Summer School NZ – Grades

Monday 12 January 2026 – Friday 16 January 2026

9:00am – 3:30pm

Events Course Summer School NZ – Grades

Booking Deadline:

Monday 8 December 2025

Event Date:

Monday 12 January 2026 – Friday 16 January 2026

Event Time:

9:00am – 3:30pm

Country:

Location:

Wellington

Available Online?

No

Who’s it for?

For students 8-12 in RAD grades 3-5 or equivalent.

Fee:

Please see information for fee table


Designed especially for younger dancers working at RAD Grades 3–5 (or equivalent)*, our Grades Course offers a week of fun, inspiring classes in ballet technique, performance, and musicality.

Taught by our expert faculty, students will build confidence, improve artistry, and enjoy dancing alongside peers from around Aotearoa in a supportive and creative environment

*students sitting Grade 2 in 2025 are eligible.

Venue

Te Whaea

11 Hutchinson Street, Newtown, Wellington

Fees

*Early bird fee available between 1 August – 31 October 2025. From 1 November 2025, the normal fee will apply.

Scholarships

A limited number of partial scholarships are available on all courses to students based on need – including for families with a community services card. To apply contact the National Director: bwilliams@rad.org.nz 

Discounts

Sibling Discounts; Two sibling students: 10% off total cost of tuition fee and three or more sibling students 15% off the total cost of tuition fees.  Please contact office@rad.org.nz to receive the discount.  Discount will be applied to your second installment. 

Discounts cannot be combined, only one option is allowed per booking. 

Timetable

The timetables will be available later in the year.

Grades Tutors

Our Summer School tutors are a dynamic team of experienced dance educators and industry professionals, dedicated to inspiring and nurturing the next generation of dancers.

With a wealth of knowledge across a range of disciplines, they bring energy, creativity, and a deep passion for teaching. Whether students are attending for the first time or returning, they’ll benefit from expert guidance in a supportive and motivating environment.

  • Ballet
  • Musical Theatre
  • Creative

Ballet Technique and Repertoire

Rachel Dawson

RAD RTS, ARAD, TCP Diploma in Dance Performance

Rachel trained at the New Zealand School of Dance gaining her Diploma in Dance Performance.  She achieved her RAD Teachers certificate in 2001 with distinction. 

Rachel danced in numerious nation dance competitions, Wellington fringe festivals, toured with Paul Jendon Dance Company in Australia and was second in line to play the role of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. She moved to England in 2007 with her two children and husband.  Since 2010 Rachel has been teaching at the Royal Ballet School for their ‘Primary Steps’ programme and creative workshops in Primary school.  Alongside this she headed up the junior and senior ballet schools at Cambridge Theatre School.  For the last 14 years Rachel was the vocational teacher for Cambridge Performing Arts and cover teacher for the Centre for Advanced training.  She also taught on the Radiates Programme developed by the RAD to offer creative dance to children.  Additionally Rachel co-delivered the primary sector dance-bance lectures to teachers to enhance their CPD for ISTD.

Rachel is delighted to have students regularly gain placement in the JA/MA associate programme and White lodge at the Royal Ballet School.

She has a passion for choreography and enjoys inspiring students through creativity and technical knowledge.  She is excited to have moved back to New Zealand and to pass on her knowledge to the students at Summer School.

Musical Theatre

Dean Mckerras

Creative

Tutor bio coming soon

Further information

Payment

If paying by internet banking (please quote your full name as the reference and email a copy of the Internet Banking confirmation to office@rad.org.nz) Payment should be made to: Account Name: Royal Academy of Dance Bank Name: ANZ Bank Account No: 01 0517 0198208 00

If paying by Credit Card – we will send an invoice and there will be an option to pay by debit/credit card. Please note this will incur a surcharge.

What to bring?

Comfortable clothes to dance in

Ballet shoes will be required when dancing on the tarkett floor, these shoes must be clean and are not to be worn outside of studios. It is a good idea to bring a pair of slides or overboots to wear over their shoes when transferring between studios.

Jazz shoes if available.

Character uniform if available

Food for the day

How to Book?

Click on the book now button and fill out the form and submit, we will be in touch within 2 business days with payment information and confirmation of registration.

Please note payment of the 50% deposit secures your place.

Terms and Conditions

Applicants are asked to apply early to ensure a place as each workshop has a limited number of places.

