Awards for Excellence 2019
We were delighted to present awards for outstanding achievement in exams for the year 2019.
We received our final winter session results in January 2020 and picked out the top marks from over 500 candidates.
We present the 'Vicki Paterson Awards for Excellence' annual awards to students who have gained the highest marks in their dance exams over the year. The award is named after former CSBS student Vicki Paterson who gained a perfect 100% for her RAD Grade 4 ballet exam as well as consistently scoring over 90% in all her dance examinations. Vicki went on to become a professional ballet dancer after graduating from full-time training and now runs a highly successful dance studio in Norfolk..
Junior Shield
The Junior Shield was presented to Charlie Fleming (8) who gained an outstanding mark of 98% for his Primary Grade ballet exam with the Royal Academy of Dance. Not only was that the highest score in our school, but it was the highest exam score across the whole of Scotland that session! Charlie has also gained Distinction for his Primary Tap exam and most recently Highly Commended (the highest band) for his Pre-Bronze acrobatics exam. He currently studies Grade 1 ballet and tap, jazz, acro and musical theatre and is also a mid associate with Ballet West Edinburgh.
Senior Shield
The Senior Award for Excellence was presented to Abbie Garmany (14). Abbie gained an impressive 92% for her Grade 4 ballet exam in the summer session. She also gained a high score of 93% for her Grade 4 Solo Performance Award and has most recently gained Distinction for her Intermediate Foundation ballet exam! Abbie is a member of our Majors programme and also attends a number of associate schemes including Scottish Ballet Senior Associates; Edinburgh Festival Ballet; S-MB Associates; and Ballet West.
Katie Deacon Performance Award
The Katie Deacon Performance Award is an annual trophy presented to the student who gains the highest mark for their RAD Solo Performance Award. It is named after former student Katie who was a professional ballerina following her graduation, and is now a musical theatre performer working across the world and in the West End. This year, the award was presented to Jill Russell (11) for her outstanding score of 96% for the Grade 2 Solo Performance Award in the summer session. Jill also represented CSBS at the RAD Senior Awards 2019, winning the class trophy for her level. She studies ballet, jazz, tap, acrobatics and musical theatre and is also in our Majors programme. She is also an associate with Ballet West Edinburgh and S-MB Associates and trains monthly with each.
Acrobatics - Examiners shield for most potential
We created a new shield for acrobatics exams last year. Our acrobatics exams have written reports and not points so we now ask the examiner to choose the students he/she felt had demonstrated the most potential in their examination. We then presented a Junior and Senior shield, as well as certificates of commendation. For the first year ever, we had 2 sessions for acro exams. Here are the recipients from the Spring session:
- Junior Shield: Roan Ogilvie (8 - Pre-Bronze)
- Senior Shield: Anna Bremner (13 - Gold)
- (no certificates presented)
And here are the recipients from the winter session:
- Junior Shield: Charlie Fleming (8 - Pre-Bronze)
- Junior certificates: (none presented)
- Senior Shield: Lawrence Bremner (10 - Silver)
- Senior certificate: Murray Leitch (9 - Silver)
Many congratulations to the students for their effort and determination and to all of our 512 dance exam candidates who worked extremely hard to pass their dance exams in 2019. We had around 40% of graded candidates gain Distinction. Please have a look at our exam news and results:
Our 2020 Spring session of exams is only a few weeks away so our students and teachers are still working incredibly hard!