confusion between different boards

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Hecouldshine
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by Hecouldshine »

I must be wrong about IDTA Adv foundation as it's listed on this page about UCAS points https://www.idta.co.uk/members-hub/qual ... ff-points/

And this page lists the RQF value of Intermediate, Advanced 1 and Advanced 2 https://www.idta.co.uk/members-hub/qual ... cells-qcf/

Hope that's helpful. It looks pretty confusing to me. I'm guessing that Advanced 2 being called level 4, and a diploma, means it's the equivalent of a musical instrument diploma - which comes after grade 8.
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Dodger'smum
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by Dodger'smum »

SO confusing.
What are NAPM's thoughts on IDTA Theatre Craft too please? DS came late to dance and wants to study what's best for Musical Theatre studies later on. Currently he's doing IDTA Tap and Theatre Craft at Grade 3 and just started ballet. 'Does that sound about right? We are neither affluent nor located near any big cities so our options are limited. Thanks x
22tutus
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by 22tutus »

How old is he? I don't know much about theatrecraft but from looking on the internet I get the impression that with idta modern is just jazz so they have theatrecraft as well which covers a larger range of styles. ISTD modern is modern theatre dance and then they have jazz as a sort of subsection for just three exams.
Dodger'smum
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by Dodger'smum »

22tutus wrote:How old is he? I don't know much about theatrecraft but from looking on the internet I get the impression that with idta modern is just jazz so they have theatrecraft as well which covers a larger range of styles. ISTD modern is modern theatre dance and then they have jazz as a sort of subsection for just three exams.
Thanks 22tuts, he's in his mid teens so I'm just eager to be on the best path we can afford straightaway if that makes any sense. There's no question of moving away from IDTA as that's all that is reasonably available to us. Thanks again x
22tutus
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by 22tutus »

I would think it would cover what he needs it to and if he is doing tap and ballet too then he should get exposed to the main things
melholly1980
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by melholly1980 »

As much as, in my ignorance, I don't understand a lot about this post, I am grateful it's up here! I have been told RAD seems to 'rule' in terms of old fashioned status. (By a teacher who does RAD)

Then I was told ISTD (by a teacher who does ISTD!) that this is harder than RAD. For example, my DD left RAD having gained her G3 (we moved house and there wasn't an RAD in sensible distance!) She joined a local dance school who do ISTD and they placed her in a G2 class as "that's the equivalent." I don't know, is it?!

To add interest to this, she did Cecchetti for a year but gave that up due to injury - what are everyone's thoughts on this?

So ISTD and RAD carry UCAS points? I never knew that.

Mx
22tutus
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by 22tutus »

yes ISTD, RAD, BBO etc carry UCAS points for Grade 6 and also their vocational ones too, IDTA get UCAS points for their vocational ones, I kind of assumed that this is why they have done away with their grade 6 as it didn't used to qualify from what I can work out.

I think in terms of RAD and ISTD, RAD is very traditional and I was told that RAD steps are generally simpler steps at the lower grades than ISTD equivalent but that you are expected to perform them perfectly in exams whilst ISTD includes unset work in exams. But then RAD have changed some of theirs I think so I don't know how much that applies now. It does seem that RAD grades are a bit out of synch with ISTD, I don't really understand if grade 6 RAD is supposed to be the same as grade 6 ISTD and then grades 7 and 8 are higher or if grade 8 is supposed to be the equivalent of grade 6. I always assumed the latter but then they get more UCAS points for grades 7 and 8 than ISTD grade 6 so I wonder if not?

It does seem to be that RAD grade 1 isn't as high as ISTD grade 1 and then RAD 2 is only ISTD 1 and RAD 3 is ISTD 2 etc but I am only going by what friends children seem to do for their exams and what happens when people move to our dance school, they usually go down a grade and still have some catching up to do.
woody
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by woody »

ISTD isn't harder than RAD, it is just slightly different and they have different grade boundaries. RAD goes up to Grade 8, and ISTD goes up to Grade 6, so the grades aren't an exact equivalent. The work covered in each grade differs a bit as well, and ISTD contains more unset 'free' work. Also, RAD grades include character dance, whereas ISTD ballet doesn't.
TalyaB
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by TalyaB »

I can't answer your question but I've seen a few posts referring to qualifications that are worth UCAS points. One thing perhaps worth mentioning - my daughter was applying for uni last year and not one of the courses she was interested in (all History degrees at very traditional universities) gave any credit for any points - her offers were all based entirely on A-level grades.
22tutus
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by 22tutus »

oh I wouldn't expect the UCAS points to apply to anything other than perfoming arts type courses but from working in degree course entry I know that additional qualifications in anything which is easily measurable (like by UCAS points) can really count in the favour of getting any sort of an offer in an oversubscribed subject area. it also should give some sort of indication of comparability between boards.
2dancersmum
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by 2dancersmum »

Dodger's mum - been on holiday so had not noticed your post about IDTA and theatre craft.

