2 August 2021 15:57
RAD Graduation Day
The annual RAD Graduation is always a wonderful day of celebration for our Faculty of Education graduates.
This year, we were pleased to be able to come together for our online 2021 graduation ceremonies and celebrate our graduates’ achievements with their peers, family and friends. The Faculty of Education is incredibly proud of the commitment and resilience our student body has shown throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and offers sincere congratulations to all.
Graduates and viewers heard an address from this year’s guest speaker, and RAD President, Dame Darcey Bussell, as well as well wishes from various members of the Faculty of Education and the RAD’S Chairman, Guy Perricone. Luke Rittner, also bid farewell marking his last graduation ceremony as CEO of the Royal Academy of Dance.
You can watch Dame Darcey’s and Luke Rittner’s addresses here:
The ceremonies also saw the announcements of the recipients of this year’s Fellowships of the Royal Academy of Dance and the President’s Awards.
The Fellowships are awarded to any persons who have made an outstanding contribution to the art of dance or rendered exceptionally meritorious service to the RAD or for any other reason. This year, the Fellowships go to:
Ann Hutchinson Guest
Dr Ann Hutchinson Guest is best known for her pioneering work in dance notation and in the conservation of dance heritage. It is generally acknowledged that without her dedicated work, several famous ballets would have been lost forever. Author of over 45 books, including definitive textbooks on Labanotation, Ann notated the RAD’s syllabi, Cecchetti method and Bournonville school.
Her second mission in life has been to spread dance literacy and she has done so by creating the language of dance and the movement alphabet. She believes that these tools allow the teaching of dance to be truly inclusive.
This year Ann will be 103 and she continues to travel around the world, attending conferences and staging performances.
Maya Sofou
Maya has enjoyed a performance career that has seen her dance the lead role in Les Sylphides (1954), and dance as a soloist in the world premiere of the opera Nausicaa at the Athens Festival (1961), among others.
In 1962, she founded her own ballet school in Athens and in the 1980s became a member of the committee for restructuring the curriculum for the Greek National Diploma of the Greek Union of Dance and Rhythmics, the RAD Greek regional panel and the Greek Union of Dance Schools. In 1973 she entered candidates for the RAD’s first-ever major examination session in Greece and became the country's first national organiser.
Maya has choreographed, staged and produced many productions and her influence on dance throughout Greece has been incalculable and the awarding of this fellowship recognises her lifetime’s work and achievements.
The President’s Awards are given to individuals who have, for many years dedicated themselves over and above the call of duty to the Royal Academy of Dance.
This year, the awards go to:
- Carolyn Fotopoulos
- Carol Hanis
- June Melville
You can continue to share your well wishes and congratulations across social media using the hashtag #ProudToBeRAD
