I was browsing for videos to use in a school project and stumbled across this. It made my day (:

www.britishpathe.com . . .

Sweet, my teacher had Adeline Genee for her elementary exam.

Seeing the hats the examiners were wearing reminds me of something that she and my mum used to talk about together. They used to reckon that the outlandish hats were worn to try and put you off what you were doing

Just as a side note all childrens grade exams were taken solo at that time, in fact that was the same until the mid sixties.

Thats really intresting Humminbird! Your teacher must have been very nervous in front of Adeline Genee and thier distracting hats! I am a huge fan of old movie reels and just love seeing how ballet exams at the RAD were like in the 1940s.
It seems strange that the childrens exams were as a solo yet the major exams were done in fours. You would think it would be the other way around!

My mum took all of her childrens grade exams on her own, not because she was the only candidate, the whole school was taking them at the same time, it was just they were done on your own. When she did her majors they were taken in London, at the Academy headquarters.

My dance teacher, who took her exams at the same sort of time this film was made also had to go to London for her majors, she did tell of how she took her elementary in a tutu though. I'm just wondering if having the majors and grades being taken in the same place was a bit of artistic licence or did all exams take place at HQ at that time? I'm not sure and my own teacher has passed on now so I can't ask her.

Even when I took my first exams in the 1970's there were only two candidates for each childrens exam right the way from primary up to grade 4 and all majors were taken with 4 candidates, yes there were only 4 childrens grades then! After that it was Bam! straight into Pre Elementary and that was a shock to the system!

Having only 4 childrens grades then into major exams seems rather harsh!
I took my intermediate foudation at the RAD london HQ and my grade 5 at the largest studio in my dance school however I know some people who come from smaller schools where the teacher put them in for the graded exams at RAD HQ in battersea, so I guess that still happens! (:

Thanks, that was a lot of fun!

I'm a degree student at RAD that was super cute loving it!! And the children's examinations and vocationals were very different then you did either or, you wouldn't do both. One was for fun and one was for those wanting to go into dance. You sort of made the decision when you were young or your teacher did. And they were much harder to pass, I think the percentage was 60 instead of 40 as it is now! x