<p>This is my daughters first year at BTP. She is having a great time and is dead tired at night. She is going into her junior year of high school. Question- she did not tell me what level she was in. When I dropped her off they gave her a sheet and it was Level a-g not numbers. It was explained by a previous student that they place kids according to their dance ability because those kids had to be all together. However with acting and singing it did not matter if you were in the same level within in your group. Which made sense to me because you can't teach a dance class with five different levels in it. Can anyone share opinions on this. My daughter is excited for Jay Binder to come at the end of the week when everyone will audition. She is only 16 so she is lucky just to be exposed to it. Also is everyone in two numbers at the show? Thanks.</p>
<p>I am not sure how they do it exactly. My son went for the first time last year at 16 and was in group D. He is there again this year and is in group G. I only gets bits and pieces of info from him when he has time to text or call me, but as of last Saturday he was cast in 2 numbers, 1 in block 1 and 1 in block 2. I believe that they cast one block at a time and then put the show together. I know that your daughter will have a fantastic experience whatever she does. It is just a fabulous program and the friendships that they develop and training that they get is "priceless".</p>
<p>This is my daughter's first year, too. She recently turned 16 and is also a rising junior. It seems like they may have changed the levels since last year, but I now understand from my daugher that the levels are based on dance and go from A through G (or 1-7 in the past). Here is where I am a little fuzzy. I think she said the high school groups are B, D, and F and the college groups are A, C, E and G, but I know of a least one high school boy who is in G. I know my D has been cast in two numbers so far and it was my understanding that each student would be cast in two numbers (although they could ultimately be cut if they miss or are late for rehearsal, etc.)</p>
<p>I crossed with Britbrat and was referring to her son in G. I hadn't heard anything about Jay Binder unless he is the one who is casting for A Chorus Line and another show I can't remember off-hand. Any more specific info on him or any other master classes?</p>
<p>anne1244. I am not clear on the separation of the groups age wise either as another of my son's classmates who is a rising senior at his h.s. is in group G with him, so maybe age doesn't have a factor. If I can ever have more than a 1 minute conversation with my s, I will try and get more info.</p>
<p>Thanks, britbrat. As I mentioned to you before, the tap number my D is in currently has lots of Group G girls in it and they are all college age, I believe. Pretty intimidating!</p>
<p>My daughter is in group F and has been cast in the second block so far. I don't think she really knows what it is all about, she just goes with the flow. She said that Group F has a few college kids in it and group G does as well. It seems that some of the younger kids in group G were at BTP last year. Of course there will always be an exception to everything. Her roommate is 16 and she is in group B so I'm not sure that those are all college kids either.
I had to send her out new character shoes because the ones she wore six times strap broke. Needless to say I had to pay a fortune have the over nighted to her. She sounded great last night, not as tired as when she has rehearsal. Thanks for everyones input it helps:)</p>
<p>Janicew. Just sent you a PM.</p>
<p>It is my guess (and just a guess) that they do their best to assess the students early in the program to keep them from being either overwhelmed or underchallenged and place them accordingly. In my son's case (again just a guess), he is over 6' and is a "strong" dancer in that he can lift the girls in the dance numbers which is sometimes important in the choreography. The program is intense enough with all that they are asked to do and they want the students to have a positive experience. I think the group assignments are more a technicality than a judge of ones talents. Kudos to all of the kids that made it to BTP to expand on their talents.</p>
<p>This may be the wrong forum to raise this question, but I am gathering from my BRIEF conversations (more like soundbites) with my D that there seems to be a split of authority on vocal technique. There are advocates of Speech Level Singing and apparently teachers who are against it and think it can be damaging to young voices and/or does not render an attractive vocal product. Again, I'm sort of reading between the lines at this point. Any thoughts from anyone or can you refer me to an appropriate thread? Thanks.</p>
<p>How are they defining Speech Level Singing exactly. I am not familiar with the term?</p>
<p>If you Google the term you will find the web site. I am not familiar with it though.</p>
<p>Thanks. I did look at it, but it is not a familiar term. It looks like a step by step development of the voice to keep from scarring the vocal chords by pushing them beyond their trained level. I am guessing that with a big tendancy to "belt" everything these days whether it be for singing to the radio or singing on the stage that this technique trains the voice so that it will not "wear out" prematurely. I have a s and his training was different because he was classically trained first and then when his voice changed at 14 I had a male voice coach for him to help develop the new "voice". Maybe starting a new thread asking for opinions would be a good idea. You will likely find someone who has an expert opinion on it. Good luck.</p>
<p>Another BTP topic. Does anyone know which colleges/conservatories send reps to BTP in the summer? Any idea when they will be there? Information from veterans of the program would be most appreciated.</p>
<p>anne1244, my s told me last night that he had information for a whole list of MT schools but didn't say which ones had been to visit.</p>
<p>So far Oklahoma & Baldwin Wallace have been there. I think the U. of Miami is also scheduled. I do not think this is the complete list, these are the ones my daughter told me about.</p>
<p>Thanks, all. I haven't had even an info soundbite in a few days! They are busy!</p>
<p>My daughter decided not to go to the presentation from the schools. As an almost hs junior she decided to go to class instead. She asked someone that was going to get her info and went to dance class. I think her logic is I'm still on the younger side so I can wait another year. Spoke to my d last night and she was totally wiped up. She was cast in block 4 so it was late. She is running out of clothes but does not have any time to do laundry. If they give them Sunday to sleep in again she may have to get up early and do it then. I'm sure everyone is in the same boat as she. Still loving it!</p>
<p>This is my daughter's second year and we found out last year that there was not enough time for laundry. We packed enough dance clothes for the 21 days & sent Febreeze!!</p>
<p>I'm not sure my D has enough for 21 days, but I read about the laundry problem and also sent Febreeze. I sent some liquid Woolite, too, in case "sink laundry" is all that happens. I know she'd be happy to let your D have some, JaniceW.</p>