intermediate Syllabi were launched on 4 January 2011 at the Mermaid Conference and Events Centre, London the outgoing syllabi having served the RAD well for 25 years.

Luke Rittner, Chief Executive opened the proceedings wishing the 400 teachers and Examiners assembled, a happy and prosperous new year, before highlighting some of the events and initiatives that are to come in 2011.

The conference continued with a lively two-part keynote speech from international choreographer and coach, Christopher Hampson: 'I am many things but a keynote speaker is not generally one of them; so I have created a two-act ballet for you instead with an interval. Act 1 is entitled Music & Movement, Act 2 is entitled Teaching & Learning and I will be conducting a little market research in the interval!'

In Act 1, Christopher spoke of special teachers that inspired him from an early age including Miss Rhodes from the Northern Ballet School and her counterpart, Miss Chadwick, the pianist. Their unique and stimulating relationship taught him that between any teacher, dancer or choreographer and their pianist (any live musician) there must be dialogue, communication and trust.

Act 2 began with Christopher acknowledging that the new Intermediate Foundation and Intermediate syllabi was a 'feast for the eyes and the ears.' The thread running through this act was that teaching and learning are inextricably linked, forever and the importance of continuing to learn, paramount, 'if our art form is to continue to evolve, because we need to evolve with it and be ahead of it.’

Next came the main event; the unveiling of the new syllabi in a theatrical setting, introduced by Artistic Director, Lynn Wallis who heralded the need for the RAD to respond to the changing needs of the ballet and dance landscape, and to lead with an examination syllabus that is always evolving. A range of exercises from the syllabi at both levels were performed by 12 students from Elmhurst School for Dance with kind permission from Principal Jessica Ward and Artistic Director Desmond Kelly. They were wonderful to watch; expressive, lyrical and technically impressive. The range of music that the exercises was set to was as varied as pieces from Verdi, Straus and Shostakovich and in Jonathan Still's words the music was chosen to encourage 'expressive timing.'

After the 'what' of the new syllabi, Paula Hunt, Chair of the Panel of Examiners, demonstrated the 'how' by talking through the creativity and imagination underpinning the choreography and the resulting musicality when the students dance it. Taking the female Variation 2 as an example, students imagined laser beams shooting out from the ends of their fingers and followed the patterns that a mirror ball made on the floor.

The programme was brought to a close by a rare treat; a live coaching session led by Jonathan Cope, Royal Ballet Répétiteur and Benjamin Ella, an artist with The Royal Ballet. Jonathan coached Benjamin, (the two of them having never worked together) on a short solo from Frederick Ashton's In the Country. The passion and humour with which he spoke made clear his love of the work and perhaps a yearning to dance it once more. Benjamin responded very well and in the short 30 minute session he had marked it, taken it into his body and performed it.

Jonathan's constant dialogue with Benjamin, imparting not just the steps but the story and the emotion behind it; demonstrated the themes of the day (dialogue, communication, trust and musicality) and he summed it up best when he told Benjamin: 'think of the whole thing as a conversation.' What a lovely way to think of dance, a conversation between dancer and choreographer, dancer and themselves, dancer and audience, teacher and student a very fitting end to an inspiring programme and a wonderful membership event.