<p>I was talking to someone at D’s old ballet studio today and they said that Barnard had fired the ballet teachers and dropped ballet, leaving the Dance Department focused on Modern. One of D’s old classmates, now at Barnard, is taking classes at STEPS now.</p>
<p>Any confirmation, amendment, or correction about Barnard & ballet from someone on the scene?</p>
<p>I’m kinda shocked, if so. While it was clear that Barnard’s Dance department favored Modern if you looked at performance opportunities, but when D was looking at choosing colleges, Barnard had had the best ballet experience that she had while visiting, taking a class from ex-NYCB Allegra Kent.</p>
<p>My daughter is there now and that is NOT the case, unless something happened over the break. I cannot imagine that is so...absolutely NOT! I will ask her later today, though, if she has heard anything once she gets back to school. DON'T BELIEVE RUMORS!!!!!</p>
<p>That seems highly unlikely -- unless Barnard's Communications Dept. is totally out of touch with what is going on!</p>
<p>The reason I say that is because Barnard's home page features a link to an article about a Barnard student who was dancing Sugarplum with the NYCB. The dance dept. webpages have recently been updated, and mention six levels of ballet classes.
The strong ballet program at Barnard is a significant plus for this school, which offers the opportunity to take classes onsite as well as elsewhere in NYC. It's unlikely the school would drop a program that is quite a draw. </p>
<p>But I do have a friend with a dancing D at Barnard, and can ask when I have a chance.</p>
<p>no, that's crazy. if barnard did that, they'd probably phase it out, not just stop it with no warning, and i guarantee there would be huge student protests. and probably a significant decline in applications next year. dancers are the majority here - at least it feels that way - and even if most of them were more interested in modern, ballet would still be important.
that is just a rumor.</p>
<p>Well, ballet is the underpinning for Modern, which is why this would make no sense. But I heard this from an adult who usually is very savvy and whose daughter is with San Francisco Ballet. </p>
<p>PF, I know that students often take classes in the City.</p>
<p>CMM, one checks out rumors when neither auto-belief nor auto-disbelief is warranted.</p>
<p>This is not true. I'm taking ballet on Tuesday. Ballet is the foundation for every other type of dance, and there are equal amounts of ballet classes as modern classes.</p>
<p>I am a first year at Barnard, and have danced seriously(ballet) all my life, including attending summer programs at Joffrey, Boston, and ABT NY the past three summers. However, I have decided that I probably do not want to become a professional dancer. That being said, I do feel that Barnard would let me maintain my dance abilities if I really milked it for all its worth, which I feel like I am. Right now I take technique class 5 times a week from Cynthia Anderson, Robert LaFosse (who has taught at Steps, and is a REALLY good teacher) and Allegra Kent. I take a variations class from Helene A...(not sure how to spell her name, but she is a former NYCB soloist, and is definitely on par with any teacher I had at my various summer programs), and am also in a contemporary ballet piece that rehearses 2-3 times a week choreographed by Adam Houghland. So I am dancing about 14.5 hours a week, with about 8-9 of those on pointe, depending on whether I decide to take class on pointe. That being said however, there are many dancers here who don't take that many classes(in fact most don't) although there are several hard core ballet dancers who have a similar schedule as me. I know several of those do take classes at Steps because they feel that they are more challenging, but personally I am satisfied with just taking classes at Barnard at the moment. I might take classes outside in the coming years, as the teachers change each semester, and some of those teachers are better than others. So I guess my point was that Barnard dance is as serious or as not serious as you want it to be...its up to you. It is important to note however that it is not a conservatory program, and if you really want to become a professional dancer, it probably isn't the right program, although I won't say that it would be completely impossible either. I know that there was one dancer who left this year to dance with the Colorado Ballet, and she was pretty active in the dance department before she left. In the last few years, there has been some concern that the modern department recieves more funding and attention than the ballet side, but ballet at Barnard is still very much alive and active, and there are plenty of serious ballet dancers who are taking classes there. Hope this answers all questions on the ballet department!</p>