For the ones who want more
Exams and
competitions.
Two ways to take dance further than a Tuesday class. Neither is expected of anyone, and a student who does neither is not having a lesser time.
Examinations
Graded, assessed, on the record.
An examination is a syllabus, a standard and an examiner who has never met your child. What comes back is a grade that means the same thing anywhere in the country.
Preparation happens inside regular class time. Nobody is paying for extra private lessons to sit them, and no student is pushed into an exam year they are not ready for.
Who it suitsThe student who likes knowing exactly where they stand, and the parent who wants progress they can see rather than take on trust.
Competition teams
Selection-based. Rehearsal-heavy. The real thing.
Our troupes compete across the Melbourne circuit and perform at community events, including Together We Dance for the Kids, which brings studios together to raise money for charity.
Teams rehearse beyond class time. That is a real commitment from a family — extra hours, extra costumes, weekends away — and it is worth being honest with yourself about it before saying yes.
Who it suitsThe student who has stopped asking whether they have to practise. The pathway for anyone building toward dance as a career.
The teams
Femme
Fatalz
Our senior troupe, and the group most of our competition students are aiming at from about thirteen. Selection-based, rehearsal-heavy, and — going by every photograph any of them has ever posted — the reason they still talk to each other a decade later.
Straight answers
Before you say yes
- Does my child have to do either?
- No, and most do not. The majority of DFX students dance once a week recreationally, are in the concert at the end of the year, and never sit an exam or compete. That is a complete dance education and we treat it as one.
- How do I know if they want it?
- They will tell you, usually by practising in the kitchen without being asked. Wanting to be good at something is different from wanting to be judged at it, and a child who loves class can still find a competition weekend miserable. Both are fine.
- What does it cost?
- Exam entry, competition fees and additional costumes sit on top of term fees, and the amount depends entirely on how much a student does. Ask us for the real figures for what you are considering — we would rather give you a number you can plan around.
- Can they stop?
- Yes, at the end of any year, and they can go back to a recreational class without it being a demotion. We have never treated it as one.
Start with a class
Nobody arrives on a team. Every student on that stage started in an ordinary class, and the first one is free.