Fees

All fees are inclusive of GST. The Academy reserves the right to amend fees where either tax changes take place during a calendar year or circumstances, such as the introduction of or a devaluation of a currency.

Closing Dates

Closing dates will be published locally, but the general rule is that closing dates is 10 days prior to the date of the workshop.

General Terms and Conditions

  • All applications and payments will be processed in order of receipt.
  • Correspondence will be sent primarily via email, if the email address is incorrect the RAD cannot be held responsible for missed or misdirected email communications. 
  • Applications are non-transferable.
  • The Academy reserves the right to alter the advertised programme and/or tutor without prior notice. The information in this and other printed or electronic brochures/notices is correct at the time of print or going online.
  • If participant information is not received it is the responsibility of the individual who completed the booking to contact us to arrange for the information to be reissued:

Withdrawals, Transfers and Refunds

A refund of 80% of the fee (excluding the registration fee) will be considered for cancellations on medical grounds and on receipt of a medical certificate up to 21 days prior to the course commencement. 

In limited situations on compassionate grounds, a refund of 80% of the fee (excluding the registration fee) will be considered for cancellations due to a family emergency up to 21 days prior to the course commencement. To apply, please contact the National Director: bwilliams@rad.org.nz 

A refund of 50% (excluding the registration fee) will be considered for cancellations on medical grounds and on receipt of a medical certificate that is received less than 21 days prior to the course commencement. 

Force Majeure

The RAD shall not be liable to refund fees or any other penalty should activities be cancelled due to any cause whatsoever beyond their control.

Press and Publicity Consent

During Summer School RAD staff may take photographs and video recordings. All photographs and video recordings will be the property of the RAD.

The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) does not allow photographs, video, audio (sound) recordings or any other images of anyone to be taken without their consent. 

By signing the registration form, you agree to give the RAD your consent for you or your child/ward to be photographed and/or filmed by the RAD. 

The RAD may use the photographs and footage in the following ways as part of our legitimate interests, and we may share them with local partners, and RAD offices worldwide) to use: 

• As promotional material in RAD publications (print and digital) 

• On the corporate RAD and RAD shop websites, social media channels and third-party partner sites 

• To distribute to press and media outlets to use in their print/digital publications and on their social media channels, as requested 

• To be shared with RAD staff and students for training/educational purposes 

• For Library and Archives specific marketing and promotions 

Staff and photographers will be informed of students who do have consent and they may be excluded from group situations. 

  • In group settings where complete exclusion is difficult (e.g. large class photos) we will make reasonable efforts to avoid clearly identifying students.  As it is often hard to exclude students in class groups, the RAD will make sure that no names or other identifying details are used 

The RAD will only keep and use the images and footage for as long as is appropriate for business purposes (this means, for as long as we need to have access to the pictures/videos to operate as a company). 

You are free to withdraw your consent at any time by sending an email to bwilliams@rad.org.nz. You do not need to specify a reason why you are withdrawing consent. If you do decide to withdraw your consent at a later time, any pictures/videos/audio taken and uploaded will not be used in any future publications or on our websites, but may continue to appear in publications already (including hardcopy publication) in circulation or in cache until cleared. 

No monetary fee will be granted. 

Data Protection Statement

The RAD hold information and contact details requested at the time of your booking that enable them to provide you with information relating to a participant’s registration for an activity. We will not disclose your information to a third party except where legally required to do so. In addition, our Privacy Statement and Company Privacy Policy are available to view and download: The full RAD Privacy Statement is available to view online here.

ROYAL ACADEMY OF DANCE, RAD, RAD PRE-PRIMARY IN DANCE, RAD PRIMARY IN DANCE and SILVER SWANS are registered (and in some territories unregistered) trademarks ®/™ of the Royal Academy of Dance. RAD INTERMEDIATE FOUNDATION, RAD INTERMEDIATE, RAD ADVANCED FOUNDATION, RAD ADVANCED 1, RAD ADVANCED 2, RAD CLASS AWARD, RAD SOLO PERFORMANCE AWARD, DANCE TO YOUR OWN TUNE, CBTS and KARSAVINA SYLLABUS are unregistered trademarks™ of the Royal Academy of Dance. The use or misuse of the trademarks or any other content of this publication, without prior written permission from the Royal Academy of Dance is strictly prohibited.


The Royal Academy of Dance is a charity registered in England and Wales No 312826 and in New Zealand No CC21861