Becoming a Dance Major

<p>The Claire Trevor School of the Arts (UC Irvine) has a stunning dance program with performance majors in jazz, ballet, and modern. The program has an excellent reputation, with a very successful placement record, and it's still on the rise. Trevor itself isn't very big--maybe 1,200 students all told--and the setting is pleasantly intimate with great dance studios and six theatres, but it has the advantages of a University. The "academic" requirements are as easy (or demanding) as you want them to be. For instance, you can triple dip and cover half the general education requirements with required major courses, meet the language requirement with high school language study, and take alternatives in science and math. But they've had dance double majors in civil engineering, biology, and chemistry. </p>

<p>My DD is also a visual artist--she's planning a career in intermedia/multimedia art and design--and Trevor actually enouraged her to double major, or even triple major with theatre arts! </p>

<p>The problem, of course, is to get admitted to the University, which is academically highly selective, even for residents.</p>

<p>Well, we looked at five schools in five days and here are some of our observations. BOCO is very small, but charming. Literally three small buildings that comprise the school. We were unable to observe any dancing because it was finals week. We spoke to the chair of the dance department and the head of admissions. They accept about 80 students to get a freshman class of 20. There are about 80 students in the dance department. They don't allow freshman to audition the first semester, so that they can become accustomed to college life. I think this school is one we'll probably look at again in the fall. The admissions counselor said the best advice she can give is to apply/audition to many schools. Too many students don't do this and are not accepted into any program and have no where to go.</p>

<p>Next was SUNY Purchase. The dance studios are large and the building that houses them is very bright with skylights running the length of the hallways. Of course, the perfomance space is state of the art. All dancers are required to audition for everything. There are many opportunities to perform and although you may just be cast to understudying a piece, at least you will have learned the choreography. We were able to watch a staged Bill T. Jones piece in rehearsal for this past weekends' performance and we were able to sit in a studio for a ballet rehearsal for the same performance. We spoke to several dancers that said they loved it at Purchase. There appeared to be at least 20 guys combined in the rehearsals we saw. The lack of jazz is a problem for D though. But, it's just a train ride into NYC to take class at Broadway Dance or Steps on B'way. The campus itself is not a reason to attend, but the program is strong and the cost is low. </p>

<p>Marymount Manhattan is well kept, bright clean and in a great location. It is not one that D liked though. The studios were a bit confined feeling. We observed part of a combined Ballet II/III class. We had tickets to see their Spring Dances that eveing, but opted to go Off-Broadway to see "In the Heights" (great!) Anyway, it was a very hectic time to be visiting because of finals and all, but D said she wouldn't apply there ~though maybe she'll apply everywhere in light of the advice from BOCO. More in the next post and feel free to ask any questions.</p>

<p>kidzadancer - We just completed the senior year audition tour for dance bfa programs. I would be glad to give you more information about our experiences if you are interested. My d auditioned at 5 schools. Feel free to pm me if you want more detailed information. Good luck to your daughter and you over the next year.</p>

<p>Next, we went to University of the Arts, where, if I left my daughter, she would have never noticed I was gone- for four years. I guess this is her top choice. We missed the tour itself, but spent quite a bit of time in the dance department and watching classes and rehearsals and talking. She loved the feel of the space. The studios were all up high and bright with daylight from the many windows in every studio. We spoke to several students (sophs-jr-senior) who spoke highly of the program and Philly itself. We spoke with an admissions counselor and someone in the dance dept. and they were more than helpful. I believe they have the largest dept. of all the schools with an incoming class of 80.</p>

<p>Oh, and here I should mention at Marymount the largest concentration is in jazz/theater and there were no spaces available in that program at the moment. Though of course you don't declare until your second spoh. semester. Also, several of the schools mentioned so far do not even consider the writing portion of the SAT at this point and D is thankful for that. Though she'll be trying to improve on it June 2. </p>

