History of the RAD: The 2010s
2012
Dame Darcey Bussell DBE is appointed President of the Royal Academy of Dance.
The Australian head office in Sydney was refurbished and reopened in 2012 by the Academy’s President Dame Darcey Bussell DBE and Vice President David McAllister AM, Artistic Director, The Australian Ballet. Here the Academy holds examinations, student classes, CPD courses, the CBTS and PDPTC teaching qualifications, and special events and we welcome parents, students, teachers and visitors nationally and internationally.
Genée Candidates in Athens 2004. Photo by Helen Grigariadou.
2015
Singapore organised the RAD Dance Challenge. This competition comprised solo entries, generated huge interest and saw over 200 participants.
2016
The ongoing collaboration between RAD and Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT) in ‘Celebration in Dance’ began running in 2016. It establishes connections between the professional dance scene and the local RAD ballet students. Any Singapore RAD Ballet Schools can submit dance items to this event. Shortlisted items performed alongside the SDT dancers on the prestigious Esplanade Theatre Stage. This allowed RAD students to interact with the professional dance industry, as well as garner performance experience in one of Singapore’s iconic venues.
2017
In 2006, when the musical Billy Elliot premiered, the RAD and the Royal Ballet School hosted a joint gala performance and dinner as a fundraiser. The RAD used its share of the proceeds to create a programme of weekend workshops entirely for boys and young men, called Boys Only!. As part of a centennial aspiration to bring dance to more people in more places the RAD in 2017 launched Project B, a range of initiatives to widen access for boys.
Photo by David Tett.
The Silver Swans Initiative, piloted in early 2017 and currently available in Australia, US, UK, New Zealand, Mexico and Canada, challenges age barriers by providing dance classes for adults over the age of 55.
Photo by David Tett.
2018
Singapore was part of the Global Launch for the RAD Discovering Repertoire Syllabus, and students from Singapore demonstrated part of the syllabus live at this launch.
This celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II lifetime was dedicated to the service and patronage of more than 600 charities and organisations across the UK and Commonwealth, including the RAD, and also marked the occasion of her 90th birthday.
Beth Hartling (centre) in the Patrons Lunch parade. Photo by Getty Images for The Patrons Lunch.
Changing Moves Changing Minds was based on a pilot delivered by the British Council in India, in partnership with Marylebone Cricket Club.
Changing Moves Changing Minds aimed to enrich children’s lives through integrated dance and sports lessons that encouraged girls and boys to play together. Specially designed lesson plans were created to get pupils to collaborate and sparked conversations in the classrooms about gender equality.
Photo: Apeejay School, Pitampuri, New Delhi, courtesy of the British Council.
2019
Dame Darcey Bussell announces the renaming of the RAD’s prestigious ballet competition to celebrate its longest-serving President, Dame Margot Fonteyn.
