ARTS Awards?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>so sorry. I posted in haste and assumed it was for musical theatre
try this:</p>

<p>CD/Audiotape audition - participants must label their CD/Audiotape with their ARTS ID # and the category code ONLY (06009999/275, for example). (You will receive this ID# once you have completed the registration process). DO NOT PLACE YOUR NAME OR ANY OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION ON YOUR CD/Audiotape.
Personal Information Form - click here to download the form, fill out and mail with your packet.</p>

<hr>

<p>Please label the outside of your envelope as pictured above listing your ARTS ID# and category code with your return address. If you wish to participate in more than one category, please submit each in a separate envelope.</p>

<p>Your return address must look like this:</p>

<p>ARTS ID# (06009999/275, for example)
Your Name
Street Address
City, State Zip</p>

<p>POSTMARK DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 1, 2005
Mail your audition/portfolio materials to:
NFAA / ARTS
444 Brickell Avenue, Suite P-14
Miami, FL 33131-2403 </p>

<p>It is not necessary to use an overnight mailing service. However, if you choose to use a service such as Federal Express, UPS or USPS overnight, the outermost envelope must include your ARTS ID# and category code.</p>

<p>Please note that upon receipt of your ARTS submission packet we will mail you a postcard stating that your packet was received. If you do not receive a postcard within two weeks of mailing, contact us at (800)970-2787. </p>

<p>Please note that your materials cannot be returned so we strongly recommend you keep a copy for your records. </p>

<p>No responsibility can be assumed by ARTS for loss of, or damage to, submission packets.</p>

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<p>Thanks to all! The package was mailed today, and my daughter was very happy to check off one more item on her "to do" list. She wasn't particularly happy with her submission (it was the recording session that wised us up to the problems she was having with her voice...it turned out that she had a throat/sinus infection and didn't even realize it until her range was impacted), but she sent it anyway with a "nothing ventured, nothing gained" attitude. I, on the other hand, am thrilled to have a CD of her singing; I suspect I'm going to be listening to it a lot next year when I'm in the throes of separation anxiety!</p>

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<p>Mezzomom,</p>

<p>You have no idea!! Make LOTS of copies - one for the car, one for your computer, one for........</p>

<p>I now know a complete aria from a Donizetti opera word for word (with excellent Italian diction ) plus five other art songs in three languages!!</p>

<p>:)</p>

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<p>I had to laugh- we STILL Listen to our daughter's ARTS CD from several years ago. She was a finalist in voice, and the week in Florida was simply amazing. She still is in contact with kids she met that week. It really helped in her college choice, too, since the kids all exchange information.</p>

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<p>mezzomom,
You are so correct that taking advantage of every opportunity is essential, even if the conditions are less than perfect. My D also submitted her ARTS material under a compromised situation ( last minute glitches that involved being ill for the taping, accompanist being very late for a scheduled recording space, a huge unexpected snowstorm that day.... ), and we sent it off with an "oh well...." attitude. The honorable mention in MT was delightful, but more importantly, that led to additional opportunities such as working in a professional theatre company for two summers as well as lots of important contacts. There are so many unknowns and things that can't really be controlled in this process. I really believe that taking a chance with a promising possibility for success will never be a mistake.
Good luck to your D as she begins the journey!</p>

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<p>OMG- I hope the judges look beyond my mediocre videotaping/editing skills! Can you say AMATEUR? :D</p>

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<p>Melsmom, the video need not be a professional taping. I made my kid's video and it was amateur but followed the requirements. She got an award in MT. Don't worry about it if you did what they asked. </p>

<p>My D could have tried again this year, even though she is in college, because of her age (just turned 17) but opted not to bother as she would have had to do it pretty much before she left for school and was too busy with other stuff (though had material she could have done for it) and felt like at this point, she had done it once and was moving on. I do think it is a great program. It also kinda makes you get some of your college audition material ready by October and so if you are doing that, it is not hard to also make a video for NFAA at the same time. It is also an opportunity to see how you do on a national scale which is sort of like what it will be like when auditioning for BFA programs. If you do not win an award, it does NOT mean you won't get in a BFA....to the contrary, I know kids in top BFA programs who did not win a NFAA ARTS Award, but if you do win one, it is just another benchmark to help you ascertain if you are competitive for the BFA audition circuit beyond the field/pool of applicants you know locally or from programs in which you have participated. It seems like many of the ARTS award recipients are now in these college programs.</p>