<p>Last was Muhlenberg. It was a beautiful Spring day and if you'd have left me there I'd be in heaven (I live in VT, the trees are just TRYing to turn green).
The campus is lovely. It just happened to be a junior open house the day we went and it was crowded. Unfortunately, we could not see the dance performance while we were there because it was sold out. It was being presented in a black-box studio which doubles as a small performance space.
There were other theatrical-type productions going on in the brand-new pavillion, but we were there for dance. We spoke with one frehman dance student and she liked it, but didn't feel she got much personal attention just yet. We spoke, with the chair of the dept at the luncheon, along with a group of other students, but didn't feel like there was enough of a draw. It appears to be a great liberal arts college with great emphasis on the arts and I do wish we got more of a feel for the program. BTW, our tour guide said they are not able to use the term 'freshman' any longer and referred to them as 'first years'. OK...</p>

<p>So, after watching a rehearsal of a piece choreographed by Zane Booker (one of Dance mag's tops 25 choreographers of 2007) at UArts and a freshman jazz class there, D definitely wants a curriculum that incorporates jazz. I'm glad we started this process now. Several of the schools said it's best to audition early and that auditions are usually the same weekends from year to year, so it's just a matter of changing the dates.</p>

<p>Hope some of this has been useful, you've all been very helpful to us!</p>

<p>Thanks for your report! Very helpful for us about to start the process.</p>

<p>I, like kidzadancer, read many MT posts hoping to find more information about the application and audition process for dance BFA programs. There was not much out there. Now we (my d and I) have finished the process (thank goodness), I would like to pass on whatever information that may be helpful to others. I would be glad to answer questions about our experience with the process. I have varying degrees of knowledge (from visiting or auditions) of about 8 BFA programs in the northeast - including Tisch, Marymount Manhattan, Ailey, BOCO, Hartt, UArts, Purchase and UMass. My d auditioned at 6 of them. </p>

<p>I think the goal should be not only to get into a program, but to find the program that is a good fit. My d goes mostly by feel of the school and the vibe from the faculty. This is surely an individual thing. All the schools we visited had good programs and good dancers, but some felt like a better fit for my d than did others. </p>

<p>As an admissions counselor told kidzadancer - audition early and at several schools. I really wanted my daughter to apply to a BA program as a safe school back up, but she was set on a BFA so she only applied to those programs. As there is no guarantee on admission to any of these programs it is best to apply to quite a few. My d auditioned at 6 programs. The process does give the dancer a hint of the life ahead - rejection is a part of this performance life. Your student will be better prepared if s/he has some audition experience. All auditions started with a ballet barre, then ballet center and modern class. Some had jazz as well (I think Marymount and UArts). Many schools make a cut after this part of the audition and then those who survive the cut are asked to perform their solo (usually 1-3 minutes in length) in the style the dancer feels best shows their strengths. Some schools watch everyone's solos (BOCO and UArts). The audition day is usually quite long and can be stressful. Most audtions are scheduled from December through March. I am glad to answer questions.</p>

<p>Opinions wanted re: balance of this preliminary list for my d.</p>

<p>NYU
Fordham
U. Michigan
FSU
U. So. F.
Skidmore
Connecticut College
Goucher
SUNY Purchase
SUNY Buffalo
Rutgers?
Muhlenburg</p>

<p>Wants performance oriented. Double major possibility. Modern with strong ballet. Strong student. Looking for combinations of reach, match, safety both academically and for dance.</p>

<p>Are we forgetting something obvious? (I'd love to keep her more or less on the Eastern half of the country). Oh... I can't convince her to look at single sex schools.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Vassar and Marymount Manhattan College are two I would add to your list.</p>

<p>Vassar has an excellent dance department, but offer neither a major nor a minor. They offer courses for credit, but that's it.</p>

<p>SUNY Purchase
Skidmore
NYU</p>

<p>All great schools. I don't know much about the others on your list. How about Julliard or Butler as well?</p>

<p>Hmmm... Thanks for your thoughts.
So far, we hadn't looked at Butler, assuming it to be primarily ballet focused. And my d thought that at Juilliard getting the academic part of the equation (double major) wouldn't work. We could certainly be wrong about both assumptions, there's SO much information to crunch.
We'll look again a Marymount. She'd LOVE the location. Vassar might fit the bill, certainly would academically, but she wondered whether the dance would be performance oriented.
We'll follow up with continued research. Thanks for the suggestions!</p>

