The Royal Academy of Dance is one of the world’s most influential dance education and training organisations.

 

We promote knowledge, understanding and practice of dance internationally. We seek to accomplish this through promoting dance, educating and training students and providing examinations to set standards and reward achievement.

 

The Royal Academy of Dance was established in 1920, at the Trocadero Restaurant in Piccadilly, London, by a small group of eminent dance professionals. Brought together by Philip Richardson, former editor of The Dancing Times, the group represented the leading European schools of ballet: Adeline Genée (the Danish School), Tamara Karsavina (the Russian School), Lucia Cormani (the Italian School), Edouard Espinosa (the French School) and Phyllis Bedells (the English School). Their concern about the poor quality and badly organised state of dance teaching in Britain at the time led to the emergence of the ‘Association of Teachers of Operatic Dancing in Great Britain’.

Over the next decade, the Association flourished, growing rapidly in size and influence and, at the last Privy Council Meeting of King George V (in 1935), it was granted a Royal Charter and became the Royal Academy of Dancing. On the death of Queen Mary in 1953, HM Queen Elizabeth II became Patron of the Royal Academy of Dancing.

The Academy was granted charitable status in 1963 and continued to develop its syllabi with the introduction of a new children’s syllabus devised by the then President, Dame Margot Fonteyn. As the RAD expanded within the UK, moving to its present headquarters in Battersea, London, it began to spread its wings and in 1983 the first international office outside of the UK was established in Australia.

In 1991 Antoinette Sibley was elected President of the Academy. A year later the first full-time university- validated degree programme, the BA (Hons) Art and Teaching of Ballet, commenced, replacing the three-year Teacher Training Programme. 1999 saw the appointment of Luke Rittner as Chief Executive and the formation of the Faculty of Education under the leadership of the Director of Education, Professor Joan White. Both appointments signalled a period of unprecedented review and change.

2002 was indeed a year of change and achievement. The RAD took part in the unique celebrations of the arts at Burlington House as part of HM The Queen's Golden Jubilee; the Genée International Ballet Competition is held outside London for the first time in its 70 year history and the new children's website, www.radacadabra.org, aimed at 5 – 10 year old children, launched. The RAD was also granted Initial Teacher Training Accredited Provider Status by the Teacher Training Agency, enabling us to train government-recognised teachers and as a result launched the Postgraduate Certificate in Education: Dance Teaching (PGCE:DT). The year 2004 proved to be a watershed for the Faculty of Education in particular. Not only did it see the launch of the Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies in the UK, Canada, Australia and Germany but the BA (Hons) Ballet Education programme was revived.

In 2005 important international partnerships were developed with Aukland University of Technology, New Zealand and TongJi University in China, providing access to RAD Registered Teacher Status for students on their dance programmes and celebrated 60 years of dance teacher education and training and most recently (2009) we launched our first Masters level programme the Master of Teaching (Dance) which supports experienced dance teachers in their professional development whether they work in the private or public sectors in the UK or elsewhere.

In 2007, the RAD increasingly interested in extending its community links launched a pilot community dance programme called Step Into Dance teaching free weekly dance classes in a variety of genres in 30 secondary schools in four London boroughs. Today this partnership project between The Jack Petchey Foundation and the RAD has matured into the biggest secondary school dance programme in the country delivering dance to over 2,000 students in 13 London boroughs.

On 10 December 2008, her Majesty The Queen in Council allowed the proposed amendments to the Royal Academy of Dance Supplemental Charter and Bye Laws (1996) which resulted in the introduction of proxy voting, giving a voice to more than two thirds of the membership who reside outside of the UK, for the first time.

With RAD Enterprises going from strength to strength under the leadership of a new Head of Trading, the RAD launched two new syllabi, Pre-Primary in Dance and Primary in Dance at a Members’ Conference: Foundations to Finale along with the new Solo Seal Award. This was the first stage in a five year syllabus review and product development plan that will revise and relaunch the grades from 1 up to 5 by 2014.

 

 

Ms. Trish is a crertified instructor. All dancers enrolled in the RAD Program will have end of the year testing as a testing site in Central Florida.