<p>Susan</p>

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<p>Susan,
It's so weird that my D is older than yours, turned 17 in July, and yours is in college, and not just anywhere, in NYC! I can't imagine Mel being savvy enough for that, even if she does get in for next year. I guess the best way to learn tho is just to be immersed in it all.
Too bad you couldn't just send the NFAA tape from last year again. Maybe the pool of kids is a little different and she could win moola! The awards are really nothing to sneeze at are they? TTFN</p>

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<p>Is the deadline always Novemeber 1st?</p>

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<p>Melsmom, sorry I did not see your post from Oct. 30 until now. Yes, don't remind me how young my D is and how I let her go to NYC. If you had asked me if I would do this back a few years ago, I would not have imagined it (in terms of her in NYC at this age). The fact that she graduated early....that is not so unreal for me though was never MY plan ;-) but it all fits HER. Her educational journey has not always been conventional. She has always been accelerated academically and socially. Sometimes, ya know, you just have to go with the kid you've got and graduating early made sense for her and was all her idea and we consented. Her being in college is a big adjustment for ME (doesn't seem to be for her, LOL) but it is magnified for me by the fact that she is also on her own in a big city coming from a life like she led in a rural area where she was basically supervised in some capacity at all times. Now she can come and go as she pleases and must manage on her own. Yes, it is hard to fathom. I can't speak to her "savvy-ness" and she certainly is no urban chick but she sure seems to be into it and is not calling for help. She is more like in seventh heaven. :D My D is particularly young because she not only graduated a year early but she started K early too (I told you her educational path has not be the "norm" as her learning needs required various accomodations over the years). </p>

<p>While my D is chronologically younger than her peers, nobody ever believes what her true age is. She doesn't come across as younger and tends to be a leader amongst older kids even. I have to remind myself at times what her real age is. I do believe that it is hard in a way to be thought of as older because of being intellectually or socially older and so we expect more but really she is not that old and it takes stepping back to remember that she may SEEM older but she really is not. So, um, yeah, I do worry. She is traveling to perform in DC this weekend and I am waiting to hear of the details of her plans because it was just a couple months ago when she was accountable for every move and I do get nervous about her doing all this but I am learning ;-). You will too. She has to take a subway alone starting this week for an internship she'll be doing, and I have trouble thinking of it and it is not like she has to call in like she did when she lived here to say she arrived here or there. This was a kid who was not allowed to spend even one day alone in a city before this year! It is like the most opposite extreme from where we live, if you only knew. So, yeah, I'm brave but we all need to let go at some point because they grow up and they know they are ready for this next step. </p>

<p>I don't truly care whether she entered NFAA again. I mean it would not have been hard to do. She had other monologues because she is coming off of having prepared several last winter for college auditions and she certainly has many other songs and in fact, prepared two brand new ones for the first day of CAP as they had a kind of "audition" the first day for them to get to know each student. But during the six weeks she was home prior to college, she was out every night just about rehearsing or performing in a professional musical production and then she created/produced/directed a youth musical theater program in August which included her creating a musical revue show also and it was a huge undertaking with lots of responsibility for which the parents were paying her a lot of money and so she had that during the day. As soon as that ended, she had about a week to get ready for college and oh, yes, I forgot she put on a major piano solo recital for which she had to learn many pieces and had so little time to practice with being at camp part of the summer, these two paying jobs I described, plus physical therapy, and then had been "out of commission" all spring after her car crash and recovery that she lost time majorly in piano and her teacher wanted her to perform a final solo recital for our community to culminate her ten years of piano study with her. So, doing a new NFAA tape was a thought but went to the bottom of the obligations pile. Then she just said, she had been there, done that, achieved an award and was now in college. The likelihood of being a finalist is slim but even IF that ever happened, she could not go to Florida for a week because of college anyway. She was ready to move on. </p>

<p>The only thing is that last fall when she did enter for MT, she originally wanted to also enter for jazz and for pop but it became too crazy with school, college applications, college audition prep, and she was also in an adult production 50 miles from home and barely ever home, and still had dance classes, voice, acting all far away from where we live. Let's not forget to mention homework in the most demanding classes. You guys know this drill, I'm sure. She just had to cut back that plan and just enter for MT. She did win our state award for jazz though, in winter. There is only so many hours in a day, that's her problem, LOL. </p>

<p>So, now it is YOUR kids' turns! I hope to hear some positive things when the awards come out but in any case, it is a nice program in which to participate and I am grateful to the parents with kids older than mine who suggested it on this forum and that is how we found out about it ourselves! </p>