<p>My daughter has a good friend at Vassar and from what I gather it is very perfomance oriented which has been this particular young lady's strength.</p>

<p>My d, a senior, has decided to major in dance and wants to pursue a BFA. She is an honors student but would still like to pursue a BFA. Yikes! Yes I am overwhelmed with the amount of time we will have to spend in the next few months getting ready for college auditions and applications. I am so glad this particular thread exists and we can follow each other's journey through this most stressful time as we see our kids try to balance the college application process along with continuing their studies as a senior, attending dance classes, along with performances during the year. And did I mention time for fun?</p>

<p>Yes this is my first post and look forward to reading about everyone's experiences this year and any great advice on the process and particular colleges of interest.</p>

<p>My daughter is a senior dance major at SUNY Buffalo. She has had a wonderful experience there. Small personalized program in a very large university. I can't say enough about her experience to date. Feel free to PM me for more information.</p>

<p>Are there many performance opportunities at SUNY Buffalo? Buffalo is not too far from us, but hasn't crossed my D's radar yet, despite attending a Boston SI audition there with a friend a couple of years ago. How does it compare to Purchase?</p>

<p>Jasmom, your D's list looks really good. It is too hard to assess the balance of reach/match/safety both academically and artistically without her full profile and so I can't comment on the balance of the list in terms of her chances. I think all those schools would be very good options given her criteria. </p>

<p>Did you ALSO look at all at?:
UMass
Amherst
Wesleyan
Sarah Lawrence</p>

<p>buckeyemom2,
Sorry for the delay. I was moving D2 back to school and had very limited computer access.
I spoke with D1 (at SUNY Buffalo). She told me that there are "lots of opportunities for performance." She was unable to take advantage of them due to a bad case of mono sophomore year and a nasty car accident last year :(</p>

<p>Well, Fall is here, YIKES! I met Jasmom at PT Pk this summer and her son was fabulous! I hope his play went well also. Has anyone heard anything about Dean College School of Dance? They have a BA, not a BFA, but it sounded interesting and we figured it would be advantageous to have a non-audition program nearby to look at.</p>

<p>kidz, thanks, I loved meeting you and your beautiful d as well. Wish I had met her before her dance. Hope we'll connect again on the "audition trail." I'll PM you with her schedule as it con'ts to develop. And "YIKES" is right!
(I don't know anything about Dean College.)</p>

<p>Haven't posted in a while but thought I would add my $.02 now that my daughters is off and running. </p>

<p>Last year my daughter applied and was accepted to NYU, Fordham/Ailey, UArts and SUNY Purchase. Initially, NYU was her top choice but after auditioning for Fordham/Ailey, this changed. The reason was that the audition was challenging and she wanted to be challenged; NYU seems to concentrate on developing the choreographer over the performer (in her opinion). She has no interest in choreography at this point.</p>

<p>Don't take for granted the importance of SAT scores for NYU and Fordham/Ailey they are just as critical as the dance performance for admission. The scores that are provided in the college board profile are in fact what these programs are looking for. Secretly, they do make small accomodations for the arts students that are not published but not by much.</p>

<p>Now that my daughter has started the Fordham/Ailey program, she appreciates the fact that she gets the college experience, academics and dance in this program. For some of the students in her program that have come from performaning arts high schools they would like to have dance only. She has a friend at Juilliard who has commented that she enjoys the fact that she is dancing constantly w/o the stress of academics.</p>

<p>She also liked UArts and commented that if the academics were more a part of the program; she would have chosen Uarts because she could get all forms of dance, i.e. jazz, ballet, modern, and tap. She also commented that this is a perfect fit for kids that come from a competition setting (no offense) she was a comp kid.</p>

<p>For SUNY Purchase, she liked the training but felt that there was more of a slant toward contemporary ballet.</p>

<p>Again, these are purely ones person's perception. I hope this is helpful and I will try and provide more insight as the semester progresses.</p>