My DDS have always done RAD ballet but IDTA for other dance genres, including modern jazz and theatre craft. Their school, however, only did theatre craft until about grade 2 . Theatre craft introduced them to the idea of story telling through dance - each dance they did had a theme and often props. It included mime and gestures and worked on timing and rhythm. I obviously do not know how it develops through the higher grades as your DS would presumably be jumping in at a higher grade than 2.

My DDs have taken IDTA modern jazz all the way from pre-primary to intermediate. One started on the advanced syllabus also but left to go to vocational school. Jazz is definitely not just a subsection for just three exams. The syllabus covers a wide range of jazz styles, through lyrical and more Broadway styles with a range of exercises, dances, unset exercises in each exam, including a students own choreographed solo in intermediate.

In terms of studying Musical Theatre later on, auditions will include ballet so that is important and tap is also a useful skill. A jazz section is also included in many auditions and certainly at DDs college is a subject taught on the MT course. This is not to say that your DS ought to do jazz if he can, rather than theatre craft as I think 'theatre craft' is more of an IDTA term, rather than a general one and I would expect that it would give him a wide base of skills as it covers a variety of dance styles.

I hope he enjoys his dance and is able to follow his dreams for the future.
Dodger'smum
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by Dodger'smum »

2dancersmum wrote:
In terms of studying Musical Theatre later on, auditions will include ballet so that is important and tap is also a useful skill. A jazz section is also included in many auditions and certainly at DDs college is a subject taught on the MT course. This is not to say that your DS ought to do jazz if he can, rather than theatre craft as I think 'theatre craft' is more of an IDTA term, rather than a general one and I would expect that it would give him a wide base of skills as it covers a variety of dance styles.

I hope he enjoys his dance and is able to follow his dreams for the future.
Thank you SO much 2dancersmum, how kind. I think we've decided to stick with Theatre Craft as we can't afford to do anything further, and we don't want to waste the time taken to get to where he is now (Grade 3 exam in Oct). It is what it is and we'll go with the flow whatever it means when he comes to making his future decisions.
Thank you again. This thread has been extremely interesting and I think goes to show it's horses for courses with no definitive "better" out there x
22tutus
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by 22tutus »

hope his exam goes well in October.

I think the boards all have strengths and weaknesses and whether any one is better is down to an individual's strengths and weaknesses isn't it. If someone in particular struggles with free work then some boards might suit them better. I think Theatrecraft sounds quite interesting as certainly the blurb about it implies it covers a wide range of styles.



My comment about jazz being a subsection for just 3 exams referred to ISTD not IDTA. I was trying to say that ISTD Modern covers different stuff to IDTA modern Jazz which focuses on jazz presumably because they also have theatrecraft to cover other styles whilst ISTD Modern Theatre Dance isn't jazz, they only do jazz as a smaller extra bit from what I can work out.
beanie-bean
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by beanie-bean »

TalyaB wrote:I can't answer your question but I've seen a few posts referring to qualifications that are worth UCAS points. One thing perhaps worth mentioning - my daughter was applying for uni last year and not one of the courses she was interested in (all History degrees at very traditional universities) gave any credit for any points - her offers were all based entirely on A-level grades.
My friends dd wasn't able to use the UCAS points she had earned through dance exams either and she applied at Performing Arts School's. She had taken her Advanced 2 in all 3 genres so she had a lot for her exams but the colleges would only accept UCAS points if they were earned for A- Level or Btec. It was a couple of years ago, so if anyone knows otherwise then please correct me as things may have changed, but at the time Urdang and Bird wouldn't accept UCAS points earned through dance exams.
woody
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Re: confusion between different boards

Post by woody »

As far as I am aware, Adv 2 (certainly for RAD ballet at least) is a Level 4 qualification, so you don't get UCAS points for it, it is too high a level.
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