<p>Believersmom, I really do believe (oops sorry for the pun!) that Nov. 1 is usually the submission deadline for the videos.</p>

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<p>Wow Susan,
I can't even begin to imagine the crash you must have felt, and maybe still feel, from not having to run around with such an active, involved family. I know with three kids, life has been hectic, but it is my daughter that has kept me on the go most of my waking hours for the past 17 years, also driving 50 minutes to and from dance, voice, shows, etc! It is going to be really tough when she leaves for school, expecially because she too wants nothing to do with any schools nearby. At least I still have one more in high school to run me around for a couple of years. Hartt would be the only school locally that had MT anyway. And I guess being 2 or so hours away if she goes to a major city like NY or Boston wouldn't be bad either, compared to your girls who are a few hours away. I can understand why you are doing the coaching now on CC, with what you've been through you're pretty much an expert.
Yes, I was grateful to be reminded of the NFAA awards on this forum, and I went to my refrig. where I had ripped an article out of PARADE magazine a couple of years ago to make sure it was the same awards. I cut it thinking, "How nice that a kid with the arts as their sport might actually be able to be recognized nationally."
Mel never did get around to sending the MT video, but she sent two for dance-like I said, very ameteurish, but hopefully I didn't do her too much of an injustice and her talent shows through. However the awards turn out, I am amazed after all these years of thinking her talent would go unrecognized/rewarded at colleges, to see she is actually getting talent scholarships for them (at PPU, anyway!) I always thought you had to be in sports or at the top of your class to get any help, which is the way it is at her high school. No recognition for her extracurriculars.
I like telling the naysayers all these years, that, "Yeah, she got a scholarship for college for dance (most people don't get it), something she has chosen to dedicate pretty much her whole life to." Good for her, and good for us being "Supermom Taxi Road Warriors!"</p>

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<p>Melsmom, "taximom" was my nickname to myself. But no longer. I have schlepped only two kids (not three like you) who were BOTH extremely active in extracurriculuar pursuits that took us all over the state and sometimes beyond. When the first one started driving, it sure did help. Then last year when the first one went to college, I only had to juggle how to be in one location at a time! Then the second one got her license and that was already a major shift. But two months later she was in a very serious car crash and so my life went the other way, first living at the hospital, then her being confined to a hospital bed in the house, and then her missing a month of school and also not being able to walk for some time and certainly couldn't drive again for a bit. It went the opposite extreme of caring for a kid 24 hours a day who normally was barely ever home and had started driving herself to things. It was quite the year with all those audition trips. And even though the first one was in college, we actually traveled to several of her varsity ski races in New England all winter to see her (it is hard when your kids go to college and you have seen every sport event, concert, recital, performance and then they are far away!) and so my winter weekends were either trips to college auditions or to ski races. I was even in Idaho at my older D's National Championships when the younger one was in the car crash. So, there really was never a dull moment! Now they're both gone and it is a HUGE shift. </p>

<p>We allowed our children to go anywhere to college that they wanted and they chose. It turned out that both wanted the East Coast (not complainin') and one is four hours away and one is six. It is possible for us to go there or them to come here if needed, for a weekend but really their lives are full and so they aren't going to be coming home much but holidays. We can go see a soccer game, ski race, or show/concert, if we want though, and we have. </p>

<p>On the scholarships for theater talent....I did not really realize that these BFA programs gave out all these scholarships until they all arrived and it was a wonderful surprise like you say. Some of my daughter's acceptances and scholarships came while she was confined to a hospital bed and so it really gave something to look forward to and a big ray of light. </p>

<p>I have to say that at graduation, there were two local arts scholarships, one from a family in the community in the name of a deceased parent who was a lover of the arts, and one from our local theater. It was nice at graduation when my D did get this arts scholarships. Since she already had scholarships to college, we let her take these smaller scholarships she won locally and she bought an electric piano/keyboard to take to college so she could still have a good piano as she uses one a lot. And yes, it is nice when there are awards for academics, sports, and the arts. I would never knock sports as both my kids did a lot of them. I must say that our high school valued the arts and so I never really felt that sports overpowered the attention. I realize in some communities, sports are everything. Here they do matter but people are also into the arts, think. It is a small community and I think people are just proud of anything local kids accomplish. On the other hand, nobody at school even knows my D got an NFAA Arts Award ! </p>

<p>I would not worry about the video being amateur as long as they can see what they need to see. I also would not get too caught up in winning an award. As nice of an affirmation that it is, it still is good to simply participate. Not getting an award when they only give them to 10%, is not a commentary on not being "good enough". I know kids at top BFA programs who did not win one. </p>

