History of the RAD: The 1980s

1981

The Diamond Jubilee Dinner was held on 2 January, 1981 to celebrate the last 60 years of the RAD.

Dame Margot Fonteyn and Sir Anton Dolin at the RAD Jubilee Dinner, 1981. Photo from the RAD Archive.

1985

The Royal Academy of Dance’s Australian head office in Sydney’s Darlinghurst was originally a century-old corner shop and a car smash repair workshop built in the 1930s. It was developed and opened by the RAD in 1985.

1986

Ballet had changed a great deal in recent years, and so it was time to bring together our syllabi, uniform their content, and build them up again through a new approach. Developed over a period of five years by Julia Farron, The Pre-Elementary and Elementary Examinations Syllabus was first shown to Major Examiners around the world, and was greeted with enormous enthusiasm.

Presentation of the new Major Syllabus work at RAD Assembly, January 1986. Photo by Chris Davies (licensed by ArenaPAL).