The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) has achieved nonagenarian status in Australia. A healthy ninety with more than four hundred thousand students in over eighty-five countries across the globe; it is one of the most successful dance training methods for young dancers (and recently for older, with its newly established, ‘Silver Swans’). Quite an achievement, made possible by generations of directors, teachers, examiners, administrators and students who share a passion for our most ephemeral artform.
And now for a disclaimer, ironically the author of this article is a British Ballet Organisation trained student…gasp! I attempted my first RAD exercise at eighteen (back in 1994), it was an Advanced syllabus pirouette combination – with double pirouettes en dehors in arabesque (right and left) from memory - and I was quite unsuccessful.
It was not until after my professional career finished that I became more involved with the RAD. And this is a point of difference from many other training syllabi, whose approach tends to be more siloed (outside full-time schools), RAD actively looks to engage with ex-professional dancers. Their newly developed teacher training system – Professional Dancers’ Postgraduate Teaching Certificate - is one such example of linking professional knowledge with positive student outcomes. Proactive engagement with the larger dance community sets RAD apart: special events, such as RAD conferences encouraging academic recourse; new initiatives, such as Project B – ‘Boys’ – of which I was an Australian ambassador; development of Discovering Repertoire exams and the aforementioned ‘Silver Swans’ adult classes, which engage with varying demographics. Not to forget the numerous annual competitions named after prominent figures in Australian dance; Kathleen Gorham, Shirley Treacy, Isobel Anderson and Jacqueline Moreland.
The origins of RAD in Australia of course started in London, in 1920. The first meeting was held in response to some appalling teaching practices in the UK at the time – girls on pointe aged just 3-4 - observed by leading dance figures Edouard Espinosa, Adeline Genée, Tamara Karsavina, Lucia Cormani and Phyllis Bedells. Children’s author, Enid Blyton, would have most certainly called them ‘The Famous Five’ (had she known them), as they were well-known figures from varying backgrounds in the dance world who would establish the newly coined, Association of Teachers of Operatic Dancing (ATOD), the predecessor of the Royally appointed RAD.
As early as 1931, dance teachers in Melbourne and Perth were asking for ATOD examinations to be held in Australia. Four years later, according to Derek Parker in his account of - The First Seventy-Five Years of RAD – examiner, Felix Demery, made the long journey down-under marking the first of many visits. In 1955, Australia’s first major examiner, Nellie Potts was appointed, soon followed by renowned teacher, Mark Rubinstein. Parker notes that the Australian circuit was particularly gruelling for examiners touring large distances, from, “Riverina in the depths of winter, to Gippsland and urban Queensland in the heat of summer.” Music for examiners could also be an issue in rural locations. Parker recounts examiner Isobel Anderson running into a local gum-chewing pianist who refused to play the Grade 3 Tarantella, citing, “It’s too hard.” To which Anderson replied, "Don’t worry I’ll sing!”
Of those early days, RAD’s National Director, Shelley Yacopetti, shared with me, “Some of our oldest current members are in their nineties and would’ve taken their first RAD exams held in Australia in 1935.” Often the measure of an organisation’s success is retention, and the RAD in Australia has a staggering two hundred and twenty Life Members, with over half still actively teaching. To put this into context, Life Membership is only achieved after forty-two concurrent years of teaching practice.
Australians, perhaps rough around the edges, have always been very successful at RAD’s annually held international dance competition; The Fonteyn (formerly named after Genée). Chief Examiner, Jennifer Hale admits that Australian dancers typically demonstrate, “great energy, vitality and confidence in their performances.” This is backed up the habituality of the antipodean clean sweep in medals at competitions (in fact, I would need to ask my editor for another 1000 words to name all our medallists!). Marking the success of RAD in Australia was the opening of its first international headquarters in 1983, located in the suburb of Darlinghurst, Sydney.
The RAD, with its royal coat-of-arms, calligraphy printed certificates, sleek looking class manuals and beautifully demonstrated video resources, might look like an imposing institution. But at its heart, it is an organisation supporting small local businesses and encouraging the dancing dreams of young and old alike, within a safe and supportive environment. Down the road from me, at Kenmore Village in Queensland, my daughter loves dancing at Sayers Dance Academy (which is celebrating fifty years with the RAD). Its director, Nadine Sayers, has been in dance for forty-three years - with her school an integral part of our local community - admits, “Many of my best friends, to this day, are those I met as a child at dance.” What a wonderful gift it is to dance and share dance with others.
Lift your glass (if you have one), to wishing many more dance-filled years with the RAD!
-Matthew Lawrence