<p>In the meantime, relish in those college scholarships. That is really great!
Susan</p>

<p>Edit: PS, now this is quite the coincidence....I've been sitting here sifting through papers on my desk as the pile is WAY high and out of control and took a break to read the forum. So, right after I made this post to you, I came across a newspaper page my husband had left on my desk back in April (I know, I know, that is how bad my desk is right now, but then again, at the time, I had a kid in a hospital bed). He has circled this little article/announcement in a paper in our state (not the local community one but a bigger one) that is about my D getting the ARTS Award. I guess the ARTS Awards sent it to papers in the region. So, yeah, I guess there was "recognition" after all. I never would have noticed this. How funny I just came across it after this post inadvertantly!</p>

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<p>Well, a belated congrats to your D for her ARTS award! You better believe my D's school will hear if she wins any kind of scholarship for her arts. Not only don't they recognize the kids' extracurricular activites, they penalize for it! She was passed over last year for National Honor Society even though she was in the top 10% of her class with nearly a 4.0, was a member of SADD, and performed 20+ hours of community service. Apparently she was not in enough school sponsored clubs/activities/etc which, with 20 or so hours a week for dance plus homework, just wasn't a possibility.
This year she was invited to apply again, as all the seniors make it, but chose not to, because she is doing little more this year at the school than she did last year, due to her intensive dancing schedule/competitions/college auditions/private lessons etc so why should she automatically make it just because she's a senior?
Give the poor kid a break. I am not "caught up" with her winning, it is just nice that there are national programs like this, and that some colleges actually reward kids for their dedication. It validates what they have achieved though hard work and sacrifice all these years.
Sheesh, I guess I'm a little worked up about this, but we knew going into it that a private all girls' parochial HS was not going to really advance her talent-wise, and that we would have to provide the enrichment opportunities. We are also grateful for the riguorous academic environment the school provided, butit will sure be nice when she goes to a school that provides it all, one stop shopping as someone said. :)</p>

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<p>Melsmom, too bad your school only "counts" extracurricular activities if they are associated with the school. The good news is that college admissions will look at ALL extracurriculars and do not are if they are connected to school or not. And in the case of MT programs specifically, they will look favorably on her training and that she had it and sought it. My daughter had no drama classes at her school and took 13 hours of dance OUTSIDE of school. I never really weighed whether the extracurricular things they did were at school or outside of school when they were after school hours. It is the activity that will matter, not where she did it, so no worries. </p>

<p>I know YOU are not caught up with winning and hopefully that comment wasn't taken in another meaning but what I meant is that it doesn't matter if she wins or not but more that it is a nice program to participate in and yes, it would be nice if there were more like them. I have read of some things in other states such as theater awards and competitions that my D's friends have been involved in but we do not have that sort of thing going on here. Some of those events which I know of elsewhere sound quite fabulous....Tony-type awards and performances. It is a big deal in some regions. Not here. But that's ok. Your daughter, like mine, will be immersed in all of it when they are in college!</p>

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<p>We got a postcard from the NFAA yesterday saying they had received my daughter's submission and it was "complete" (so we know we did manage to fully follow the directions). Thanks to all of you who helped in my last-minute scramble; I can now share in my daughter's relief that one more thing can be moved to the DONE column of the To Do list!</p>

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<p>Scores are up, although finalists won't be announced until 1 December. Here's the link (you need your ARTS ID #):</p>

<p><a href="http://production.nfaa.org/artolwk/scorechk/index.cfm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://production.nfaa.org/artolwk/scorechk/index.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My daughter didn't qualify for any awards, as expected, but she learned so much from the process that I would recommend it to anyone serious about their art.</p>

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<p>Mezzomom, I agree, I think just participating in the ARTS award competition is valuable in itself. I am glad your D did it. It also is a kind of preparation for the college auditions as well. It's a great program. I figure why not try, you never know and it is not all about the awards anyway in the end. It was affirming to get one, sure, but I know my child would not have been upset if she had not. The program helped her get one song and one monologue ready early in the fall too.
Susan</p>

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<p>I have my first result in:</p>

<p>One Honorable Mention for Spoken Only</p>

<p>She performed monologues from
The Aristocrats by Brian Friel and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night</p>

<p>YIPEEE!</p>

<p>xxx,Mary Anna</p>

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<p>Mary Anna,
Congrats to...your student, I presume. Nice going!</p>

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<p>YEAH Mary Anna!!! Way to go again!!!</p>