2026 NSW / ACT AGM & Inside the Exam (Sydney)

NSW & ACT AGM INFO

Inside the Exam – a view from the examiner’s table

This 3-hour interactive workshop takes an in-depth look at the examination process in general and at the RAD marking criteria in particular. The course includes practical information about the way that an examination is run and also gives more detail about what an examiner is looking for when they watch and mark an examination. This course will help RAD teachers to identify key areas where they can work with their students to develop their response to RAD marking criteria and therefore improve their students’ examination results. An opportunity for Q&A will follow.

Aims:

• Outline the basic format of RAD examinations
• Focus on and explain specific examination criteria
• Identify ways to improve candidates’ performance in an exam scenario, based on knowledge of the RAD examination criteria
• Provide the opportunity to become more familiar with selected levels of the RAD syllabus
• Give RAD teachers the opportunity to engage in discussion regarding the examination process and examination criteria

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion, participants will:

• have increased their knowledge of RAD syllabus content and examination procedures,
• have gained greater breadth of knowledge regarding the RAD examination criteria, and be able to apply this knowledge in their teaching, and
• be able to use the content of the course to help evaluate and improve their work as a teacher.

Date and Time

Thursday 12 February 2026 11.30am-2.30pm AEDT (Sydney)

Venue

Royal Academy of Dance, 20 Farrell Avenue, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Registration closes

Wednesday 28 January 2026

Format

In-person interactive workshop

Includes group activities in the studio with your tutor and fellow teachers.

Required preparation

Participants should reflect on any specific examination-based queries that they would like covered during the session.

Required resources

• Notepad and pen

Tutor

Hilary Kaplan

Hilary Kaplan was born in South Africa. A child prodigy in various styles of dancing, she trained with the late Reina Berman (ballet) and with Mercedes Molina (Spanish dancing), Luisa Cortes and Enrique Segovia (Spanish dancing). For several years, she won most of the first prizes in Ballet, Spanish, Character and Classical Greek in all the major dance competitions in Johannesburg. 

Having done outstandingly well in all her Royal Academy of Dance examinations including achieving the Solo Seal, she was awarded the RAD Bursary, which enabled her to complete her training at the Royal Ballet School in London. She then returned to South Africa where she danced with PACT and CAPAB. 

She then married and settled down to open her own highly successful ballet school. While teaching she completed a BA at the University of Witwatersrand majoring in languages. 

Hilary was subsequently appointed a Dual Examiner and Tutor for the Royal Academy of Dance and a Dual Examiner for the Spanish Dance Society. She is a sought-after examiner and teacher travelling all over the world, appearing regularly on the faculties of international summer schools and seminars. In 1996 she moved to Australia with her husband and five daughters. While examining in Sydney that year, she met Archibald McKenzie, with whom she conducted several courses for the RAD. She went on, together with Archibald, to found Alegria in 1998. Since then she has qualified with a Licentiate Diploma in the Cecchetti method and has been recently awarded the Prestigious FRAD by the Royal Academy of Dance.

CPD hours                       

4 time valued

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